The Feast of Saint Michael

Yesterday, September 29, was the feast day of Saint Michael which reminded me of the stained glass window we find in the vestibule of our church which depicts this famous archangel.    He is depicted in shining armor, with a sword in his right hand and holding the banner of victory in his left.  He is wearing a crown with precious stones within his nimbus, representing his princely stature among the celestial hierarchy. 

We should perhaps not be surprised to find a representation of St. Michael at Corpus Christi.  After all, he was the patron saint of Michael Jenkins, one of the children of Thomas & Louisa Jenkins who built the church in honor of their parents.  Also, because the saint is regarded as the guardian of the church (see below), it is not uncommon to find the saint near the entrance of a church, protecting the building together with one of the other archangels.  At Corpus Christi, the window of St. Michael was installed in the church in 1901, one of the last three stained glass windows to be put into place.

Saint Michael’s feast has been celebrated in Rome from the early centuries on September 29.  The Synod of Mainz (813) introduced it into all the countries of the Carolingian Empire and prescribed its celebration as a public holiday.

Hebrew for “Who is like unto God,” Michael is mentioned twice in the Book of Daniel where he is referred to as a prince:

“So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia, 14and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days.”   Daniel 10:13-14

“At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.”  Daniel 12:1

In Judaism, Michael is Israel’s advocate who wrestles with Jacob, teaches Moses, and guides the souls.  In the New Testament, Michael leads the armies of God in battle against the forces of evil in the Book of Revelation:

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.”  Revelation 12:7-8

In the Roman Catholic tradition & teachings Saint Michael has four main roles or offices. 

• He is the leader of the Army of God and the leader of heaven's forces in their triumph over the powers of hell. 
•  He is the angel of death, carrying the souls of all the deceased to heaven.
• He weighs souls in his perfectly balanced scales (hence Michael is often depicted holding scales).
• He is the guardian of the Church. 

All through medieval times Saint Michael’s Day (or Michaelmas) was kept as a great religious feast (in France even up to the last century) and one of the annual holiday seasons as well.    It was the religious or Christian equivalent of the autumn equinox. In England, it was considered the start of a new quarter. It marked the start of a new business year, a time for electing officials, making contracts, paying rent, hiring servants, holding court and starting school.  Obviously we still see the remnants of this in the timing of our elections and school year.  This is also a time when the weather is known to change. In Italy, they say "For St. Michael, heat goes into the heavens." In Ireland, people expect a marked decrease in sickness or disease. The Irish also consider this a lucky day for fishing: “Plenty comes to the boat on Michael's Day.”  Tradition holds that one should not pick or eat blackberries beyond this date.  Customary foods therefore include blackberry pie, as well as goose (because rents were often paid with food such as a goose), ginger ale and gingerbread.

   

In Christian art, the archangel Michael may be depicted alone or with other angels such as Gabriel.  Often he is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield.  The shield may bear the Latin inscription Quis ut Deus (Who [is] like God). He may be standing over a serpent, a dragon, or the defeated figure of Satan, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance.  In other depictions Michael may be holding a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed and may hold the book of life (as in the Book of Revelation), to show that he takes part in the judgment.   Some beautiful examples:

Statue of Saint Michael on top of the spire of the Abbey Church of Mont-Saint-Michel

Saint Michael in Memling's Last Judgment (National Museum Gdansk)

15th century fresco of Saint Michael in the St. Thomas Church in Strasbourg, France

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[1] "The Feast of St. Michael's." St. Michael's Feast Day. Andrew Perrotta, 2006. Web. 30 Sept. 2015. <http://www.feastofstmichael.com/>.

[2] "Catholic Activity: Background and Customs for the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel." Catholic Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2015. <https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1155>.

[3] Holweck, Frederick. "St. Michael the Archangel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 30 Sept. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm>.

[4] Wikipedia contributors. "Michaelmas." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 Sep. 2015. Web. 30 Sep. 2015.

[5] Wikipedia contributors. "Archangel Michael in Christian art." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Mar. 2015. Web. 30 Sep. 2015.

Who Was Michael A. Jenkins?

Who was Michael Jenkins, the man who donated so much of his personal money to the building and beautification of Corpus Christi Jenkins-Memorial Church? 

