Sacred Arts Academy

http://www.sacredartsacademy.org/

The Sacred Arts Academy was founded in 2009 in an effort to respond to the call of the Second Vatican council to establish a place of learning for Catholic artist to be trained. The goal is for the Academy to be located in the United Sates, and offer a wide range of programs focusing on both figurative and decorative arts in several media. It exists not only to teach technical expertise but also to foster in studying artists an understanding of art's quest, its deepest purpose and its promise.

"Art, in all its forms, at the point where it encounters the great questions of our existence,
the fundamental themes that give life its meaning, can take on a religious quality, thereby
turning into a path of profound inner reflection and spirituality."

HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI, Address to Artists
November 21, 2009 - Sistine Chapel

In its very humble beginnings the Sacred Arts Academy offers an intensive drawing and painting workshop in Florence with an emphasis both on the specific study of the human figure as well as that great artistic tradition which flourished to extraordinary heights precisely within the Catholic context. Here we will also investigate the means by which theology can be expressed in art and strive to impart insight into the intimate relationship between art and the Liturgy.

"We need you [artists]...and if we were deprived of your assistance our ministry would become faltering
and uncertain, and a special effort would be needed, one might say, to make it artistic,
even prophetic. In order to scale the heights of lyrical expression of intuitive beauty,
priesthood would have to coincide with art."

HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI, addressing artists
May 7th, 1964

Parish Christmas Decorations

I had said that I would try to post a picture from the Christmas decorations that the youth put together for the Christmas day mass in Clear Creek --- and here it is. I guess it is better late than never (lol). A friend and I made the wreaths from cedar branches on our property, and some of the girls sewed the tapestry behind out lady and the center crucifix. I wish we had a picture of the suspended candle holders that lined either side of the church -- it really added an extra touch. It was very special to be able work with friends to prepare the church for the Christ child. Picture credit goes to a fellow Clear Creek friend :-)

Tulsa March For Life

Abortion was legalized in the United States 37 years ago this month. Since then over 50 million babies have lost their lives to abortion. Pray for an end to abortion and join Most Rev. Bishop Edward J. Slattery who will celebrate the Mass for Life at Holy Family Cathedral at 5:00pm on January 22, 2010. After Mass join Bishop Edward J. Slattery and participate in the 1st Tulsa March for Life. The March starts at Holy Family Cathedral and ends at 6th & Boston at the new Chapman Centennial Green where a rally will take place. A rally will be held approximately 30 minutes long with three speakers. Dr. Kevin Donovan will speak on when life begins, Cynthia Carney will share her testimony of having an abortion and Dr. McCutchens from Mount Zion Baptist Church will speak how abortion has impacted the black community.

I am enclosing a pdf file of the 'official' poster for our first-ever Tulsa March for Life. Please feel free to download and print out a many copies as you need to:

post this weekend around your church campus

ask people to bring one home

ask volunteers to post them in coffee shops, food stores, and other community bulletin boards.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or go to our blog at tulsamarchforlife.wordpress.com. Thank you for your time.

For Life,

Tracy Callicoat

Diocese of Tulsa

Family Life, Pro-Life and Natural Family Planning

tracy[dot]callicoat[at]dioceseoftulsa[dot]org

Mes Aïeux - Dégénération (English Subtitles)

Here is the link for a good 'back to the basics' song. It is in Canadian French with English subtitles.

Youtube: Mes Aïeux - Dégénération (English Subtitles)

Here are the lyrics:

Mes Aïeux
Album : Tire-Toi Une Bûche

Ton arrière-arrière-grand-père, il a défriché la terre
Ton arrière-grand-père, il a labouré la terre
Et pis ton grand-père a rentabilisé la terre
Pis ton père, il l’a vendue pour devenir fonctionnaire

Et pis toi, mon p’tit gars, tu l’sais pus c’que tu vas faire
Dans ton p’tit trois et demi bien trop cher, frette en hiver
Il te vient des envies de devenir propriétaire
Et tu rêves la nuit d’avoir ton petit lopin de terre

