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The Top of St. Thomas Becket’s Skull
The martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket has a been a popular subject for artists from the middle ages to the 20th century, but one detail of the murder stands out in a few depictions. These show the top of the saints skull being shorn off by the first blow, like so:
Master Francke, 1424.
And:
And:
Carrow Psalter, 1250.
Medieval art was partly representational and partly narrative, meaning the depiction of people and events was in a unique zone between literal and symbolic. Lopping off the top of a bishop’s head, complete with mitre and tonsure, was a symbolic act of defiance against his authority and holiness. The horror of the crime is being emphasized: this was God’s anointed, and in striking at him they struck at God Himself.
But … was there more to this than symbolism?
Indeed there was, because a man named Edward Grim wrote this influential…
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Mourning the Pierced One
A prophecy of Zechariah offers a powerful point of meditation as we near the final phase of Lent. The Book of Zechariah can be difficult in places, partly due to some obscure language, but also because there are two distinct textual traditions. Chapters 1-8 are the work of the prophet Zechariah himself, written before the inauguration of the Second Temple, possibly around the year 520BC. These initial chapters contain a sequence of visions that are explained to Zechariah by an angel in a series of questions and answers.
Read the rest at the National Catholic Register.
14 Reasons I Stay Catholic
1. Jesus is Lord
The incarnation is the pivot point of history. God became man so that man could become God. Once you understand and accept this it’s like a thunderclap.
I spent a long time not believing it. When I found myself no longer able to deny it, it was like door being opened to a new understanding of reality. I now had to measure everything in my life and my mind and my world against the certainty that the immaterial and transcendent Origin of all that is had chosen to bridge the gap between Himself and His creation in order to heal the broken bond with man and give us a very simple message: Love one another as I have loved you. God showed us his face.
And then he left us a Church, and Himself in the Eucharist.
Real the rest at the National Catholic Register.
Makauros, Site of Herod’s PalaceWhere John the Baptist was…
The palace is on the top of this hill.
Somewhere in these ruins, Salome danced
A prison cell?
Makauros, Site of Herod’s Palace
Where John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum
Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Site of the Baptism of Jesus
The pillars once held a church over the location of the baptism of Jesus by John
A baptismal pool and cistern
Russian Guest House
The Jordan River
The wilderness of John
Did you come to see a reed bent by the wind?
Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Site of the Baptism of Jesus
Petra, Jordan.
Petra, Jordan.
Mount Nebo, where Moses first beheld the promised land.
Mount Nebo, where Moses first beheld the promised land.
St. George Orthodox Church, Madaba. Site of the Madaba Map
St. George Orthodox Church, Madaba. Site of the Madaba Map