Last Supper displays

The Last Supper 'painted' with salt

In preparation for Holy Week, many Maltese enthusiast prepare the Last Supper table with various decorative plates depicting sacred paintings. These are made with extreme detail with salt, semolina, rice, beans, pasta and other ingredients. These are just a few of the plates made with colored salt in the town of Cospicua, Malta. One can also see the display with statues, loaves of bread, fruit and other symbols. I suggest to click on each photo to see the detail.

Other devotional exhibitions

Many other devotional exhibitions are held throughout the island of Malta, usually in halls of parishes, private homes and churches. Whether it’s a cross with passion symbols, or an old light-lamp, or Roman soldiers in armor, they evoke a sense of the sacred, and usually accompany the miniature statues I showed yesterday.

Miniature Statues

The Agony in the Garden

Various exhibitions of miniature statues are held in various places during the celebration of Holy Week. Some of them are for sale, but most of them are arranged chronologically according to the Passion of Jesus with the Agony in the Garden being first, and the Entombment as last. These are usually hand-made by enthusiasts, made from paper-mache, occasionally draped in real clothing. These are just a few of the many statuettes crafted by a friend of mine from my home-town of St Julian's, Christopher Micallef. These statues are approximately 12 to 18 inches in height.

The Flogging at the Pillar

The Crucifixion

Our Lady of Sorrows

The statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, followed by thousands of faithful.

Continuing this week long overview of some traditional customs of Holy Week in Malta......
The unofficial opening of the Holy Week celebrations in Malta is the devotional feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated on the Friday before Good Friday. A very devout procession is held in each parish with the statue of the Sorrowful Mother. These photos were taken in 2010 during the procession in Valletta, the capital city, with an impressive tidal wave of people accompanying the statue. 

During this day of fasting, people go to confession, attend Mass in thousands, and as you can see, they accompany the procession with women in bare feet carrying their babies in thanksgiving for a vow. Men walk sometimes hooded for anonymity, also in thanksgiving for a vow granted. Most people follow the statues saying the rosary or other Lenten prayers. A local priest usually carries a relic of the Cross, while the local Archbishop leads the procession.

Lenten and Passion traditions in Malta - part 1

Lenten decorations in the parish at Naxxar, Malta

Over the next few days, I will take you with me to Malta and experience the religious celebrations, traditions and decorations that are so popular during the upcoming days leading to Easter. Many of the Churches, especially the older ones , Baroque in style, cover the walls with special black tapestry. They are normally covered with red tapestry, especially during the festa season in the summer, but to accentuate the somber mood of Lent and Holy Week approaching, black is the chosen color. 

 

Many of the Passion statues that will be carried in processions during the Good Friday procession, are brought out into the main body of the church, two or three every week, until they are all displayed by Holy Week. Various religious articles, banners and passion symbols are also displayed for the devotion of the people. Many people display miniature statues, Last Supper tables which are intricately decorated with extreme patience, detail and love of the sacred. Please come back for more.

Jubilee of Mercy

In St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis announced yesterday, March 13, 2015, the celebration of an “extraordinary Holy Year”. This “Jubilee of Mercy” will commence with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 2015, and will conclude on November 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. At the start of the new year, the Holy Father had stated: “This is the time of mercy. It is important that the lay faithful live it and bring it into different social environments. Go forth!”
The Jubilee announcement had been made on the second anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, during his homily for the penitential liturgy with which the Holy Father opened the “24 Hours for the Lord”. This initiative promotes throughout the world the opening of churches for an extended period of time for the purpose of inviting people to the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The theme for this year has been taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, “God rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4). The opening of this next Jubilee will take place on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. This is of great significance, for it impels the Church to continue the work begun at Vatican II.

