ii) "The Incense of
Pentecost"
. . .
From where came the wind?
From where came the contrasting form of the fire?
From fire's invisible force?
More firelike than fire?
. . .
"On the unity of infinite totally
interpenetrating
all-containing Persons"
Written for the Solemnity of the
Blessed Trinity: CLICK
HERE!
.
. .
But there's an event,
a precedent,
a human witness who understood.
The rest of us could search into that witness,
fumblingly,
acknowledge her and seek her help.
. . .
"On the true Bread of Life and the
Temple Bread-Sacrifices"
Written for the Solemnity of Corpus
Christi: CLICK
HERE!
. . .
What true instinct
drove Melchisedech
to offer bread with fermented wine,
produced by leaven-dust
drawn to the sugared
juice
as the grapes ripened to
bursting at harvest –
thanks to late showers
and night-dews,
which left the vineyard
not quiet but throbbing
with bursting energy ?
. . .
Below
here:
links to videos made at
Stykkishólmur:
For
a twenty-minute video of
parts of the Midnight Mass,
at
Stykkishólmur, please CLICK
HERE!
NEW!
The High Winds upset the
usual Firework Display at Stykkishólmur to see in the New Year.
But there was a short
and sharp organised Firework
Displayon the Evening of the Solemnity of the Epiphany,
of which we offer you
a five and a half minute
Video: CLICK
HERE!
AGAIN A
NEW VIDEO FROM STYKKISHÓLMUR
- AND
AGAIN POETRY READ IN ICELANDIC
"Sigurdur, sonur minn. Dáinn!" [Sigurdur, my son. Dead!]
The poem, which was
written by the Chaplain to the Sisters at Stykkishólmur, is
read, like the earlier poem, by Gudrún Hanna Ólafsdóttir. It was
written spontaneously after his rather unexpected death - though
he had been for a long time ill. The Video is a Google Video,
and contains much information in a column by the
side of the Video screen. CLICK
HERE!
We give the text in
English and Icelandic on a separate page: CLICK
HERE!
In the poem there is a
reference to an unforgettable moment when Sigurdur turned Séra
David's sermon into a dialogue: not of disagreement, but of
sturdy agreement, in which he rose, unstoppably above David's
theme. No camera was at hand to record this 'melting moment',
which no-one present will ever forget. But a photograph was
taken with the Sisters and the Capuchins around Sigurdur - whose
face was lit up with pure pleasure (and hence the final lines).
Your Editor did his best to attach a photograph of this to the
Video, but try as he might, he could not make it attach itself
stably. So he had to leave it out. But compare the face of
Sigurdur above with the happy, (slightly mischievous?) face in
the picture below. God rest him.!
AND NOW
A NEW VIDEO FROM STYKKISHÓLMUR ...
"Coredemptrix" (read
in Icelandic)
A poem
especially written as a meditation after the reading of the Passion on
Good Friday,
conceived as
representing the thoughts of Mary as 'Coredemptrix'
Translated
into Icelandic by Thorkell Örn Ólafson
Read by Guðrún
Hanna Ólafsdóttir
Time: 3½
minutes
This was
processed and placed on the web far more quickly then expected. But we
would like to show it in advance. Here we give you the English and
Icelandic texts on a linked page. From Good Friday it will be accessible
in all four languages with the language buttons at the top of the page.
For the video itself: CLICK
HERE!
For English
text (above) and Icelandic text (below) of the poem, CLICK
HERE!
ANOTHER
VIDEO NOW VIEWABLE:
The Paschal
Vigil at Stykkishólmur Easter 2007
A video was
made of the whole Paschal Vigil at Stykkishólmur, filmed by a technician
friend, Sumarliði Ásgeirsson. It lasts for an hour and eleven minutes.
It is now processed by Google and has been published on the web. It is
almost entirely in Icelandic, with some readings in Polish. Because of
the interest of a Catholic religious community so near to the Arctic
Circle, we hope that you will view it!
As visitors
to this web-site will have found out, we have had difficulties with the
uploading of the video, but (overnight) they have been overcome, and the
correct edition is now available. CLICK
HERE!
This was
rather ambitious, and there are some technical faults, especially in the
first part - some omissions due to a variety of causes. But the Mass
from the Gospel onwards seem to be in order.
So please
forgive the faults, and look on it as example of honest liturgy, as
carried out in a rather remote (but very beautiful) location
AND NOW
A THIRD VIDEO FROM STYKKISHÓLMUR
Icelandic May Lambing -
Kristin Explains
This
twenty-minute video records a visit to the flock of sheep of Kristin Rut
Helgadóttir at their small patch in the southern outskirts of
Stykkishólmur. It is lambing time, and one of the sheep had given birth
to three lambs just three hours before the visit began.
