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A Blessed All Saints Day to All! Iconography: The Secret Language of Saints and Their Symbols
Works of art are neither illustrations nor evidence that validate a particular interpretation of a theological or cultural argument. Rather, works of art are in their own right a mode of human expression that generates theological interpretation and reflection, and that reveals its cultural and theological milieu. In order for an interpreter of works of art to be able to understand and to operate in this way, he or she must carefully trained in the discipline of seeing. Learning to see is a difficult task involving its own hermeneutic. In 1 Corinthians, Paul describes the process of the discipline of seeing when he tells us:
For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known (13:12)
To be trained in the discipline of seeing involves the total engagement of the viewer, and the viewer in turn is transformed. This is a central part of the hermeneutic of the discipline of seeing. If one were to compare different works of art through the lens of religious studies, the distinctions and similarities between the religious worldviews and the cultural milieus would become apparent.
A symbol may be defined as an element, animate or inanimate, that stands for something else. The meaning of certain symbols, however, differs according to context in which they appear. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that the elements of a painting always carry symbolic significance – they may be included for aesthetic or naturalistic reasons.
Attributes are emblems that help the viewer to identify characters within a painting, such as the wheel of Saint Catherine or the shaggy tunic of Saint John the Baptist. They usually derive from an episode in the life of the figure concerned and often have no symbolic meaning. People, as well as objects can serve this purpose. There are also collective attributes, which identify a type: the crown of regents, the palm of martyrs or the cockleshell of pilgrims.
———Catherine of Alexandria
Feast day: November 25
Identifying situation: martyr with a spiked wheel
Appearance: wears regal robes, in particular a crown on her head
Attributes: palm leaf, sword, wheel, ring of mystical matrimony
Biographical notes: A martyr of the fourth century, probably of noble lineage, she was tortured with a spiked wheel and then beheaded under Emperor Maxentius
Patronage: Invoked by nursing women, shipwreck victims, and against migraines; protector of orators, philosophers, notaries, tailors, stylists, spinners, carters, nursing mothers, and wet nurses
The spiked wheel, often broken is the unmistakable element that identifies the martyr saint Catherine of Alexandria. The only certain information about her person celebrates her wisdom and her veneration in the monastery of Mount Sinai. Her special martyrdom, as collected and handed down in The Golden Legend, is derived from a reworking of the symbols that were originally attributed to her. A wise woman who had turned to Christ, she was able to confound and reduce to silence the most important philosophers summoned by the emperor Maxentius to confute her faith. This wisdom was originally represented as a circle, the ancient symbol of inspired wisdom. This was later confused with a wheel, and in the Middle Ages the legend of her torture by means of a wheel was invented, the torture being interrupted by the intervention of an angel (which is how the wheel got broken). In some images the wheel was a very small symbol, so small that it was later read as a ring, thus becoming the perfect emblem for depiction of the mystical marriage, an iconographic theme already present in the Middle Ages but very widespread in the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries.
———St. Florentina
Feastday: June 20
Died: 612
Spanish abbess. She was born in Cartagena, Spain, and was the sister of Sts. Leander, Isidore, and Fulgentius. Leander raised Florentina and founded a convent for her, where she became abbess.
Virgin; born towards the middle of the sixth century; died about 612. The family of St. Florentina furnishes us with a rare example of lives genuinely religious, and actively engaged in furthering the best interests of Christianity. Sister of three Spanish bishops in the time of theVisigothic dominion (Leander, Isidore, and Fulgentius), she consecrated her virginity to God, and all four have been canonized by the Church. Florentina was born about the middle of the sixth century, being younger than her brother Leander, later Archbishop of Seville, but older thanIsidore, who succeeded Leander as archbishop of the same see. Before his elevation to the episcopal dignity, Leander had been a monk, and it was through his influence that Florentina embraced the ascetic life. She associated with herself a number of virgins, who also desired to forsake the world, and formed them into a religious community. Later sources declare their residence to have been the convent of S. Maria deValle near Ecija (Astigis), of which city her brother Fulgentius was bishop. In any case, it is certain that she had consecrated herself to Godbefore the year 600, as her brother Leander, who died either in the year 600 or 601, wrote for her guidance an extant work dealing with anun’s rule of life and with contempt for the world (“Regula sive Libellus de institutione virginum et de contemptu mundi ad Florentinamsororem”, P.L. LXXII, 873 sqq.). In it the author lays down the rules according to which cloistered virgins consecrated to God should regulate their lives. He strongly advises them to avoid intercourse with women living in the world, and with men, especially youths; recommends stricttemperance in eating and drinking, gives advice concerning the reading of and meditation on Holy Scripture, enjoins equal love and friendship for all those living together in community, and exhorts his sister earnestly to remain true to her holy state. Florentina regulated her life according to the advice of her brother, entered with fervour into the spirit of the religious life, and was honoured as a saint after her death. Her younger brother Isidore also dedicated to her his work “De fide catholica contra Judæos”, which he wrote at her request. Florentina died early in the seventh century and is venerated as the patroness of the diocese of Plasencia. Her feast falls on 20 June. The name is writtenFlorentia in the Roman martyrology, but Florentina is without doubt the correct form.
