The Baptism of Our Lord

The Christmas season ends today. To quote:

 The mystery of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by St John, the Precursor, proposes the contemplation of an already adult Jesus. This mystery is infinitely linked to the Solemnities of the Lord’s birth and the Epiphany that we have just celebrated, as in some ways it takes up and represents their significance to us.

At Christmas we have contemplated the human birth of the Word incarnate by the Virgin Mary. In the 4th century, the Fathers of the Church deepened the understanding of the faith with regard to the Christmas mystery in the light of Jesus’ Humanity. They spoke of the Incarnation of the Word already working like the ‘Christification’ of that humanity that he had assumed from His mother. Or put in simpler terms: Jesus is the Christ from the first instant of conception in Mary’s spotless womb because He Himself, with His Divine Power, consecrated, anointed and ‘Christified’ that human nature with which He became incarnate. In the mystery of the Epiphany, we then meditated on Christ’s manifestation to all nations that was represented by the Magi, the wise men from the East, who came to adore the Child.

Now, in the mystery of Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan River, we again encounter and represent the truth of the Lord’s incarnation and His manifestation as the Christ. Jesus’ Baptism is in fact His definitive manifestation as the Messiah or Christ to Israel, and as the Son of the Father to the entire world. Here we find the dimension of the Epiphany which was His manifestation to all nations. The Father’s voice from heaven shows that Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal Son and the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows the Trinitarian nature of the Christian God. The true and unique God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, shows Himself in Christ, through Him, with Him and in Him.

The Baptism in the Jordan returns to the great Christmas theme of ‘Christification’, Jesus of Nazareth’s spiritual anointing, His presentation as the Anointed One per excellence, the Messiah or the One sent by the Father for the salvation of mankind. The Spirit that descended on Jesus shows and seals in an incontrovertible way the ‘Christification’ of Jesus’ humanity that the Word had already fulfilled from the first moment of His miraculous conception by Mary. Jesus, from the very beginning, was always the Lord’s Christ, He was always God. Yet, His one, true humanity, that which is perfect in every way, as the Gospel records, constantly grew in natural and supernatural perfection. ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with men’ (Lk2:52). In Israel at 30 years of age, one reached full maturity and therefore could become a master. Jesus came of age and the Spirit, descending and remaining on Him, definitively consecrated His whole being as the Christ.

The same Spirit, that descended on the water of the River Jordan wafted over the waters during the first creation. (Gen 1:2) Therefore, the Baptism in the Jordan presents yet another truth: that Jesus has started a new creation. He is the second man (1 Cor 15:47) or the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that comes to repair the first Adam’s guilt. He does this as the Lamb of God that takes away our sins. ‘Looking at the events in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realised what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon His shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners.’ (J Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Bloomsbury 2007, p18) (Read entire post.)

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The "Millennium" Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

Salander's greatest fear, which was so huge and so black that it was of phobic proportions, was that people would laugh at her feelings. And all of a sudden all her carefully constructed self-confidence seemed to crumble. ―Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

A rule of thumb has been never to romanticize crime and criminals, nor to stereotype victims of crime. I base my serial murderer in book I on a composite of three authentic cases. Everything described in the book can be found in actual police investigations. ―Stieg Larsson, quoted by The Wall Street Journal

Occasionally I do leave the world of historical fiction and biography in order to see what is transpiring in other genres. The "Millennium" Trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson was my first foray into Swedish crime novels, or Schwedenkrimi. I assume the sexuality, violence and coarse language are typical of a thriller taking place in post-modern, post-Christian Europe, especially one that deals with gangsters, ex-KGB agents, neo-Nazis, and corrupt government officials. In my opinion, the numerous bedroom interludes, particularly in the second volume, merely distract from the plot and are unnecessary given the crackling suspense and the dynamic characterizations. Aside from the intermittent libidinous clutter, each book is a page-turner, introducing to the world the most unlikely of heroines, the tattooed hacker Goth girl of many piercings, Lisbeth Salander. Together with her friend journalist Mikael Blomquist, Lisbeth brings to light the dark secrets of criminals from all walks of society, becoming a catalyst for justice as well as an avenging angel.

The theme of the trilogy is Larsson's exposure of violence against women, with the character of Lisbeth as the epitome of victimization. She is a victim who, while deeply wounded, refuses to break. According to Bright Hub Education:

The character of Lisbeth Salander means many different things to different people. For many she is a modern fairytale; interchangeably a blood soaked feminist avenger or a sociopathic murderer. Either way, a character rooted firmly in the imagination of Stieg Larsson. Some of Larsson's critics claim that Lisbeth is little more a sadistic outpouring of his misogynistic fantasies, quoting scenes like the brutal rape in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Others see more subtle nuances to the characterization, hints of the trials endured by real abuse victims. Salander takes actions which are consistent with her experiences, knowing with a despairing certainty that no authority figure will deign to help her.

