Navigatio Brendani 1.6-10 read by Christopher Francese

[6] Tunc Sānctus Barrindus, explētīs sermōnibus sānctī Brendānī, coepit nārrāre dē quādam īnsulā, dīcēns: [7] “Fīliolus meus Mernoc atque prōcūrātor pauperum Chrīstī cōnfugit ā faciē meā et voluit esse sōlitārius. Invenitque īnsulam iuxtā Montem Lapidis, nōmine Dēliciōsam. [8] Post multum vērō tempus, nūntiātum est mihi quod plūrēs monachōs sēcum habuisset, et Deus multa mīrābilia per illum ostendit. Itaque perrēxī illūc, ut vīsitāssem fīliolum meum.

[9] “Cumque appropinquāssem iter trium diērum, in occursum mihi festīnāvit cum frātribus suīs: revēlāvit enim Dominus sibi adventum meum. [10] Nāvigantibus nōbīs in praedictam īnsulam occurrērunt obviam, sīcut exāmen apum, ex dīversīs cellulīs, frātrēs.

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Navigatio Brendani 1.1-5 read by Christopher Francese

[1] Sānctus Brendānus, fīlius Finlocha nepōtis Altī, dē genere Eogēnī, stāgnī Lēn regiōnis Mumenensium ortus fuit.  Erat vir magnae abstinentiae et in virtūtibus clārus, trium mīlium ferē monachōrum pater.
[2] Cum esset in suō certāmine, in locō quī dīcitur Saltus Virtūtum Brendānī, contigit ut quīdam patrum ad illum quōdam vespere vēnisset, nōmine Barrindus, nepōs Neil.    
[3] Cumque interrogātus esset multīs sermōnibus ā praedictō sānctō patre, coepit lacrimāre et sē prostrāre in terram et diūtius permanēre in ōrātiōne. [4] Sānctus Brendānus ērēxit illum dē terrā et ōsculātus est eum, dīcēns: “Pater, cūr trīstitiam habēmus in adventū tuō? Nōnne ad cōnsōlātiōnem nostram vēnistī?  [5] Magis laetitiam tū dēbēs frātribus praeparāre. Indicā nōbīs verbum Deī, atque refice animās nostrās dē dīversīs mīrāculīs quae vīdistī in ōceanō.”

Velasquez: Saint Anthony the Great and Saint Paul the Anchorite

    The raven brings bread to St. Paul the Hermit and St. Antony

    Painting by Diego Velázquez (c. 1634) showing the raven bring bread.

    Jerome, Life of Paul the Hermit (10): "While talking they noticed with amazement a raven, which had settled onto a branch of a tree, and was now flying down until it laid a loaf of bread in front of them. They were amazed, but after it left Paul said, 'Behold, The loving and merciful Lord has sent us a meal. For the last sixty years I have always received half a loaf, but because you are here Christ has sent double rations.'"

    Comments

    From The Prado Museum website:

    The subject is drawn from the narration in Jacobo de la Voragine`s 13th-century Golden Legend of Saint Anthony the Abbot`s voyage to the Egyptian desert to visit Saint Paul, the first Christian hermit (4th century). Saint Anthony, whom Velázquez presents dressed in the black-hooded, brown habit of the Hospitallers of Saint Anthony, appears five times in the painting. In the background, he asks his way from a centaur and also converses with a satyr. In a hollow among boulders that recall Patinir`s huge, rocky Landscape with Saint Jerome (already in the Royal Collection at that time, and now at the Museo del Prado), he is depicted knocking on the holy Anchorite`s door. In the foreground, he converses with Saint Paul and is surprised by the raven that brings Paul his daily bread. The final episode is shown at the left: after hearing that Paul has died, he discovers two lions digging the hermit`s tomb.

