This Sunday we
celebrated the Feast of Christ the King. It was on this feast day that I first
went to Mass, ten years ago now. I remember it, partly because I wrote about
it. When Fr. Paul de Maat in Middelburg raised the chalice, I was ‘profoundly
awed’, and could only think in brief lines from The Anathémata and traditional prayers.
Ten years
later, I myself was raising the chalice – the first time in this church that this chalice was used, a chalice that I inherited from a predecessor in faith and in priestly
ministry.
More precariously than he knows he guards the signa…
Some fragments
from the current time:
Yesterday was
the first meeting of a group intended for thirty- and forty-somethings. It
would not have started without an Italian couple, who have kindly, but regularly
and persistently reminded me that such a group was lacking in our community.
Through an accident of circumstance, it is now called the Panettone group.
Mention was made of an Italian celebrity who could recite passages from the Divina Commedia for hours on end
(without repeating himself, obviously). Hence the title.
For a reading
group that meets this Thursday, I have started reading a modern book for young
adults, inspired by Dante: Bianca come il
latte, rosso come il sangue (White as milk, red as blood). It is about a normal
16-year-old boy, called Leo (I didn’t make
this up), who likes to play football, grows nervous in silence, and who is deeply
in love with someone called Beatrice.
The teachers
have nicknames. The religious education teacher is a celestial priest who is
well-versed in the Bible and whom Leo calls Gandalf. When a girl in class who
is somewhat of a teacher’s pet makes a reference to Gollum, ‘Gandalf’ says, ‘I
don’t know who this Gollum is, but if you say so, I believe it.’ And Leo
reflects inwardly, ‘Gandalf doesn’t know Gollum, it seems absurd, but that’s
how it is.’
This is too
subtle to be merely a joke or an absurdity.
But there are
many subtleties in the book. Leo attends a school named after a character from Mickey Mouse. In English known as
Horace, the Italian name is of course Orazio (‘There are more things between
heaven and earth, Horatio…’)
The new,
young, and enthusiastic philosophy teacher is inspired by a movie called in
Italian L’attimo fuggente (The Fleeting
Moment) but known in English as Dead
Poets Society (wink, wink).
And in the
same (short) chapter, there is another ‘wink’ moment that even rhymes with this
one:
Leo in latino significa “leone”. Leo rugiens: “leone ruggente”.
(Leo in Latin means ‘lion’. Leo rugiens: ‘roaring lion’.)
This time the
author basically spells it out. Leo
rugiens is a phrase from 1 Peter 5, which returns in the prayer of the
Church every Tuesday night at Compline: ‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.’
Leo does not
seem particularly active in the resistance, but he is not spectacularly failing
either.
As the title
makes clear, colours are very important in the book. Red and white run through
it as recurring themes. White is associated with silence, emptiness, infinity.
Red is associated with overwhelming impressions, passion, love. ‘Beatrice is
red,’ Leo grandly proclaims. But what he does not know (and what, so far, I
have only gleaned from the summary) is that Beatrice suffers from leukemia: a
Greek word (leukon haima) that means ‘white
blood’.
It’s so good
to read truly intelligent young adult novels.
(Leo also says:
‘Silvia is blue, like all true friends.’ The city of Delft has a big blue heart
in the city centre. I feel quite at home here.)
Well, that’s
enough about the book. Today I talked to someone who watched at a deathbed last
week. And now my eye has fallen on the obituaries in the newspaper. I don’t usually
read the paper, but scanning through it, I noticed a couple of things.
Firstly, there
are many completely unfamiliar names among the youngest generation. Kayleigh
and Kenza, Vaan and Keet, Vayènn and Lovis – next to the more reassuring Sven
and Rik, Maarten and Tessa, Guus and Dirk.
Secondly, it
is a common occurrence for deceased family members to be included in the
obituary. But this is indicated in different ways; I see four in one newspaper.
The traditional cross symbol is one. But another (a child) has a star. One obituary
contains two different ways: a 96-year-old woman has a son with the words ‘(in
loving memory)’ affixed to his name, but her great-grandson has a butterfly
symbol in the same place.
Thirdly, there
is another strange symbol that occurs in two different obituaries. Kira, Tessa,
Britt, and Foxy have a dog’s paw after their name. Apparently the pets are so
much part of the family that they are included, mostly in the absence of other
children.
I enjoy your posts tremendously. I'm fascinated by the book you mentioned, and am in awe of your polyglot facility. Italian? Hebrew? I speak Spanish pretty fluently but haven't read in it in a long time, and my French and German are horrible.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I just love the bit about pets in obits and your comment to your nieces and nephews. Reminds me of a maiden aunt who late in life became smitten with a dog that she cheerfully allowed to do all the things she'd criticized the family for letting their children do. She finally went a bit round the bend and wrote to her sister asking that upon her death the dog Molly be buried with her. Her sister didn't believe in vanity euthanasia, so snappily replied, "Yes, dear Flo, and what should we do in the event Molly predeceases you?"
Thanks, Susanita! Languages are a passion of mine. But I also enjoy the humour of snappy retorts -- it seems that your aunt's sister was on point!
DeleteIch glauber daẞ Sie der Niederlandiisch sprecht. Ich bin eine Amerikanere, vom eine Familie Pennsylvani Deitsch. Meine Mūtter war Feryn Shively (Scheibelich wie wäre im Schweiz). Ich weiße das Sie sprecht der Englisch viel besser als ich das Deutsch, aber ich muß das Deutch practiken. Die Nahmen meiner Mutters war sehr ungewōhnlich: Feryn. Ich glaubte das er war Walisich, aber mit der Internet es mir Niederlandish erscheint. Kōnnen Sie Mir es verstätigen? Und ich bin sehr interessiert in Euhren Blog,ein Fan des Tolkien, und catholische, denn ich habe sehr gern Eure Post.
ReplyDelete