The first four pages of The Girl Who Played with Fire describes how Lisbeth was manacled to a bed by a tyrannical psychologist, the thought of the revenge she had taken on her father being the only thing sustaining her. Later, in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, we see Salander's revenge for that trauma. But this revenge, unlike that dished out to the guardian who had raped her, was through the courts.

The court case forms the dénouement of the Millennium Trilogy, with a video of Dragon Tattoo’s brutal rape becoming a key piece of evidence. As the trial is abandoned there is a sense that, seeing authority figures actually helping her, a small chink might form in the mental fortifications Salander has built around herself.

As Larsson himself wrote of Lisbeth: "Lisbeth Salander...is a sociopath with psychopathic traits, and does not function like ordinary people. She does not have the same concepts of 'right' and 'wrong' as normal people, but she also has to face up to the consequences of that." Confused in just about every aspect of her being, Lisbeth nevertheless possesses a core set of values which she never will not compromise. She is loyal to her few friends and is more than willing to risk her life for anyone she loves or even just for anyone who has shown her a kindness. She is a mathematical genius and computer whiz; her talents enable her to help her friends in ways that no one else can. A major part of the intrigue is seeing how much a woman on the fringes of society can accomplish with a computer.

It has been said that Lisbeth is autistic but I think her problems come from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. After all, she saw her mother practically beaten to death by her father, which was only the beginning of what she later called "All that was evil." She cannot connect with people emotionally which is one reason she lives a promiscuous life, as a way to deaden her pain and fill up the emptiness inside. When Mikael Blomquist tries to win her trust she falls in love for the first time in her life, only to feel brutally betrayed when she sees Mikael with his lover Erika on New Year's Eve. As Larsson describes his heroine's feelings in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: "The pain was so immediate and fierce that Lisbeth stopped in mid-stride, incapable of movement." In exposing violence towards women, Larsson, whether he meant to or not, shows us that the abuse begins in the culture of promiscuity.

In the "Millennium" Trilogy romance and courtship do not exist; sexuality is, for most of the main characters, solely recreational, and has little or nothing to do with consummating a great passion or creating a life and family together. Both Mikael and Lisbeth have many "partners" throughout the course of the trilogy. While Mikael is a chronic philanderer, Lisbeth usually seeks affection when she is sad or mad; her sex life is an extension of her insecurities. There are a few cases where the characters are married and faithful, namely Armansky, the security guru and Giannini, Lisbeth's attorney. Both are admirable characters; family life is not shown in a negative light in the books; neither is religion. As for Mikael and Lisbeth, it is clear that they are both acting out deep-rooted problems by flitting from person to person.

Mikael's principle lover is Erika Berger, his married boss at Millennium magazine, where the pair work to reveal financial malfeasance in all its forms. Erika's husband is a weak nincompoop who smilingly looks the other way when Mikael and Erika are trysting. Erika is the opposite of Lisbeth, confident, sophisticated, respected by all; no one seems to question the immaturity of her inability to practice fidelity. By prolonging their inordinate attachment to one another, Erika and Mikael are escaping total commitment. Mikael's marriage failed because of Erika, separating him from his daughter. I have seen readers praise the open-mindedness of Mikael and Erika's relationship, but it is not a healthy one, since it is based on sexual addiction and an unwillingness to grow up. Furthermore, others are hurt by it. Erika's husband is damaged whether he acknowledges it or not; his wife is so preoccupied with her own life that she has no idea whether he is in France or Finland (Book 3). The women with whom Mikael gets involved, including Lisbeth, are hurt by his refusal to give up sleeping with Erika.

When people misuse sexuality in their private lives, it is not surprising that the sex trade flourishes and crimes against women increase. When everyone is encouraged to equate sex with recreation, then it is no wonder that those who are entertained by the pain of others find ways to express their perversions. The uncovering of various criminal networks are at the heart of the trilogy, particularly those which involve sex trafficking. There is much said about government corruption and conspiracies; I can see why many Larsson fans believe he was murdered. The novels demonstrate that the lack of respect for rightly ordered sexuality is directly connected to the culture of murder and violence. From Lisbeth's self-mutilation with piercings and tattoos to a Nordic giant wielding a chainsaw in the warehouse, the fascination with the degradation of self and others is inextricably connected to death. As for the overall violence against women, the only solution offered by the author is for women to learn martial arts and become like Amazons.

