A Reflection on Acedia, Eros and Christian Joy

In his encyclicals Deus caritas est and Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI discusses the relationship between two different aspects of love, which he refers to using the Greek terms, agape and eros.

Prior to reading these encyclicals, I had always thought of agape as the higher love in which the person makes a gift of himself to the other. A loving or covanental relationship, therefore, is one of mutual self-gift. Eros, on the other hand, is a lower, self serving desire for the other. With eros, therefore, the best form of personal relationship one can have is a lower 'contractual' arrangement in which self-interests are aligned. In the Christian life, I thought, we are offered the possibility through grace of raising up our natural tendency to eros into one by which we are capable of self-gift - agape - in a new way.

Benedict offers us something different. He describes how Christianity does not eradicate eros at all. Rather, it raises it up into a desire for the other which is consummated in an ordered acceptance of the gift of the other. He makes the point that a gift cannot be given if it is not received by the one to whom it is given. Thus, in the loving interraction, both agape and eros are happening simultaneously in a dynamic process. Each is giving themselves to the other, while accepting the gift of the other in an ordered way.

Futhermore, and this being the case, the reception of the gift of love is our first act of love, for we cannot love others or love God without first accepting love from God. This is not passive, it occurs to me, but an action, an assent of the will; it is the spirit reaching out, so to speak, and grasping that hand of God that is offered to us every moment of the day.

Suddenly eros seems vitally important. If we reject God's love then we are incapable of living the Christian life in any degree and the joy that is available to us all through the Church is shut out of our lives. The place where that acceptance of God's love in our hearts might occur most profoundly, powerfully and effectively is, of course, in the sacred liturgy. Eros is the first act of an 'active participation' by which He abides in us. By this we participate in the transfigured Christ and become capable of taking the light of Christ out into the world.

If I were the devil, therefore, I would make it a priority to subvert the capacity for an ordered eros in mankind. If I look at myself there are two forces that work strongly in me to cause me to reject God's love. The first, which should be no surprise, is pride. This tells me that I don't need God because I am self-sufficient. The second is one that is perhaps as powerful is acedia.

As I understand it, acedia is a sloth or inertia against doing what is right, that arises through a lack of faith or trust in God. It is felt as self-pity and is a form of despair. It says, 'what's the point?'. It can be manifested in a whole range of degrees of depression. By which we sink deeper and deeper into despair and refuse to take the actions that will lift us out, even if we are aware of what those are. It creates the spiritual equivalent of the couch potatoe who is so lacking in hope that he can't be bothered to run for the fire escape when his house is burning down because he thinks he's doomed anyway.

Or it can lead to a desperate search for distraction by which we try to look for the answer to our yearning for the Good in lesser goods and to try to forget that despair we feel deep down. So, many destructive compulsive behaviours would be extreme examples of this: workaholism, alcoholism, computer game addiction and so on. I have heard the compulsion to look at pornography as one that has acedia at its root. One should not be surprised if this is the case, it seems to me, for if acedia really does undermine our capacity for an expression of eros, one would expect a result to be a distorted expression of eros such as a grasping for the erotic as a distracted and misguided search for love.

Articles I have read about acedia talk of it as an 'old sin' - one referred to by the Church Fathers, especially of the Eastern Church but one not addressed much in recent times in the Western Church. Now it seems to be coming back in fashion, even here in the West. There are books and articles about it in the Catholic sphere; and recently even the LA Times published an article about it.

The question that arises at the end of all this, is how can we develop our facility for eros, and remove or at least lessen our inclination to indulge in pride and acedia...or for that matter any sin.

Good spiritual direction helps here. Nearly 30 years ago, I was shown a series of spiritual exercises by the man who eventually became my sponsor when I was received into the Church. I still practice these exercises today daily, and attribute them to the beginning of the spiritual journey that led to my conversion.

Even before I became Catholic, he gave me a daily program of prayer, meditation, contemplation and good works that was simple and powerful. It included exercises that I was told to practice daily so that they might become habitual. For example, beginning and ending the day pray to God on my knees, writing of a list of blessings for which I thank God (regardless of how grateful I actually feel); good works, by which I volunteer regularly to help out with people who are not connected to me and not in a position to give back.

I was actually a desparate atheist when I started this and it was presented to me as a sort of Pascal's wager - what have you go to lose? Try it for 30 days and if you don't like it we'll return your misery with interest! It worked so well I still do them today. He sold it to me originally by presenting it as part of a process by which I could find my calling in life and actually see it happen. I wanted to be an artist and he promised me that this could happen if I followed his suggestions.

This man (who was called David and who died of a heart attack nearly 20 years ago now), also showed me how to root out misery by looking at the spiritual cause. It was through this that I learnt about pride and acedia and was given away to deal with the misery they were causing me. What he taught me was that any unhappiness I might feel is caused by my reaction to events around me, rather than the events themselves. Through God's grace there is always hope that transcends any bad situation, and I can feel that hope, so to speak, by rooting out the negative, self-centered responses to events around me.

This was an unusual approach to an examination of conscience. As well as the usual question - what have I done wrong? - I was taught to ask myself, what am I unhappy about? Always the is some form of unhappiness about something that has happened in the past (resentment, anger, irritation, guilt, remorse and so on); or a fear about something happening in the future that I think I'm not going to like; or a combination of the two.

Then I analyse to see how my sin - a rejection of God - has caused it. My experience has been that I have found no form of unhappiness, regardless of the external events that might trigger it, that was not caused in this way. The reaction that caused me to feel bad was a self-centredness that shut out God - sin by any other name. David then showed me a technique by which I would write down all these unhappy feelings and then attribute them to a whole combination of sins that caused them. Pride and acedia are just about always there, along with all the self-centered impulses that they lead to, for example, envy, anger, lust and so on - it depends on the situation.

To my delight, this exercise really did help to change how I felt and so gradually as my discomfort decreased, my faith and joy of living have increased. I still practice this technique daily. and while I cannot help the first reaction to events around me, when I reflect on unhappiness that I feel it always seems to locate the problem which is in me. When I ask for forgiveness, the resentment, anger, self pity or fear lifts.While I do not offer every detail of this analysis, I do bring a general statement of this personal reflection to confession on a regular basis as well.

Regardless of what technique is used to focus our attention on our failings, the sacraments must play a part in the remedy. Ultimately is it the mercy of God that will save us and through Christ we can be free.

Over the years I have passed on what David showed me to perhaps 50 people and nearly all experience the same change that I have; and when they do the whole process that David gave me, they also discern their personal vocation. I recently started a rolling cycle of eight workshops at St Jerome Catholic Church in El Cerrito, CA, where we show people these exercises including the final stage of discerning personal vocation. I wrote up the text for these workshops in this manual. We stress also man's need for the worship of God as the practice of what St Thomas calls the virture of religion in order to be happy to be fulfilled in life and close each week with Vespers (in the Anglican Use).

As a postscript, today (Friday Week 12 Ordinary Time) I read St Gregory of Nyssa in the Office of Readings. It was a homily on the Beatitudes. It begins with the following passage:

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. God’s promise is so great that it passes the furthest limits of happiness. Given such a blessing, who could desire more, having already received all things by the fact of seeing God? Remember that in Scriptural usage ‘seeing’ means ‘having.’...So whoever ‘sees God’ receives, in this act of seeing, possession of everything that is good: incorruptible life without end, blessedness that cannot fail, a kingdom without end, happiness without limit, true light, the true voice of the Spirit, glory never before reached, perpetual rejoicing, and all else that is good.

Gregory then goes on to explain how purity of heart, sufficient to see God and to experience these fruits, albiet perhaps with some work and patience, is attainable by all if they choose to follow the call.

When I look at this passage by St Gregory, I realise now that this is exactly what David promised me would be the result of my doing this process. He also told, some time later when I was sold on it, that it was available in its fullness throught the Church. It is available in its perfection in the next life and by degrees, but nevertheless significantly in this life. David was adamant that life is not the miserable waiting room where we sit out hope we have the ticket for the train to heavenly blessings when we die. Supernatural transformation, Christian joy - these are available to us now.

I grasped it eagerly and have not been disappointed. The surprise for me when I got into the Church is that many Catholics didn't seem to realise what they have...but that's another story.

A Letter from Venezuela

Here is an open letter from Venezuela. I have written before about how the erosion of a culture of faith, the introduction of socialist principles and rampant statism in which the corrupt government steadily consolidates power creates a society of misery. It has done so by undermining of the rule of law and the principle of private property which has in turn led to a sharp decline in personal freedom and a decline in economic prosperity. This has only got worse in the past year and Venezuela is now a failing totalitarian communist state along the lines of North Korea. All of this began with good intentions coupled with bad economics and inept governance. 

Here is the letter. I have removed the top and tail of the letter to avoid revealing the name of the writers. Take the time to read this detailed analysis of what has gone wrong in this once thriving country in such a short time. The photographs come from the writers. One photograph below shows a malnourished man stripped bare - I hope people do not consider this to be in bad taste but for me it symblized both lack of respect for human dignity and the inablity of the infrastructure to provide basic necessities:

In general terms, the situation has grown much worse in the political, economic and social aspects. As you may know, in December 2015 there were parliamentary elections in which the opposition coalition won a landslide victory, gaining a crucial two-thirds majority of the seats. Since then, the government-controlled Supreme Court has overturned each and every piece of legislation passed, in practice stripping the new National Assembly of its assigned powers. For its part, the Electoral Council, also controlled by the government, has suspended a constitutional recall referendum against President Maduro and regional elections he would likely lose: according to recent polls more than 80% of Venezuelans reject Maduro’s regime. Just in case, the council has also banned key opposition leaders from participating in any future electoral process.

A boiling point was reached last March, when the Supreme Court sentenced that it would assume all legislative functions, in a coup d’état against the will of the people. Since then, our country has been immersed in a spiral of violence as the National Guard and irregular gangs (armed by the government) have been violently repressing and attacking massive and peaceful protests demanding a return to the constitutional order, free elections and the release of more than three hundred political prisoners. In the last weeks, thousands have been arrested, hundreds injured and 82 people have been killed.

Maduro labels protesters as “terrorists” and “fascists”. His response to this crisis has been to call for a handpicked “popular assembly” sidestepping the political parties with the purpose of transforming the State into a one-party communist regime, modeled after Fidel Castro’s Cuba, his closest ally.

It is really depressing to see our country, once considered the richest in Latin America and a stronghold of democratic stability and entrepreneurship in the region, descending into chaos and sliding towards full-fledged dictatorship.

Background

Since former president Hugo Chávez was democratically elected in 1998, his so-called Bolivarian Revolution used an unprecedented windfall of oil wealth to gradually dismantle democracy. Chávez’s charismatic leadership was particularly appealing to poor and uneducated people who for some time enjoyed a consumption boom based on imported goods supported by massive government subsidies. Meanwhile, draconian price and currency controls were imposed, forcing many companies to produce at a loss and scaring away foreign investors. Hundreds of private firms, land properties and assets were expropriated in all types of sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, large-scale retailing, private utilities, transportation and banking.

