The Week in Meep: Happy Advent 2024!
Some solemn beauty in waiting for the coming of the Lord
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a time of preparation for Christmas.
Some Words
Siegfried Sassoon is one of the many literary figures to come out of World War I, though he knew it as the Great War. Initially.
He lived until 1967, so he found out that WWI wasn’t the end.
Most remember his war poetry, but he also wrote religious poetry.
In 1957 Sassoon became a convert to Catholicism, though for some time before his conversion, his spiritual concerns had been the predominant subject of his writing. These later religious poems are usually considered markedly inferior to those written between 1917 and 1920. Yet Sequences (published shortly before his conversion) has been praised by some critics. Derek Stanford, in Books and Bookmen, claimed that “the poems in Sequences constitute some of the most impressive religious poetry of this century.”
Grabbing a pic of one poem, from 1936, written in Sassoon’s own hand:
Sassoon didn’t convert til the late 1950s, but yes, angels are about us everywhere.
Some Music
This is not advent music per se, but some music Diarmuid and I were grooving to at lunch. Enjoy!
Some Art
Gotta go to the Met.
Yesterday, November 30, was St. Andrew’s feast day.
It’s on view at the Met. I love going to the Met.
I have seen this painting by van Gogh at the Met - I just like how he does the shadow on the tiles - and December is a time of very long shadows… before they start shortening again.
Here is the painting in situ:
Activities for Advent
Advent of Code: While called “Advent of Code”, I call it “Advent of Problem-Solving” — I have solved many of the problems (like today’s) using a spreadsheet
Visiting the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas:
December 2 – St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlottesville, Va.
December 4 – St. Pius V Church, Providence, R.I.
December 4 – Providence College, Providence, R.I.
December 6 – St. Gertrude Church, Cincinnati, Ohio
December 7-8 – St. Patrick Church, Columbus, Ohio
December 10 – St. Louis Bertrand Church, Louisville, Ky.
December 12 – St. Rose Church, Springfield, Ky.
December 13 – Church of St. Catherine of Siena, New York, N.Y.
December 14 – Church of St. Barnabas, Bellmore, N.Y.
December 14-15 – St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, N.Y.
December 16 – St. Patrick Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
December 18 – Saints Philip & James Church, Baltimore, Md.
One of my friends managed to visit in DC.
The above picture is from this post in March:
Finally:
Memento Mori An Advent Companion On The Last Things.
Memento mori—Latin for "remember your death"—refers to the ancient Christian practice of meditation on death. Encouraged by Scripture and the saints, this tradition can help you manage the chaos of this world, grow closer to God, and focus on heaven. This Advent Companion revives the Christian tradition of meditating on the Last Things (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) during the Advent season as a fitting preparation for the coming of Christ, who was born to save us from death. Grow closer to Jesus with this elegant, full-color devotional, featuring original meditations inspired by the Scripture readings of Advent, artwork from over 30 Catholic artists, and suggestions for prayer. Winner of awards from the Catholic Media Association (CMA) and the Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP).
I wrote about this book back in 2021, when I contributed to the Kickstarter (and yes, I have the copies I bought for both Stu & me).
The 4 weeks have their themes: DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL, HEAVEN.
The themes are based on the scriptures that are part of the 3 Catholic liturgical cycles of readings, which have these themes.