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Sources:
Art as Religious Studies
Edited by Doug Adams & Diane Apostolos-Cappadonia
The Secret Language of Art by Sarah Carr-Gomm
Saints And Their Symbols by Rosa Giorgi
Wikipedia and Catholic Encyclopedia
[Random Salt] Explanation required, Mr. President
My position regarding what has become Republic Act No. 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, has not changed since I first went over the Senate version (Senate Bill No. 2796) several months ago: I maintain that it is a deeply flawed law that will not be able to properly address the problems it was ostensibly designed for, including, but not limited to, libel, cyber-bullying, and cyber-prostitution. Of course, back in February, I was content merely to air my anxiety, because I was fairly optimistic that the ill-conceived bill would not prosper, such optimism—or maybe I should say, with the benefit of hindsight, naïveté—being largely rooted in my reluctance to entertain the notion that the denizens of officialdom would act, to use a time-honored phrase, like a bunch of drooling incompetents.
The Collectivists believe in a true government of democracy, not only in form, but also in fact, not the people’s rule without the expression of popular will, but a government by the people by means of a voluntary expression of the sovereign will of that people. The Collectivists want a government of opinion, not a government that solves vital questions without the country’s knowledge or how or when the solution was made.
One of the greatest arguments used against us by our American critics is that we do not have here a government of opinion. But is there a more conclusive proof of the fact that there is a public opinion here than the present triumph of the Collective principle of leadership? Is there one who doubts that this question has already been decided by the people? When this question was discussed for the first time, almost all the papers, with very few exceptions, were in favor of the unipersonal theory and against the collective principle. What was the effect on the people? Nothing, aboslutely nothing. The people decided for themselves. And this shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that here we have public opinion, courageous, independent, unbiased. Those who have followed this question with interest must have seen that the Filipino people is interested in matters that vitally affect its government, and that it is capable of forming its own opinions, without the need of tutors or mentors. I repeat, the entire press of the Philippines was against the collective principle, and when I say press, I refer specially to the so-called independent papers. And yet, the country declared itself in favor of Collectivism, and such is the force of the avalanche that the Unipersonalists are afarid to own that they are what they say.
- Manuel L. Quezon, delivered during the Collectivista Party Convention, held on February 17, 1922 at the Manila Grand Opera House; underscoring supplied
The Film Desk of the Young Critics Circle sponsors a screening of its Best Film of 2011, Haruo. A sensitive melding of film genres and Japanese art forms, Haruo weaves the paths of two cities through the life of a man in hiding. It portrays his search for elusive redemption in a world precipitously made small by a dark past. Haruo traces this man’s precarious life as he navigates the ordeals in the city of his present and that of his not-so-distant past. Director Adolf Alix, Jr. grafts inner turmoil to geographies of parallel chaos and momentary reprieve in sombre yet delicate feeling, a perceptive portrayal of redemption and remorse.
A forum with Alix and producer-actor Jackie Woo follows the 6PM screening at the UP Film Institute on the 8th of August (Wednesday) 25th of September (Tuesday). Tickets are at 100 pesos each and may be bought at the UPFI on the day of the screening itself.
- Reservations can be made through this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/157322194406245/
- Trailer: http://vimeo.com/34012091
- YCC Review: http://yccfilmdesk.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/no-springtime-in-manila/
The State of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines
According to data from the Department of Health, the number of new cases of HIV being reported in the Philippines is steadily on the rise. While the absolute number of cases in the Philippines is relatively small, HIV is rising at an alarming rate in the country.
Persons who are infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) may eventually develop AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), a life threatening disease characterized by a weakened immune system.
They agreed that the HIV has spread in the Philippines largely because of the lack of public education about the virus. Because sex is a taboo topic in Filipino culture, experts speculate that the actual number of HIV cases in the Philippines may actually be higher than reported because people are too ashamed or afraid to come forward about having the infection.
[via GMA News]
(Source: drunkonstephen)
Carabuena and cyber-bullying
Despite the virtues of social media, its highly mediated character would appear to be inimical to critical thought, compassion, and self-reflexivity. It is truly unfortunate that Facebook, as of this posting, has refused to act on the matter, and many media outfits are happily stoking the flames.
About Flânerie
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