While a state-run media empire was expanded and used to establish information hegemony in the hands of the revolution, independent media was harassed and stifled through an array of legislation, threats and regulations. Educational reforms were introduced with the aim of turning public schools into leftist indoctrination centers. Revised textbooks released by the government and infused with revolutionary propaganda, eliminated critical thinking creating the basis for political manipulation into a single ideology.

Thanks to his popularity and a personality cult promoted by the government, Chávez was able to remain in power through constitutional reforms which extended the presidential term from four to six years and permitted re-elections. His designated successor, Nicolás Maduro, was elected by a slim margin in 2013. A left-wing politician educated and trained in Cuba, he has ruled Venezuela by decree. Under his regime, Venezuela’s economy has become more dependent than ever on oil exports (95% of earnings) made by (you guessed it) stated-run PDVSA. On the other hand, years of reckless borrowing, severe mismanagement and rampant corruption has left the country facing a huge foreign debt of $130 billion.

As could be expected, from 2014 plunging oil prices accelerated the economic decline as reduced revenues forced the government to slash imports of everything from raw materials and equipment to consumer goods in order to avoid a devastating debt default. The government’s status as the country’s main exporter makes it significantly more vulnerable to potential legal actions by creditors in international courts, which could seize oil shipments or PDVSA assets abroad (such as Citgo refineries). To make matters worse, according to recently released data by its central bank, Venezuela has just $10.8 billion in foreign reserves left . .

Most tragic of all, it is estimated that between 1999 and 2016 Venezuela received, from oil exports alone, the staggering sum of $920 billion or nearly one trillion dollars! squandered away under the socialist governments.

Current situation

With domestic production collapsing, the drastic reduction of more than two thirds of imports has resulted in critical shortages of medicines, food staples, personal hygiene and household products, including acetaminophen, allergy relief medication, anxiolytics, antidiarrheals, bread, milk, chicken, rice, coffee, infant formula, contact lenses, soap, toothpaste, diapers, toilet paper and detergents, among many others. Without mentioning the lack of less essential items such as cement, spare parts for your car or light bulbs for your house. Sometimes you will find what you need but at very high prices: consumer inflation, fueled by a central bank that keeps financing the budget deficit by printing more money, has been increasing exponentially over the years and is expected to reach 720% throughout 2017 according to the International Monetary Fund. After three years of excruciating contraction, Venezuela has lost 27% of its GDP in an economic meltdown that’s almost unprecedented outside wartime.

The government has tried different ways of rationing products and services in an effort to alleviate the situation, including biometric cards, fingerprint scanning systems and, more recently, boxes or bags containing subsidized basic goods which are sold in the lower-income communities. Critics say that this distribution system is being used as a political instrument to defend the revolution as neighborhood groups loyal to the government are in charge of deciding who gets the cheap groceries and who doesn’t.

Long lines of people waiting hours for products at state-owned supermarkets have become a common sight in the main cities. Growing frustration is leading to widespread riots and lootings. Among the middle-class, hoarding of food and other items is common to protect income against inflation and in view of future supply uncertainty. Desperate citizens are resorting to bartering on social media to provide for their families, trading everything from corn flour to prescription drugs. The less fortunate are being forced to stealing or digging into garbage cans to find something to eat. A well-known priest has been urging his countrymen to separate food waste in their garbage and to label it clearly to help others find food. Recent studies on living conditions conducted by three well-respected local universities report that 75% of Venezuelans have lost an average of 19 pounds in weight in the past year.

The public healthcare system is in ruins with overcrowded hospitals that have to operate with depleted supplies and frequent power outages. Cancer, diabetic or dialysis-dependent patients struggle to find their treatments; even basic medicines such as anti-fever drugs and high blood pressure pills are unavailable. Child mortality has soared: in one of the largest hospitals in Caracas three children have died from infections in this month alone due to lack of proper antibiotics. Malaria, a disease that had been absent in urban areas for more than fifty years, is making a comeback. Dengue fever, diphtheria and tuberculosis outbreaks are also reappearing. Despite the dramatic situation, health authorities continue to stubbornly deny that there is a deepening humanitarian crisis; those who request that international aid be allowed are accused of planning to privatize the country’s hospital system.

Venezuelan society has been subjected for years to a violent government language that demonizes the opponent and instigates hatred among social classes. The judicial system is notoriously weak and corrupt with judges who may face reprisals if they rule against government interests. Poorly-equipped and understaffed police forces complete a worrisome picture which has led to one of the highest crime rates in the world. Venezuelans have been forced to change their way of life in an effort to protect themselves from robbery, homicides and kidnappings. After dark, city streets become deserted and families take shelter in their homes. No wonder that crime has become one of the largest concerns among citizens, second only to shortages.

Adding to the overall misery, the whole infrastructure of the country has suffered years of neglect; our roads, bridges and port facilities are crumbling; water and electricity cuts are increasingly frequent. The telecommunications sector, controlled by state-owned CANTV, is rapidly deteriorating due to poor maintenance of the existing network and lack of new investments. As a consequence, private operators have been forced to suspend or restrict services and the country’s internet speed has become one of the slowest in the world. Even oil refineries have fallen into a state of disrepair and are operating well below capacity, to the point that a significant percentage (up to 70% according to some reports) of the gasoline consumed in the domestic market has to be imported, something unheard-of in a major oil producing country.

Many of the country’s acute problems are caused by the complex monetary arrangement that makes use of three different exchange rates simultaneously. On one extreme you will find the highly overvalued preferential exchange rate of 10 Bs/$ theoretically intended for the importation of food staples and medicines, on the other is the (illegal) black market rate which at this moment is more than 6,000 Bs/$! The result is that Venezuela can either be unbearably expensive or extremely cheap, depending on the rate used. As you can imagine, this situation generates multiple problems for both consumers and businesses who must deal with currency restrictions and this convoluted (and subject to frequent changes) system.

Only government officials and a few privileged with the right connections have access to the preferential rate. The huge difference with the black market creates a fertile ground for corruption as currency funds obtained through the legal channels are then sold on the unofficial market in operations that are more profitable than drug trafficking. Huge cost overruns on government contracts for infrastructure, imports of goods and all kinds of bribes, kickbacks and intermediation fees have created personal fortunes on a scale never seen before in Venezuela.

High-ranking military officials have also benefited in a big way as a third of the government’s 28 agencies and half the state governors are active or retired officers. Some of them have been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering in the USA. Even the country’s VicePresident, Tareck El Aissami, has just been formally accused by the US Department of Treasury of being a drug “kingpin”. Needless to say, these people don’t want to hear anything about socialism, while sending their kids to study in North America or Europe.

These things we tell you do not come from reading news or being heard from a friend or neighbor; we have witnessed them and they have disrupted our lives in so many ways. We have certainly seen the worst that human beings are capable of, but can also attest to extraordinary acts of kindness and solidarity.

There is a general consensus among leading Venezuelan economists about the measures that would place the country on a path to recovery, including unifying the exchange rate, eliminating dysfunctional price controls and diversifying the economy away from oil; in the short term, an orderly debt restructuring and significant foreign assistance would be needed. But to do so, Maduro would have to introduce massive economic reforms and seek emergency assistance from “capitalists” financial institutions which are “responsible for the hunger of the people”, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In short, he would have to abandon the socialist economic model betraying Chávez’s legacy, something he is not willing to do. Instead, the government blames the financial crisis on an “economic war” being waged by private business interests and the CIA in conspiracy with local media. In short, blame everyone but yourself. Meanwhile, we have seen the creation of the Vice-Ministry of the Supreme Social Happiness of the People and the explicit prohibition of mentioning the words “dictatorship” and “disobedience” in the mass media. If the situation was not so tragic, these things should be the subject of jokes.

It is worth noticing that the insufficiency of funds has not prevented Maduro’s regime from faithfully supplying subsidized oil to Cuba (around 70,000 bpd) and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on military and riot-control equipment supplied mainly by China and Russia. Evidently, the government’s priorities are far removed from those of the people of Venezuela.

Under the current circumstances, there is really no chance of negotiating or having a credible dialogue with the regime, as was shown last December when Vatican-sponsored talks between government and the opposition coalition were used by the former to buy time and cheat. We are being governed by radicals and opportunists who are blinded by their outdated ideology or their ambitions and are willing to ignore the suffering of the common people to pursue their own interests. Their only concern is to remain in power and avoid criminal justice.

Civil resistance to force Maduro to call elections is our only option. We confront a government that has ceased to act responsibly so this crusade is going to be long and full of difficulties. With dwindling support, the regime understands that only violence can assure its hold on power. Protesters are being arrested and prosecuted by military tribunals, a practice prohibited by the Constitution. Once incarcerated, they are treated like criminals and exposed to torture or degrading treatment. Three weeks ago Maduro announced plans to expand armed civilian militias.

As a result of direct censorship or self-censorship, local television networks have provided almost no live coverage of the social unrest and have not broadcast the press conferences of the opposition in sharp contrast with government events that have received broad coverage. People have turned to international news channels or to social media for information; regretfully, in rural areas only 20% of the population has access to the internet. Of course, the protests are just an expression of a much more widespread crisis. The truth is that many of the worst-off Venezuelans are too poor and too hungry to protest, even if they wanted to.

It’s very difficult to grasp the idea that a country right in the middle of the Americas and in the midst of the 21st century is at risk of becoming a totalitarian communist state. But that is exactly what could happen if Venezuelan society, with the help of other democratic governments in the region, does not stand united in its determination to stop Maduro’s delirious project.

Fortunately, there are still many reasons for hope. Maduro’s actions are opening up fissures in his “Chavista” movement. Three army lieutenants have sought asylum in Colombia and dozens of officers have been detained for expressing discontent with the actions of the National Guard. The once-loyal Attorney General, several retired generals and former agencies’ directors have criticized the judicial coup against the legislature. More recently, two magistrates of the Supreme Court expressed their disagreement with the popular assembly being carried on by the regime.

We should also remember that Venezuela is home to a multiethnic society with a rich cultural heritage and a deeply rooted Christian and democratic tradition. It’s among the most urbanized countries in Latin America and its people have an entrepreneurial spirit and one of the highest literacy rates in the region. Considered a mega diverse country, it’s over twice the size of California and has one of the world’s largest oil reserves. We have many bright, talented and courageous people who are leading the unified national movement that seeks to recover our rights, rebuild the economy and leave a better future for our children. It won’t be so easy to turn Venezuela into a communist dictatorship.

Some reflections

In the 19th century, Simón Bolívar “El Libertador” led the Venezuelan armies to fight against Spanish colonialism to liberate our own country first and then our neighbors Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. His name has been corrupted by this miscalled Bolivarian Revolution which has kidnapped his memory, quotes and symbols, but has nothing to do with his values and immortal legacy. Now it is up to us to liberate again our country, this time from the yoke of Castro-communism.