Ton arrière-arrière-grand-mère, elle a eu quatorze enfants
Ton arrière-grand-mère en a eu quasiment autant
Et pis ta grand-mère en a eu trois c’tait suffisant
Pis ta mère en voulait pas ; toi t’étais un accident

Et pis toi, ma p’tite fille, tu changes de partenaire tout l’temps
Quand tu fais des conneries, tu t’en sauves en avortant
Mais y’a des matins, tu te réveilles en pleurant
Quand tu rêves la nuit d’une grande table entourée d’enfants

Ton arrière-arrière-grand-père a vécu la grosse misère
Ton arrière-grand-père, il ramassait les cennes noires
Et pis ton grand-père – miracle ! – est devenu millionnaire
Ton père en a hérité, il l’a tout mis dans ses RÉERs

Et pis toi, p’tite jeunesse, tu dois ton cul au ministère
Pas moyen d’avoir un prêt dans une institution bancaire
Pour calmer tes envies de hold-uper la caissière
Tu lis des livres qui parlent de simplicité volontaire

Tes arrière-arrière-grands-parents, ils savaient comment fêter
Tes arrière-grands-parents, ça swignait fort dans les veillées
Pis tes grands-parents ont connu l’époque yé-yé
Tes parents, c’tait les discos ; c’est là qu’ils se sont rencontrés

Et pis toi, mon ami, qu’est-ce que tu fais de ta soirée ?
Éteins donc ta tivi ; faut pas rester encabané
Heureusement que dans’ vie certaines choses refusent de changer
Enfile tes plus beaux habits car nous allons ce soir danser…

Ars Gratis Artis or Ars Gratis Hominis?

by Thomas Storck

My friend sent me a link to this article on art and culture.

I found it very intriguing. Enjoy!

Entire Article:

http://www.caelumetterra.com/cet_backissues/article.cfm?ID=18

Some highlights from the article:

The fact that objects originally intended for use, in this case to accompany worship, are now in museums instead of in churches is a significant fact that reveals something of the great cultural changes that the West has undergone in the past three centuries. For our civilization has taken art out of life and placed it in special institutions, such as museums or concert halls, to be viewed or listened to at special times, away from our normal lives.

Now at the same time that artists were growing apart from the rest of society, the rest of society was being robbed of its best art. Much of the great religious art was carted off to museums, and few contemporary composers wrote liturgical music really suitable for use in church. Of course this did not mean that there was no music or art in churches, simply that what there was too often not of a caliber to lift anyone's soul to God.

The average person does not visit art museums or listen to classical music, but his average ancestor of our Western culture worshipped in churches containing the best art in the world and heard the best music, whether it was simple plainchant or the complexities of the Baroque. In some degree, the average modern man has been taught to regard good art and music as alien to him.

The remedy instead lies in all of us submitting to the yoke of Christ, in cultural as in all other matters, and being willing to jettison both the sophisticated pornography of the elite as well as the false sentimentality of the masses. Only in this way can our culture be unified and the social reign of Jesus Christ the King commence once more.

Returning to America - leaving France

Well, my time in France is now drawing to a close ... it is sad to leave such a charming, quaint country full of so much tradition and history. A part of my heart will stay here (I am sure) and I will take back with me many beautiful memories and stories that I will keep with me forever. Au revoir France!

St. Therese and the Requiem Mass for Father de Feydeau

From the blog : How can I keep from singing

November 18th : Preached this morning from the requiem by the Prior, Father Anderson - who on Saturday buried his own mother.

+ Requiem Mass

The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe November 17, 2009

For unto thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away: and the abode of this earthly sojourn being dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven (Preface of the Dead)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

My very dear Brother Monks,

The words just quoted from the Preface for the Requiem Mass express the Faith of the Church that shines in the face of the darkest trial that assails the human heart—that is to say the sad reality of death.

