LETTERS
Letters to the Editor Art appreciation
Well done, Lone Veiler
I always look forward to receiving my copy of Mass of Ages. You have excelled yourselves in producing issue 205, autumn 2020. Brilliant articles, and I am especially taken with the twopage Art and Devotion written by Dr Caroline Farey. Such depth in the subject is joyous to behold, so please commission more articles from her pen!
I felt I had to contact you to say how much I agreed with Lone Veiler’s autumn article. She cheered me up no end amidst the gloom of this whole Covid business – I completely agree with her point that walking the dog is a great ‘get out of jail card’ as she amusingly puts it. But, like Lone Veiler, I too find that streamed Masses are no substitute for the real thing and I share her hope that we will soon be able to return to church. I have sorely missed it.ng long after most of the other stonemasons had gone home.
Francis Osborn and family Via email
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…and understanding Caroline Farey writes beautifully about sacred art and I particularly enjoyed her article in your autumn issue. Today many of us go to look at paintings and other works of art, but having lost touch with the ancient traditions of the Catholic Church we often look while not seeing. We have lost the ability to ‘read’ works of art - I remember the look of wonder on a young woman’s face when an art expert at the National Gallery pointed out the subtle hints and symbols in Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus – few today would spot the small shadow on the table in the shape Learning to see.. of a fish’s tale (the fish of course a Christian symbol) or the skill with which the shadow over Jesus’ head looks like a naturalistic shadow but is somehow also very obviously a halo. And in other pictures we see the passion flower, or the pomegranate - both symbols of Christ’s passion – and many other symbols that would have sent a clear message to most observers in earlier centuries. Caroline Farey’s articles will certainly help me continue to read the Christian message in these ancient works of art. Oliver O’Halloran Via email
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Duncan Haynes Via email .....
Staunch Catholics Your article on Lyveden New Bield (autumn 2020) reminded me of many other interesting Catholic buildings, not least the Chapel at Stonor near Henley on Thames. So far as I know, this chapel is one of only two or three chapels in England that have always been Catholic. Originally founded in the 13th Century, the chapel is part of the Stonor Estate and the Stonors themselves have been staunch Catholics through thick and thin. As the journalist and author Simon Jenkins puts it: ‘Stonors have lived at this spot for eight and a half centuries defying Reformation and Revolution. Mass has always been celebrated in the place…’ Like Lyveden, Stonor also has associations with St Edmund Campion – the priest hole where he was forced to hide can still be seen. Mass is celebrated every Sunday, but sadly not the Old Rite. Patricia Johns, Via email
Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Mass of Ages, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH email editor@lms.org.uk Letters may be edited for reasons of space
WINTER 2020