You may well
be surprised by many features of Icelandic sheep. Though some hornless
sheep are now being bred, both female and male sheep have horns,
sometimes four. Their fleeces are not white. Some are various
patternings of black and white, but the most attractive are those with a
full or partial red or red-brown fleece, and especially those with a
delicate light reddish-brown. The ram featured above, 'Glói', will be
seen in the video, and the photograph is that which is background to the
end of the video.
THIS IS A
REPLACEMENT FOR THE ORIGINAL VERSION with a higher definition (150 kbs
instead of 50kbs). Higher rates are possible, but the time for
downloading would then be too long for many computers. We recommend
viewing this and other videos at double the original size: the smaller
the picture, the better the definition. CLICK
HERE!
..
The Solemn Profession of
a Dominican Sister at
the Contemplative Monastery
at Estavayer-le-Lac (Canton
of Fribourg) in Switzerland
The
Monastery of Our Lady of the Assumption has a community of Second
Order Dominican Sisters, which was originally located near Lausanne,
having been founded in 1280; it is one of the oldest Dominican
Monasteries for Sisters. Eventually they were persuaded, because of
the dangers, to seek a house which was protected within a walled
town. They were given such a house in Estavayer. The house is
actually built into the wall, and next to one of the ancient gates
of the little town. It is closely bonded to the town, which is
picturesque, but also practical. Your editor has known the community
for about twenty-five years. There are less of the original Swiss
Sisters, but they have been fortunate in receiving a group of young
French Sisters who have found a home there.
The solemn
profession of one of these Sisters, Sister Anne-Sophie, who comes
from Provence, was therefore a event full of promise, and drew a
large number of relatives and friends of the Sisters. Her brother is
a Dominican of the Province of Toulouse, who is one of a small group
of resident priests at the cave, reputedly inhabited by Saint Mary
Magdalene for thirty years, as she continued a life of prayer and
penance, at La Saint Baume, not far from Marseilles. It is visited
by very many pilgrims. The words of a previous chaplain may be
quoted: "Whether Saint Mary Magdalene actually lived in that cave, I
do not know. But this I do know, that she is present there now"
With a
Dominican, Profession is made to the Prior, or Prioress, in a
comprehensive vow of obedience, which contains virtually the matters
of the other vows.
Archbishop
Simon Ntamwana, Archbishop of Gitega,
Burundi, was the celebrant who consecrated Sister Anne-Sophie
We add the
text of the Profession itself [CLICK
HERE}, in French and in English.
And we
also add the little video of the essential part, made with a very
simple digital camera [CLICK
HERE].
We also
show again the video made last year of the procession of the Sisters
after Compline, singing the Salve
Regina and the
antiphon to Saint Dominic O
spem miram [CLICK
HERE].
TWO NEW VIDEOS OF THE
DOMINICAN MONASTERY OF ESTAVAYER-LE-LAC
On a visit there we are
prepared two further videos of the Monastery at Estavayer.
The versions now shown
are new ones; the faults in the previous ones have been corrected
One is of the Sung Mass
of 24 May for the Memorial of the transfer of the relics of Saint
Dominic to a worthy grave. This shows the high standard of choir
chant at the Monastery.
CLICK HERE!
The other is a visit to
the Church of the Sisters with an unscripted commentary:
CLICK HERE!
NOTE: We
are using the facilities offered by "GOOGLE VIDEO" for the
publication of these videos. This has the great advantages that
there is virtually NO
DOWNLOADING TIME, AND NO NEED TO CREATE A TEMPORARY FILE.
You can
also choose to show them at FULL-SCREEN size by clicking in the
little rectangle at the right of the bottom-line.
We invite you to view the symbolic painting "Papa Karol Wojtyla" by
Monika Riemenschneider, which is placed on the back page (headed
"Photograph of Stykkishólmur"): CLICK
HERE!
At the end, in each
issue, at the top of the back page, there will be
one or more different photographs
of Stykkishólmur (click on these words). Besides some
recent cloudscapes which were photographed in the middle of the
night whilst there was still of strong illuminations from our
"midnight sun", we continue to retain the
group of three photographs of a series taken of a unusually
impressive mass of alto-cumulus clouds. Below them are
numerous other items of Catholic and cultural (and even local)
interest.
Other
links are on the back page, to be reached by clicking on "photograph of
Stykkishólmur" above.
You may be interested to buy, or subscribe to
the Icelandic language twice-yearly periodical, of religious and
cultural interest.
You will find information at the bottom of the back page. Click
here.
THE LATEST
NUMBER - 1-2/2010 - IS NOW
ON SALE
ITS CONTENTS
ARE PLACED
WITH THAT
INFORMATION
ON THE BACK
PAGE
