ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
THIS PROJECT IS LARGELY DEDICATED TO MY LATE GREAT UNCLE: REV. FATHER ARVIDS BERNANS, WHOSE LIFE AND SERVICE TO GOD INSPIRED ME TO GIVE A MINUTE PORTION OF MY LIFE TO THIS PROJECT, WHOSE WORDS OF LOVE AND WISDOM CONSISTENTLY WALKED ALONGSIDE ME THROUGHOUT THIS TUMULTUOUS JOURNEY.
AND TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN ME LOVE AND SUPPORT, IN SMALL WAYS AND LARGE, ALONG THE WAY, I THANK YOU, FOR WITHOUT THIS GRACE, I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE COURAGE TO PURSUE THIS ENDEAVOR.
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ANDREW GAUGGEL AND MEGAN TRISCHLER ESPECIALLY, BOTH OF WHOM WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND TO ASSIST AND INSPIRE ME THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY OF THIS PROJECT; BOTH OF WHOM HAVE REMINDED ME CONSISTENTLY AND PASSIONATELY THAT THE HARDEST PART IS CHASING AFTER THE VERY THINGS THAT WILL SEEMINGLY RESULT IN OUR DEATH. THROUGH THEIR ADVICE AND WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT, THEY INSTILLED WITHIN ME THE CONVICTION THAT THE GREATEST GIFT WE MUST GIVE TO THIS WORLD IS OUR BELIEF AND ADORATION OF GOD, EVEN IF OUR NEXT STEP IN GIVING IT MAY CRUSH US. WITHOUT YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT FELT LIKE AN IMPOSSIBILITY.
CHRISTOCENTRIC WAY OF KENOSIS
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT THOMISTIC LENS
GIFT OF COUNSEL FORESIGHT CIRCUMSPECTION CONSTANCY GIFT OF PIETY RELIGION PENANCE CREDENCE GIFT OF FORTITUDE PATIENCE MAGNANIMITY LONGANIMITY GIFT OF FEAR CHASTITY MEEKNESS POVERTY HUMILITY LOVE HOPE FAITH JESUS CHRIST, THE SURE FOUNDATION TEMPERANCE JUSTICE FORTITUDE PRUDENCE GIFT OF WISDOM GIFT OFKNOWLEDGE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING
GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE’S SPIRITUAL TEMPLE
FATHER
TITLEICONography
TOWERING WOODEN BEAM, ALLUSION TO JESUS BEARING THE CROSS.
ALLUSION TO THE LITURGY OF GOOD FRIDAY MASS: “THIS IS THE WOOD OF THE CROSS, UPON WHICH HUNG THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”
YOU SIT ON THE SIDE OF THE CROSS, WALKING WITH CHRIST THRU THE JOURNEY OF THESE CHAPELS.
THE ‘FIGURE’ OF OUR LADY BENT OVER HER CHILD, ALLUSION TO TRADITIONAL ICONOGRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF THE BLESSED MOTHER AND JESUS.
SOFT EMBRACE OF THE HARSHNESS OF THE ‘CRUCIFIXION HALF’.
FONT OF WATER WITHIN, ALLUSION TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS.
"YOU KEEP TRACK OF ALL MY SORROWS. YOU HAVE COLLECTED ALL MY TEARS IN YOUR BOTTLE. YOU HAVE RECORDED EACH ONE IN YOUR BOOK" (PSALM 56:8).
OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP AN ICON OF THE CRETAN SCHOOL, IN ROME SINCE THE 15TH CENTURY.
DOMENICO DI BARTOLO’S THE MADONNA OF HUMILITY 1433.
MELOZZO DA FORLÌ’S ANNUNCIATION, AT THE PANTHEON IN ROME.
FILIPPO LIPPI’S MYSTICL NATIVITY, 1459.
STATION I
JESUS IS CONDEMNED
STATION II
JESUS IS GIVEN THE CROSS
STATION III
JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME
STATION IV
JESUS MEETS OUR LADY
STATIONS V & VI
SIMON HELPS JESUS
VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS
STATION VII
JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME
STATION VIII
JESUS GREETS THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF JERUSALEM
STATION X
JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
TITLE CONTEXT
TITLE PRECEDENTS
THE DANTEUM GUISEPPE TERRAGNI, 1938
CHURCH OF DOMINUS FLEVIT ANTONION BARLUZZI, 1955
JEWISH MUSEUM BERLIN STUDIO LIBESKIND, 2001
AUSTIN ELLSWORTH KELLY, 2018
NARRATIVE TRANSLATION
THROUGH PROPORTION // ACTUALITY
NARRATIVE SYMBOLISM
THROUGH WHOLENESS // RADIANCE
SYMBOLIC ABSTRACTION
FROM THE INVERSION OF RADIANCE
TRADITIONAL ALLUSION
THROUGH ACTUALITY // RADIANCE
MAUSOLEUM OF MARTYRDOM OF POLISH VILLAGES NIZIO DESIGN INTERNATIONAL, 2021
CONSEQUENTIAL ABSTRACTION
THROUGH ACTUALITY // RADIANCE
1900 1950 2000
TITLE CHAPELS OF THE SACRED PASSION
O’ SAVING VICTIM, OP'NING WIDE THE GATE OF HEAV'N TO US BELOW, OUR FOES PRESS ON FROM EVERY SIDE; THINE AID SUPPLY, THY STRENGTH BESTOW.
