This is the same painting – although you would be forgiven for not recognising it. The work is a triptych – a painting on three panels – and for most of the time it would have been closed, only to be opened when mass was celebrated at the altar on which it was originally found.Continue reading “Lent 41”
Category Archives: Bible
Lent 40
If I have cliff-hangers, I left you with one yesterday. Admittedly, it would have left you hanging at the edge of a very low curb, but there you go. At least none of you would have had a sleepless night, especially good as, thanks to daylight saving, we in the UK – and Europe asContinue reading “Lent 40”
Lent 37
Jesus is being lowered from the cross. The man we saw yesterday, holding on to the ladder with outstretched right arm, grasps one of Christ’s with his left, while another man, standing behind the dead body, supports the breathless rib cage with his left hand, and rests his right on Christ’s thigh. A third man,Continue reading “Lent 37”
Lent 36
There is something particularly bleak about today’s detail, I feel. It is empty, devoid of life, despite the person clinging to the ladder, whose aim, anyway, appears to be downward, to get out of view. The tau cross is revealed in all its simplicity, and even the titulus has been taken away. Only the holesContinue reading “Lent 36”
Lent 34
You may be thinking, ‘We are there too soon,’ but part of the function of Lent is the preparation for the inevitable. It is a period of self-denial, of prayer and of repentance, but we have all given up so much over the last year, we are all living within such restricted circles, that IContinue reading “Lent 34”
Lent 32
By now, we know which side we stand, but at the foot of the cross it is not so simple. Proximity is always a good thing, but it doesn’t mean that you are good, just because you are there. Three people take their places, looking up towards Jesus. Their attitudes are completely different, but abundantlyContinue reading “Lent 32”
Lent 31
I can’t believe it’s a year since I started this blog – more on that below, but if you want to celebrate this anniversary by reading, or re-reading (if you’ve been with me all that time) the first entry, it was Day 1 – The Rape of Europa. But for now, I want to concentrateContinue reading “Lent 31”
Lent 30
We have seen the two thieves about to leave Jerusalem in Lent 19, and then leading the procession along the Via Crucis in Lent 21. Now we have caught up with them again – or at least, with one of them. The Gospel of Mark (15:27-28) explains why the thieves are there – or rather,Continue reading “Lent 30”
Lent 29
I try to be optimistic, and I think today’s detail is. To the left, we can just see St John, supporting the Virgin’s arm, a detail we saw in full yesterday. On the right we see the uncouth man in his red top and hot pants, bells on the hem of his blue cape, aboutContinue reading “Lent 29”
Lent 28
O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus. The words from the Book of Lamentations (1:12) seem particularly apt today. This is a standard translation, adapted from the King James Version: All ye that pass by, behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto myContinue reading “Lent 28”
dr richard stemp 