An incombustible swan

I found this silk bookmark in a Bible published in 1953. The marker is 2½ inches wide and originally would have been 12½ inches long. The top is missing a few inches that displayed the inscription in German, Geburt der Reformation; the third verse of the hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, is also missing. A facsimile of Luther’s signature and a red silk tassel are missing on the bottom.

A lovely design in black, white and red, depicting Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany, the bookmark commemorates the birth of the Protestant Reformation, which event occurred on October 31, 1517.

The soft leather cover of the Bible continues to bear the imprints of the fingers of its owner. The book would have been held in the right hand, the left hand used to turn the pages of scripture, marked with the silk marker. As the Bible is 8 inches long, the bookmark would have extended unsupported from top & bottom; I imagine decades of use and wear would account for the missing portions, an attestation to the faith of the user.

Note the bird enclosed in a circle at the top of the church door. I thought at first this represented a pelican sitting on its nest, perhaps a phoenix rising from the flames of its funeral pyre. Research on the web reveals the story of the “incombustible” Luther. Martin Luther, or his message, constitute “…a swan you will not be able to burn…”, attesting to the divine inspiration of Luther’s mission.

The lines of the hymn remind us that God’s help, grace and mercy are freely given to all in our distress.

Little Visits

I delight in the stories left behind in old books, finding particular meaning in treasures tucked away for safekeeping in old Bibles, missals and prayerbooks.  Special things people intended to keep safe, that had a particular resonance with the owner or volume itself.

I discovered this newspaper clipping in a Catholic prayer book published in the 1940s.  What first caught my attention was the author’s delightful and unusual name: Delight Cronin.  I didn’t expect to be drawn to the simple and naïve verse of the poem, Little Visits. 

Little Visits

I no longer call on my loved ones,

   Their tombs are too scattered and far.

The highlands are steep and the waters are deep,

   God Love them, wherever they are.

I used to bring blossoms in springtime,

   Caressingly dressing each plot.

Too old now to go to the kinsfolk I know?

   Ah, let it be said I forgot!

Instead, slipping into the chapel,

   I gather my dead in one place.

Contentedly there in the handclasp of prayer,

   I think of each name and a face.

Gems sparkling enchained in my fingers

   Beseech light, refreshment and rest.

Where Love finds me kneeling, Faith whispers revealing

   We all like this visiting best. 

The “little visits” are visits to cemeteries where we pray for the dead and attend to their graves.  As members of the communion of saints, Catholics support and pray for each other.  We the living can pray for the dead, the souls in purgatory, who need prayers on their journey to God.  November is the month the Church especially dedicates to praying for the dead.          

I like Cronin’s metaphor for the rosary: “Gems sparkling enchained in my fingers.”

Miss Delight Mabel Cronin, writer of “rhymed verse with a Catholic influence,” was born in 1907 and died in 1992.  There’s an entry found for the author in Volume 7 of The American Catholic Who’s Who, 1946 and 1947:

Author: Forget-Me-Nots (poems, 1934) contributor to OSV, Ave Maria, Far East, Queen’s Work, Magnificat, Extension etc. Home: 2339 Winter St., Fort Wayne, Ind.

Cronin’s poem is reminiscent of the works of Helen Steiner Rice, another 20^th century American Christian poet. 

Christian Traveling Men

My friend died recently after a lengthy battle with cancer. Lenny was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (Reformed Church in America) and an active & enthusiastic member of The Gideons, International. When I joked that he spent his time slipping Bibles under hotel pillows, Lenny assured me The Gideons do that & much more.

Formed in 1898, its founders originally considered calling the new organization the Christian Traveling Men of the United States of America but abandoned the idea because, as one later noted, “traveling men don’t have time to use such long names.” So they settled for the simpler calling card, a name inspired by an Old Testament judge who led a small band of faithful Israelites to victory over a vastly larger force. The Gideons was a Protestant evangelical voluntary association of traveling businessmen. In the tradition of 19th century American revivalism, they sought to bring a greater Christian influence to American society.

In 1900, the first local chapter (called a “camp”) was formed, the first edition of The Gideon Quarterly published, and the first national convention held. The convention members passed this significant resolution: “That every hotel, which Gideons patronize, furnish a Holy Bible for the benefit of its patrons.”

