Stations of the Cross, Notre Dame

A video of the Stations of the Cross at Notre Dame on Good Friday 2019.

In French.

Images of Notre Dame

Jean Fouquet, 1410

Noel Ballemare, 1525

Notre Dame is still on my mind. Here are some images from its past. Clearly, it’s fascinated artists through the ages.

Charles Negre, 1853 ( a negative)

Paul Signac, 1910

To see more images, click here.

Matisse, 1902

 

Unplanned

While the acting and directing could be better, Unplanned presents the experience of Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood (PP) clinic director, who does a complete 180° transformation on her views on abortion after viewing an abortion. There’s a lot of flashbacks that go from post-transformation to Johnson’s college days when she had two abortions and when she became a volunteer for PP.

The actress who plays Abby does a fine job, as do some other supporting actors, like Abby’s husband and parents, but many of the actors don’t have much to work with and I think could benefit from a script that gave characters more facets and personality. The director could also have developed those features more.

The film has some gory moments as it holds nothing back. There are scenes which feature the blood and gore which are part of the patient’s experiences. I wouldn’t bring children to this R rated film. While Gosnell, tells a story about abortion, it’s not as graphic, though the actions of Kermit Gosnell were more violent. Gosnell kept the gore to the minimum.

The film did inform me. I didn’t get have much knowledge of what it’s like to work in a PP clinic. The characters, except for the director, were shown as well-intentioned people. The first director does seem one-dimensional, but a lot of people do see their bosses as stereotypes. In this case the director is all about money and she does show what a business this is. As the director, Abby’s mentor, said, “non-profit is a tax status, not a business model.” The film does show PP’s sales techniques and vision for growth. Like many businesses, the goal is to grow and to pressure customers to use a service so there’s more money for a big new office or center.

The film has a message and it does a decent job of conveying it through the life story of Abby Johnson.  It did make me think and it seemed authentic.

Christian Suburban Women & Beto

I think Allie Beth Stuckley is wonderful. I discovered her when she made a video for PragerU.

Late Term Abortions

Here are some takes on the new NY Late Term Abortion legislation by YouTubers whom I watch. Yes, it’s a religious issue, but these people show that it’s also a ethical, emotional and social issue.

Prager U

I’m dubious about the flavor enhancer part.

Icon

Silent Night Around the World

German

I ran across the Christmas carol Silent Night in German and wondered what other languages it’s been recorded in. Here’s what I found. I think there are plenty more. Enjoy.

Japanese & English

French

Russian

Chinese (Mandarin)

Swedish

Italian

Korean

Arabic

Hindi

Tagalog

Gaelic

St. Hedwig Parish

My parents’ visit to St. John Cantius in the fall inspired me to seek out the most splendid churches in Chicago. I found a useful article  to help me form a list. My first church was St. John Cantius where I attended my first Latin mass.

Figuring the Christmas decorations would still be up, today I went to St. Hedwig in the Bucktown neighborhood.

The church stuns with its beauty as you first enter. Lots of gold and gorgeous polished wood. Ceilings were painted with biblical stories just as they are in Europe.

St. Hedwig’s Nativity scene 

The three Wise Men are due to appear on Epiphany, January 6th.

You can read the St. Hedwig parish history here.

Sunday masses are at:

8:00 am in English
9:30 am in Polish
11:00 am in English
1:00pm in Spanish

An Advent Prayer of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

For advent. I’m going to memorize this.

Renovate

Let Your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we,
made in your image, conform ourselves to it.
In our own strength
we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder,
nor is it fitting for us to try.
But Your mercy reaches from the heavens
through the clouds to the earth below.
You have come to us as a small child,
but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts,
the gift of eternal love.
Caress us with Your tiny hands,
embrace us with Your tiny arms
and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries.

By St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian monk and church reformer.

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Monsieur Vincent

Vincent tries to get someone to adopt this orphan

When Monsieur Vincent opens, we see Vincent Depaul entering a deserted town. Whenever he knocks on a door, someone throws rocks at him from the second floor. Finally, Vincent who’s the new priest in town gets let inside. He discovers that the aristocrats inside are hiding hoping to avoid the plague. They’re in the midst of a wild party just in case they don’t escape the plague.

As the new priest, and one that lives the gospel, Vincent tries to convince the nobles to take in a girl whose mother has just died. They’re all to scared. He winds up taking her in a very modest room he’s rented.

Vincent’s wisdom is revered by the rich. He’s soon the mentor and spiritual guide for a wealthy couple, but he wants to help the poor. When he tells his patrons that he plans to leave they keep him near by supporting his charity efforts more. This works for a while, but eventually Vincent goes to Paris where he begins a charity for the poorest of the poor.

Throughout his work with the poor, Vincent recruited wealthy women to help him and found great frustration when they didn’t agree with his ideas of expanding and expanding their charity programs. Eventually, realizing that people who understand the poor may be better to work with, he taps a poor girl to become one of his first nuns. Actually, she came to him and the light bulb went off.

I went to a high school named after Louise de Marillac, a wealthy woman, who became key to Vincent’s outreach to the poor. In the film, she’s just in a couple scenes. You can see that she’s a peer of the wealthy women, so Vincent wants her to lead them, though it’s tough to convince these opinionated women to trust Vincent. (St. Louise de Marillac wound up leading the Daughters of Charity, an order of nuns that serves the poor.)

This bio pic was interesting and well done. I was surprised that so much of the time Vincent Depaul dealt with administrative issues and trying to persuade the aristocracy to help him more. I thought he was more “hands on.” In any event, the film moved along well and introduces people to this 17th century saint.

In French with subtitles.