By the way, were you really "discalced"? I should add that the first time I accessed your blog and saw your photograph, even before reading a word of text, I said to myself "cara de cura".
The image does represent Black Friday -- not sure I celebrate that! -- but it is also a painting that Tom painted at my request and that hangs in my office. I like the Rothko-esqueness that makes it a sort of scrying mirror or projection screen.
I was indeed "discalced" in the sense of the word as commonly applied to religious orders in the sixteenth century when St. Teresa's order was founded: we wore sandals with our habits instead of shoes or boots.
Back in the days when I wore a Roman collar, I was often told that I looked like Father Mulchay from M*A*S*H.
By the time I entered the community, sandals had become optional for everyone. Many of us chose to wear sandals, sometimes with socks if the weather was cold. (I was stationed in Wisconsin and New England where winters can be brutal.) On the other hand, I discovered that my bare feet did not get too cold even without socks, as long as I kept my feet dry. At any rate, the point of wearing sandals originally had been to identify with the poor by dressing the way they did. Teresa herself complained in one of her letters about friars who insisted on being barefoot (wearing sandals) but insisted on traveling in comfort. When she visited the first monastery of friars who followed her reform, she found them in bare feet and insisted that they wear sandals so as not to appear to be showing off. The word descalzo became part of the name because for most people the most obvious way to distinguish between communities that had several branches was to look at how they dressed. Bare feet were a symbol of a more important reality. Similarly. Capuchin Franciscans were so-called because of the shape and size of their hood (capuche), not because the hood itself was important but because it was easily recognized as distinguishing them from other Franciscan groups.
Thanks Michael for the further explanation. I knew about the reason for the name of the Capuchins (and by extension that of the coffee) but the "White Friars" are unknown territory to me.
I love that the Carmelites (the original Order, known among us as the OCarms) are known as White Friars from their white mantle, although their habit itself is brown (the original brown scapular, in fact) -- much like the Dominicans are Black Friars because of the black cape over the white habit. And Franciscans, whom most of us think of as having a brown habit, were the Grey Friars.
Since my reference to the "White Friars" clearly pleased you and since it is better to be pseudonymous than anonymous, any future comments will be signed "WF". But I can't resist. Wikipedia states that there are seventeen different devotional scapulars. SEVENTEEN? Wow! WF
8 comments:
Is this to "celebrate" Black Friday?
By the way, were you really "discalced"? I should add that the first time I accessed your blog and saw your photograph, even before reading a word of text, I said to myself "cara de cura".
The image does represent Black Friday -- not sure I celebrate that! -- but it is also a painting that Tom painted at my request and that hangs in my office. I like the Rothko-esqueness that makes it a sort of scrying mirror or projection screen.
I was indeed "discalced" in the sense of the word as commonly applied to religious orders in the sixteenth century when St. Teresa's order was founded: we wore sandals with our habits instead of shoes or boots.
Back in the days when I wore a Roman collar, I was often told that I looked like Father Mulchay from M*A*S*H.
Thank you for the explanations.
An irreverent question. Were you allowed to wear socks with the sandals, or was such wear limited those of the order who were sick or aged?
Finally, here is wishing you and Tom all happiness for many years in your new home.
By the time I entered the community, sandals had become optional for everyone. Many of us chose to wear sandals, sometimes with socks if the weather was cold. (I was stationed in Wisconsin and New England where winters can be brutal.) On the other hand, I discovered that my bare feet did not get too cold even without socks, as long as I kept my feet dry. At any rate, the point of wearing sandals originally had been to identify with the poor by dressing the way they did. Teresa herself complained in one of her letters about friars who insisted on being barefoot (wearing sandals) but insisted on traveling in comfort. When she visited the first monastery of friars who followed her reform, she found them in bare feet and insisted that they wear sandals so as not to appear to be showing off. The word descalzo became part of the name because for most people the most obvious way to distinguish between communities that had several branches was to look at how they dressed. Bare feet were a symbol of a more important reality. Similarly. Capuchin Franciscans were so-called because of the shape and size of their hood (capuche), not because the hood itself was important but because it was easily recognized as distinguishing them from other Franciscan groups.
Thanks Michael for the further explanation. I knew about the reason for the name of the Capuchins (and by extension that of the coffee) but the "White Friars" are unknown territory to me.
I love that the Carmelites (the original Order, known among us as the OCarms) are known as White Friars from their white mantle, although their habit itself is brown (the original brown scapular, in fact) -- much like the Dominicans are Black Friars because of the black cape over the white habit. And Franciscans, whom most of us think of as having a brown habit, were the Grey Friars.
Since my reference to the "White Friars" clearly pleased you and since it is better to be pseudonymous than anonymous, any future comments will be signed "WF".
But I can't resist.
Wikipedia states that there are seventeen different devotional scapulars. SEVENTEEN? Wow!
WF
The temptation to create cheap knock-offs has apparently been with us forever.
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