He was born December 27, 1842, the youngest son of Thomas Courtney Jenkins and Louisa Carrell.  As his father and his older brothers, he was educated at Mount Saint Mary’s College, located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, graduating in the class of 1862.  Returning to Baltimore, he joined his father and brothers George and Joseph in the commercial firm Poland, Jenkins & Co. (later Jenkins, Staylor & Co., and, by 1880, Jenkins Brothers).

On October 2, 1866, he married his 2^nd cousin Mary Isabella Plowder Jenkins (1844-1911), the daughter of his father’s paternal cousin, Austin Jenkins (1806-1888).  For a few years, Michael and Mary Isabella resided in the home of Michael’s parents at 167 St. Paul Street.  By 1868 however they had moved to a house at 130 Park Avenue.  After the death of Mary Isabella’s father, Austin, in 1888, the couple moved to Mary’s ancestral home at 616 Park Avenue.  This house remained their city residence until Michael’s death in 1915. 

Meanwhile, Michael became a leading financier involving himself in many business and civic activities. In 1896 he was elected president of the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, resigning in 1907 to become Chairman of the Board of Directors. He was made president of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company in 1901 and of the Atlantic Coast Line Company in 1906. He was also vice president of the Northern Central Railway Company, director of the Metropolitan Savings Bank, a trustee of the Baltimore Cathedral, and treasurer of the Peabody Institute. He was one of the founders of The Catholic University of America, serving as a trustee from 1885 and as a treasurer from 1905 until his death.  While Michael Jenkins did not play an active role in Baltimore politics, he was instrumental in bringing the 1912 Democratic Convention to Baltimore. 

As devout Catholics, Michael and Mary Isabella Jenkins were important benefactors to many charitable institutions.  As the Sun mentioned in 1915 “practically every charitable institution, orphanage and hospital under the patronage of the Catholic Church has enjoyed his beneficence.[1]”  Michael was a trustee of the Cathedral in Baltimore and a very close friend of Cardinal James Gibbons.  They frequently spent time together at each other’s homes and Cardinal Gibbons consulted Michael on many archdiocesan financial matters.  In recognition for all the things he had done for the cause of Catholicism in the United States, Pope Pius X ennobled Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins in May 1903 as the Duke and Duchess of Llewellyn of the Holy Roman Empire.  Finally, in 1904, Michael Jenkins donated the land next to Corpus Christi to MICA after their building downtown was destroyed in the 1904 fire, land which he had purchased for the sole purpose of protecting the property. 

Like many well-to-do Baltimoreans, Michael and Mary Isabella Jenkins also owned a country villa outside the city, in very close proximity to the estates that belonged to his older siblings.  In 1881, his older brother Joseph had purchased a beautiful estate, called “Windy Gates,” which stretched the length of Lake Avenue between Falls Road and Roland Avenue and featured gardens designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers[2]. Three years later, in 1884, Joseph bought “Edgewood” (911 West Lake) for his unmarried sisters, Eliza and Ellen[3].  In 1895 Michael followed suit and bought an old farmhouse on Lake Avenue, not far from “Windy Gates,” and named it “Llewellyn”[4].  Likewise, his brother George Jenkins built “Seven Oaks” in 1904, a large Georgian revival house designed by Joseph Evans Sperry, on nearby Valley Road[5]. 

Michael Jenkins' old country villa now the Boy's Latin Upper School main building.

Michael and Mary Isabella Jenkins never had children.  When Mary Isabella died on March 5, 1911 she was buried in the St. Thomas Chapel of Corpus Christi and, as a memorial to her, Michael Jenkins financed extensive renovations for the church in her memory. The church was repainted and mosaic flooring was laid in the vestibules and nave, consisting of white marble with centerpieces and borders of grape clusters and shades of wheat.  In the sanctuary, the candlesticks were re-gilded, and the circular surrounding wall was covered with figured gold above a rich wainscoting of marble.  The arched ceilings of the St. Mary and Sacred Heart Chapels were overlaid with gold, as were the organ pipes and the iron gates in front of the sanctuary.  The vestibules of both entrances received marble wainscoting, radiators were concealed and gas was replaced by electricity.  In 1912 the old tower was removed and work on a new steeple was begun.  A huge clock was installed with dials visible of a wide territory and four new bells were added so that chimes would ring the hours and half-hours.   That same year, the original Stations of the Cross, which were small oil paintings, were replaced by relief mosaics.  Finally, in 1914, two mosaics representing the Eucharistic Christ were installed, one on each side of the sanctuary, the walls surrounding the Altar of the Blessed Virgin were marbleized, and a gold mosaic ceiling was formed above the high altar.

