1 Kings 19:11 - The Lord was not in the earthquake.
That's a mighty fine quote from today's Divine Intimacy, prayer book of the Carmelites. The reading there is on meekness and this quote illustrates how God is found, not in tumult, but in inner peace and calm.
Saw the calligraphy/illumination exhibit at the Tyler Museum of Art.
Tyler Museum of Art
Saint John's Bible at Tyler Museum of Art
Saint John's Bible Project
The illuminated Saint John's Bible is perhaps the most incredible calligraphy project I've ever seen. It's thought to be the first monk commissioned hand calligraphied/illuminated project since the invention of the printing press.
All of the text is on calf skin vellum. The ink used is over 100 years old.
The lead calligrapher, Donald Jackson, is one of the most respected in the world and raises the fowl from which he takes feathers to make the quills. And he cures the feathers in a sand filled cast iron skillet on the stove top.
Books and other products from the Saint John's Bible Project
I picked up the "Illuminating the Word" book that tells the story of the project. Also, we watched the DVD at the museum.
I had seen the reproduction books that have been released already. And I've seen a lot of things on the internet about it. But to see these things in person was mild boggling. The art along with the calligraphy is impressive on its own. It is a project that was projected to cost $1 million dollars for a single bible and has turned into a $10 million project that isn't
completed yet.
The word "illumination" comes from the concept of using gold leaf to highlight texts. The texture of the pages, the shine from the gold leaf --- it all really impresses in person. Some of the illustrations were based on things like voice prints of people singing the Psalms in Hebrew, pictures of the Earth from the Hubbell telescope, pictures of insects based on actual
specimens caught by the project entomologist ... all very impressive.
There were also some historical things to illustrate how much of this was done in Medieval times. There was an illuminated Liturgy of the Hours that hit home for me considering I had one of my volumes in my truck.
I also got to see a Hebrew scroll of the Book of Esther. Of course, any of the scrolls from the first 5 books wouldn't be allowed out in a museum exhibit. There were covers for Qurans as well.
The Psalms were probably the least illuminated but my guess is that the flowery language was enough for the people working on this project. It was moving to see and read.
Highly recommended if you get the opportunity to see this exhibit in your part of the country.
3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated
I've recommended this book before. Knuth is one of the biggest names in the history of computer science and this project is an interesting one. He's pretty sharp about data sampling and the display of fonts on computers. This project brings those things together.
He samples Chapter 3 verse 16 from each book of the bible. And he got calligraphers/illuminators from all of the world to write/draw versions of each quote. Pretty impressive and informative. And beautiful.
There is also a related book called ... Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
It goes into detail about the project and the difficulty in working with folks all over the world on this. Very good as well.
One of the calligraphers/illuminators is working on another project called the St. John's Bible. Saint John's Abbey and University commissioned this one that is probably one of the most impressive hand drawn projects on the bible in hundreds of years. Saint John's Bible Web Site
It's well worth looking around their site at the work being done.
There are some books available on Amazon from the project ...
Pentateuch
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles
Psalms
The books are oversized and very beautiful.
There is a book on the making of it ... which is still on going ....Making of the St. John's Bible
The completed originals are touring the U.S. are they are just wrapping up an exhibit in Tyler, Texas. Saturday, I'm going to drive there in the morning and drive back in the evening. Should be really interesting and beautiful.
They also sell high quality prints from the project.
I recently read A Drama of Reform. It was written by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Two well known founders of the group are Father Benedict Groeschel and Father Andrew Apostoli.
I met Father Apostoli at the EWTN 25th anniversary in Birmingham and he was a pleasure to speak with as well as listen to. He is help leading the cause for canonization of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. There is a picture in the book of Father Apostoli having a prayer card of Archbishop Sheen's blessed by Pope John Paul II.
The book is filled with photos from the Friars' daily lives and pilgrimages. Each of the pictures is associated with essays written by both the Friars and their sister organization the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. It's well worth picking up a copy.
Most of the nuns at Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama live a cloistered life. This means that they rarely venture out into public and only see their families a few times a year. Once they close the door behind them, their lives are committed to the cloister. It's hard to imagine just what this must mean.
At the EWTN 25th anniversary in Birmingham, I was shopping in the bookstore/gift shop that had been set up for the event. I noticed one of the young nuns shopping as well. I couldn't resist and asked why she was shopping here when there was a gift shop just outside of the monastery.
She told me that she has never been inside that shop. The nuns attending the anniversary celebration had special permission to come to Birmingham. She had additional permission to shop --- and I saw no other nuns shopping. She told me that someone gave her the money --- she's taken the oath of poverty --- which she was using to purchase a few items to send to a niece.
Even something as simple as sending a small gift to a loved one is a unique and difficult task for someone in the cloister.
I was amazed that so many of the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration were young. This, to me, is a good sign.
At the Shrine, we could see the tall wall surrounding their community. I watched as my little 10 year old daughter played outside of this wall and I thought about how just on the other side, these young women had committed their lives to God.
The Mother Vicar there was born and raised here in Louisiana with a good Cajun name of Breaux. She commented about there being quite a few Louisiana nuns there. Cajuns are very Catholic and I find that they tend to rise to positions of leadership wherever they travel. She seems to fit that mold perfectly.
I'm just back from Birmingham, Alabama where EWTN celebrated it's 25th year of existence. The Shrine was amazing. I got a great tour of the television facilities. And the conference itself was filled with great speakers.
Here are some pictures and I'll add more comments later.
Andrew IV (now 9 years old): "Isn't everyone Christian?"
Me: "No, not everyone. Christians believe Jesus is God. Some people don't believe Jesus was God. Like the Jews, Muslims, the Buddhists ..."
Andrew IV: "And The DaVinci Code People?"
Me: "Uh, yeah, I guess The DaVinci Code People as well."
Sometimes, the questions are very interesting.
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