When we look at the present situation, we realize that the notions of private property, free enterprise and limited government intervention, human dignity and democracy are essential to build a wealthy and virtuous society. Spreading and promoting these values, is an irreplaceable contribution to make the world a better place to live in. None of these values should be taken for granted (as we once did) they need to be cultivated and protected. What is happening in Venezuela is an unfortunate real-time lesson that could also happen in many other countries, particularly in those most vulnerable where inequality and corruption create ideal conditions for the emergence of populism.

One of the most shocking things we have witnessed through these years is the deliberate distortion of history and truth for ideological and political purposes through massive propaganda and media manipulation. Certainly, the most susceptible to this are those who, because of lack of opportunities, remain in ignorance. Education is the only way to immunize society against these evils. Again, this makes us appreciate even more the work being carried out by your institution.

There are some lessons we have learned the hard way. First of all, that Democracy is much more than holding frequent elections. Legitimacy of origin through citizens’ vote is a necessary condition but it is not enough. It must be followed by legitimacy of exercise, including separation of powers, rule of law, accountability, freedom of speech and respect for human rights. Chávez and Maduro were both democratically-elected presidents, but used their popularity and power to systematically undermine fragile democratic institutions from within. The use of sophisticated methods to do so has made it difficult to define when democracy ends and dictatorship begins.

Do you want to neutralize a TV station critical of the government? Make it economically unviable by imposing fines and penalties so that later it can be purchased by a government friendly businessman. Do you need to get rid of an independent radio station? Just refuse to renew its expired transmission license alleging “administrative irregularities”. Are you afraid of losing an election? Accuse your opponent of embezzlement of funds, banning him or her from participating. Do you want to prevent an opposition congressman from attending an international conference? No problem, confiscate his or her passport at the airport stating that it has been reported as stolen. Are you uncomfortable with the editorial line of a widely circulated newspaper? Simple, reduce to a minimum its supply of printing paper (which you control) until it changes into a pro-government position. Perhaps, at the international level, you are afraid of losing the political support of a neighboring government. This can also be solved by sending an additional shipment of free oil to that country. These examples represent the antithesis of a just society that, according to the respected Spanish philosopher José A. Marina, is one in which you don’t have to act immorally to solve political problems.

We have also learned that, no matter how rich in natural resources a country may be, if the revenues obtained through their exploitation are not prudently managed to promote productive investment, that country will remain mired in poverty and backwardness. This is particularly true in the case of oil wealth, which in the wrong hands can be a curse to sustained economic development. Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, a prominent Venezuelan politician primarily responsible for the creation of OPEC, famously called petroleum, “The Devil’s Excrement”. Also coming to our minds are the words of another Venezuelan intellectual, Arturo Uslar Pietri, who coined the well-known phrase, “We must saw the oil in Venezuela” as far back as 1936. Regretfully, it seems that these wise men were not heard as they should, given that today Venezuela has become a chronic example of the so-called Dutch disease. In addition, our endless list of economic distortions have become textbook examples to illustrate the pernicious effects of government meddling in the economy and, specially, of price controls.

Much has already been destroyed in Venezuela. Multinational corporations have been forced to leave the country or reduce operations to a bare minimum and thousands of local private companies and small businesses have closed. We are becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world: every so often we hear of another international airline that has decided to stop flying here because routes have become unprofitable; last April 26th the Foreign Minister declared that the country is withdrawing from the Organization of American States in anger at pressure from the bloc over the government’s handling of the political crisis.

Since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, nearly two million people (6% of the population) have emigrated. At the beginning, they were mostly young professionals looking for opportunities who, nowadays, have been joined by all kinds of people including peasants and poverty-stricken people who cross the border into Colombia or Brazil. Frankly, from the moment Chávez announced the Bolivarian Revolution we knew that the country was headed in the wrong direction, but we never imagined that the situation would become so dire.

When we look for news about our country in the international media, sadly, its name appears alongside terms like “failed state”, “socialist hell”, “pariah country” and even “slow motion apocalypse” instead of positive aspects (which by the way are still many). Seeing Venezuela among the highest-ranked countries in indexes such as corruption, violence and inflation on the one hand and among the lowest-ranked in property rights, competitiveness and press freedom on the other is truly disheartening. In the end, this is really an amazing country, blessed with immense natural resources and inhabited by wonderful people. It’s just that it has been kidnapped by an unscrupulous economic and political elite which runs the country as it pleases.

We feel somehow ashamed to present such a bleak picture of our country and its long list of calamities. But we wanted to show you how miserable our daily life has become and to explain why we are so desperate to remove this regime from office. These days we are full of anger, frustration, helplessness and fear. Perhaps, the most difficult part is the anxiety of not knowing how this situation will ultimately unfold. But we also have a deep faith in God, Master of History, and feel confident that justice and truth will always prevail.

We thank you very much for taking your valuable time to read these notes and giving us a window to express and share our concerns. We count on your prayers and, if it were possible, would like to ask you to help us expose the true nature of Maduro’s regime and denounce its criminal behavior, so as to let the world know what is happening here and help us save democracy in Venezuela.

Creating a Canon and Schema for Art for the Churches of the Roman Rite

This is a long essay in which I explore how we might create something that as yet does not exist - a canon of sacred art for churches of the Roman Rite; and a set of principles that will guide us on how to arrange them in a coherent schema that is integrated with worship. (For a deeper understanding of the place of art in the Church, I recommend Pontifex University's Master's in Sacred Arts, which is open for registration.) I present this essay in five themes after an introduction:

1. Scripture
2. The texts of the liturgy and an examination of how the Byzantine liturgies relate their liturgical texts so as to inform the approach taken in the Roman Rite.
3. Liturgical Action - how we can change the way we worship, in accordance with existing rubrics and Tradition so as to engage with visual imagery more directly.
4. Catechesis - how we teach congregations to understand what they are seeing so that it they are able to engage with the art naturally during the course of their worship.
5. Architecture - consideration of how the architecture ought to reflect 

Introduction

Anyone who has ever read a book on Eastern icons will know that the Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox Churches have a well established way of arranging the icons in their church. Not only are there clear directions on who or what to paint and what style to paint it in, they also know exactly where they are supposed to put each piece of sacred art in their churches. Furthermore it is clearly understood how each image relates to every other, and how each person ought to engage with each piece of art in the course of the liturgy itself.

So for example when the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington DC put out a call for icon painters, a couple of years ago, they did so in accord with this tradition. In my understanding, the rules are not absolutely rigid; most Eastern Rite churches will conform to this while accomodating some aspects that are particular to the church community - the patron saint of the church for example.

What should we do in the Roman Rite? I know of no established schema with anything like canonical status. The Church's guidelines, (for example, the GIRM, Canon Law and in the US a booklet produced by the bishops called Built in the Living Stone) offer suggestions as to the broadest principles for choice of art, but aside from asserting the centrality of the crucifixion and images of Our Lady and the saints we are offered by little specific regarding what images particularly are appropriate. I do not quarrel with the single word of these documents, but I do think we need more.

This being so it then it raises the question: what might the ordering principles be for establishing such a schema be? Tradition and the innate sense of what is appropriate would have guided the patrons in the past, and for centuries this worked well. Now things are different. We have had our own iconoclastic period which has left us disconnected from tradition in so many ways and I think that now some analysis of basic principles and a look at past practices would help us to reestablish a proper ordering of the images in our churches,

My hope is not that a set of rigid rules will be drawn up, but rather a set of more detailed principles and recommendations by which a pattern of art can be drawn up that would be in accord with tradition, would reflect authentic liturgical praxis and would also be particular to the congregation for whom it is primarily intended. I could imagine a whole series of different schema might develop that are all consistent with these principles.

We can take heart in this from the example of the Eastern Church, which did much scholarship in the 20th century to reestablish the iconographic tradition as a living tradition and to present a coherent account of traditional practices. As a result in a relatively short time church architecture and art is flourishing in the Eastern Rite so that in Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox Churches today, there is the self confidence and know-how to create churches and art that are as splendid as any in the past. We can do this in the Roman Church as well if we wish to.

Here are the points that occur to me. The following is presented as start not an exhaustive analysis - rather it is a starting point from which I hope a discussion might develop:

First we need a study of scripture so that we understand the Old Testament types and the New Testament basis of the sacraments and the liturgy. This will focus particularly on the Rites of Initition - Baptism and Confirmation - and the Eucharist.

Second is a study of the texts and meanings of the words of the Rites and especially the Mass and, in the context of the Mass, I suggest, the Roman Canon. This is what will create a characteristically Roman template.

Third is to study the example of the Eastern Rites and see how their imagery is connected to the Divine Liturgy with a view to understanding how this can be done well in the West too. While we do not want simply to copy an iconostasis template, there is much to be learned by studying the principles by which it is ordered.

Fourth, in the light of all of the above, we should study the examples of past Roman churches so that we can understand why things were done as they were. This is not always easy as images are moved and replaced over time. Perhaps ancient mosaics and wall paintings are the most reliable indicators of past practice in this regard.

Fifth is liturgical action: we need to re-develop a way of participating in the liturgy that encourages engagement with art in harmony with the highest end to which our worship is directed, so that the art actually influences our Faith through the activity of worshipping God.

Sixth is to explain what we are doing and make any symbolism obvious and easily understood, not obscure. The goal of art is to reveal truth, not to mystify or create mystique unnecessarily.

Seventh is architecture - we should understand how the architecture ought to be in harmony with the church's role, primarily, as a place for worship; and secondarily and connected to that, to display art that supports that worship.

1. Scripture

I have recently attended a series of online scripture courses that are designed to connect the traditional imagery of the Church to its scriptural roots and to the liturgy. This has been an eye-opener for me. The books that the course relied upon, apart from the Bible, were, The Bible and the Liturgy by Fr Jean Danielou; and Baptismal Imagery in Early Christianity by Robin Jensen and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

As part of that course it became clear to me that there is a need for general re-ordering of the rites of initiation so that Baptism, Confirmation/Chrismation and their culmination in the Eucharist are understood and connected in people's minds. It will be difficult to create a pattern of art ordered to these, if their meaning is misunderstood by most people who go through it because of this misplaced order. We have just heard about how this change was instituted in the Manchester NH diocese by His Excellency, Bishop Libasci. I understand that there are now 11 dioceses in the United States which have done this.

Also, it seems to me, these rites would be better done in connection with regular Sunday liturgies rather than quietly on a Saturday morning (as they still are for adults at the Easter vigil). Then the whole community of the parish will welcome a new member into the body of Christ and be re-catechised each time these and the Mass are celebrated. This is how an effective and ongoing mystogogy - a deepening of the mysteries - might happen.