Exactly one hundred years ago last week, on Monday, September 7 1915, Michael A. Jenkins died of pneumonia in the home of his sister Eliza on Lake Avenue.  Had he lived a few more weeks until the end of the month he would have been 73 years old.  According to the Baltimore Sun, the city reacted shocked, flags were half-masted, Henry Walters, “deeply grieved,” returned from New York, and Archbishop Gibbons, “completely crushed,” contemplated breaking his retreat for the first time in his life. [6]  Even Mr. and Mrs. W. Vanderbilt traveled to Baltimore to pay their respects.[7] 

A Requiem Mass was celebrated on September 10^th at the Cathedral.  The liturgy was presided over by the Archbishop and attended by several bishops and many priests, nuns and prelates of the Catholic Church, as well as numerous prominent businessmen and politicians.  Afterwards his relatives and closest friends attended his burial in the crypt at Corpus Christi Church.[8]  

Michael Jenkins’ wealth at the time of his death was estimated to be at least $15,000,000, but the Baltimore Sun had to announce a week later that the financier’s estate was far smaller than expected, only $3,500,000.  He left no will, perhaps to the disappointment of many, and thus his fortune was distributed among his three nearest relatives, his siblings George, Joseph, and Eliza.[9]

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[1] "Michael Jenkins, Financier, Dies." Sun [Baltimore] 8 Sept. 2015: 14+. ProQuest Historical Newspapers [ProQuest]. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

[2] In the early 1980s Windy Gates was developed into Devon Hill Condominiums.

[3] Edgewood is now owned by the Josephite Fathers.

[4] Llewellyn is now the main building on the campus of Baltimore's Boy’s Latin School.

[5] In 1947 the School Sisters of Notre Dame founded Villa Julie College at “Seven Oaks.”

[6] "Michael Jenkins, Financier, Dies." Sun [Baltimore] 8 Sept. 2015: 14+. ProQuest Historical Newspapers [ProQuest]. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

[7] "W.K. Vanderbilt Here." Sun [Baltimore] 9 Sept. 1915: 12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers [ProQuest]. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

[8] "Cardinal Extols Him." Sun [Baltimore] 12 Sept. 1915: 4. ProQuest Historical Newspapers [ProQuest]. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

[9] "Jenkins Left $3,500,000." Sun [Baltimore] 17 Sept. 1915: 7. ProQuest Historical Newspapers [ProQuest]. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

Melchizedek

In the pase of Corpus Christi Church, on the gospel side, is a stained glass window of  Melchizedek.   Melchizedek was a king and priest who blesses Abram in the 14^th chapter of the Book of Genesis.  In the chapter, he is introduced as the king of Salem, and priest of El Elyon (“God most High”).  He brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram and Elyon.

The depiction of Melchizedek in the Jenkins Memorial-Corpus Christi Church makes perfect sense when one considers the fact that Catholics find the roots of their priesthood in the tradition of Melchizedek[i] .  In Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek offers a sacrifice of bread and wine. Christ therefore fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 110:4, that he would be a priest "after the order of Melchizedek," at the Last Supper, when he broke and shared bread with his disciples.  

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.  And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.[ii]

Catholics take Christ's command that the Apostles should "do this in memory of Me" seriously.  As such, the Catholic Church continues to offer sacrifices of bread and wine at Mass, as part of the sacrament of the Eucharist.

This particular stained glass window is completely filled with the figure of Melchizedec offering his sacrifice of bread and wine.  His mantel of ruby red becomes the finest color in the midday rays of the sun.  In small compartments in the lower part of the light are also represented the falling manna of the desert, and the loaves of proposition from the Holy of Holies; and in small shields at either side are the wheat and the vine, emblems of the Blessed Sacrament as the others are the types.[iii]

Before I close, I cannot resist sharing another artistic rendition of the meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek, this one by Dieric Bouts the Elder (1464-1467) at The Church of Saint Peter in Leuven, Belgium where I went to college.  This painting is part of the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament which has 4 additional panels: The Last Supper (central piece), Elijah and the Angel, the Gathering of the Manna and The Feast of the Passover.