One might ask if authentic love is even possible for the protagonists of the "Millennium" series. The fact that Lisbeth, who is supposed to be the most wounded among them, is able to acknowledge that she loves Mikael, is a sign of hope. She shows her love by refusing to tolerate Mikael's affair with Erika; she disappears from his life. He does not understand why; for all the sexual encounters, he knows nothing about loving a woman. He seems to understand nothing about his own heart, either, for while he continues to go on his philandering way, he is clearly absorbed by thoughts of Lisbeth, always trying to make contact with her, and then devoting himself to saving her from her enemies. It never occurs to him that he is in love with her, even when he starts haunting her apartment while she is in the hospital in order to be near her things. In the final scene of the final book, when all have been to hell and back again, Lisbeth finds Mikael on her doorstep. To quote from The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: "She hesitated. For two years she had kept as far away from Mikael Blomquist as she could. And yet he kept sticking to her life like gum on the sole of her shoe....And he knew her secrets just as she knew all of his....She opened wide the door and let him into her life again." As I said, there is hope where there is love, even in the darkness of post-modernity. Share

Remembering Robert Bork

From the shores of Gomorrah.

Bork died at age 85. In 1987, he became a national headline when President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court. He was a judicial conservative, a “strict constructionist.” He warned about the road America was embarking upon in neglecting its Constitutional principles, and saw doom and gloom ahead. He was grimly pessimistic about America generally, dreading modern liberalism’s grip on the nation. Liberalism, Bork insisted, was pushing America toward decline. We were headed to hell in a hand-basket. A decade after his failed confirmation, Bork authored a bestselling book tellingly titled, ”Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline.”

 

Bork had seen liberalism up close and full throttle—and at its open-throated angriest. During his unsuccessful confirmation hearings in 1987, he was plainly smeared. He was hysterically and unfairly portrayed by radical abortion feminists and the likes of Senator Ted Kennedy as an abuser and assaulter of women—a Neanderthal, a kind of political/cultural gargoyle. Liberals demonized Bork and railroaded his nomination, ushering in a whole new incivility and politicization to the judicial nomination process. Liberal journalists literally dug through Bork’s trash looking for anything to attack the man; they went to the nearby video store to find out what he rented. (Read entire article.)

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The Death of Van Gogh

Accident or suicide? According to the Daily Mail:

The Vincent van Gogh story is that the poverty-stricken and unappreciated artist took his own life with a shot to the chest. But, more than a century on, two American writers have cast doubt on his suicide and instead claim he was shot dead by a teenager. Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith claim that Van Gogh was fatally wounded by a friend’s teenage brother who enjoyed  teasing and provoking the mentally ill artist. During a confrontation in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890, the boy somehow opened fire with a gun. They also outline another theory, that Van Gogh was shot by two local boys who were playing with a malfunctioning pistol. Naifeh and Smith, who won a Pulitzer Prize for their biography  of U.S. artist Jackson Pollock, spent ten years researching their book, which will be released in Britain tomorrow. (Read entire article.)

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Veterans' Voices on PTSD

From Make the Connection:

You feel on edge. Nightmares keep coming back. Sudden noises make you jump. You’re staying at home more and more. Could you have PTSD?

If you have experienced severe trauma or a life-threatening event, you may develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress, commonly known as posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD, shell shock, or combat stress. Maybe you felt like your life or the lives of others were in danger, or that you had no control over what was happening. You may have witnessed people being injured or dying, or you may have been physically harmed yourself. (Read entire post.)

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Chivalry: Respect vs. Inferiority

Chivalry can be understood by women with a strong sense of self. I realize that women who struggle with an inferiority complex will see chivalry as condescension. However, chivalry is about respect, not inferiority. From Mary Beth Bonacci:

I like chivalry.

Yes, I admit it. I know I’m not supposed to, but I actually like it when men open doors for me, and take my coat, and do all of those other little things that modern feminism says I should find horrifying and offensive. I know it’s supposed me make me feel belittled and patronized, but instead I find it makes me feel special, and feminine, and even protected and somehow treasured.

Is that so wrong?

I get their thinking—that doing little things for women implies that we are incapable of doing them for ourselves. And so, chivalry has been called “benevolent sexism,” with those nice men stooping down to assist us helpless little women-folk.