The art will teach people about the meaning of these sacraments by giving a pictorial commentary on what is happening and for much of this, scripture will be the source. There is hardly a passage in the Old Testament that in some way doesn't anticipate what happened in the New, and there is so much of the New that relates in some way to these three sacraments.

It is often said that the images of traditional churches, for example the stained glass windows of gothic churches, and were intended as scriptures in images - effectively Bible lessons for those who cannot read. I doubt this. Images in churches should be chosen not to direct our attention to the Bible, but rather to focus our attention on the liturgy. The goal of art in a church is to give understanding about what happens in the church primarily - the worship of God. Certainly many of the images are rooted in scripture, and those who understand what they are seeing would know and understand scripture too; but art reflects scripture, because the Bible is, fundamentally, a liturgical document; that is to say, that the books of the Bible, especially in the case of those in the NT, were written to be read and heard in the context of the liturgical celebration of their intended audience. (For more on this, see the recent publications of Rev. John Paul Heil, Chair of NT at Catholic University, DC). Furthermore, it contains the blueprint for the sacraments and the Christian life which is lived in its fullest in the liturgy. The scriptural art is in church, therefore, not to instruct us in scripture as an end (unless you are protestant). Rather, it is to offer an alternative account of the same truths which are in the Bible and are relevant to the liturgy.

And that is why one will see in addition many images which are liturgical, but not scriptural. For example the many of the images of saints such as those referred to in the Roman Canon or whose feast days are celebrated. Their presence through the year tells us that they are worshipping with us in the heavenly liturgy and reflects the pattern of feasts and commemorations within the liturgical calendar when they will be a focus for prayer. Also images relating to many feasts are a visual accounts of a theology which is more than a strict narrative of a biblical passage and will be derived from other aspects of Tradition as well.

This being so, one might ask why do I stress scripture so strongly ,why not just catechise directly on the meaning of the liturgy? The answer lies in identifying our worship as a living out of the story of salvation that scripture tells. As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I recently read Fr Robert Taft’s book, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West, in which he makes the point that in order to profit from praying the liturgy as a whole, including the Hours:

...one must be a person who prays and whose life is penetrated with the Scriptures. The Bible is a story of God’s ceaseless calling, drawing, gathering and of his people’s constant waywardness. And the Fathers and monks of the early Church, in their meditation on this ever-repeated story, know that they were Abraham, they were Moses. They were called forth out of Egypt. They were given a covenant. They knew the wandering across the desert to the Promised Land was the pilgrimage of their life too. The several levels of Israel, Christ, Church, us, are always there. And the themes of redemption, of exodus, of desert and faithful remnant and exile, of the Promised Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem, are all metaphors of the spiritual saga of our own lives. (p. 371)

In my opinion it has been the general inability of creative Catholics to connect this grand drama that is revealed in scripture and the liturgy to each personal story lived out by non-Catholics in wider society that is so much of the cause of the general separation of contemporary culture from the culture of Faith. This divide is described by Benedict XVI in the Spirit of the Liturgy and if we are to accept his analysis, has existed for about 200 years at least.. Every aspect of human activity and hence the culture can potentially be penetrated, to use Taft's word, by the scriptures but people can't give away what they haven't got. Artists, dramatists, composers and writers need to be catechised so that they grasp this and are able to infuse their work, albeit obviously or subtly, with this message so that it connects with those whom we wish to evangelize.

Within the books of the Bible, there should be a special emphasis on Genesis:

Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning": creation, fall, and promise of salvation.(CCC 289)

Artist, patrons and priests, therefore, must understand the ultimate end of both scripture and holy images in the liturgy. When this is done then the church can be adorned, floor to ceiling (including both floor and ceiling) with images that are united to the worship of God. There is no distraction if it is all derived from and points to the liturgy. There is a place for non-liturgical, devotional art, too, but it should never be such that it dominates or detracts from that which is directly connected to the liturgy. It was the overabundance of devotional imagery in the period before the Council, I suggest, that led to a desire to strip much of the art away. Unfortunately this was overzealously implemented!

In regard to the place of scripture, consider the schema for the baptistry in Florence for example. It is Romanesque, built in the 11th and 12th centuries. The building itself is octagonal which reflects the symbolism of Christ as the 8th day of creation. It is adorned with sybolic geometric art and in the interior the dome has a complex schema that reflects the bibilical types of the sacrament.

Plan of the mosaic ceiling : 1. Last Judgement. 2. Lantern. 3. Choirs of Angels. 4. Stories from the Book of Genesis. 5. Stories of Joseph. 6. Stories of Mary and Christ. 7. Stories of St. John the Baptist.

This is only part of it, for the doors of the Baptistry - perhaps even more famous than the building they were made for - also reflect a whole series of scenes from the Old and New Testament. You can read about this on the Wikipedia entry for the Baptistry, from which all the above images come from. There is more information on how baptistries in the early Church were decorated from Robin Jensen's excellent book Baptismal Imagery in the Early Church.

I do not suggest that the baptistry should always be a separate building, but it should at least be a separate place, perhaps close to the entrance of the church, so that after baptisms there might be, perhaps, a procession to the main body of the church building.

There are equivalent types and narratives rooted in scripture that could be the basis for imagery for Confirmation - for example those relating to the Holy Spirit; and to the Eucharist as well and these, especially the latter, should adorn the main body of the Church.

2. The texts of the liturgy

As I write this I have just returned from a short visit to the Norbertine Canons Regular at St Michael's Abbey in Orange County, CA. I was talking about this topic with them and one of their seminarians made the point that the Roman Canon ought to be a crucial. I realised that this is the text, perhaps more than any other, that will characterize the Roman liturgy and will contribute its distinctive imagery, differentiating it from other Rites. The saints and the particular OT archetypes referred to in the text could be portrayed pictorially. For example here is a 6th century mosaic of the three sacrifices, Abel, Melchizadek and Abraham which is at Sant'Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna.

3. Looking East - Study of the Byzantine Churches.

I suggest that the schema for iconostases should be studied in such a way that we can understand how they are formed by the liturgy. I would be looking at the images contained and also their relative positions so that it enables the worshippers to interract with saints portrayed and be engaged with the mysteries represented.

To take just one example that was pointed out to me recently by Melkite priest, Fr Sebastian Carnazzo of St Elias Melkite Catholic Church: at the centre of the iconostasis are the Royal Doors which are opened periodically during the Divine Liturgy. On these will be, typically, icons that show the Annunciation.:

By this Mary, the Mother of God becomes the portal, so to speak through which the Word is made flesh. The image above is a modern example which is at a church in St Petersburg, and which is based on a 14th century Greek image (with the addition of peacocks which symbolize eternal life). When the doors are opened, we see the altar and so the two are connected in our minds. I found the image below of Holy Ressurection Melkite Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio. The large image of the Mother of God, now behind the altar reinforces the point that her Son is between us. There is no image of the Easter Resurrection itself, the Ressurected Christ is visible however, and is seen with the eyes of Faith on the altar.

4. Study the Western tradition in the light of what we learn.

In parallel with this study we should look at examples of schema of the West, where they exist, and look for similarities and differences and try to account for them. Consider now, for example, the Ghent altarpiece from the 15th century. This is a reredos and so in contrast to the above, it would have been situated behind the altar and not in front of it.

Nevertheless there are similarities. It too has doors. When closed it looks like this:

So we see that here too the Annunciation is the dominating image. As well as the prophets and patrons, there are St John the Baptist who saw proclaimed the Lamb of God and St John the Evangelist who described the moment in his gospel.

When the doors of the reredos are opened then this is the scene is revealed

Just as with the iconostasis the doors open to reveal the altar with the lamb, except this is presented pictorially so as to highlight what is happening in front of it, on the altar in the church. We now see Our Lady as the Queen Mother and John the Baptist flanking Christ in Glory, who is the 'image of the Father'. For a more detailed analysis of this you can see my article on the Ghent altarpiece in the Adoremus Bulletin of  March 2016. Incidentally, notice how, top left and top right we have the sacrfice by and the killing of Abel, in monochrome.

Two of the Marian anthems sung after Compline, for Advent (and Christmas to Epiphany) and Lent, the seasons of anticipation of the coming of the Lord and of his Resurrection speak directly of Mary as the doorway - the door of morning, and heaven's gateway. I wonder if this connection was made with this painting by the congregations of 15th century Ghent?

The reredos will not have been the only set of images in the church. Most likely a rood screen was in front of the altar and that will have had the crucifixion. This highlights one difficulty of studying past schema - paintings are moved or destroyed and so we don't know what was there originally. Mosaics might be the best indication we have. We know only too well today, that churches are constantly re-ordered and if you look at many it will very likely offer an assortment of art which reflects the favorite devotions and taste of the last pastor or patron and will not be an indication of tradition.

5. Liturgical action

One thing that has always struck me about the way that Eastern Rite Catholics worship is the more active engagement with the images during the liturgy itself. Attention sways to left and right as the Mother of God or Christ or the Patron Saint are addressed through their icons.

Many Roman Catholics do not have the facility of worshipping in conjunction with images in the way that one might see in an Eastern liturgy. I don't know what is cause and what is effect here. It might be that the style of worship for a long time - the last couple of centuries perhaps - has been such that there is so little engagement with the art that there has been little point in having many liturgical images; or it might be that the emphasis on devotional imagery in churches has meant that the liturgy itself has becone disengaged from its surroundings because there was less and less to opportunity engage with art during worship.

Regardless of the reason, we have a situation today where even if great care is taken to choose beautiful, high quality art, and even if the liturgy is celebrated well, there is rarely a connection between art and worship. The art and architecture becomes at best a beautiful backdrop which creates and atmosphere that is appopriate to what is going on, rather than an integral part of a beautiful and gracefully liturgical 'machine' in motion.

I suggest that thought needs to be given to how we can adapt the celebration of the Mass so that there is greater engagement. Clearly this needs to be done with care and I would hesitate myself to make many suggests as to exactly what could be done during the Mass itself. I would rather leave that to liturgical specialist.

I do offer a few throughts for consideration, however. For example, the  Eastern practice of putting out an icon of the Feast of the day and readings could be adopted so that all see it as they come into the church. Then, perhaps on processing in and out of the Church this could be incensed and venerated. The homilist could reinforce this by referring to the image - 'this is why we venerated it when we came in' and 'this is why we will when we go out'. Furthermore there could be processions round the church building itself before or after Mass at which the images appropriate to the liturgical calendar are venerated and incensed. Congregations would develop the habit of noting which images were appropriate to any particular day and those thoughts would be with them during the Mass proper so that at the mention of, for example, the saint of the day during the Collect they would instinctively turn to look at the image.

I have pointed out in the past how I do not see how any artist can realistically expect to paint art that connects with prayer if he is not habitually praying with art himself. With this in mind I have tried to develop the habit myself during Mass of turning to face the statue or painting of the saint at the moment he or she is named audibly. Similarly, if we are addressing the Father in prayer, as in the Our Father, I try to remember look at the image of Christ, so that I address my prayer to the Father through the Son, the 'image of the invisible God', in the Spirit.