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[i] Cathechism of the Catholic Church, 1544

[ii]Genesis 14:18-20 New International Version (NIV)

[iii] Jenkins Memorial Church of Corpus Christi, Baltimore, Md. : a description of its stained glass windows and the subjects depicted therein

Corpus Christi’s 1889 J.H & C.S Odell organ

This past weekend, Corpus Christi Church once again hosted a variety of musical concerts during the annual Artscape Festival.  This was in fact the 22^nd year that the church opened its doors to the Baltimore arts and music community.  Four of the concerts featured organ music by renowned organists Ruth Eldredge Thomas, Michael Britt, Sean O’Connor, and Saunders Allan.  They played the historic Odell organ from 1889.

Brothers John Henry and Caleb Sherwood Odell founded the organ building firm of J.H. & C.S. Odell in 1859 on West 42^nd Street in New York City.  From the onset, they distinguished themselves as builders of refined instruments.  At one point, more than 200 Odell organs were being played in New York City alone, including those at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Bartholomew’s, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, Marble Collegiate, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Michael's, 34th Street. [i] [ii]

It comes therefore as no surprise that Michael Jenkins and his siblings enlisted the Odell Company to build the organ for Corpus Christi-Jenkins Memorial Church.  The instrument was builtin 1889 and installed in the church in November 1890.  Price paid was $4,200.

The Baltimore Sun of November 22, 1890 described it as follows:

A fine new organ has just been erected in Corpus Christi, or Jenkins Memorial Church, Townsend street and Mt. Royal avenue, which will be used in public for the first time on the occasion of the consecration of the church, on January 1.  It is a two-manual organ, and contains the following stops: On the great open diapason, 16 feet; stopped diapason, 8; dropped flote, 8; gambi, 8; dolce, 8; octave, 4; flute d’amour, 4; twelfth 2 2/3; fifteenth, 2; mixture, trumpet 8.  On the swell – Bourdon, 16; open diapason, 8; stopped diapason, 8; salicional, 8; vox celestia, 8; octave, 4; wald flute, 4; flantina, 2; dolce cornet, oboe, 8.  The pedal stops are: Open diapason, 16; Bourdon, 16; violoncello, 8.  There are eight patent combination pistons, which make the organ practically equal to a three-manual instrument.  It will be worked by a gas or electric motor, as there is not sufficient water-power at command. 

The test the organ Mr. Edwin Aler gave an informal recital to Mr. Michael Jenkins, Rev. W. E. Starr, pastor of the church, Rev. Wayland D. Ball, of the Associate Reformed Church, and others.  The tone of the organ is full, but not forced, and the voicing is not brilliant, but “churchy.” The organ compares favorably with others of its capacity here, and is probably the best two-manual organ in the city.

The organ built by J.H. & C.S. Odell is a tracker organ, i.e., an organ that is played with mechanical action.  In a tracker organ, the organist presses keys and pulls stops which control the organ's pipes and couplers through a complex matrix of levers and valves.   The levers and valves admit air to the pipe in order to produce the sound, which is directly controlled by the force of the organist's finger on the key.   Some say that tracker organs are best suited to earlier forms of classical music. The instruments are often tuned to older scales of tuning in order to perform music as it was played in earlier ages. A good tracker organ in the hands of a skilled organist, however, can play almost any literature, including popular Broadway and Rock music songs of the late Twentieth-century.

Corpus Christi’s organ is installed in a gallery-level case at the rear of the church.  It features a traditional style console with a keyboard cover that can be lifted to form a music rack, and has an attached keydesk.  It comes with two manuals, three divisions, 26 stops and 28 ranks.  The drawknobs are placed in horizontal rows on terraced jambs.   The Great Division utilizes double drawstop pneumatics to draw the stop sliders, allowing the ingenious use of programmable mechanical combination pistons, as well as a piston for reversible Swell to Great Coupler. All features were well ahead of their time in 1889.[iii]

Corpus Christi’s beautiful instrument courageously continues to make music after 125 years despite its unrestored condition.  In 1995 Bruce Stevens, director of Historic Organ Study Tours and active recitalist in the United States and Europe, recorded Joseph Rheinberger’s Sonata for organ No. 20 in F major, Op. 196 on the Corpus Christi Organ.   However, a full restoration is the dream of many organ afficionados in the area.  Ten years ago the latter was estimated to cost $154,000.   Today we may very well be looking at a price of twice that much.

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[i][i] Wikipedia Contributors. "J. H. & C. S. Odell." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 Jan. 2-13. Web. 01 July 2015.

