Assumption of the Virgin by El Greco - Art Institute of Chicago
Luke 1:46-55
Mary’s Song of Praise
And Mary* said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
In her beautiful prayer of praise to God, The Magnificat, Mary says, "All generations will call me blessed." I carried my habit of honoring the mother of Jesus over from the years spent in the Roman Catholic Church, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of my fellow Episcopalians who give honor to Mary. The Roman Catholic Church, celebrates the bodily Assumption of Mary into heaven on August 15.
I love the story of the wedding at Cana. When Mary tells Jesus that the hosts of the wedding feast have run out of wine, he says to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not come." Mary seems to ignore his words and tells the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Jesus, of course, makes more wine for the feast. I find this glimpse into the intimate relationship between Jesus and his mother so very touching. And wouldn't we all do well to heed the final spoken words of Mary in the Bible? "Do whatever he tells you."
The El Greco Assumption is magnificent, so powerful, full of movement, emotion, and glorious color. Although he lived and painted in the 16th and 17 centuries, his painting seems of another age, very much ahead of its time.
PRAYER
O God, who have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary,
mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been
redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your
eternal kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.
READINGS:
Isaiah 61:10-11
Psalm 34 or 34:1-9
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 1:46-55
Excellent El Greco, Mimi.
ReplyDeleteThere are four icons of the dormition here: http://www.goarch.org/en/resources/clipart/
You have to scroll down to the BVM section but they are all four good reading.
Have you been enjoying the Paraclesis these last two weeks? I have missed a few days, more than usual. I do love to sing along!
Have a great day!
Lindy
Lindy, thanks for the link. The icons are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have not been doing the Paraclesis, but I will check into it. I don't know much about it. It looks interesting.
Have a good one, too.
Unfortunately, we Protestants often miss out on the beauty of devotions to the Virgin. Thanks for the beautiful post as a reminder to appropriately observe this holy festival.
ReplyDeletePastor David, welcome. Thank you for your kind words. Mary is for the ages, in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteI visited your blog, which I like, and I left a word there.
I'm afraid I must differ with you on your having the most beautiful church. Surely mine is the most beautiful.
With that icon business going on chez MP, I was going to post there, but here is far more peaceful, is it not? Not to mention a little more "demanding". El Greco began his career in Crete as an icon painter. One of his earliest surviving works (1560's) is an icon of the Dormition (as it is still known to the Orthodox Church, as to MP). It makes an interesting contrast with his late, mannerist Assumption that you have posted.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/greco_el/01/0101grec.html
ps if you click on the El Greco icon it blows up beautifully.
ReplyDeleteLapin, you are often good for something. That is quite interesting, very different from the later paintings. I suppose this icon may be darkened from age and dirt and candle grease. I can see traces of similarities to the later work. It's odd that none of the experts thought the icon might be the work of El Greco before finding the signature.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by demanding? That I won't allow you to be as naughty as you'd like?
On a second look at the two, I can see more than traces of similarities.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, CwazyWabbit, and please behave enough so Mimi isn't forced to ban you. We of a more timid and gentle spirit cannot take too much excitement; I believe she does this as a courtesy to us.
ReplyDeleteJohnieb, you are, of course, my chief visitor of timid and gentle spirit, and I take my responsibility to protect you from too much excitement very seriously.
ReplyDeleteBy "demanding" I was referring to the depth of discussion at different locations. You may or may not have noticed that it's possible to kill a string stone dead at some sites simply by posting a piece that is both serious and greater in length than two verb-containing sentences. It being in the nature of some to be pitchers rather than catchers, how 'bout we leave at that?
ReplyDeleteTo me, not being much versed in the style of icons, the principal pointer to the era in which the Dormition icon was painted is the two Italianate candlesticks in the foreground and, even more, the whatever-it-is that is between them. The supporting figures on this are completely mannerist - my guess is that El Greco was directly copying ornaments that he had seen in the possession of a wealthy Venetian-ascendancy family in Crete.
Lapin, join the company of thread killers. At some sites run by good people, when I don't kill the thread, I am totally ignored. The other posters simply go around me as though I'm not there. Whatever. Now I have my own little spot where I can rule like a despot.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thread bites the dust......
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mimi; I know I'm in good hands here.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what sites you mean that are being run by "good" people; the onliest other place I see ya much is run by the English priest, and I'm sure he's sufficiently theologically astute not to claim to be that.
Rick, fooled ya. The thread didn't bite the dust.
ReplyDeleteJohnieb, I do visit sites other than that of the English priest. I am most certainly not ignored at OCICBW. Abused by the host is closer to the description of of what goes on there. On the other hand, the visitors to his site are quite nice to me.
Incidentally, I posted a quite funny (to me) story at OCICBW late yesterday about a friend who suffered the unwanted, tentatively physical attentions of a priest named Fr. Fox. My friend later learned that the priest was widely known within his flock as "Mother Goose".
ReplyDeleteMy post was only two sentences long, but it contained a rather difficult subordinate section, and there went the thread! One more rule of posting to remember.
At my parish, we celebrated the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin last Sunday. Fr. John preached a heartfelt sermon taking off from the Magnificat that you might like.
ReplyDeleteOn thread killing -- do it all the time all over the net. :-)
Lapin, do I detect a trace of paranoia seeping in?
ReplyDeleteJan, I'm going to check out that sermon. I love the "Magnificat".
Humour and maybe a just a little payback, but no paranoia. There's not much of it in my nature. Judging by those of my co-workers who have most prospered, this may be a deficiency on my own part. One more evolutionary dead-end?
ReplyDeleteOK, Lapin, I'm glad you're not paranoid. Is paranoia necessary to advance in the world? I wish I had known. It's too late for me now.
ReplyDeleteJan, I read the wonderful sermon, and left a comment for Fr. John.