I have an icon corner at home so that when I pray the liturgy of the hours, I do so in conjunction with visual imagery. The book, the Little Oratory was written so as to develop in lay people this habit of engaging with visual imagery in the context of the liturgy in the hope that they might subsequently bring this habit with them when they pray the Mass.

Catechesis

There is something else that I would ask from artists and patrons. Don't make the symbolism of your art obscure. Liturgical art is supposed to clarify, not mystify. If someone ever wrote an article on the hidden meaning of my art (while being flattered that it should merit such interest) I would also be dismayed. I don't want meanings to be hidden. I want them to be apparent. So artists, I say to you give as much information as you can on the painting to instruct people as to why it is there. This goes against the grain for many artsy creative types. In my experience they don't like giving explanations on the meaning of their works, preferring to keep it hidden behind a shroud of mystery and ambiguity in order to maintain an aura of intellectual aloofness. I say in this context, we want clarity and transparency. If necessary, add script to the image in the spoken language of those who will see it; and supply an explanation to the patron. For example, write scripture quotes, or at least, references and titles not just of the image as a whole, but also of its constituent parts. Take just one small example - this wonderful painting of the Baptism of Christ which is appropriate for a baptistry:

There could be perhaps, for the modern Roman Catholic congregation even more script I suggest. The axe and the tree are there to reflect the words of John the Baptist “And now also the ax is laid to the root of the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Matt 3:10). Perhaps the biblical reference, at least, could be placed next to the symbol. Also the personifications of the River Jordan and the Red Sea are there to connect this moment to the parting of the Red Sea and the parting of Jordan when Joshua (an alternative translation of the name Jesus) entered the Promised Land. These events are the bookends of the flight from Egypt and so are connected to each other and to this event, which is the fulfillment of that journey. The names Red Sea and River Jordan could be written next to them; as well, perhaps as a reference to Psalm 113:1-7:

1 When Israel came out of Egypt, and the sons of Jacob heard no more a strange language,

2 the Lord took Juda for his sanctuary, Israel for his own dominion.

3 The seas fled at the sight they witnessed, backward flowed the stream of Jordan;

4 up leapt, like rams, the startled mountains, up leapt the hills, like yearling sheep.

5 What ailed you, seas, that you fled in terror, Jordan’s stream, what drove thee back?

6 Why did you leap up like rams, you mountains, leap up, you hills, like yearling sheep?

7 Let earth thrill at its Master’s presence; it is he that comes, the God of Jacob,

8 who turned the rock into pools of water, the flint-stone into a springing well.

Then people are more likely to understand that the earth thrills because by his Baptism, Christ has sacramentalized, so to speak, the spring waters that eminate from the rock, which is the Church, and by which our baptism will purify as we die spiritually with Christ, to be spiritually resurrected, in Christ, in Confirmation.

If you look at details of the Ghent altarpiece, above, for example, you will find many painted excerpts from scripture. I suggest that today's Catholic needs more help than his 15th century counterpart...I know I do! So today we should see more writing on our pictures, not less.

As a result potentially, every member of a parish church would become a catechist and an evangelist who could give the neophyte or  visitor a tour of the church through which, by referring to and explaining the images, he would be explaining the essential elements of the Faith.

Architecture

Recently I was given a explanation of the design of the gothic cathedral at Salisbury in England in which it was pointed out that it was unusual for a non-monastic church to have a covered cloister. It was there, I was told because of the special nature of the Sarum liturgy, which originated in Salisbury (Sarum being the old name for Salisbury). It had many processions and the cloister was the place of procession - a covered walkway built with the English rain in mind! It occurred to me that as liturgical action develops so as to engage art, this will not only effect the style of art, the content of the images and the combination of images we see in churches, it will also affect the architecture of newly built churches just as the Sarum liturgy affected the design of this gothic cathedral. Perhaps if processions are the way, we might see a re-emergence of the cloister or covered walkway. then we could have a planted garden of Eden in the quadrangle. People would see it as they proces into the church where they will be greeted with a pictorial, architectural and musical rendition of the New Jerusalam and paradise restored. Alternatively we might see new but liturgically authentic architectural developments that characterize our age that are previously unimagined.

For those who are interested in knowing more, the curriculum of Pontifex University's Masters in Sacred Arts is designed with these principles in mind. The Pontifex MSA gives its students the scripture knowledge and understanding of liturgical principles in relation to visual imagery by which, we hope, the new schema will emerge.

Appendix: existing guidelines on art.

The GIRM

318. In the earthly Liturgy, the Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem, toward which she journeys as a pilgrim, and where Christ is seated at the right hand of God; and by venerating the memory of the Saints, she hopes one day to have some share and fellowship with them.[131] Thus, in sacred buildings images of the Lord, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saints, in accordance with most ancient tradition of the Church, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful[132] and should be so arranged so as to lead the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there. Care should, therefore, be taken that their number not be increased indiscriminately, and moreover that they be arranged in proper order so as not to draw the attention of the faithful to themselves and away from the celebration itself.[133] There should usually be only one image of any given Saint. Generally speaking, in the ornamentation and arrangement of a church, as far as images are concerned, provision should be made for the devotion of the entire community as well as for the beauty and dignity of the images.

Canon Law re Sacred Images, 1186-1190, here.

In the US: Built in the Living Stone., Chapter Three

David Clayton to Lead Vespers and Speaking at Newman Hall, Berkeley CA, April 24, 7pm

I will be leading a Vespers and giving a talk at the chapel of Newman Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on April 24th at 7pm. There will be an explanation beforehand that will help all who attend to join in the singing of the psalms and for those who are really interested, there will be a practice session on the previous Monday, April 17th at the same time and place. No one need be daunted by this. Anyone who is capable of singing in the shower without being frightened by the sound of their own voice (which means you!) has the necessary singing ability! ​The Church tells us that the purpose of the Divine Office and the singing of the psalms is to 'sanctify the day'. ​This is a chanted vespers based on the ancient traditions of both the Christian East and West in a format especially created for lay people. ​Afterwards, I give a talk in which I will explain ​on how comfortably ​to incorporate ​the Divine Office​ into ​a busy routine​ and to take it back into your home to create a domestic Church - whether your home is with your family, or a shared student house or even a dorm room! I will also talk about why this is so worth doing! This is the prayer, the Church tells us, that according to Christian mysticism opens us up most powerfully to inspiration and guidance during the day in all we do  - including work and personal study - and offers us the chance of supernatural transformation, divine wisdom and a joyful life in Christ.  

The Apostolic Blueprint for a Parish, the Model of Christian Community in the Modern Age

There is lots of discussion today about the loss of community and how our parishes, even those that seem well attended, don't seem to be the beating heart of an authentic Christian community any more, as they ought to be.

A common response is to look to the monastic model as an antidote. My sense is that the current interest in the much vaunted Benedict Option, in which hope for the West is placed in a Benedictine led spiritual revival is as much about fulfilling a desire for Christian community as it is for the transformation of the culture. Others have painted a picture of the medieval village with its houses clustered around the monastery as the families walk to Vespers in the gothic abbey church.

The disadvantage for such an arrangement can be that the spiritual heart is a religious community which, by its nature, is separated from the rest of the world and therefore also from the lay people who identify themselves as part of the lay extension of that community. This is not an insurmountable problem and there is nothing wrong with this if those involved don't mind this and if the fruits of it are positive, but given the low number and often the remoteness of monastic communities, even if we put aside the difficulties, it isn't a realistic option for most until they can retire to rural France...or Oklahoma..or wherever it may be.

I have seen people try to create lay communities of working people and their families by trying to encourage those who join to live a compound of homes where all subscribe to some modified Benedictine rule. The drawback here is that it is difficult to overcome the conflict between the demands of community and of family life - there is often a tension between the two. Some seem to manage it, but others in extreme cases can have a cultish feel to them. Such communities are by necessity strongly heirarchial if they are to avoid falling into anarchy - ultimately someone or a small group of people are in charge over decisions in daily living that effect others - this immediately creates conflict because that community authority or influence will tend interfere with, or even undermine, the natural authority of parents in the family.

Such a conflict rarely arises in parish life because beyond attendance, the parish itself does not impose rules at all beyond what the Church as a whole requires. There is no rule for parish life, that I am aware of, in the way that there are rules for religious communities. But this is also the source of a weakness for the parish as a basis of community. The connection is usually so loose that it is rare, nowadays at least, for people to feel bound to it at all.

This is where the need for a set of principles for parish community might come useful and this is what I heard described recently.

St Elias Melkite Catholic Church, in Los Gatos, California had their annual visit from the bishop, Most Reverend Nicholas J. Samra Eparchial Bishop of Newton recently. I attended Vespers and beforehand he spoke encouraging words, exercising his pastorial role as Bishop. The subject of his talk was how a parish can be a genuine community or as a put it, part of the Church and not simply a social club.

He began by going back to scripture and in particular he analysed the growth of the early Church as described by the Acts of the Apostles. He pointed out how the descriptions of the early gatherings seemed to point to four ministries that we should replicate today.

First (of course!) worship: Divine Liturgy (or Mass) and the Divine Office in the Church. Then he spoke of the need to take that worship back into the home by the establishment of the Domestic Church where the occupants of a house (not always families, this can be people living on their own or single people sharing somewhere) pray the Divine Office to their icon corner. St Elias's pastor, Fr Sebastian Carnazzo has produced free booklets which he gives to everyone who walks into the church called Daily Prayer for Melkites. This give a simple stripped down version of the more complex, monastic derived full Morning and Evening Prayer, which families can do and by which they participate in the fuller monastic influenced form that a church might do at Vespers or Orthros. In doing this they are dispersing the liturgy across time and space and taking the Church out to their homes.

Second is social - he talked of the regular organization of social events and especially meals connected to the worship and how newcomers should be spotted and invited to attend the coffee social/meal after the Liturgy. Again, this structure of communal meals after worship can be replicated in the home. There is something wonderful about a social event in a home which is Vespers followed by a meal. He spoke also of how an apparently thriving parish can, detrimentally, also have this social element emphasized at the expense of the others so creating a social club and not a church. In the long run a parish that does this will die. When it is done properly, the hope will be that this will naturally generate friendships and social cohesion beyond the church, so creating a social fellowship amongst the parish community which supplements and derives its strength from those parish based social events and ultimately the fellowship of the Spirit and the liturgy.

Third is education. He spoke of how great a need there is for constant mystagogy of adults and instruction of the children and that churches should hold classes for both. The children, he said, should be instructed in the church, in the ideal, by a couple so that it establishes as a habit in the children the practice of looking to parents in the home for education and instruction. And that, of course, is the next step here - the education of the children in the home by the parents.