Rooted in the Most Precious Blood and water that poured forth from the side of the Savior on Calvary, the Faith comes to our aid in this moment of sorrow, reminding us of Christ’s eternal victory over sin, the world and the “enemy death that shall be destroyed last, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet”. (I Cor. 15:26)

Sharing in this same Faith and making it “earn interest” like the good servant of the parable, that great Theologian of the Little Way, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus of Lisieux gives us her particular insight into the reality of bodily death. As she neared her own end at the age of twenty-four this young Doctor of the Church made the boldest of

affirmations: “I die not; I enter into life.” When a man or a woman--in particular a religious--comes to that crucial moment of the great passage to the other side of things, the truth comes forth without pretention. Saint Therese affirms her belief in eternal life, not in order simply to comfort us, but rather because it is the truth.

Of course, the Saint of Lisieux did not mean to dismiss the possibility of Hell or Purgatory, but having made her great discovery concerning the Merciful Love of God, to which she consecrated herself as a victim of Divine Mercy, she simply was beyond doubting that the Judge of Heaven and Earth would forgive her every fault if she only remained small--very small--with the trust of a little child. And lest we be tempted to think that it was on her merits as a Carmelite nun that she felt so bold in presenting herself to the just Judge, she affirms categorically that she will appear before Him with “empty hands”, that is to say without the merits any good works to speak of--save her childlike confidence itself.

Saint Therese liked to quote the line from that other great doctor of Carmel, Saint John of the Cross, who said that “on the evening of this life it is on love that we will be judged”. Although she felt quite incapable of performing the feats of asceticism that we so admire in the great Saints, she knew for a fact that there was immense love in her heart—better yet, she knew that her vocation was to be the love in the heart of her mother the Church.

As we prepare to commit the mortal remains of a beloved monk to the earth, to that very earth from which the first man was taken, we do well not to forget the luminous path traced by so many saints—from Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict to Saint Therese of Lisieux--that have illumined the world and transfigured the experience of death. Above all we must not forget what Our Lord said about the need for the grain of wheat to die, in order that it not remain sterile but produce much fruit. If we cannot help feeling the bitter grief of seeing a father and brother stolen away from the visible plane of our existence, we must not act like the pagans of yesterday and today, who live without real love in this world and without hope for the next.

May Our Lady of a Happy Dying, Notre-Dame du Bien Mourir, so venerated at Fontgombault Abbey, our mother-house in France, who manifestly helped our brother through the narrow passage of his last days, obtain for us all to die so well. Thus having followed the path of our monastic spirituality, in imitation of the Ecce, Fiat of the Virgin of Nazareth, may we all come to take our places in the eternal liturgical celebrations of Heaven in the presence of God and of the Lamb. Amen.

Article by Father Prior

There have been some interesting finds about Clear Creek lately during some of my searches on the internet --- Like this:

Article here

From June 2009 issue of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic -- see article on page 14.

Pope Benedict to Artists

art by James Langley

MEETING WITH ARTISTS

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Sistine Chapel
Saturday, 21 November 2009l

Here are some of my favorite lines from the speech:

“This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart, and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration. And all this through the work of your hands . . . Remember that you are the custodians of beauty in the world.”

"The experience of beauty does not remove us from reality, on the contrary, it leads to a direct encounter with the daily reality of our lives, liberating it from darkness, transfiguring it, making it radiant and beautiful."

"Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence”

Simone Weil wrote in this regard: “In all that awakens within us the pure and authentic sentiment of beauty, there, truly, is the presence of God. There is a kind of incarnation of God in the world, of which beauty is the sign."

Link to speech on vatican website here

*Hat-tip to Genevieve at http://www.goldenbooklist.blogspot.com/

Talk about the prayer of petition

PRAYER OF PETITION
This was a talk that one of the monks gave awhile ago to a group of young people who made a pilgrimage to Clear Creek Monastery on behalf of Father de Feydeau before his passing. The words are beautiful and even though it was not God's will that Fr. de Feydeau stay in this world with us I think the talk below put everything in perspective and gave all of us who love Fr. de Feydeau the right frame of mind during his illness. Thank you God for Father de Feydeau!

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you can view the talk here