We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

Art

A decisive moment with Matthew

Sept 21 is the feast day of Matthew one of Christ’s apostles and author of the Gospel that bears his name. He was different from the other Gospel writers being a tax collector. (Luke a doctor and Mark a recorder). He was least likely to become one of Jesus’ own. We will look at him through a painting.

The painting Caravaggio’s “Calling of Saint Matthew” captures a powerful moment of spiritual awakening painted 1599-1600. Set in a gritty, realistic environment (looks like a back room to a bar where other tax collectors, armed are counting money), Christ points to Matthew, a tax collector, inviting him to follow – you’re coming with me! This isn’t Christ coming down from heaven!

Tax collectors, also known as “publicans,” were held in low regard within Jewish society during Jesus’ time. They were often seen as collaborators with the Roman oppressors who occupied the land of Judea. The tax collection system, fraught with potential abuse, allowed collectors to gather more than the prescribed amount, pocketing the surplus for themselves. This encouraged extortion and corruption, leading to the accumulation of wealth through dishonest means.

Here is a video about the painting

Article about Matthew on our website

Arts & Faith: Your Christmas Reflection, Cycle B

Commentary is by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, director of ministerial formation at Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary

In his painting The Birth of Christ, Geertgen tot Sint Jans tells the story of the Nativity through faces surrounded by the play of light and dark. The artist unites the narrative of Jesus’ birth and the deep theological reflection on the Incarnation from the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Geertgen tot Sint Jans layers John’s symbolic language onto the Nativity story through his use of light in the image. The infant Christ is a heavenly body, radiating his light onto those who surround the manger, a true light of the human race whose radiance scatters the darkness. His radiance brightens the face of Mary his mother and the angels paying him homage. Further in the background, his light is present through the Word, the message of glad tidings that the angel brings to the barely visible shepherds gathered in the field. This angel floats directly above the manger—replacing the star we see in other Nativity images and reflecting the light of Christ, just as a star reflects the light of the sun.

The angels that surround the manger resemble children. With serene faces, they are young girls in pious adoration. The young faces lit up by the radiance of Christ invite us to be one of them, to accept Christ and know that we are beloved children of God. First among us to do this was Mary, which is why her illuminated face and figure are most prominent in the scene—she is the first to say yes to Christ and to offer herself to him in total self-gift.

What is the power that is granted to the children of God? It is the power of God made perfect in weakness, humility, and service—not the power of domination, oppression, or brawn. Those who surround the manger are images of powerlessness in the eyes of the world—shepherds who live on the margins of society, beasts of burden in the service of humans, young and female faces, and the face of a man who finds his bride with child but remains loyal to her. It is to these that Christ comes in the most powerless image of all—a naked infant nestled in a trough. Behold the Word whose power brings us life.

Ivan Aivazovsky, Russian landscape painter

The image for our Gospel reading, "Jesus Walking on the Water", was done by the Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900).

When I was in the Soviet Union over 35 years ago, his paintings were prevalent and stood out and I remembered his name. They reminded me of the American school of landscape painters, such as Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church but in this case on the sea.

He is considered one of the greatest marine artists in history and born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia and was mostly based in his native Crimea.

Following his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Aivazovsky traveled to Europe and lived briefly in Italy in the early 1840s. He then returned to Russia and was appointed the main painter of the Russian Navy. Aivazovsky had close ties with the military and political elite of the Russian Empire and often attended military maneuvers. He was sponsored by the imperial family and was well-regarded during his lifetime. The winged word "worthy of Aivazovsky’s brush", popularized by Anton Chekhov, was used in Russia for "describing something ineffably lovely."]

One of the most prominent Russian artists of his time, Aivazovsky was also popular outside Russia. He held numerous solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States. During his almost sixty-year career, he created around 6,000 paintings, making him one of the most prolific artists of his time. The vast majority of his works are seascapes, but he often depicted battle scenes, Armenian themes, and portraiture.


"Ninth Wave" -Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900)

Here is a selection of his works

Van Gogh’s Sower

“The Sower” – Jean Francois Millet

For three years Van Gogh (1853-1890) single mindedly pursued his calling to the ministry, first as a student of theology and then as a missionary to the coal miners in Belgium. Deeply moved by the poverty surrounding him, Van Gogh gave all his possessions, including most of his clothing, to the miners. Van Gogh admired Christ’s humility as a common laborer and “man of sorrows” whose life he tried to imitate. The church came to see Van Gogh suffering from excessive zeal and he did not preach well. He left the church in 1879. “I wish they would only take me as I am,” he said in a letter to Theo, his brother. He wrote,” I think it a splendid saying of Victor Hugo’s, ‘Religions pass away, but God remains’.  He saw Jesus as the supreme artist  By 1880, he had abandoned a religioous career and turned to art helped by brother Theo. In the next 10 years, he would move  10 times, his life characterized by periods of depression and periods of a sort of mania.

The sower was inspired by Jean-François Millet’s ‘Sower’ from 1850 which was inspired by the Matthew 13. Van Gogh had tried several times to produce a serious painting on the same theme and then abandoned it. Van Gogh’s early work comprises dour portraits of Dutch peasants and depressing rural landscapes

Read more

Pentecost Poetry

1. "Celestial fire" – Eleazar Ben Kaller

From Poetry for the Spirit, Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty Edited by Alan Jacobs Translated by T. Carmi

Now an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire –
 

a fire that devours fire;
a fire that burns in things dry and moist;
a fire that glows amid snow and ice;
a fire that is like a crouching lion;
a fire that reveals itself in many forms;
a fire that is, and never expires;
a fire that shines and roars; a fire that blazes and sparkles;
a fire that flies in a storm wind;
a fire that burns without wood;
a fire that renews itself every day;
a fire that is not fanned by fire;
a fire that billows like palm branches;
a fire whose sparks are flashes of lightning;
a fire black as a raven;
a fire, curled, like the colours of the rainbows!
 

2. David Adams

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit
Fill us, Holy Spirit
 

When the doors are closed and we are afraid to move,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

When we are weak and unable to act,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

When we are hesitant and unable to speak,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

When we lack energy and are unable to cope,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

That we may go out in your power,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

That we may live and work for you,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

That we may be part of your mission,
Fill us, Holy Spirit.
 

The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace In believing,

That you may abound in hope through the power Of the Holy Spirit.
 

Amen 

3. "Come, Holy Spirit" – Sister Joan Chittister  

May the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
bring fire to the earth
so that the presence of God
may be seen
in a new light,
in new places,
in new ways.

May our own hearts
burst into flame
so that no obstacle,
no matter how great,
ever obstructs the message
of the God within each of us.

May we come to trust
the Word of God in our heart,
to speak it with courage,
to follow it faithfully
and to fan it to flame in others.

May the Jesus
who filled women
with his Holy Spirit
fill the world and the church
with new respect
for women’s power and presence.

Give me, Great God,
a sense of the Breath of Spirit
within me as I…
(State the intention
in your own life at this time
for which you are praying.)

Amen.

 4. Effortlessly,

Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world,
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings–
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.

– Mechtild of Magdeburg 1207-1297
trans. Jane Hirshfield