Fourth is charity - almsgiving. This is the spirit of love by which people donate time and money for the care of others in the church, in the community and beyond. Some of that time will be spent in contributing freely to ministries that provide these four parish functions. Again, we see the model being set in the parish, and then supernatural transformation of those involved so that they take their enhanced capacity to love out to their fellows. This dispersed charity, if I can call it that, participates in that which should be at its greatest in the parish.

Bishop Nicholas suggested that apart from the functions that are necessarily performed by a priest, these are ministries that lay people should take responsibility for. And in the ideal they will never be onerous for anyone. As he described it, this is a natural organization of community and each of us has charism that suits us to work within one form or another of these ministries. In short, we are made to be members of the Church and if not religious, very likely part of a parish, so when we find our natural niche by which we contribute most powerfully to parish life, we will flourish in a special way as part of it. This would be a true flowering of a liturgically centered 'charismatic' movement. Furthermore when you have people who are doing what comes naturally to them as part of these ministries, then we shine with the light of Christ and people will see something in us, and this will in turn attract them to parish life.

What he was presenting was a simple 'rule' for parish life. A set of guidelines by which if the congregation chooses to participate is likely to lead the establishment of a thriving church which can happen in cities and town wherever church and the population happen to be; and when each is in place the fifth element occurs spontaneously - evangelization.

He was in fact outlining a simple template for the project management of the new evangelization!...which is the same as the old evangelization, and is in fact the oldest evangelization.

It occured to me also, that this is a possible pattern for communities that are not monastic but perhaps bound together in some other way. Little neighborhood groups of families and single people - maybe in an apartment block - can each have their own domestic churches in their separate home and apartments, but then gather together from time to time as little parish sub-communities gathering in the home of one, reinforcing this parish template for community in all.

I think this may be a practical answer to the desire for community in modern man. Most of us are meant to be parish people, not monastic people (which is a special calling) and when life is organized on the pattern of the ideal pattern we will flourish and evangelize others.

The more it is replicated outside the church in different social groups the more it will create a bond of community for that particular grouping, while simultaneously priming those who have never been to church for participation in the parish community; and further developing the bond to it in those who already have a parish life.

Amongst those who are thinking about the decline of community and Christian culture in the West there is a tendency to assume that the establishemnt of the post-Enlightenment model of a city is the one of the culprits - perhaps industrialization and electronic communication, and the existence of giant connurbations of millions of people is part of the problem. This is the back-to-the-land, recreate-a-village outlook. There may be something to this, but I do wonder sometimes if this is not based upon an idealized view of what villages and working on the land used to be like. My instincts tell me that the sense of alienation arises not so much from the environment, as it much is within the person who is alienated. If I feel alienated then I must become more of a community person; it is by offering fellowship and community to others that I feel part of a community myself. This therefore, can happen wherever there are people. I should redirect my work into an effort to participate in the church-as-community in the fullest sense.

Again, this doesn't mean that we all need to live in a village or even within walking distance of our local church; that parish community can be dispersed quite wide permeating a wider population base and still be strong. The old maxim - you get what you give - seems to be the operating principle here and in a city there always people nearby to whom I can offer community. Regardless of whether or not they accept it, I will change in the effort to bring it to them. Certainly, I should admit, Bishop Nicholas's address made me ask a few questions of myself.

The paintings are all by LS Lowry, who made his name painting the industrial landscapes of the mill towns in Greater Manchester in England after the Second World War.

Talk in Louisville, KY, Saturday, April 8th

For any who are interested and are within striking distance of Lousiville, I am will be speaking at the Immaculata Classical Academy this coming Saturday evening at 7pm as part of their speaker series. Details can be found on the poster below. Hope to see some of you there.

Literature, History and the Human Story as Manifested in the Culture

I recently heard a lecture as part of his Pontifex Univeristy class entitled The Bible and the Liturgy, given by Fr Sebastian Carnazzo, in which he explains how the Bible is primarily a liturgical document. This is an inspiring class that, for me, connects the whole educational ethos of Pontifex in the bible and the liturgy - in accord with the Catholic understanding of education ultimately the role of our teachers is to direct all of us to the Teacher who offers divine wisdom.

The study of Scripture in the classroom is valuable, of course, but as the lecture explains, primarily it is to the degree that it deepens our reception of the Word in a liturgical setting. Through the readings and chants of the words of Scripture in the Mass, Divine Liturgy and Divine Office, we are evangelized and catechized most powerfully. We are formed for supernatural transformation through Christ, and as evangelists who carry the word out to the unevangelized and uncatechized in the world.

The sources Fr Carnazzo uses to support this idea are the writings of the Church Fathers, the descriptions of the historical and current practices of the Church, especially in Her worship, and Scripture itself, as well as two recent books, The Bible and the Liturgy, by Jean Danielou, and Baptismal Imagery in Early Christianity by Robin Jensen.

There has been so much in this course that was worth highlighting, but I want focus particularly one aspect which I found enlightening, namely, the Biblical descriptions of evangelization. This is done through the description of salvation history as the part of the ongoing story of humanity in which we are protagonists right now.

Fr Sebastian described to us how at various times, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Saints of the early Church addressed the gathered people and told them their story. It would be modified according the assumed knowledge of those listening, sometimes starting with a description of the Creation, at others with Abraham. So, for example, we might think of Joshua talking to the Israelites before crossing the Jordan, or the martyr St Stephen addressing the Jews before he was stoned to death. The point was to make those listening, Jew or Gentile, understand that this is their story too, just as it is our story. The consummation of this story is in the reconciliation between God and man, through the Church, by the death of the old self - united to Christ crucified - in baptism; and by the rebirth of the new self - united to Christ’s resurrection and partaking of His divine nature - through Confirmation and the Eucharist.

The words of the liturgy and of scripture in the liturgy tell this story for us too, both prosaically and poetically, through the readings, the chanting of the psalms and canticles of the Church; they give us a mystagogical catechesis (one that deepens our grasp of the mysteries) so that we are prepared for that supernatural transformation in Christ that is available to us through the reception of Christ’s Body and Blood. All of this is made easier for us to grasp of course, when the external forms of the liturgy - the way in which it is celebrated, the art, the music and the architecture for example - are in harmony with this end.

This approach to evangelization, engaging outside the church building with people who do not have Christ - the telling of the story which was used by the early Church - works because it appeals to something that is deep within us. Every one of us knows instinctively that this is what we are made for. The task for each of us is to reveal that grand story, so that the listener can place his own personal story into the drama that it describes. Quite how we do this in the many situations that we are likely to deal with in life is another matter, but each of us will be able to to do it, with God’s grace, to varying degrees according to our calling. But, here is the key thing, it seems to me: our actions and words must point to this story that is the preaching of “Christ crucified.” At the very least, having a clear idea of what it is we are going to say is the most important thing. Much has been written about this elsewhere in the context of, for example, the New Evangelization; Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI speaks on the subject here and here.

This principle also tells us the purpose of the study of the history and great works of the culture. Taking history as a subject first: all history, to be of any human value, must be a participation in salvation history, and so must be seen as an aspect of Christian history. Just as every person has a story, whether he has lived his life as a Christian up to a given point or not, one that has the potential for a happy ending through the Church; so also every natural association within society has a story that, in the context of a Christ-centered view of history, participates in salvation history. This is why we need stories that reinforce these natural associations in a way that appreciates the natural hierarchy of each, and places the Church as the highest in value. (I am not arguing here for political power for the Vatican by they way). Therefore, the study of history can be a history of all peoples and all times, but always seen in the light of this principle. It should focus especially on the history of the societies that the person being taught belongs to, his country, his local neighborhood and for us, Western culture as Christian culture.

Just as important as the teaching of the facts of this history, is the teaching of what history is, why it is being taught, so that the student always places what they are learning into this context. This gives us a sense of our place in the world and where we are going, and whether or not we are on the right path. It also stimulates our faculty for seeing things historically, so that when we are presented with the ultimate expression of our history - salvation history in the liturgy - we are able to respond more deeply for the glory of God.

Poetry and literature tell our story in another way, the story itself is the same. In a wonderful talk last year at the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, Alasdair MacIntyre spoke of the need for the reading of poetry, which preserves the collective memory of who we are. I was moved by what he said and agreed wholeheartedly, in principle. But I remember thinking at the time, this is fine for those who like poetry, but what about those like me who hate it. What was not said is that, like history, the teaching of poetry and the cultivation of an enjoyment of it ought to have an even higher end in mind. That end is the telling of my human story and the development of the faculty of responding poetically, so to speak, to the poetry in the liturgy and especially the psalms. What I now realize is that so much of the literature and poetry that I was taught years ago didn’t speak to me of my story, either because it wasn’t contained within it, or because I wasn’t taught how to see it. Whatever the reason, it was not pointing to the ultimate poetry that helps transform me and which, I now realize, I was longing for even before I found it in the liturgy of the Church prior to my conversion. Perhaps if it had been presented to me in this way, I might have responded differently.

I also think that I am not by inclination particularly literary or poetic (referring to written poetry) by nature. I respond much more to art and music. Therefore while I do now appreciate the value of introducing it to those who are naturally of a literary bent, we should not think only of the written or spoken word as ways of telling stories. In fact, the whole of the culture in some way ought to participate beautifully and gracefully in the telling of that story. Art and music can do this through their beauty, not simply through the telling of a narrative, but through the cosmic beauty of form that can communicate truths beyond words. They can stimulate that deeply embedded faculty in our hearts that is receptive to the Word, the single encapsulation of whole of the story. In the end, by whichever route we get there, the goal is to be as literary as we can be in regard to scripture and the words of the literature. I feel no sense of guilt or lack in that I now rarely read a novel or poetry outside that context. I do pray the psalms daily and love them.

The images of the church should be directed to this end, in harmony with the liturgy, of course. This should be especially so in baptistries, where Christian initiation begins, along with the other rites of initiation from which it should not be separated in our minds (Confirmation and first Communion.)

This is a point that should be appreciated in designing an educational curriculum, I think. While all should be introduced to a canon of literature and poetry for reasons outlined, we should accept that not all will respond to it the same way, and not all will wish to spend their lives enjoying poetry. Part of the goal of such an education is to find those aspects of the culture to which we respond most readily and creatively, and through that door, stimulate our ability to know connaturally so that we can participate in the liturgy actively.

Connatural knowledge is sometimes also called synthetic or poetic knowledge (rather confusingly, I think, given that it is not about the means of communication of truth but about the form of knowing. This is not restricted to poetry or any written communication of the truth in the sense that the word is generally used today). Connatural knowledge is that intuitive grasp on the whole by which, for example, we know and love a person on meeting them, as one hopes to do when encountering Our Lord in the Eucharist.

This explains why the evangelization of the culture is so important. When the very fabric of our culture from top to bottom reflects aspects of this story it will be beautiful. Another speaker at the same conference last year, Roger Scruton, (who spoke on this occasion on the joys of wine) summed up the need for beauty in the culture succinctly in his book How to Be A Conservative: the beauty of the culture, he wrote, tells us we are “at home in the world.”