[ii] "History." J.H. & C.S. Odell, Pipe Organ Builders. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

[iii] Storey, David. " J. H. & C. S. Odell & Co., Opus 277, 1889." OHS Database. Organ Historical Society, n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

The Feast of St. John the Baptist

Next week Wednesday, June 24, the church celebrates the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  June 24 is also this saint’s feast day, which is unusual (normally a the day of a saint’s death is chosen as the feast day because that day marks the saint’s entrance into heaven).  However, Catholic tradition holds that St. John was cleansed of original sin in the womb of his mother at the greeting of Mary. 

The nativity of St. John the Baptist comes three months after the Annunciation (March 25) and six months before Christmas (December 25).  If you are wondering why June 24, rather than 25, this is due to the Roman way of counting, which proceeded backward from the calends (first day) of the succeeding month.  Christmas was "the eighth day before the Kalends of January".  Consequently, St. John's nativity was put on the "eighth day before the Kalends of July." However, since June has only thirty days, in our way of counting the feast falls on June 24.

St. John the Baptist, the forerunner or ‘messenger’ of Christ, forms a link between the Old and New Testaments, being regarded as the last in the line of Old Testament prophets and the first of the saints of the New.  He was the son of Zacharias, a priest of the Temple of Jerusalem, and Elisabeth, a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary.  St. John was a preacher and lived an ascetic life in the desert.  He baptized in the Jordan waters all who came to him in a penitent spirit.  At the baptism of Christ, the Holy Ghost appears in the form of a dove was seen to descend from heaven.  He was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and later executed as a consequence of a rash promise made by the tetrarch to his step-daughter Salome.[i]

In 1901, three additional stained glass windows were installed at Corpus Christi Church, further gifts from Michael Jenkins.  In the main vestibule, St. Michael & St. Gabriel were added, whereas the side vestibule was adorned with a portrait of St. John the Baptist.

The saint is portrayed as an adult walking in the wilderness.  He is dressed in a camel’s hair coat, but the artist added a white outer garment of cloth, much like a toga.  Around his waist is a leather girdle.  His hair is rather wild an unkempt. 

 In his left hand he holds the reed cross with a long slender stem, his attribute and a symbol for a preacher.   His right hand is lifted upwards as he is pointing to God in heaven.  From the reed cross a banner unfolds with the words “Ecce Agnus Dei” (John 1:35-36).   

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,  and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

Reeds are growing at his feet, a reference to Jesus’ statement of John in Luke 7:24-26

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. 26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  

Two white birds (doves?) are hovering nearby, perhaps foretelling the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism.[ii]

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[i] James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Westview Press, 2008): p. 178

[ii] Ibid.; Richard Taylor, How to read a church (Hidden Spring, 2003): p. 94-95.

Why Tobias?

A friend at church asked me last weekend “Why Tobias?”  Meaning, why did the Jenkins family choose to depict the story of Tobias in the church’s rose window? 

A rose window, as Wikipedia explains, is a typical feature of gothic churches.  It is a circular window, with mullions and traceries generally radiating from the center, and filled with stained glasses.   The term “rose window” may come from the English flower named rose.    The most beautiful examples of rose windows are to be found in the Ile de France and the adjoining provinces, Picardy and Champagne. The west rose of Notre Dame of Paris (c. 1220) is considered the most beautiful of all.

At Corpus Christi, the rose window is found high in the front façade of the church, above the organ, underneath a pointed arch.  The window was designed and created by the John Hardman & Co., and installed before 1891.  It was installed in memory of the founders’ great grandparents: Michael Jenkins (1736-1802) and Charity Ann Wheeler (1743-1820). 

In the center image, St. Raphael appears leading the youthful Tobias.  St. Raphael is depicted here in his representative character as Prince of the Guardian Angels and the Protector of travelers.  He carries in his hands a pilgrim’s staff and the fish, which is his special emblem.  The city in the distance, the Rages of the story of Tobias, is typical here of the Heavenly City to which all, under his guidance and protection, are traveling in this vale of tears.   On a scroll beneath is written the comforting text, He hath given his angels charge over thee.