At the national convention in 1908 the Gideons committed themselves to “The Bible Project,” an ambitious plan to furnish a Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States. Soon they began ordering thousands of Bibles. At first, The Gideons preferred the American Standard Version of the King James Bible, first released in 1900; in later years they began distributing the Authorized (King James) Version solely.

From the inside cover of a Gideon Bible: This Bible Is Placed by The Gideons. Our purpose winning others for Christ. Placing Bibles in Hotels, Hospitals, Schools and Institutions. This Book Not To Be Sold. 

The Bible shown here was published by the National Bible Press, Philadelphia.

This Authorized (King James) Version contains some elements that make Gideon Bibles distinctive: a brief description of the association (Who are the Gideons?); a listing of Bible verses on various topics; a guide to The Names and Order of the Books of the Old and New Testaments, with the Number of Their Chapters; and a Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.

By the late 1920s bible distribution had become the best-known—often the only known—aspect of the Gideons. As one member notes in the December 1928 issue of The Gideon: “Many think still that our Bible work—placing Bibles in hotels—is our only aim. To be sure, this is a most important branch of our work, and the work for which we are chiefly known to the public at large. But the Gideon organization was founded with this object in view: ‘Winning Commercial Traveling Men for Christ.”

5000 GIDEON BIBLES FOR D.C. HOTELS. 1913. Source: Library of Congress

It’s been more than 100 years since The Gideons International placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana. Today, Gideons are organized in more than 190 countries around the globe. Bibles and New Testaments are printed for distribution by The Gideons International in more than 90 languages; over two billion have been distributed to date. Learn more about The Gideons here.

Video Link: History of The Gideons

What sweeter music can we bring?

A recent addition to my collection of vintage songbooks is a copy of A Wreath of Carols: 47 Christmas Songs Arranged for Piano and Guitar by Betty M. Owen and Mary E. Mac Ewen, published by Scholastic Book Services in 1966.

I enjoy leafing through old songbooks, discovering forgotten tunes like old friends not seen for years,  finding new verses for familiar songs, and discovering new pieces.

The Blessed Bird is a Christmas carol that tells the story of a stork that rose on Christmas Eve to fly to Bethlehem to give comfort to the newborn baby Jesus.  For her good deed the stork is blessed and named “friend to babies all.”  The archaic words are evocative and haunting:

The storke she rose on Christmas eve,

And sayde unto her broode,

I now must fare to Bethlehem

To viewe the Sonne of God.

 

She gave to eche his dole of mete.

She stowed them farely in,

And far she flew and fast she flew

And came to Bethlehem.

 

“Nowe where is he of David’s line?

She asked at house and halle,

“He is not here,” they spoke hardly,

But in a maungier stalle.

 

She found him in maungier stalle

with that most holy mayde.

The gentle storke she wept to see

The Lord so rudely layde.

 

Then from her panting breast she plucked

The feathers white and warm.

She strewed them in the maungier bed

To keep the Lord from harm.

 

“Now blessed be the gentle storke

For evermore”, quoth He

“For that she saw my sadde estate

And showed me such pity.

 

“Full welcome shall she ever be

In hamlet and in halle,

And called henceforth the ‘blessed bird’

And friend of babies all.”

The words are attributed to the flyleaf of a 16th-century prayer book.  Some sources claim the text is from an old  English Christmas carol, thought to have been found in the Prayer Book of King Edward VI, dated 1549.

 

Extremely rare Wicked Bible goes on sale

One of 10 remaining copies of 1631’s Sinners Bible, with its infamous typo imploring readers to commit adultery, is to be auctioned on November 11^th

A section of a page from the Wicked Bible of 1631. The section highlights a contemporary typographical error insofar as it omits the word not from the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Via Wikipedia