ALL PRAISE AND THANKS TO THEE ASCEND FOREVERMORE, BLEST ONE IN THREE; O’ GRANT US LIFE THAT SHALL NOT END IN OUR TRUE NATIVE LAND WITH THEE.
— ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
STATION III
V. WE ADORE THEE, O’ CHRIST, AND WE BLESS THEE.
R. FOR BY THY HOLY CROSS, THOU HAST REDEEMED THE WORLD.
JESUS FALLS BENEATH THE CROSS
LORD JESUS, THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS MADE YOU FALL TO THE GROUND. THE WEIGHT OF OUR SIN, THE WEIGHT OF OUR PRIDE, BROUGHT YOU DOWN. BUT YOUR FALL IS NOT A TRAGEDY, OR MERE HUMAN WEAKNESS. YOU CAME TO US WHEN, IN OUR PRIDE, WE WERE LAID LOW. LORD, HELP US; WE HAVE FALLEN. HELP US TO ABANDON OUR DESTRUCTIVE PRIDE AND, BY LEARNING FROM YOUR HUMILITY, TO RISE AGAIN.
CHAPELS OF THE SACRED PASSION |
STATION III: JESUS FALLS BENEATH THE CROSS
STATION IV
V. WE ADORE THEE, O’ CHRIST, AND WE BLESS THEE.
R. FOR BY THY HOLY CROSS, THOU HAST REDEEMED THE WORLD.
HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF THE LORD, YOU REMAINED FAITHFUL WHEN THE DISCIPLES FLED. IN THIS WAY, AT THE HOUR OF THE CROSS, AT THE HOUR OF THE WORLD’S DARKEST NIGHT, YOU BECAME THE MOTHER OF ALL BELIEVERS, THE MOTHER OF THE CHURCH. WE BEG YOU: TEACH US TO BELIEVE, AND GRANT THAT OUR FAITH BEAR FRUIT IN COURAGEOUS SERVICE AND BE THE SIGN OF A LOVE EVER READY TO SHARE SUFFERING AND TO OFFER ASSISTANCE.
CHAPELS OF THE
SACRED PASSION | STATION IV: JESUS GREETS OUR LADY
STATION XII
V. WE ADORE THEE, O’ CHRIST, AND WE BLESS THEE.
R. BECAUSE BY THY HOLY CROSS, THOU HAST REDEEMED THE WORLD.
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
LORD JESUS CHRIST, AT THE HOUR OF YOUR DEATH, THE SUN WAS DARKENED. EVER ANEW YOU ARE BEING NAILED TO THE CROSS. AT THIS PRESENT HOUR OF HISTORY WE ARE LIVING IN GOD’S DARKNESS. THROUGH YOUR GREAT SUFFERINGS AND THE WICKEDNESS OF MEN, THE FACE OF GOD, YOUR FACE, SEEMS OBSCURED, UNRECOGNIZABLE. AND YET, ON THE CROSS, YOU HAVE REVEALED YOURSELF. HELP US TO RECOGNIZE YOUR FACE AT THIS HOUR OF DARKNESS AND TRIBULATION.
CHAPELS OF THE SACRED PASSION | STATION XII: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
COMPILATION...a certain kind of conclusion...
WHEN WE EMBARK ON SOMETHING SO ABOVE AND BEYOND US, WE NEVER EXPECT THE HORIZON TO BREAK UPON THE DISTANT SANDS AHEAD. YET, SURELY – SURELY! – THE WORK OF OUR HANDS, THIS WORK OF MY HANDS, MUST AND HAS REACHED A CERTAIN KIND OF CONCLUSION, AND AS I BEGIN TO FORM THE WORDS THAT YOU ARE READING AT THIS HOUR, I THINK OF ST. PAUL:
“...BECAUSE OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN THE GOSPEL FROM THE FIRST DAY UNTIL NOW. AND I AM SURE OF THIS, THAT HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL BRING IT TO COMPLETION AT THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. IT IS RIGHT FOR ME TO FEEL THIS WAY ABOUT YOU ALL, BECAUSE I HOLD YOU IN MY HEART, FOR YOU ARE ALL PARTAKERS WITH ME OF GRACE, BOTH IN MY IMPRISONMENT AND IN THE DEFENSE AND CONFIRMATION OF THE GOSPEL.”