Pope Francis yesterday just before he announced the Jubilee of Mercy

During the Jubilee, the Sunday readings for Ordinary Time will be taken from the Gospel of Luke, the one referred to as “the evangelist of mercy”. Dante Alighieri describes him as “scriba mansuetudinis Christi”, “narrator of the meekness of Christ”. There are many well-known parables of mercy presented in the Gospel of Luke: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the merciful father.
The official and solemn announcement of the Holy Year will take place with the public proclamation of the Bolla in front of the Holy Door on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Feast instituted by Saint John Paul II and celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.
The Catholic tradition of the Holy Year began with Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Boniface VIII had envisioned a Jubilee every century. From 1475 onwards – in order to allow each generation to experience at least one Holy Year – the ordinary Jubilee was to be celebrated every 25 years. However, an extraordinary Jubilee may be announced on the occasion of an event of particular importance.
Until present, there have been 26 ordinary Holy Year celebrations, the last of which was the Jubilee of 2000. The custom of calling extraordinary Jubilees dates back to the XVI century. The last extraordinary Holy Years, which were celebrated during the previous century, were those in 1933, proclaimed by Pius XI to celebrate XIX hundred years of Redemption and in 1983, proclaimed by John Paul II on the occasion of the 1950 years of Redemption.

Pope Francis - 2 years a Pope

Today is the 2nd anniversary of the election of Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who surprised everyone by taking the name Francis, and changing the outlook of the church towards the people he leads, or better yet, serves. That has been the most prominent aspect of his Pontificate so far, reaching out to the poor, uplifting the downtrodden and affirming the need to be humble and meek. 

One of the many newspaper front-pages of 2 years ago

These are some of his recent tweets, and they speak for themselves, and for his mission to give a new image, a new face to the Catholic Church:
Beware of getting too comfortable! When we are comfortable, it’s easy to forget other people.
In the roughest moments, remember: God is our Father; God does not abandon his children.
Humility saves man: pride makes him lose his way.
Let us build our lives of faith on the rock who is Christ.
The heart grows hard when it does not love. Lord, give us a heart that knows how to love.
Jesus intercedes for us each day. Let us pray: Lord, have mercy on me; intercede for me!
There is no sin that God cannot pardon. All we need to do is ask for forgiveness.

Crucifixes from Malta

The face of the Crucified Christ at Zebbug Parish, Malta

As we continue on our Lenten journey, I share with you today a few crucifixes from my home in Malta. They are all ideal for meditations as each on of them are depicted in a very dramatic way.

The miraculous Crucifix at Ta Giezu Church, Valletta

A modern crucifix by John Martin Borg

Oberammergau

The Crucifixion scene from the Oberammergau Passion Play

Oberammergau is known for a passion play performed since 1634 as a tradition by the inhabitants of the village of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. Since its first production it has been performed on open-air stages in the village. Tradition has it that it is staged every 10 years. The text of the play is a composite of four distinct manuscripts dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. 

The town of Oberammergau with colorful murals on buildings

In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, vowed that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. Word spread throughout the region about the play, and it became too expensive to perform every year, so the town decided that every 10 years would be sufficient. 

The open-air stage with the play in process

The play is now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during every year ending in zero. 102 performances took place from May 15 until  October 3, 2010 and is next scheduled for 2020. The production involves over 2,000 performers, musicians and stage technicians, all residents of the village. The play comprises spoken dramatic text, musical and choral accompaniment and tableaux vivants. The Oberammergau production takes place in one day,  but the running time has varied due to the many revisions that have taken place through the years. 

The scene from the Last Supper

The whole play has 16 acts or parts. In 2010 it had a running time of 5 hours, beginning at 2:30 pm and ending at 10:00 pm, with a meal break. According to a record from 1930, the play then had running time of approximately seven hours. It started at 8:00 am and ended at 5:00 pm with a meal break. Audiences come from all over the world, often on package tours, the first instituted in 1870. Admission fees were first charged in 1790. Since 1930, the number of visitors has ranged from 420,000 to 530,000. Most tickets are sold as part of a package with one or two nights' accommodation.

Wet Pants

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'
He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.
As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap...
The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.
She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.
Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.

More stamps depicting the Passion

The Last Supper by Fra Angelico (Argentina)

I share with you today more stamps that depict the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. More stamps will appear periodically over the next few weeks.Philately has been in the forefront in presenting beautiful stamps remembering special religious events.