The Wicked Bible, sometimes called Adulterous Bible or Sinners’ Bible, is the Bible published in 1631 by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the royal printers in London, which was meant to be a reprint of the King James Bible. The name is derived from a mistake made by the compositors: in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14), the word not in the sentence “Thou shalt not commit adultery” was omitted, thus changing the sentence into “Thou shalt commit adultery”. This blunder was spread in a number of copies. About a year later, the publishers of the Wicked Bible were called to the Star Chamber and fined £300 (£44,614 as of 2015) and deprived of their printing license. The fact that this edition of the Bible contained such a flagrant mistake outraged Charles I and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Over the centuries, many have speculated what went wrong. Traditionally, it was accepted that the mishap was a mere typographical error. But later, some suggested it may have been sabotage from Barker’s rival, Bonhom Norton. In 1632 Barker had a tainted reputation and no printing license. No doubt it became difficult for him to find work. By 1635, he started slipping in and out of debtors’ prison. He died behind bars in 1645.

Some Sweet Day

In Memoriam of Lavisa Blanche Stibbe

Lost to sight! Yet Safe in Heaven,
And we shall see thee “Some Sweet Day”
Veiled in robes of bright Elysian,
In that realm not far away.
So changed, so bright, so purified,
As an immortal glorified.
 
But our hearts are sad and lonely,
Looking, longing for our own;
And the glad and happy greeting, that
Now, awaits our coming Home.
Cherub arms, in love, will clasp us
Hail our coming with delight! —
Endless songs dispel all gloom.
 
Sweet angelic voices ringing
Tuned to Heaven’s loftiest praise!
I stop, intent to catch the singing
Breathed upon the balmy breeze:
“Bring the little ones to Jesus,”
Every voice doth loudly raise.

Born May 1, 1901.
Died, January 26, 1906, 11:15 A. M.
Aged, 4 years, 8 months, 25 days.

The death of any child is tragic. Lavisa died before reaching her fifth birthday. This memorial card is particularly moving, as the author (perhaps a parent, other relative, or close family friend) prepared an acrostic poem to memorialize the deceased. Creating an acrostic poem seems particularly challenging as the author must work within the alphabet dictated by the first letters of the subject’s names.  Rhyme & meter struggle accordingly. The second line refers to the popular late 19^th century hymn, “Some Sweet Day.”  The words of the song promise that:

By and by, some sweet day,
We shall meet our loved ones gone,
Some sweet day, by and by.

A tragedy of this nature was not uncommon during the first decade of the 20^th century. In the United States, fully 25%  of all children died before reaching their fifth birthday.  Common causes for infant mortality included diarrhea & enteritis, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and meningitis.

This lovely memorial card, providing name & dates but no location, was purchased at a local book fair. Evocative in its simplicity, this gentle verse captures our sorrow at the death of a loved one (“But our hearts are sad and lonely, Looking, longing for our own”), the universal hope that “…we shall see thee ‘Some Sweet Day,’ ” and the anticipated joy of our promised reunion: “And the glad and happy greeting, that now, awaits our coming Home.”

Eternal rest grant unto Lavisa Blanche Stibbe, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen

A string of beads

Discovered at a local flea market, this chaplet attests to a Roman Catholic devotional tradition that dates back more than a millennium. In the late Middle Ages the chaplet was a vital and commonplace aid to keeping count of the repetition of prayers, each bead representing a single invocation. The most recognized form of chaplet (literally “a string of beads”) is the rosary.  The rosary is dedicated to Marian devotion, consisting of a wreath of beads, small ones interspersed at regular intervals by larger beads.  Specific prayers are associated with the rosary: the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) and Pater Noster (Our Father).  Chaplets often end with a cross or terminal pendant, placed on the short strip hanging off the main circle.

In the Catholic Church, while the familiar five-decade Dominican rosary is a chaplet, often chaplets have fewer beads than a traditional rosary and a different set of prayers.

The chaplet displayed here is called the Chaplet of the Blessed Sacrament.  The chaplet consists of a medal of the Blessed Sacrament and thirty-three beads, recalling the thirty-three years of Christ’s life on earth.  On the obverse of the medal is an image of Jesus holding the Blessed Sacrament, a chalice, and a child, with the Latin words Panis Vitae, Bread of Life.  On the obverse are found the words, “Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament Have Mercy on us.  300 days indulgence each time.”  The beads are made from Job’s Tears or Chinese pearl barley seeds, the natural seeds of a grain plant long used for prayer beads.

