{"id":3493,"date":"2009-01-11T11:08:09","date_gmt":"2009-01-11T11:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2009\/01\/numquam-sine-aqua-christus\/"},"modified":"2009-01-11T11:08:09","modified_gmt":"2009-01-11T11:08:09","slug":"numquam-sine-aqua-christus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2009\/01\/numquam-sine-aqua-christus\/","title":{"rendered":"Numquam sine aqua Christus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"0203grec.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\nEl Greco’s painting of the Baptism of the Lord has, at least to my eyes, a Chagall-like quality. Whereas one would expect a predominance of blues and greens, suggestive of water and vegetation, El Greco uses a palette in various tones of gold, yellow, and brown. Is it dawn or is it dusk? Is it the beginning of the new dispensation, or the end of the old?<\/em>
\nSaint John the Baptist seems to be gazing into the heavens. He sees the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending. The light from the Holy Spirit seems to be falling directly into the shell he is using to pour the water of baptism over Jesus’ head. Instead of dipping the shell into the river, El Greco shows the Baptist lifting up the shell to receive in its hollow, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Anointing from above.<\/em>
\nThe Invitatory<\/strong>
\nThis morning’s Office of Vigils began with a glorious Invitatory Antiphon in the soaring seventh mode. The summit of the melody stretches with a glorious quilisma over the word, Pater<\/strong>. The presence of the Father is all-pervasive in today’s Office.<\/em>
\nChristum, Filium dilectum, in quo Pater sibi complacuit,
\nvenite, adoremus.
\nChrist, the beloved Son, in whom the Father takes delight,
\ncome, let us adore.
\nThe Great Responsory<\/strong>
\nThe First Nocturn’s responsory after the First Lesson is grandiose. It is the same Great Responsory in the third mode given for First Vespers in the Antiphonale Monasticum<\/u> (p. 112) to open the celebration of the whole feast:<\/em>
\nHodie in Jordane baptizato Domino,
\naperti sunt caeli
\net sicut columba super eum Spiritus mansit,
\net vox Patris intonuit:
\n* Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui.
\nV. Caeli aperti sunt super eum,
\net vox Patris audita est.
\n* Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui.
\nToday, the Lord is baptized in the Jordan,
\nthe heavens are opened,
\nthe Spirit, in the form of a dove, rests upon Him,
\nand the Father’s voice resounds:
\n* This is my beloved Son, in whom my love delights.
\nV. The heavens opened above Him, and the Father’s voice was heard:
\n* This is my beloved Son, in whom my love delights.
\n\"0203grec.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\nThe repetition of the response, “This is my beloved Son, in whom my love delights,” makes the whole piece a contemplation of the Trinity. One “hears” the love of the Father for the Son in every note of the melismas that adorn the key words: Hic<\/strong>, dilectus<\/strong>, and complacui<\/strong>.<\/em>
\nThe Mystery of Water<\/strong>
\nThe Reading of the Second Nocturn was taken from Tertullian’s Treatise on Baptism. The fourth lesson is a lyrical tribute to the role of water in the whole economy of salvation. It evokes certain liturgical texts, notably the solemn blessing of water in the night of Pascha. Here is my translation:<\/em>
\nWhat favour water has with God and with His Christ!
\nThus is the meaning of baptism confirmed.
\nNumquam sine aqua Christus! <\/em>
\nNever does Christ appear without water!
\nChrist Himself is immersed in water.
\nInvited to the wedding feast, it is water that inaugurates the first-fruits of His power.
\nWhen He preaches, it is to invite the thirsty to His everlasting water.
\nWhen He teaches of sacrificial love (agapé<\/em>), He recognizes the cup of water offered to one’s neighbor as a work of love.
\nHe rests beside a well of water.
\nHe walks upon the waters, freely crossing over its waves.
\nHe serves His disciples with water, by washing their feet.
\nThese signs of baptism extend even to His Passion.
\nWhen He is condemned to the death of the cross, water appears:
\nit is for the hands of Pilate.
\nWhen He is pierced by the soldier’s lance, water gushes from His side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

El Greco’s painting of the Baptism of the Lord has, at least to my eyes, a Chagall-like quality. Whereas one would expect a predominance of blues and greens, suggestive of water and vegetation, El Greco uses a palette in various tones of gold, yellow, and brown. Is it dawn or is it dusk? Is it <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmastide","category-liturgical-texts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-Ul","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}