Here is one little piece of anecdotal evidence for the truth of this, taken from my own experience, something has happened since I first heard this and thought about it: I don’t think I have ever mentioned baptism when talking about the Christian life to non-Christians. This is something that I should mention, just as Philip mentioned it to the Ethiopian in Acts, as it will resonate with them in some way, appealing to their natural instincts. This is a bit of a preachy leap, for me but I resolved to look for opportunities...

With my brother, I have started a group here in the Berkeley, California area that meets weekly at St Jerome Catholic Church, and offers discernment of personal vocation. (We call it “The Vision for You.”) We aim especially to connect with people who are delving into New-Age spirituality and who are looking for a purpose in life. We present it as a series of spiritual exercises in the 'Western mystical tradition'. While it is pretty obvious that what we do comes from Christianity, we do not demand the people become Christian in order to participate. Rather, using a sort of Pascal’s-wager approach, we suggest that if they are willing to try this, then they will feel the effects; this is precisely what was done to me nearly 30 years ago, and as a result I converted from atheism. The hope is that it will send people on that journey, just as it sent me; however, I tend to let people conclude for themselves what the source of the power that we have as a small group of people who are working their way through this.

At each workshop, those who have experience of the process share personal stories of working through it. I realize now that what we are doing is telling our stories and placing them in the context of our ultimate purpose as we see it. I do always mention that I became Catholic as a result. The last time I did so, I added something that I hadn’t before; I said that although I wasn’t Christian at all when I went through the discernment process, I am nevertheless very grateful to my parents for having had me baptized as an infant. I now believe, I said, that although I was unaware of why at the time, that this is what placed within me an additional facility for responding to God’s grace during the process, and this is why it was so life changing for me.

I could see some cringing a bit as I mentioned baptism and grace, but after the workshop was over someone approached me. He told me that he was ill with cancer and had never been baptized. He had assumed that it wasn’t worth it, but as a result of what I said, he was thinking that he might go through with it. I encouraged him to do so, of course.

This is just anecdotal and not definitive proof of anything, but it does help to convince me that this is something that I should try to include in any account of my story in future!

A Catholic Challenge to Modern Population Medicine

Moving Mountains - A Socratic Challenge to the Theory and Practice of Population Medicine, by Dr Michel Accad

(available from Amazon.com)

This small book is an accessible and readible account of the philosophical basis of public policy relating to medicine, which has dominated government health policy for the last 30 years at least. It arises from a branch of medicine called epidemiology, which studies the possible control of disease by statistical analysis of human behaviour and the frequency of the occurance of symptoms and disease in population groups and any population as a whole.

The writer, Dr Michel Accad is a medical doctor who regularly publishes peer-reviewed articles on the philosophical aspects of healthcare and medicine and a Catholic who is concerned especially about the de-personalization of healthcare in the US. In this book, by reference to real policies and their effects, and with analysis backed up by scientific research, he explains why, in his opinion, it has gone so wrong. He does so through the vehicle of a conversation in the style of a dialogue that one might read in Plato's works. It is an imagined conversation between the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates and Geoffrey Rose, an Englishman who died in 1993 and who was one of the intellectual founders of population health medicine.

I would urge all doctors and anyone involved in the formulation of public health policy to read this book and consider its implications.

The starting point for our consideration is the bell curve showing the links between particular behaviour and risk of a particular in the population. In the examples given, which one assumes are typical, they appear to indicate that a certain proportion of the population is always at risk. So far so good.

The public policy that is implemented as a result of this analysis is based on an assumption that if the overal pattern of the symptoms or behaviours  of risk in the population can be controlled so that a smaller proportion of the population appear to be at risk, the rate occurance of the disease of individuals will go down too and therefore, the general health of the population will go up. So for example, blood pressure can lead to heart disease so, the argument runs, if you reduce the average blood pressure of the whole population, you reduce the rate of heart disease in the population as a whole because fewer people are at risk.

By adopting this assumption, government directs public health policy therefore to controlling, not the desease, but the shape of the bell curve - and so the signs of risk to the disease or the behaviours that is felt lead to this disease. (Public policy cannot ever control disease directly because diseases, microbes are not subject to legal penalty or taxes only human beings are.)

At first sight this seems reasonable, but in fact there are a number of problems with this method and the assumptions behind it.

Most important first: however strong the argument in advance of implementing such policy, in practice there is little evidence that it actually works in helping people. Where there have been improvements in, for example, heart disease rates, it is as easy to demonstrate that these would have occured anyway due to improvements in other treatments or better advice delivered from the doctor, with people freely choosing to adopt them rather than being influenced by government actions directly - legal or financial regulation - to behave in the desired fashion.

Second, there seem to be a number of flawed assumptions that arise from bad philosophy - a wrong understanding of society, of man and even of the scope of natural science that lead to unanticipated detrimental effects as a result of implementing such policies.

Contrary to the assumption of those who create public policy, society is not an entity that can necessarily be controlled by the laws of cause and effect of classical physics in the way that a physical process can. Attempts to do so always involve centrally planned policies that attempt to direct behaviour either through incentives (usally tax) or legal penalties and thereby direct behaviour by restricting the freedom of all individuals for the sake, supposedly, of the few within the population who might have been at risk before and will not be now. We can't test this properly, because we never precisely who was at risk before and who will be saved by this policy because the figures that apply to the whole population are derived from statistical sampling of a small part of that population, not by looking at every person in the population.

We are not looking at Fred or Mary and saying previously you were at risk and now you are not because we can measure how your health has improved. We are looking at a small sample of the population and looking at the statistics of that sample perhaps a thousand people and then applying the numbers to the whole population. This makes it a hypothesis that is very difficult to test even if it works and produces the desired bell curve because at best we can suggest that as a result some unkown people are at less risk. The difficulty with this is that we cannot then check for unforeseen secondary effects in the particular people who are apparently saved that might be worse than if the policy had never been implemented. We will come back to this.

In practice, though, we don't always get the desired bell curve that public policy seeks to create. society as a whole rarely behaves as the policy intends. People cannot be controlled in this way because even if they stop doing one thing, it is almost impossible to predict what they will do instead.

Furthermore, risk of disease is rarely connected to one condition only and so the alternative behaviours that are induced by our policy might lead some people into greater risk of ill health, perhaps arising from some other unconnected disease. The mechanisms are always more complex than the picture used to describe them. This is the effect that free market economists know well - unintended consequences.

It gets worse. The recieved wisdom of what is good and bad for people changes over time and public policy, even if perfectly effective in controlling behavious, will always be behind the times as it is very slow to implement policy and change behaviour. Many will be aware that the behaviours percieved as good change as times goes on - eating butter used to be a good thing , then it was bad thing and now it is good again; saccharine was good and now is bad etc.

Nevertheless, one might argue, the science will very likely get better in time and at some point perhaps public policy could catch up and reflect it. But here's the point: even if we understood perfectly what patterns of behaviour were best, and even if we understood how to control the pattern of behaviour and the symptom levels in population as a whole, as indicated by statistical sampling, - in other words even if the problems so far mentioned did not exist - this approach would still not help us to promote health. This is because we do not know directly how the pattern in the society as a whole relates to the effects and behaviours of any given individual in that society. So, while we might show how a public policy might affect the public, we have very little idea how it affects each person within the public.

Accad points to this and explains how, in contrast, the promotion of personal free choice made in conjunction with advice from doctors that takes into account personal needs is still the only way we know of actually achieving greater health.

This approach to medicine doesn't just lead to policy that tries to control the behaviour of doctors and patients. It affects too the organisation and funding structure of healthcare systems directly and, Accad argues, detrimentally. A healthcare system geared towards this end of personal freedom and the common good, in the way that Catholic social teaching describes it, would look very different from any of the systems for providing health that have existed in the US and Europe over the last 50 years.

The health insurance model (including Obamacare) in the US and the single payer systems of European countries each have this philosophical flaw built into them to detriment of both patients and doctors. So the benefits that arise from these systems are there despite the systems, not because of them. And however, much those in Europe might argue that their system is better than the America (or vice versa) each is worse than what a system could be if Catholic social teaching based upon a right anthropology were taken into account. The drawback is that the person paying is not directly involved in the provision of care ie doctor or patient, but rather is an insurance company or government department. This means that they direct policy according to trends in overall expenditure without reference to individuals and so the same problems occur. All those aspects of healthcare to which a price can be attributed are governed by this bell curve mentality. As a result the provision of healthcare becomes bureaucratic and politicised, pressures are put on doctors to change ethical practices, and even leads to the redefinition of terms such as health and disease to validate government policy to the detriment of patient and doctor.

This is not to say that we should expect no limitation on funds, clearly monetary considerations must come into play or else insurance company, or state would go bankrupt. Rather, it says that we should look for the most efficient form of distribution of a scarce commodity with alternative uses to which a price can be attached. That is the free market. Where freedom is greatest prices are cheapest and availability is greatest. Furthermore, because this encourages free choices by the main protagonists - health care providers and patients - it allows also for the greatest flourishing of those aspects to which a price cannot be attributed, for example personal care and attention and a genuinely fruitful personal relationships between those involved.

I hope very much that doctors and those who influence health policy will read this book and think about how things could be improved. You can order it online from movingmountainsthebook.com

Dr Michel Accad is a medical doctor with a practice in San Francisco who regularly publishes peer-reviewed articles on the philosophical aspects of healthcare and medicine. He has also has a strong interest in the philosophy of nature and philosophical anthropology and has published in The Thomist. He gives lectures around the country on these topics and on medical ethics, medical science and healthcare economics. He is a committed Catholic and faculty member of Pontifex University, for whom he is currently creating a course on the Philosophy of Nature and Philosophical Anthropology as part of the Masters in Sacred Arts program. You can contact him directly through his blog AlertandOriented.com

New Weekly Men's Group, Vespers and Spiritual Exercises, SF East Bay, California

The Vision for You, a group devoted to discerning personal vocation through guided prayer and reflection meets weekly at St Jerome Catholic Church, El Cerrito, Califonia, every Wednesday 7.30pm starting Wednesday 18th January.  We offer a series of workshops that explain a program of prayer and spiritual exercises rooted in the Western mystical tradition. Each week we sing Vespers according the structure of Evening Prayer of the Anglican Ordinariate. As the patron of the church of our first group, we have chosen St Jerome as a patron. This painting by Caravaggio seems so appropriate to me. St Jerome is being inspired in his work of writing the Vulgate. I like the figure of St Jerome particularly because it shows me that a man who was by no means perfect, could contribute so greatly to the work of the Church because of his faith and desire to serve God.

While the Vision for You Group is rooted in Christian spirituality, you don't have to be Christian to benefit from this. I know this because I went through this process nearly 30 years ago when a man called David Birtwistle promised me I could have a life 'beyond my wildest dreams' and showed a program of prayer, meditation and contemplation that he promised would open up my life.