On the medal one makes a spiritual communion as follows: “As I cannot now receive Thee, my Jesus, in Holy Communion, come, spiritually into my heart, and make it Thine own forever.”  On each bead repast:  “Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us!”  This chaplet was approved on May 30, 1911 by Pope Pius X.

The chaplet is one example of Catholic personal devotional objects, which also include sacred images, prayer books, medals, crucifixes, and other devotional objects.

Prayer beads have been used in Christian, Moslem and Hindu societies over many centuries.

Sister Marie Simon

I was drawn to this memorial card for a Roman Catholic nun because of the puzzle it presents. Who was Sister Marie Simon? Why is it important to note that she was “Born Lea Morneau”? Where is Fall River? And what were the Dominican Sisters doing there?

The answers to these questions provide insights into 19th American Catholic culture in a Massachusetts town, exciting events in Saint Anne’s Parish, and a conflict between Catholic clergy and laity that would take a violent turn requiring Vatican intervention to resolve.

The late 19th century economic boom benefited many American cities, including Fall River, Mass. Fall River was a busy seaport and great factory town in post-Civil War Massachusetts. The city would become one of the largest textile producing centers in the United States, with over 100 mills in operation by 1920.

The post-Civil War economic boom lured thousands of French Canadian immigrants to the Fall River area to work in the textile mills. The immigrants brought their own language, culture, and brand of Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, the French Canadians faced an entrenched Irish hierarchy in their parish church, with a policy of immigrant assimilation.

The ploy thickens, as told on the Saint Anne’s Parish website:

The parish trustees sent a delegation to Providence, hoping to persuade the bishop to change his mind and give them a French-Canadian pastor. The reply of Bishop Hendricken was disheartening. He condemned the excessive national pride of the Canadians and stated rather rudely that Father McGee spoke better French than any of them. This peremptory refusal aggravated by insult was the spark that caused an explosion to erupt.

 The parishioners of Notre Dame decided to boycott their pastor financially and to make his life miserable through all sorts of harassments. In mid-February 1885, the break between Hendricken and the parishioners of Notre Dame was consummated. The bishop responded to the stubbornness of the parishioners, whom he considered in a state of revolt against his authority, by declaring the parish of Notre Dame under interdict. The church was closed to worship and deprived of any priest. A state of affairs that was to last seven months.

 Meanwhile, the parishioners of Notre Dame, sincerely believing their demands to be just, took their case to Rome. For the sake of brevity, let us simply state that Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of the Congregation of the Propaganda of the Faith, decided in favor of the Canadians, but with all the diplomatic niceties that respected the authority and feelings of the Bishop. Through the good offices of Archbishop Williams of Boston, Cardinal Simeoni proposed the following compromise: the Bishop of Providence was authorized to appoint a pastor of his choice to Notre Dame on the condition that he give him a Canadian curate “until such a time when he deems fitting to name a Canadian pastor.”

The conflict was eventually resolved and the French Canadians would get their own clergy, churches, schools and more.

By 1900, Fall River would have a population of about 100,000 people. of whom some 40,000 were French Canadian. The French developed their own churches, schools, newspapers, cultural and political organizations and social clubs. St. Anne’s Parish was founded in 1869, St. Mathieu in 1887, Blessed Sacrament in 1892, St. Roch in 1899 and St. Jean Baptiste in 1901. Catholic elementary schools taught part of the day’s instruction in French.

And what of the Dominican Sisters? The Sisters would arrive in Fall River to teach in the Catholic schools and staff the hospital. Indeed, Sister Marie Simon, born Lea Morneau in 1889 in France, may well have been a member of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation.  Saint Anne’s Community, located in Fall River, was founded in 1906 with the arrival of Sisters coming from France. The congregation built Saint Anne’s Hospital to meet the health care needs of the people, especially the poor immigrants in Fall River. The majority of the immigrants were French Canadians working in the city’s mills.

In your prayers remember Sister Marie Simon, born Lea Morneau, Dominican Sister.  May the soul of Sister Marie Simon, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen

Prayer for the Dead (De Profundis, Psalm 130)

A Faith Journey: Part Second

Within the pages of The Catholic Girl’s Guide I discovered a moving record of Joanna’s faith journey, captured in a collection of prayer cards.

