Semana Santa

So, we enter Holy Week once again. It will be a busy week for priests but at least admin and other responsibilities (such as, in my case, the diocesan archives) fade into the background as the focus is firmly on the Sacred Liturgy, hearing confessions, preparing the church, etc.

Of course, in Spain - and most famously in Seville -Holy Week (Semana Santa) is a time for elaborate processions and communal devotion.

Here is a short video showing various floats going through the streets of Seville (including one of Jesus entering Jerusalem). Despite the chaos and screechy music, it's an impressive sight and the crowds obviously see it as more than just a spectacle. Being one of the costaleros (who carry the huge floats) is no joke and is seen as a good Holy Week penance.

The processions are organised by the various hermandades (brotherhoods), in their imposing robes. A fortnight ago, when I was in Valladolid, I passed a shop selling bedclothes, and they had arranged the fabrics in the window to resemble the Nazarenos (members of these confraternities who follow the processions in their pointed hoods, often carrying a cross).

Well, I've decided to 'withdraw' from this blog during the coming week, so that I can concentrate on more important things - so God bless and have a fruitful Semana Santa!

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The Avila of St Teresa

Despite having been back from Spain for over a week, I'm rather behind in posting about some of the places we visited. I won't bore you with too many details.

Avila was our first stop. I had been before, but had not visited the Convent of La Encarnación, where St Teresa lived for 29 years (she is, of course, not buried at Avila but at Alba de Torres, where she died in 1582). We said Mass in the beautiful Chapel of the Transverberation, near the spot where an angel appeared to the saint holding a 'long golden spear,' with a point of fire at the end. 'With this,' St Teresa later recalled, 'he seemed to pierce my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails.' This event was celebrated in Bernini's sculpture in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. St Teresa's heart was exeamined in 1872 and the marks left by the angelic spear could clearly be seen.

In the museum at the Convent, we could see various relics. Most famous, perhaps, is the drawing of the Crucifixion made by St John of the Cross, showing a rare understanding of perspective (for the times). It inspired Salvador Dali's painting of the Crucifixion:

St Teresa loved music and some of the instruments she might have used were on display - a sort of sixteenth century Hispanic folk group:

St Teresa was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970 - the first woman to be this designated. The Spanish celebrated by making a doctoral gown and cap for her (seen here on the right):

The saint is always associated with her confessor and fellow reformer, St John of the Cross. One thing I hadn't picked up before was just how short he was - just under 5 foot tall. Indeed, St Teresa called him 'half a monk.' With this in mind, this picture of him levitating as he counsels St Teresa is not without significance.

Sacristy Meditation

This was on the sacristy wall of the Convent of La Incarnación at Avila and attracted my attention. Similar inscriptions can be found throughout the sacristies of Catholic Europe. A rough translation would be: 'O Priest of Jesus Christ, celebrate this Holy Mass as if it were your First Mass, your Last Mass and your Only Mass.'

As the Holy Father writes in Sacramentum Caritatis (#94):

This most holy mystery thus needs to be firmly believed, devoutly celebrated and intensely lived in the Church. Jesus' gift of himself in the sacrament which is the memorial of his passion tells us that the success of our lives is found in our participation in the trinitarian life offered to us truly and definitively in him. The celebration and worship of the Eucharist enable us to draw near to God's love and to persevere in that love until we are united with the Lord whom we love. The offering of our lives, our fellowship with the whole community of believers and our solidarity with all men and women are essential aspects of that logiké latreía, spiritual worship, holy and pleasing to God (cf. Rom 12:1), which transforms every aspect of our human existence, to the glory of God. I therefore ask all pastors to spare no effort in promoting an authentically eucharistic Christian spirituality. Priests, deacons and all those who carry out a eucharistic ministry should always be able to find in this service, exercized with care and constant preparation, the strength and inspiration needed for their personal and communal path of sanctification...

Our Lady Vulnerata

In my previous post on the Royal English College, Valladolid, I deliberately didn't say a great deal about Our Lady Vulnerata. There are many things to admire in the College chapel - the golden altarpieces, for example, or the fact that 350 English Catholic exiles are buried beneath (including a holy seminarian whose incorrupt body still smells of roses) - but this battered statue of Our Lady forms the centrepiece.