The Agony in the Garden by J. Corbet (Andorra)

The Flogging at the pillar by Guido Reni (Paraguay)

Images of Jesus

A statue of Jesus with the moon in the background as a halo

Over the years and through various forms of art, the image of Jesus has been reproduced, touched-up, painted, sculpted, collaged, photo-shopped and done in so many ways. These are just a few unusual ways in which the image of Jesus is presented to us.

An optical illusion of Jesus on the Cross - look from a distance...

The face of Jesus made from hundreds of tiny images - click to enlarge

Outer space Jesus with a stole made from nations' flags

The Head of Christ

The Head of Christ (1940), painted by Warner Sallman was reproduced 500 million times, appearing in Church Bulletins, posters, T-Shirts, in wallet-sized copies distributed to servicemen during World War II. Sallman also painted “Christ our pilot” and “Christ at heart’s door” The Head of Christ originated as a charcoal sketch entitled The Son of Man done in 1924 and sold to be the cover of the Covenant Companion, the denominational magazine for the Evangelical Covenant Church. Sallman did several variations of the painting over the years, and the first oil version was done in 1935. 
In 1940 he was asked to reproduce that painting by the students of North Park Theological Seminary. This reproduction was seen by representatives of the Gospel Trumpet Company, who created a new company called Kriebel and Bates to market Sallman's work. For the next thirty years Kriebel and Bates marketed over 100 Warner Sallman works. When Kriebel and Bates dissolved, the copyrights to these works were acquired by Warner Press. The Baptist Bookstore initially popularized the painting, distributing various sized lithographic images for sale throughout the southern United States. The Salvation Army and the YMCA, as members of the USO, handed out pocket-sized versions of the painting to American servicemen heading overseas during World War II. After the war, groups in Oklahoma and Indiana conducted campaigns to distribute the image into private and public spaces.

Pro-Life bumper-stickers

These are a few effective Pro-life bumper stickers I came across recently. You may have to enlarge the last photo, as there are several bumper-stickers on a car owned by someone who is really passionate for the pro-life cause.

Forgiveness

Forgive me Lord.
Because I am obnoxious, forgive me, Lord.
Because I am dishonest, forgive me Lord.
Because I am egotistical, forgive me Lord.
Because I am undisciplined, forgive me Lord.
Because I am weak, forgive me Lord.
Because I am impure, forgive me Lord.
Because I am arrogant, forgive me Lord.
Because I am self-centered, forgive me Lord.
Because I am pompous, forgive me Lord.
Because I am insincere, forgive me Lord.
Because I am unchaste, forgive me Lord.
Because I am grasping, forgive me Lord.
Because I am judgmental, forgive me Lord.
Because I am impatient, forgive me Lord.
Because I am intolerant, forgive me Lord.
Because I am inconsistent, forgive me Lord.
Because I am immoral, forgive me Lord.
Because I am ungrateful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am disobedient, forgive me Lord.
Because I am selfish, forgive me Lord.
Because I am lukewarm, forgive me Lord.
Because I am slothful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am unloving, forgive me Lord.
Because I am uncommitted, forgive me Lord.
Because I am sinful, forgive me Lord.
Because I am Loved by You, thank You Lord!

The Passion in Philately

I’ve always been fond of collecting stamps, although it’s not considered one of my favorite hobbies. However there is so much history and art related to philately. Many countries have used paintings from various artists to commemorate Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Above you can see 5 beautiful stamps from the African nation of Burundi issued in 1974. They are paintings by Roger van der Weyden, Titian, Veronese and El Greco, beautifully presented. Further down you'll see other stamps with paintings of Mathias von Grunewald and Cimabue. Stay tuned, I will share a few more stamps over the Lenten season. You can always click on the image and enlarge it for better viewing.