    Velázquez based his depiction of the two saints` meeting on Dürer`s engraving of the same subject, although he must also have known Sánchez Coello`s painting for one of the two altars at the basilica of El Escorial. In his consideration of possible visual sources for this work, Diego Angulo (1946) observed that the breadth of the setting and the valley`s pale blue lighting recall the landscape of northern Madrid and were Velázquez`s own contribution. More recently (Brown), parallels have been drawn with frescoes of Roman landscapes by Pietro da Cortona at the Villa Sacchetti in Castelfusano, which Velázquez may have seen in 1630-1631. The application of a very thin coat of paint over a light-colored base generates notably luminous and translucent effects. Various pentimenti are clearly visible, for example, in the figure of Saint Paul and in Saint Anthony`s crosier. The top of this work originally ended in a semicircular arch (the two upper corners were added and painted when the canvas was lined, possibly in the 19th century), indicating that it was conceived for an altar. It was probably commissioned for the hermitage of San Pablo -one of several constructed in the gardens of Madrid`s buen Retiro Palace- whose altarpiece, now lost, was completed in May 1633 and included a sculpture of Saint Paul the Hermit by Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Ceroni. First documented in the hermitage of San Antonio de los Portugueses in 1701, this painting may have been moved there when the hermitage of San Pablo was renovated and redecorated between 1659 and 1661.

    Type
    Image
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
    Date
    1634
    Medium
    Location
    Madrid, Prado Museum
    Image Credit

    The Moone High Cross

      The Moone High Cross, covered with scenes mostly from the Bible.

      Comments

      From the Kildare Town Tourist Office and Heritage Centre website (accessed 8/7/2023):

      The Moone High Cross is the second tallest high cross in Ireland and it is said to be one of the best examples in the country.  It is divided into three parts, the upper, middle and base. In 1893 the middle part was discovered and reunited with the remaining parts which were originally found in the ruins of the medieval church in 1835.  Today, the complete cross stands at 17.5 feet (5.3 meters).

      There are different scenes depicted on the cross; Daniel in the lions pit, the three children in the fiery furnace and the miracle of the loaves and fishes amongst them. The monastery is believed to have been founded by St. Palladius in the 5th century, dedicated to St. Columcille in the 6th and the cross, constructed from granite, is reputed to date from the 8th century.

      Type
      Image
      License
      Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
      Date
      8th century AD
      Dimensions
      17.5 feet high (including the base)
      Location
      Moone, County Kildare, Ireland
      Image Credit

      Paul and Antony and the loaf of bread; relief on the Moone High Cross

        One of the panels on the 8th century Moone High Cross, in County Kildare, shows the meeting of St. Paul the Hermit and Antony

        Jerome, in his Life of Paul the Hermit (section 18) describes the argument between Paul and his guest over who should eat first from a loaf of bread: "having returned thanks to the Lord, they sat down together on the next to the spring of clear water.  Then a dispute arose as to who should break the bread, and nearly the whole day until the evening was spent in the discussion. Paul urged the obligations of hospitality, Antony argued on the basis of age. Eventually they decided that each should grasp the loaf on the side nearest to himself, pull towards him, and keep the part left in his hands."

         

         

        Type
        Image
        License
        Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
        Date
        8th century AD
        Location
        Moone, County Kildare, Ireland
        Image Credit

        Jusepe de Ribera: Saint Paul the Hermit

           

          Sānctus vērō Brendānus, cum appropinquāsset ad ōstium spēluncae ūnīus, dē alterā ēgressus est senex forās obviam sibi, dīcēns: “Ecce, quam bonum et quam iocundum habitāre frātrēs in ūnum.” (26.15).

          Comments

          Museo del Prado P001075

          From the Museo del Prado website:

          Saint Paul, the first hermit, is shown meditating before a skull in solitude. This work dates from the final stage of Ribera’s career, which, in contrast to the darkness of his early years, is a phase of greater brightness and a wider range of colors.

          Associated Passages
          Type
          Image
          License
          Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
          Date
          1640
          Medium
          Dimensions
          Height: 143 cm; Width: 143 cm
          Location
          Madrid, Prado Museum
          Image Credit

          Rockall

            The small rocky island of Rockall, with a Irish naval patrol boat.

            Navigatio Brandani 26.8–9

            Erat autem parva et nimis rotunda illa īnsula, quasi ūnīus stadiī. (9) Dē terrā vērō nihil habuit dēsuper, sed petra nūda in modum silicis appāruit.  Quantum erat lātitūdinis et longitūdinis, tantae altitūdinis.

            The uninhabited island of Rockall, claimed by the United Kingdom, sits alone in the North Atlantic.  It is as almost high as it is wide, 71 feet high and 90 feet at its widest, so about 280 feet in circumference, whereas a Roman stade was 625 feet.

             

            Associated Passages
            Type
            Image
            License
            Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
            Image Credit