Catholic prayer cards or holy cards are tiny bits of paper, just a few inches square, bearing sacred images and religious inscriptions. The custom of distributing prayer cards goes back many centuries. The oldest surviving Catholic prayer card bears an image of St. Christopher and dates to 1423.

Prayer cards are used to commemorate important religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, and special spiritual milestones including First Communion and Confirmation.

Prayer cards are commonly distributed at funerals printed with a favorite prayer, a religious image, the name of the deceased, their birthday and date of death. It’s common practice to accumulate these cards over the years, storing them in a secure location.

An early milestone of Joanna’s faith journey is a prayer card inscribed with A Child’s Night Prayer, signed by Sister Edwina and dated 1937. An image of My Guardian Angel, and a young Jesus as the Gentle Shepherd, all speak to a child’s need for comfort and protection.

A holy card bearing the image of Jesus, the Shepherd and Lamb of God, dated 1940, is inscribed, “O Jesus, I give thee my soul, that it may be free from sin. To dear Joanna, pray for Sister M. Edwina. 1940.”  Treasured gifts from a beloved teacher, the cards would have been carried everywhere contained within The Catholic Girl’s Guide, portable and personal devotional objects.

Memorial cards from the 1950s attest to a maturing faith as Joanna learns to deal with the reality of death and loss.  A prayer card for the Novena for Souls in Purgatory recognizes every Catholics’ responsibility to pray for the souls of those in purgatory, and the efficacy of these prayers. The Catholic Girl’s Guide continues to offer guidance and appropriate prayers for every step in Joanna’s spiritual life.

Many Catholic women share a strong devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as these holy cards reflect. The crowning feature of The Catholic Girl’s Guide is a section devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, including devotions for the Month of May and, in Latin and English, the Regina Coeli, Alma Redemptoris, Salve Regina and Ave Regina Coelorum, as well as inspiring reflections on all the events of Our Lady’s life.

Later in life, Joanna may well have suffered physical, mental or spiritual sorrow. One holy card addresses Resignation: “Thy Will, O God, be done!” St. Odilia, Patron Saint of the Blind and Afflicted, is appealed to. A hand written note addressed to Dear Joan prays “…may Our Blessed Mother heal the wound in your heart…”

Finally, a Ticket to Heaven offers the promise of salvation to come.

A Faith Journey: Part First

Vintage books have a certain look and feel that draw me to them. They are permeated with the scent of time: the covers worn from use, pages crinkled and folded, the covers worn smooth from handling. There are secrets to be discovered between the covers.

Even more so for vintage prayer books, for between their covers is created a sacred space. A prayer book is a doorway between the secular and sacred worlds. Moreover, it defines how and why the sacred comes into contact with the profane.

 

The Catholic Girl’s Guide pictured here was edited by the Rev. Francis Xavier Lasance and published by Benziger Brothers in 1934. The full title:  The Catholic Girl’s Guide: Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life and in Particular for the Children of Mary.  According to the editor, the Girl’s Guide is intended for the use of Catholic girls from the time of their leaving school until they embrace some calling or state in life, to be their companion and guide amid the dangers and snares that beset the path of youth.

Sometime in the 1930s, Joanna M. received her copy of the Guide to nourish, strengthen, and express her Roman Catholic faith. The Girl’s Guide provides everything a young Catholic woman requires: daily prayers; the devotions for mass, confession and communion; the Stations of the Cross; and various litanies, novenas and prayers.

Its small size makes it highly portable.  Merely 5 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide, the book would sit easily in the hand, in a coat pocket, or a pocketbook. Indeed, the covers are worn smooth from use, the edges threadbare, the pages worn and creased.  Joanne carried her Guide with her often, creating a sacred space wherever she traveled. A constant reminder of her faith and devotion.

The Guide is an intensely personal artifact, imbued with the hopes, fears, and spiritual longings of a young women.  Furthermore, contained within the pages of The Catholic Girl’s Guide I discovered a moving record of Joanna’s faith journey.

To be continued in A Faith Journey: Part Second

 Go here to view the full text of The Catholic Girl’s Guide