The story of Tobias is told in the Book of Tobit.  It was unusually popular among Old Testament themes during the middle ages.  I found a short synopsis at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Tobit, a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722/721 B.C., suffers severe reverses and is finally blinded. Because of his misfortunes he begs the Lord to let him die. But recalling the large sum he had formerly deposited in far-off Media, he sends his son Tobiah there to bring back the money. In Media, at this same time, a young woman, Sarah, also prays for death, because she has lost seven husbands, each killed in turn on his wedding night by the demon Asmodeus. God hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah and sends the angel Raphael in human form to aid them both.

Raphael makes the trip to Media with Tobiah. When Tobiah is attacked by a large fish as he bathes in the Tigris River, Raphael orders him to seize it and to remove its gall, heart, and liver because they are useful for medicine. Later, at Raphael’s urging, Tobiah marries Sarah, and uses the fish’s heart and liver to drive Asmodeus from the bridal chamber. Returning to Nineveh with his wife and his father’s money, Tobiah rubs the fish’s gall into his father’s eyes and cures him. Finally, Raphael reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit then utters his beautiful hymn of praise.   Before dying, Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh because God will destroy that wicked city. After Tobiah buries his father and mother, he and his family depart for Media, where he later learns that the destruction of Nineveh has taken place.

The most likely reason the Story of Tobit was chosen by the Jenkins family is the fact that is emphasizes the family-oriented virtues of honoring parents, giving alms, and encouraging marriage.  In Chapter 4 Tobit tells his son:

 “Son, when I die, give me a decent burial. Honor your mother, and do not abandon her as long as she lives. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her spirit in any way …

Give alms from your possessions. Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that 

God’s face will not be turned away from you … Give in proportion to what you own. …  For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps one from entering into Darkness …

Be on your guard, son, against every kind of fornication, and above all, marry a woman of your own ancestral family …

And so when Tobit dies, Tobias buried him with honor.  And when Tobiah’s mother died, she was buried next to Tobit. 

Sound familiar?

Vines, thorns, crowns and pelicans

 In 1911, after the death of his wife, Mary Isabel Jenkins, Michael Jenkins commissioned an extensive renovation of Corpus Christi Church.  As part of the redecoration, the old windows of the aisles were replaced by 10 new English stained-glass windows, designed and fabricated by the John Hardman and Co. of London and Birmingham, England. 

Filled with elaborate foliated work, the new windows symbolize the Holy Eucharist.  One window shows a conventional treatment of the Vine, the emblem of the Eucharist.  The next window shows the Holy Thorn intertwined at regular intervals with a golden crown to signify the heavenly reward of earthly suffering.  This window pattern alternates in the ten main aisle windows. 

The traceries above the thorn & vine windows show six other emblems of the Eucharist: the Lamb of God, a pelican in her piety, a sheaf of wheat, a chalice, and finally a lamp burning as if it were in honor of the Sacrament. 

Lamb of God

Sheaf of wheat

Burning Lamp

Chalice

Pelican in her piety

The image of the pelican “in piety” was an often used symbol for the Jenkins family.  E.g., the motif of the pelican piercing its breast to feed its young with its blood was used to decorate one of the early chalices used in the church.

First and foremost, the pelican is seen as the symbol of symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (because he gave his blood for others) as well as the Eucharist (because it represents Christ's blood and provides spiritual nourishment). 

The Physiologus (a Greek didactic text written in 2nd cent. AD) told that the pelican is very fond of its brood, but when the young ones begin to grow they rebel against the male bird and provoke his anger, so that he kills them; the mother returns to the nest in three days, sits on the dead birds, pours tier blood over them, and they feed on the blood.  The physical reality which probably resulted in this legend is that the long beak of the pelican has a sack or pouch which serves as a container for the small fish that it feeds its young. In the process of feeding them, the bird presses the sack back against its neck in such a way that it seems to open its breast with its bill. The reddish tinge of its breast plumage and the redness of the tip of its beak prompted the legend that it actually drew blood from its own breast.

Thomas Aquinas used the allegory in his 'Adoro Te Devote'

Pelican of mercy, Jesus, Lord and God,

Cleanse me, wretched sinner, in Thy Precious Blood:

Blood where one drop for human-kind outpoured

Might from all transgression have the world restored.

By extension, the Pelican is also the personification of two virtues that were exceptionally important to the Jenkins family, i.e. “charity,” and “devotion to family.”   The pelican feeding its young is an emblem of charity.  Thus the pelican was said to be “in her piety,” a word derived from the latin pietas, which was one of the chief virtues of the Romans.  Cicero defined it as the quality "which admonishes us to do our duty to our country or our parents or other blood relations," i.e. familial affection and patriotism.