I was a frustrated wannabe artist who was so dispirited I hadn't even picked up a paint brush for several months. I was attracted by the possibility of getting some structure and direction in my aimless life and thought I'd give it a go. I was a bitter atheist at the time, but put aside my prejudice sufficiently to enable me to do what was suggested (even though I was highly sceptical). This began a spiritual journey which gave me just what David had promised, and led me to being recieved into the Catholic Church.

I am still on that spiritual journey today - this is what the Way of Beauty is - and a group of us who have been through this process offer this to any who wish to participate, free of charge. David died of a heart attach nearly 20 years ago now, but this method of discernment, inspired by Christian mysticism, is still working in the lives of many people. We are inspired also by Pope Benedict and his method of promoting supernatural transformation in Christ, as explained in his paper on the method of  the New Evangelization.

Please do come along if you are interested.

For those who are nervous about the singing, don't be. First of all, you don't have to stay for the Vespers if you really don't want to. But second, singing experience is not necessary and we will teach everyone, no matter how poorly you think you sing. Everyone can sing well enough to pray the psalms with us! As a taster here are recordings of two the works we sing. The St Michael Prayer and Paul Jernberg's Our Father and the Canticle of Mary. Believe me, you will be singing with us on week one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oElTV1jogS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC8kqYYbJEc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwIoAzbo9wA

Breaking Bad! Why Misalettes Push People Away from Church

Especially the young!

Why has church attendance dropped off so dramatically in the last 50 years? There are a whole range of reasons, I am sure, and nearly every article in this blog is addressing the issue in one form or another, but if you ask me one of the main contributory factors is the music that is generally heard at Mass. And the degree that the music is influential, I would say that the influence of the style of music that is epitomozed by that offered by the most common pew misalettes is contributing to that decline.

I am talking about a style of music that seems to have started to develop around the late 1960s and sounds to me like a sort of fusion of American folk, Disney and Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and a hint of Victorian hymnody. Whatever you call the genre, it is responsible, I suggest for many to flee the pews.

Before anyone writes to me to say how much they like the music they hear each Sunday, or tell me how high quality the painist or band that plays and how heartily those in the congregation that do attend join in, I want to say one thing. My argument, as you will see, is not based upon the assertion that it is bad music. I do have strong opinions on that, but my personal taste has no bearing on the conclusion that I draw. My argument is that the whole philosophy that has contributed to the composition of such music is fataly flawed.

Even if we assume that the music we hear in Mass is of the highest quality within its genre, it would still have the same effect, which is to tend to drive most people away from Mass. (This is despite the fact that its proponents usually claim that it does the opposite.) Furthermore, if the standard of the musicianship is of the highest order, and the choir consisting of the best trained professional singers  it would not chage my argument one iota.

The problem in my opinion lies in the whole ethos that underlies the creation of music for the missals. The goal, it seems is to connect with people by giving them music that derived from popular secular forms. The problem with this approach is that it can only connect to those people who actually listen to enjoy that style of music out of church. Today's westerm society is so fractured that tastes vary hugely and there is no style of secular music that has universal appeal. As a result, whichever style we choose, and however well it is done, it can only every hope to appeal to a small part of the population. The rest will be driven away. So if we create music that appeals to those who were young in the late 1960s it will be detested by those who were young in the 1970s (like me) and all people who are younger.

If we go for something that is actually cutting-edge today and takes its form from current youth culture, it will drive away all the older generations and even most youth, because youth culture is itself fractured and there is no single style that all seventeen year-olds listen to. I just think of what was going on when I was seventeen - the sixth form in Birkenhead School in the 1970s (for Americans the sixth form is the upper two years of high school) was divided between punks, heavy metal fans and progressive rock fans, with a few who liked disco, funk and soul. If you're interested I liked obscure progressive rock and jazz fusion, such as Return to Forever, Frank Zappa and Be Bop Deluxe. I used to like being seen with the LP covers tucked under my arm to show people I had highly developed music taste. There was a little crowd of Christians who were trying to be cool and had their own Christian rock music (After the Fire was the group they all liked). To me they seemed to be a sad bunch who obviously 'just didn't have clue' if they thought that stuff was any good. We all used to make fun of them. It wasn't until I was 26 and met a Christian who was just as disparaging about 'cool' Christianity (although less rude about them personally), and who didn't even care about trying to be cool, hip and trendy that I started to take Christianity seriously. (He was more temperate in his language in his descriptions that I was, I should point out.)

I would refer you to the Tradition is for the Young articles by Gregory DiPippo on this blog to back up my case. But before get too smug, traditionalists aren't exempt from this. Much 'traditional' church music has the same fault. Holy God We Praise They Name or Immaculate Mary is really just the On Eagles Wings from you great-grandmother's day. All of these hymns - even the vast majority of non-chant hymns in hymn books that are considered fairly traditional, such as the Adoremus hymnal or the St Michael hymnal, sound off-puttingly 'churchy' to most people outside church in the wrong sort of way and drive more people away from church than they attract. I have heard them used to top and tail a Latin Mass in the past. I for one can't bear any of these hymns - they sound just like what I grew up with going to Methodist church. I hated them when I was eight and I hate them now. It is one of the main reasons that I chose to escape from going to church when I was given the choice at 13 years old. But even if this weren't the case and I had grown to love traditional Methodist hymns and so now loved 19th century Catholic hymns it would be no argument for their inclusion in the liturgy. The vast majority of the rest of the population would not like them and they are not instrinsically liturgical.

I would use the same argument about music that is derived from 19th century operatic styles (so strongly criticized by Pius X) is just the same. We may feel that it is a higher form of music than that provided by Christian rock band liturgy, but it will still only appeal to very narrow group of people and will drive all others away even if was written for a Latin Mass.

If the argument about the music at Mass is raised, very often the counter argument is that we have to be 'pastoral'. It will be said that most of those attending church like the music they are getting. There would be a revolt if we changed what is so familiar to them, so the argument runs, and so we can't risk changing the music even if we wanted to. It is almost certainly likely to be true that the people attending like the music they are getting, Those who attend do so because they like, or at least can tolerate the music. Most of those who can't stand the music they hear at Mass just stay away. They find the experience so excruciatingly, embarrasingly banal, that they go jogging or decide to read the Sunday papers with a cup of coffee instead. This is why, I suggest, the majority of teenagers leave the moment their parents give them permission to make their own minds up. And, for the reasons already described, it will be true even if we try to find a form of music that teenagers love - because there is no form of music that most teenagers love. It doesn't exist.

We can go further than this and raise another argument as to why the approach of the common misalette music composers of aping popular forms will inevitable cause a decline in attendance at Mass. Suppose we did have a society in which wider culture was more homogeneous and tastes were more consistent across the generations, it would still be a flawed approach.

I understand that many African cultures, for example, are more homogeneous and less fractured than western culture. This being the case, even if the music of the Mass reproduced the popular African style perfectly it would not be the right approach. This is because, although it might well appeal to a wider proportion of the population and you might find higher attendance at Mass, it would not facilitate a deeper and active participation in the liturgy.

This is because the liturgy is the wellspring of its own culture and an authentic liturgical culture must be at the heart of any Catholic culture of faith. It is separate world that appeals to what is universally human in us and draws us to God in a way that is impossible for secular culture. The music that draws us to it and directs to the Eucharist most powerfully is that which is derived from a liturgical culture, which is exemplified, the Church tells us, most fully in the forms in existence today in gregorian chant.

Secular forms that draws us to itself but then they are so far removed from the forms of liturgical culture that even in the context of the liturgy, they are inclined to leads us back to the secular values, not on to the Eucharist. It is less likely to draw us into a genuinely deep and active participation in the worship of God. In the long term therefore any secular music, even if it draws people to Mass, will inevitably lead to more people leaving the Church than staying because the music is distracting them from what is at the heart of the Mass. As a result there is less of force that draws us into a supernatural transformation of Christ. There are fewer Christians therefore with the capacity for transmitting an authentic Christian joy to those with whom they interact in their daily lives outside the Mass and the liturgy. With this reduced power for evangelzation, we will lose our lifeblood.

This is why Cardinal Sarah said in his address at the Sacra Liturgia conference in London that even in Africa the liturgy is not the place to incorporate African culture. Rather, because the liturgy has its own culture, which is uniquely and universally Christain, it should seeps into the wider culture and transforms secular culture into something greater, that is in some way derived from and points to the liturgy while simultaneously being distinctly African.

The only hope we have for the Mass to be a true long term draw capable of touching the many who currently have no interest in attending, is to focus on making chant the dominant form. We must even be prepared to allow a few of those who are currently at Masses with misalette music and who are there for the wrong reasons to drift away or even be prepared to carry on in the face of strong complaints from these people if it is changed.

While having chant at all Masses would help, even then it is not going to be enough. We must the chant in way that is going to connect with the ordinary person and this probably means singing at a pitch that is natural for men to join in. I have been told, that men are less likely to join in if you have female cantors. This is not because of an inherent sexism, but because the female voice is a pure sound and men find it difficult to come in at a pitch an octave below what the cantor is singing because it is totally separate from what he is hearing. If there is a male cantor, the men can emulate what they hear and the women still find it relatively easy to join in because the male voice contains higher harmonics which allow for a connection with female voices. Even if men are chanting, there is a style of chant in which a thin, strained, high pitch voice is encouraged. This sounds effeminate to me and I suggest has the same problems for congregations - it is not only as difficult for most men to sing along to as a female voice, but it is also difficult also to listen to, as the hearer struggles to make a connection to a voice that cannot be emulated.

Were the approach to music correct and, dare one hope for more, our liturgies were celebrated in the way that the Church truly desires, would this then bring huge numbers back to churches? In the long run, I would say yes, but in the short run, almost certainly not. But it would bring to the church immediately those who are genuinely looking for what the chant directs their hearts to - God. In the long term this would have a knock-on effect. More people who attend Mass would be participating more deeply and become emissaries of the New Evangelization, shining with the light of Christ as they go about their daily business. This, in turn, would draw others to Christ. Because we have free will this is never going to be the whole population, but I do believe that it can be far more than we cuurently see in our churches today.

Has the throw-away misalette approach to church music had its day? Probably not yet, to judge from the support that so many bishops, priests and choir directors currently give to this style in cause of a faux pastoralism, that actually alienates most people. But because of this alienation, it does contain the seeds of its own distruction. Unless it is replaced by something else, under the influcence of brave pastors and choir directors who are prepared to take the truly pastoral approach and take into consideration the majority who aren't at church, then we are doomed to steadily declining congregations until the generation that currently listens to this style of music grows old and disappears. Faith tells us that the parasite will die before it has killed its host. The Church will remain; and so one has to conclude that at some point the music has to change before it brings the whole edifice collapses.