Joan is a great storyteller; I hope you enjoy her story of fate and destiny: I was walking in the garden whenI kid you notout of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle like a mirror catching the sun. This image of St. Bernard nursing at the breasts of the Virgin Mary is due to a popular legend that is connected to his life. It was commissioned in 1455 from the Florentine painter Francesco Pesellino, and is his only surviving documented work. The Virgin let few drops of her milk fall into Bernards lips, reassuring him that he is allowed to call her his mother. I looked over to see that the sparkle was coming from a building on the other side of the wall. Patron saints of mice, cats and thunderstorms, Talk in Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. Its particularly effective with bacterial pink eye. Filippino includes a visual reference to this: a small chained devil. The Lactation of St. Bernard, Circa 1650 St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was an abbot of Cistercian order, a theologist, a mystic and one of the most influential men of the twelfth century. Is anyone else asking, "WTF?!? While Marmions painting is excuisitely beautiful, other versions range from hilarity to totally disturbing. It does not mean that the saint in questions suffered from some kind of hormonal disease, and produced the milk himself; it means that he was breastfed by Virgin Mary. WHAT?! The Virgin appears to be dictating to the saint, and his writing is legible the words refer to a homily to the Virgin. Just OMG. You really need to get closer to taste it, and in fact the easiest way is to suck a breast. The Abbey of Gethsemani was founded by 44 Cistercian monks from France. In the image above, Saint Bernards handseems inappropriately close to the infant Christ. It goes like this:Bernard, the monk, was praying before a statue of Mary, Show yourself as a mother. Suddenly, the statue came to life! First, dude, youre an abbot did you miss the day in abbot-school when they taught the Gospel accounts that the Virgin would bear a child? Alonzo Cano Things that make you say "What the F*ck". He wanted to preserve some continuity with the churches they were accustomed to in their old country, France, by sending stained-glass windows. During a recorded talk about Mertons teachings of contemplation, an old priest made a sudden, brief detour following a memory that must have popped into his head when he began describing his surprise upon seeing a two-paneled stained-glass window leaning against a wall in the gift shop at Gethsemani, depictingof all thingsMother Mary holding baby Jesus in one arm and her breast in the other hand, a stream of breast milk going from one stained-glass panel to the other, falling on St. Bernards lips. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) knelt one day in front of a statue of the Virgin and Child and asked her, Show yourself to be a mother." Pardon the color: Master of the Life of the Virgin, The Virgin and Child with Saint Bernard, c. 1480, oil on panel. !, Simon Marmion, Saint Bernards Vision of the Virgin and Child, about 1475-1480, tempera colors and gold on parchment. But if it has a heart, even though it too leads nowhere and has no gain, one must follow it. According to his legend he was imprisoned and then thrown to lions although not at the same time, as here.This is one of f A bishop saint Saint Zeno, Bishop of Verona in the fourth century is exorcising a demon from a young girl; you can see the little black figure jumping out of her mouth. Please leave your name and valid email address below. His isolation and meditation were so intense that the Virgin Mary has appeared to him. The Archangel Gabriel, huge peacock-feather wings outstretched behind him, kneels in front of the Virgin Mary, his head bowed in reverence. It goes like this:Bernard, the monk, was praying before a statue of Mary, Show yourself as a mother. Suddenly, the statue came to life! A vita of the saint says that while he was praying before a statue of the Virgin Mary the statue poured three drops of milk from its breast onto Bernard's mouth. The deacon found it difficult to keep his chastity vow and suffered from various carnal temptations. In the 1890s, Trappist Abbot Olbrecht (who I think lived in Munich, Germany) wanted to send a gift to the French Cistercian monks living in poverty in a new monastery in Kentucky. As a Catholic the only thing I have to say is yo what the frick mama Mary. seattle theme by parker ehret, When was the last time you asked for the Virgin Mary to intercede in your life and in return received a few drops of milk from her breast? The most likely explanation is that it shows Saint Bernard of Clairvauxs vision of the Virgin Mary. Your email address will not be published. This image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement. His name is often connected to the Memorare, one of the most popular Marian prayers of all time, though he did not compose this prayer. What was that you said? A painting by Lippis son, Filippino, also shows Saint Bernard being visited by the Virgin Mary while writing at his desk in the wilderness (its now in the Badia, Florence). When alls said and done, before judging Saint Bernards vision its important to understand that in the Renaissance, milk was thought to be produced by a combination of blood and heat. Sometimes only three drops of Breastmilk fall on his lips, in another telling the milk streamed into his eyes and cured an infection giving him the gift of seeing.When Marys Milk touches his lips or mouth, he receives the gift of wisdom, inspired teaching; he becomes a beloved teacher. The depictions of Madonna dropping her milk on the souls in Purgatory (and of course comforting them by doing so) was especially popular in the early 16th century. All day Ive been writing this blog and putting together Temenos, the February newsletter which is going out late. Late-gothic panels in York Art Gallery part 1. Seven saints all patron saints of members of Florences ruling family, the Medici talk and interact as though Lippi was painting an animated portrait of a group of historical figures.On the far left is Saint Francis. Bernard of Clairvaux founded a Cistercian abbey in France and created Rules for monastic life in the 12th century that are still followed today. Joan returned year after year for five-and-a-half years to work on the