If that’s what chivalry really was, I’d resent it, too. But that’s not how I see it. Sure, I’m perfectly capable of opening my own doors. But I see it as a sign of respect—for me and for women in general—when a man does that for me. It is an acknowledgement of the politically incorrect truth that men in general are physically stronger than women. By putting that strength at the service of women, a man is signaling that he respects her, and that he has no intention of using it against her.

I have been, I hate to admit, afraid that chivalry is indeed dead—or at least slowly dying. I still see it here are there, mostly among older gentlemen and the younger ones who were raised by those who still care about such things. But for the most part, I see young women charging through doors with an “I can do it myself” attitude, and young men who don’t even comprehend why they would bother reaching out to women in this way.

But then I read in an article in The Atlantic (of all places) calling for a return to chivalry. It quotes Pier Massimo Forni, the founder of the Civility Institute at Johns Hopkins University, as saying that chivalry is “a form of preferential treatment that men once accorded to women generations ago, inspired by the sense that there was something special about women, that they deserve added respect, and that not doing so was uncouth, cowardly and essentially despicable.”

So men are not chivalrous because women are incapable. Men are chivalrous because women are special—because while we lack commensurate physical strength, we are created in the image and likeness of God, and endowed with a special gift for bringing forth and nurturing new life. And men respect that by respecting us. (Read entire post.)

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Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux

French composer, musician and painter.

Rose’s paintings were displayed in several exhibits, beginning in the Paris Salon of 1791, the first year in which members of the public were permitted to display their own paintings. Her work was displayed in Paris in several exhibits for the rest of the decade, where they were received favorably.

Self portrait with a Harp at the Salon is a remarkable painting not only for its beauty but for the historical insight it provides. Rose stands, not playing the harp, but seemingly interrupted from the middle of tuning (she holds the tuning key in her right hand). Obviously painted by a someone intimately familiar with the instrument, the harp is depicted with red strings for C and dark strings for F, and with nearly photorealistic pedals. The strings are tied to the top of the harp in a slighty untidy, realistic way — how Rose must have tied her own instrument’s strings. The song laying on the table, “Tender Love”, suggests she also sings as she plays. (Read entire post.)

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A Biography of Madame de Lamballe

A biography by Georges Bertin. To quote:

To tell her story, her relationship with her family and the Queen, Bertin uses mostly unpublished documents and articles taken from the newspapers of the day. The biography is thus full of interesting but little-known anecdotes about the Princess. However, the portrayal of the Princess that comes out of the book is not unbiased. Bertin justly stresses that Madame De Lamballe wasn't the frivolous beauty many think she was, but was intelligent, well-educated, "enlightened", devoted to those she loved and did many charitable deeds.

But the author is a bit too enamoured with the Princess to fairly portray her faults. He seems to blame the Princess' loss of favour with the Queen mostly, but not solely, on the Duchess the Polignac, who apparently schemed to destroy her rival. He also often complains about the Duchess using her influence to obtain privileges, titles and money for her family and friends. While it is true that the Polignacs benefited greatly from Gabrielle's friendship with the Queen, Madame De Lamballe often asked favours of Marie Antoinette as well, which however weren't always granted.

Bertin says that all these requests were another of the reasons why Marie Antoinette grew tired of the Princess but if so, shouldn't the Queen have grown tired of the Duchess De Polignac as well? In my opinion, the author is trying too hard to justify Marie Antoinette's preference for the Duchess over the Princess. The reason is probably much more simple. We all get along with and like some people better than others and I think Marie Antoinette simply found herself more at ease with the frivolous Gabrielle than the intellectual Lamballe. (Read entire review.)

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Hidden Tudor Portraits

From The Guardian:

He was the eyes and ears of Elizabeth I, the loyal spymaster and ruthless counterterror chief: Sir Francis Walsingham was the man who knew everything. Or not quite everything, it seems. Certainly not that his portrait was secretly painted over an overtly Roman Catholic image of the holy Virgin and Child.


“He would not have been delighted,” speculated Dr Tarnya Cooper, standing in front of the remarkable new discovery going on show at the National Portrait Gallery. “You do wonder if the artist might be enjoying a private joke."

The gallery on Thursday opened a display showing x-rays of devotional paintings it has discovered underneath its portraits of two key Tudor statesmen. As well as a Virgin and Child under Walsingham, researchers found A Flagellation of Christ under the Queen’s lord treasurer Thomas Sackville.

 The Walsingham portrait dates from the 1580s when Protestant England was isolated and supporting the war in the Netherlands against the Spanish.

“The Catholics are the absolute enemy at this period so the idea that you’ve got this wonderful devotional image underneath your portrait would probably be rather horrifying to him,” Cooper, the NPG’s chief curator, said. (Read entire article.)

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