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.

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

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).

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.

Father's Day at Corpus Christi

Thomas Courtney Jenkins was born on March 19, 1802, the feast of St. Joseph.  In many Catholic countries, including Belgium where I grew up, March 19 is also Father’s Day.   It comes therefore as no surprise that the children of Thomas Courtney Jenkins and Louisa Carrell decided to include a St. Joseph’s Chapel in the church they built to honor their parents, and that the bodies of both Thomas and Louisa are buried in the crypt underneath the St. Joseph’s Altar in the chapel.  

 A statue of St. Joseph inside the chapel depicts the saint holding a lily.  This is not uncommon.  The lily reflects the Virgin Mary's attribute of the lily, the symbol of her purity and virginity.   It also represents Joseph's flowering staff, recalling the non-canonical tradition of how Mary's spouse was chosen by collecting walking sticks of widowers in Palestine, and Joseph's alone bursting into flower, thus identifying him as divinely chosen.

The window above the entrance to the chapel shows Christ instructing children of all nations and races, recalling Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  A couple of adults eagerly listen in.  In the background are doves, symbols of childish innocence, simplicity and purity.  The chapel features two other stained glass windows. The first one shows an angel holding a lily.  The second one depicts an angel holding a palm branch, the symbol of victory, of Jesus' victory over death, of Christians' victory over sin, of victory of the spirit over flesh.   

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Stained glass windows in memory of William and Ellen (Willcox) Jenkins

We missed the birthday last week of William Jenkins, the grandfather of the five Jenkins children who built the church of Corpus Christi.  Willam was born on February 5, 1767 at the family’s farm in Long Green Valley, Baltimore County.  He was the third child and second son of Michael and Charity Ann (Wheeler) Jenkins.

It was with William that the family fortune began to develop and that the Jenkins family began their tradition of distinguished Catholic laymen.  In 1780, William Jenkins came to Baltimore City as an apprentice to a tanner, William Hayward.  After finishing this apprenticeship, he began his own tanning business in a small business on Water Street.  His business grew and he soon became one of the city’s prominent merchants.  William was one of the charter members of the Northern Central Railroad, then the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, and also one of the original trustees of the Cathedral.  

His first wife was Ann Hillen (ca. 1773-1799), the daughter of Solomon and Martha (Clements) Hillen of Charles County.  Mrs. Ann (Hillen) Jenkins died soon after the birth of their first and only child, Mary Ann. 

On June 2, 1801, William remarried Eleanor (Ellen) Willcox, the daughter of Mark and Mary (Flahavan) Willcox.   William and Eleanor had 7 children, among whom Thomas Jenkins to whom our church is dedicated.

Two of the stained glass windows in the church are dedicated to William & Ellen (Willcox) Jenkins.  You can find them in the back of the church on the Gospel side.  The inscription at the bottom of the windows reads “In loving memory of William Jenkins (1767-1843) and his wife Ellen Willcox (1779-1816).”  Quite possible the selection of St. William of York and St. Helen can be attributed to the long English, Welsh and Scottish background of the Jenkins family. [1]

 

William of York was a 12^th century English priest and twice Archbishop of York.  William's election to the See of York was challenged on the grounds of simony and unchastity. He was cleared by Rome, but later, a new Pope, the Cistercian Eugene III, suspended William, and in 1147, he was deposed as archbishop of York.   William then retired to Winchester where he led the austere life of a monk, practicing much prayer and mortification.   In 1154 he was restored to his See but he died a few months later.  Following his death, many miracles were attributed to him. He is shown wearing his chasuble, signifying the celebration of the Mass, and the pallium, the symbol of the archdiocesan jurisdiction delegated to him by the papacy.  His right hand is uplifted in benediction and his left hand holds the pastoral staff. [2],[3]

St. Helen was the mother of Constantine the Great who decreed tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire.  She devoted the latter part of her life to good works and founded churches in the Holy Land.  She is credited with a pilgrimage to Syria Palaestina, during which she is claimed to have discovered the True Cross of Jesus's crucifixion.   Medieval English chroniclers claimed that St. Helen was the daughter of an English King. [4]  

In Corpus Christi’s stained glass window, St. Helen is crowned as a queen, holding the True Cross.  Her face is turned toward it with great reverence.   

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[1] Meginnis, Frances, Requiescat in pace : A History of Corpus Christi-Jenkins Memorial Church (N.p.: n.p., 1973), p. 14-16.

[2] "William of York." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_York>.

[3] "St. William of York." AmericanCatholic.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015. <http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1925>.

[4] Hall, James, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Boulder: Westview, 2008), p. 151.