restoration project. This angel comes from a pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century, but reassembled by the National Gallery in the 1930s. And that somebody is in most cases a monk. The image of St. Bernard nursing at the breasts of the Virgin Mary is a piece of artwork that has much history and beauty with a spiritual symbolism behind it that reminds us of the dignity of the human body. You just know this is one of those cases where a cover-up happened because someone walked in on this priestly dude sucking on a titty. It is likely that our painting shows the same subject. This is Saint Mamas of Caesarea, a Greek martyr who was tortured and executed for his faith by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. Two Cistercian monks cower behind the rocks in the distance, one covering his eyes, perhaps blinded by the heavenly light of the vision which seems to be illuminating Saint Bernards desk. James the Great was the first of Christs apostles to die for his faith, being put to death by King Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem in AD 44.This is one of five scenes from the predella, the bottom tier, of the Pistoia S Saint Jerome sits in the wilderness, carefully removing a thorn from the paw of a very endearing lion it went on to be his companion. Having the Virgin Mary expose her breasts to feed Christian faithful was not scandalous in any way and was meant to signify a deeper spiritual reality. In recent years Pope Francis has encouraged women to breastfeed their children, linking it to giving children a gift of themselves. Magdalena anuszka :: in Jul 3, 2016 :: in Blog :: 0 comments. The same is true for the figure of the saint, where light, colour, and lustrous paint, presumably oil, combine to produce the desired effect. Still higher in the composition, a sick old man is being carried down toward the building. Alonso Cano, The Miraculous Lactation of Saint Bernard, c. 1650, oil on panel. Two days later he surprised me with a text: he must have asked around and found the name and phone number of the lucky woman who hauled away this pieceand many others. He deeply venerated Virgin Mary and, according to the legend, one day the statue of Madonna with Child that he was praying to suddenly came alive. Scrolling down. Another way to understand this medieval image is twofold: One, breastfeeding was familiar to everyone at the time artists painted St. First, I called the friendly groundskeeper I met at Gethsemani, T., and asked him if he had seen this stained glass in the gift shop; and could he send me a photo of it. St. Paul in theNew Testament similarly links breastfeeding with the passing on of the Christian faith. This episode is often called The Lactation of St. Bernard, and is usually depicted as a stream of milk going into Bernards mouth, though sometimes the stories relate that the Virgin Mary gave him three drops of her milk. He hadnt seen it, but he recalled hearing a story about a woman from California coming with a Budget moving truck and hauling away many stained-glass windows when the Abbot wanted to get rid of them. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The remainder of the old priests talk was so dry; I cannot recall a word nor his topic. It looked like stained glass, but it didnt compute. Your email address will not be published. On the other side, a sweet landscape sweeps the eye into the distance. powered by tumblr Prado Museum, Madrid. In one version, the vision-miracle happened in his sleep, in another when he is praying. While in a dream-liketrance,Mary responded by pressing her breast near his lips and nourishing him with her milk. ", Then surely they should have called the painting Lactation onto St. Bernard, Seeing St Lucy's bleeding eye sockets and her holding them on a plate always woke me up in church. There is no place to leave a comment or read anyone else's comments even if you wanted to.There is nothing but clickbait. We will inform you if a spot becomes available for this class. The paint surface is very worn but very faint traces of a pen in his right hand are still visible and his ink stand sits on top of his writing box. This image raisesa few noteworthy WTF moments from Saint Bernards life prior to the vision. Marys Breastmilk nourished the Infants body and the monks soul; perhaps Bernard felt mothered by Mary. However, the saints are privileged to meet her face-to-face (or rather face-to-breast). Bernards Lactation,so people might not have been surprised or offended as some are now. She called the monastery and asked one of the monks if she could visit his grave and leave a flower; he invited her to stay for a five-day Retreat, which was starting the same day, and she accepted. Bernard is depicted wearing a simple hooded cloak, seated in a rocky wooded setting. It makes sense this stained-glass gift was presented to the Abbey. Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting and transformative Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more. Who can know where a suggestion, a word on a page in a book, an observation or felt-sense of a moment in time or place will lead? The next morning, I went back and took another look. On occasion there would be a saint on the receiving end of the milk, such as St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The paint surface is very worn but very faint traces of a pen in his right hand are still visible and his ink stand sits on top of his writing box. This interpretation might explain the interaction between the Virgin and saint. It could also be juxtaposed with the personification of Benignita (goodness, generosity) from the Iconologia by Cesare Ripa (1593; illustrated since 2nd edition of 1603). Bartolom Esteban Murillo | Public Domain, .css-tadcwa:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Philip Kosloski - @media screen and (max-width: 767px){.css-1xovt06 .date-separator{display:none;}.css-1xovt06 .date-updated{display:block;width:100%;}}published on 08/20/19. Being healed, physically and spiritually, Bernard is credited with hundreds of healings; the Church gave him the rare title of The Doctor.. The high point of the early phase of Lippi's development is the Vision of St Bernard, one of the finest lyric pictures of the entire Renaissance. License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library. 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