Originally the statue was venerated in Cadiz, where its devotees included Christopher Columbus prior to his great voyage of discovery. However, on 21 June 1596, the town was raided by English ships under the command of the Earl of Essex and Sir Waiter Raleigh (not to be confused with Sir Francis Drake's daring raid of 1587). The Armada had been defeated only eight years previously and the purpose of the English raid was to destroy the fleet gathering in Cadiz harbour for another expedition against Protestant England. As so often happened on these occasions, the commanders lost control of the soldiers and much destruction ensued. The famed statue of Our Lady was desecrated and all that remained of the Christ child were parts of His feet on the Virgin's knee. Our Lady's face was disfigured with sword cuts and both arms reduced to stumps.

This caused great shock in Spain and it was as if Christ and His Mother had themselves been attacked. The mutilated statue was placed with great honour in the Madrid chapel of the Countess of Santa Gadea, wife of the Adelantado (Captain-General) of Castille. The story became so well-known that the English seminarians of Valladolid asked for the statue, so that the College could make reparation on behalf of the English nation. The Countess half-heartedly agreed and the statue was solemnly enthroned in the College chapel on 8 September 1600. The local bishop gave the statue the title Our Lady Vulnerata (Wounded Lady).
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A new octagonal chapel was opened in 1679 and the statue placed in its present location behind the High Altar, surrounded by statues of SS Alban, Edward the Confessor and Thomas of Canterbury. Large seventeenth century paintings tell the story of Nuestra Senora La Vulnerata - including an image of the crowned statue surrounded by devotees, included Charles I (with axe in head) and Charles II!

Prayers are still said by the students for the Conversion of England before the statue and the feast of Our Lady Vulnerata is kept in the college by special indult on the Sunday after the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The Royal English College, Valladolid

I spent the last week at the 'Royal and Pontifical College of St Alban of the Noble English' in Valladolid (Spain), receiving some in-service training and thoroughly enjoying the College's generous hospitality and the opportunity to visit places associated with the lives of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross (more about this later).

It was also good to spend some time with H.E. the Cardinal, his auxiliary Bishop Alan and twenty of our junior priests - the priestly fraternity reaching a high point during the 'gala' meal hosted by the College on Wednesday night.

Let me tell you a bit about the amazing English College at Valladolid.

Its existence today is something of a historical accident. During 'penal times' English seminaries were established all over Catholic Europe, including the Iberian peninsula - at Lisbon, Madrid, Seville and Valladolid. The College at Valladolid was founded by the great English Jesuit, Robert Persons, in 1589.

The foundation was approved by Clement VIII in 1592, who empowered the College to grant degrees in Arts and Philosophy equivalent to Oxford and Cambridge (which, as far as the Pope was concerned, had lost such rights at the Reformation). The establishment was fully supported by the King of Spain from the first moment - and the Rector is still a royal appointment and a member of the royal household.

The first group of students included two future martyrs: Blessed Robert Drury and Blessed Roger Filcock. All in all, twenty-seven former students are recognised by the Church as martyrs. The corridors of the College are lined with paintings of these brave men - in fact, these comprise the largest single collection of portraits of the English martyrs, mostly dating from the early-to-mid seventeenth century. The College is an amazing treasure trove of our heritage (English, Catholic and otherwise) - its pigskin library is meant to be included in the Top Twenty worldwide (first editions of Shakespeare, etc).

The College is no longer a major seminary as such but organises a propadeutic year - i.e. a preliminary year for priestly aspirants before they start the seminary course proper. However, the proud traditions continue. One of my favourite Vallisoletan stories concerns the College football team of 1907:

They played against mighty Real Madrid (or Madrid F.C., as it was then called) on 28 April 1907. The score was as follows:

Royal English College 6 Real Madrid 2

Not bad considering Real Madrid were Champions of Spain that year!

More on the College (especially Our Lady Vulnerata) to follow...