Crucifixion by Mathias von Grunewald (Cameroon stamps)

The crucifix by Cimabue that spoke to St Francis

The Crown of Thorns

Zizyphus spina Christi, or the jujube tree.

he bushes, from which the Crown of Thorns was made, grew, and still grow abundantly, in the outskirts of Jerusalem. The monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai have identified a thorn bush growing east of the large monastery wall as the same original Crown of Thorns.
With regard to the origin and character of the thorns, both tradition and existing remains suggest that they must have come from the bush botanically known as Zizyphus spina Christi, more popularly, the jujube tree. This reaches the height of fifteen or twenty feet and is found growing in abundance by the wayside around Jerusalem. According to Dr. G. E. Post, who is an expert on these matters, this plant grows in the region of old Jerusalem, especially in the area where Golgotha (or place of the Crucifixion) is said to have been. The crooked branches of this shrub are armed with thorns growing in pairs, a straight spine and a curved one commonly occurring together at each point.  Application of the powdered leaves is said to darken and lengthen women's hair.

Other sources refer to the thorns as either of two nearly leafless, very spiny shrubs or small trees of the southwestern North American deserts. Koeberlinia spinosa, with green thorns at right angles to the branches, produces small, four-petaled, greenish flowers and clusters of black berries. Another source says it could be Euphorbia milii.

The Sound of Music

'The Sound of Music' is a 1965 American musical drama film directed and produced by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is an adaptation of the 1959 Broadway musical 'The Sound of Music,' with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The movie was released exactly 50 years ago today, on March 2. Based on the book ‘The Story of the Trapp Family Singers’ by Maria von Trapp, the film is about a young woman who leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the seven children of a naval officer widower. The Sound of Music was filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria; the state of Bavaria in Germany; and at the 20th Century Fox studios in California, United States. It was photographed in the 70mm Todd-AO format, and eventually won five Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The main characters, then and now.

Principal photography began on March 26, 1964 at 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, where scenes from Maria's bedroom and the abbey cloister and graveyard were filmed. The company then flew to Salzburg where filming resumed on April 23 at Mondsee Abbey for the wedding scenes. From April 25 through May 22, scenes were filmed at the Felsenreitschule (festival concert), Nonnberg Abbey, Mirabell Palace Gardens, Residence Fountain, and various street locations throughout the Altstadt (Old Town) area of the city. 

Julie Andrews as Maria, then and now.

On days when it rained—a constant challenge for the company—Wise arranged for scenes to be shot at St. Margarethen Chapel and Dürer Studios (Reverend Mother's office). From May 23 to June 7, the company worked at Schloss Leopoldskron and an adjacent property called Bertelsmann for scenes representing the back of the Von Trapp villa. From June 9 to 19, scenes were shot at Frohnburg Palace which represented the front of the villa. The "Do-Re-Mi" picnic scene in the mountains was filmed above the town of Werfen in the Salzach River valley on June 25 and 27. The opening sequence of Maria on her mountain was filmed from June 28 to July 2 at Mehlweg mountain near the town of Marktschellenberg in Bavaria. The final scene of the Von Trapp family escaping over the mountains was filmed on the Obersalzberg in the Bavarian Alps.

Charmian Carr as Liesl, the oldest girl, then and now

The cast and crew flew back to Los Angeles and resumed filming at Fox studios on July 6 for all remaining scenes, including those in the villa dining room, ballroom, terrace, living room, and gazebo. Following the last two scenes shot in the gazebo—for the songs "Something Good" and "You Are Sixteen"—principal photography concluded on September 1, 1964. 

Duane Chase as Kurt, then and now

A total of eighty-three scenes were filmed in just over five months. Post-production work began on August 25 with three weeks of dialogue dubbing to correct lines that were ruined by various street noises and rain. In October, Christopher Plummer's singing voice was dubbed by veteran Disney playback singer Bill Lee. When dubbing, editing, and scoring were complete, Wise arranged for two preview showings, the first one held in Minneapolis on February 1, 1965 at the Mann theater, and the second one held in Tulsa, shortly thereafter. Despite the "sensational" responses from the preview audiences, Wise made a few final editing changes before completing the film. According to the original print information for the film, the running time for the theatrical release version was 174 minutes. 

Kym Karath as Gretl

In the United Kingdom, it was released on March 29, 1965. The movie had a budget of $8.2 million and eventually grossed at the Box office $286 million. The film had its opening premiere on March 2, 1965 at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. After its Los Angeles premier on March 10, ‘The Sound of Music’ opened in 131 theaters in the United States.

The original Von Trapp family