Bibliography
Hall, James. Dictionary of Subject and Symbols in Art. Boulder: Westview, 2008.
Raithwood, Elizabeth. "The Medieval Pelican." Elizabeth Raithwood's Home page. n.d. http://donna.hrynkiw.net/sca/pelican/ (accessed May 13, 2015).
Wikipedia contributors. "Adore te devote." Wikipedia. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adoro_te_devote&oldid=641531406 (accessed May 13, 2015).
—. "Pelican." Wikipedia. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pelican&oldid=660271020 (accessed May 13, 2015).
—. "Physiologus." Wikipedia. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physiologus&oldid=648772577 (accessed May 13, 2015).

I am the True Vine

"I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower."  This is the first verse of this weekend's gospel reading, John 15:1-8.  It immediately reminded me of one of the two large mosaics in the front of Corpus Christi church, on either side of the apse.  

The two mosaics were installed in 1913-1914, as the Baltimore Sun reported in early August:

“What experts pronounce to be the two finest mosaics in the United States were blessed a few days ago at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Mount Royal and Lafayette avenues, by the Rev. James F. Nolan, pastor of the church. The mosaics are a gift of Michael Jenkins in memory of his wife, who is buried at the church.  [...] The mosaics represent the Eucharistic Christ. They are eight feet high and five feet wide.  Ten thousand pieces were used in the making of each mosaic.  They are the work of the John Harden Company, London, and it took two years to complete.  [...] The hundreds of persons who have visited the church to see the mosaics have been impressed by their great beauty and dignity."[1]

In the mosaic, Christ is wearing a white vestment worn at Benediction.  The large outer garment is called a cope and the white tunic is called an alb.    He is shown treading the wine press and wine from the press flows into three communion chalices below.  Interlacing grapevines form the border of the central figure.  Beneath the mosaic is the text "I am the true vine."   Two angels with blue wings hold up a red tapestry that also includes the first verse of John 15.

[1] "Fine Mosaics Blessed: Those at Corpus Christi Pronounced Best in Country." Sun [Baltimore] 8 Aug. 1914: 7. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

Doubting Thomas and St. Margaret

This weekend at mass we will hear the story of doubting Thomas, or St. Thomas the Apostle, who doubted the resurrection when it was first told to him (John 20:19-29).  He is depicted in one of the stained glass windows in the back of our church.

There are two figures in this large stained glass window: St. Thomas the Apostle, and St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland.  Underneath you can read the caption "In Loving Memory of Thomas C. Jenkins and his wife Louisa Carrell.  The windows were installed in 1890 in memory of the founders' parents, Thomas Courtney Jenkins and Louisa Carrell.  Quite possibly St. Margaret and St. Thomas the Apostle were selected because they both represent charity for the poor, a rule which was very dear to Thomas and Louisa Jenkins. 

St. Thomas the Apostle is shown with his emblem the carpenter's square.  A 4th century apocryphal romance, The Acts of Thomas, tells of the apostle's missionary journey to India where a heathen King Gundaphorus ordered him to design and build a palace.  In the king's absence Thomas converted many of his subjects to Christianity and gave all the money to the poor.  On his return Gundaphorus was infuriated to be told that he would not see the palace until after his death, since it was built in paradise.  However, a dead brother of the king unexpectedly came back to life and confirmed what Thomas claimed was true, and so Gundaphorus became a Christian.  This charming tale is the origin of Thomas' patronage of builders and architects.  It is a common theme in Gothic cathedrals. [1] In his right hand, St. Thomas holds a spear, the instrument of his martyrdom.  Some literature states that St. Thomas died a martyr, in Persia or India, by the wounds of the four spears pierced into his body by local soldiers. 

St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland (1050-1093) wears her crown and her royal robe of ermine.  Her hand is extended and around her waist she wears a large burse.   An appropriate lady patron for a family of English descent.  St. Margaret of royal English lineage became the wife of Malcolm, the King of Scotland who reigned in the latter half of the 11th century.  She was the mother of eight children, numbering among them the King David I of Scotland.  She was renowned for her governing prudence and personal sanctity.  According to her chronicles, St. Margaret attended to charitable works every day before she ate, and washed the feet of the poor in imitation of Christ.  

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[1] Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. Boulder: Westview, 2008. Print.