AS THE EVENING COMES AND THE SHADOWS LENGTHEN, THIS ‘GOOD WORK’ LAID OUT BEFORE ME, FOR MY, AND YOUR, SAKE, FINDS ITS CONCLUSION IN THE TRUTH THAT WHAT JESUS OFFERS IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THE WORLD GIVES OR DEFINES. THE INVESTIGATED PROJECT PROPOSAL IS NOTHING; TRULY, IT IS NOT UNLIKE WEATHERED RAGS, IF NOT FOR JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION. THE PROJECT IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A BYPRODUCT OF GRACE, NOT THE JOY OF SUCCESS IN CHRIST’S HEART. IT IS THIS BEAUTY THAT FORMS MY CONCLUSION. IT IS THIS BEAUTY THAT SAVES, TETELESTAI.
FROM THE BEGINNING, THIS THESIS HAS AND WILL FOREVER CONTINUE TO BE AN ESSAY ON THE INSCRUTABLE LOVE OF OUR INCARNATE, CRUCIFIED, AND RISEN LORD AND THE BONDAGE BETWEEN HIS SACRIFICIAL MERCY AND THE CREATIVE VIRTUE OF THE CREATURE – THE CONSUMMATION AND FRUITION OF BEAUTY.
NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES...
THE FULLEST EXTENT OF TRUTH, GOODNESS, AND BEAUTY CAN BE FOUND IN GOD. GOD REVEALS HIS SPLENDOR, GLORY, AND MERCY THROUGH THE BEAUTY THAT IS SEEN AND UNSEEN, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, BEFORE AND AFTER US. IT IS AMONG THE MOST TANGIBLE WAYS IN WHICH WE SHARE IN THE DIVINE MYSTERY OF ALL OF CREATION. AND, AS HUMANS, WE ARE DRAWN TO BEAUTY BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS, AND GOD IS BEAUTY. BEING MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD, WE HUMAN CREATURES ARE OPEN TO THE TRANSCENDENT – TO THINGS THAT INSPIRE MYSTERY, AWE, AND WONDERMENT...
...WE HAVE A NATURAL YEARNING AND ORIENTATION TO THINGS THAT ARE PARTLY UNDERSTANDABLE TO US YET, AT THE SAME TIME, LIE BEYOND US...
...AND AS CREATIVES, WE ATTEMPT TO VISUALIZE AND PUT THIS INTO THE WORLD, WITH CHRIST AS THE RUDDER.
BUT THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY IS A BATTLEFIELD – SURELY, I KNOW. IT IS A BATTLEFIELD WITHIN THE HEARTS OF ALL OF US. A WAR WAGED FOR OUR ATTENTION: BETWEEN GIVING OURSELVES TO THE THINGS THAT LEAD TO DEATH OR THE THINGS THAT LEAD TO DAILY RESURRECTION. VERY TRULY, I HOLD THAT THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY BEGINS AND ENDS AT THE SAME PLACE: THE CROSS: THE CONTEXT FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD.
BEAUTY SHATTERED THE WORLD; THE GROUND OF GOLGOTHA WAS WASHED WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S MOST SACRED HEART, DEMONSTRATING THAT BEAUTY IS SACRIFICIAL. IT IS A “DIVINE EMPTYING” OF SORTS. EITHER INTO US OR FROM US –BUT NEVER BECAUSE OF US…IT IS A SACRIFICIAL GIFT TO US…IT IS A VIRTUE THAT FLOWS FROM THE SPIRIT.
TRUE BEAUTY IS NOT BROUGHT ABOUT BY OUR OWN ACCORD BUT BY THE AUTHOR OF BEAUTY ITSELF. WE PARTAKE IN IT BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR US. WE GIVE IT – CREATE IT –BECAUSE HE FIRST PLACED IT ON OUR HEARTS. WE CAN SEE BEAUTY – TO SEE AND FEEL LOVE – BECAUSE HE LOVED US FIRST.
THE GREAT AUTHOR FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY ONCE WROTE THAT “BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD.” WE NEED THIS; ONTO THE END OF THE AGE, WE NEED THIS. YET, THROUGHOUT THIS JOURNEY TOWARD UNDERSTANDING BEAUTY, I HAVE COME TO KNOW AND HOLD THAT THE WORLD HAS ALREADY BEEN SAVED BY BEAUTY –IF WE ONLY TAKE A MOMENT TO FEEL, WITNESS, LISTEN TO, AND LOVE THE DIVINE THREADS WOVEN THROUGH EVERYTHING. IF WE ONLY MOVE BEYOND THE FEAR OF WHAT LOVE DEMANDS AND SURRENDER TO THE MERCY OF THE CROSS.
IT IS AN ASPIRATION TO SEE THE WORLD THE WAY JESUS DOES. IT IS ALL THE THINGS THAT ALLOW US TO SEE HIM – AND TO BE TRULY SEEN BY HIM.
...BEAUTY CAN HELP US SURVIVE.
