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The scale of virtues
We have reached the fourth Sunday of Lent and our Church projects the face of San Giovanni del Sinai, the so-called Scala. He was born in the 6th century in Syria. At the age of sixteen he became a probationary monk in the holy monastery of Sinai. He practiced obedience and humility at Abba Martirio, having previously acquired secular circular wisdom. At the age of twenty, after four years of constant struggle, he became a monk and was renamed John. He then received the first two degrees of priesthood, deacon and elder, to serve the needs of the monastery. He remained in the Sinai Monastery for nineteen consecutive years.
Then, at the age of thirty-five, he retired to a deserted place in the Sinai where he practiced in silence and studied his father's books. At the age of seventy-five he became Abbot of the Sinai Monastery where he remained in this position for four years. He then retired to the desert and at the age of eighty he died on March 30th.
The Honorable Santo was today a great scholar and anatomist of the human soul, he was. Man of prayer, temperance, constant love for God, man with ardent divine love and always lit by the fire of divine love, as Synaxari tells us. He was a man who led his soul along the paths of Christ, who led him whole from hell to heaven, from the devil to God, from sin to sin, as Saint Justin Popovic tells us. It is no coincidence that our Holy Church has named this day in honor of St. John. In the sea that we cross during Lent, in the phase of struggles and spiritual virtues, St. John of Sinai is an example to imitate for each of us.
The reason why the Saint is called with this name is because he wrote an important book, considered one of the masterpieces of our Ecclesiastical Secretariat, the famous "Scala", a spiritual and ascetic book. It consists of thirty reasons of virtue, each of which includes a virtue, which he wrote himself.
The ladder, that is, the ladder, describes the path to divinization as an ascent like an ascent to a ladder that leads to heaven. Every step of him is a virtue that the believer in difficulty must conquer to achieve his goal. This book begins with the more practical virtues, the virtues that are easily acquired and have mainly a practical character, such as the virtue of repentance, obedience, and ends with the theoretically elevated ones, such as humility and discrimination. Each virtue is classified to presuppose the previous one and this is a condition for the next.
The first three reasons, which constitute the introduction of this book, refer to the self-denial of the worldly and concern the monks. The next four reasons, which highlight the same number of fundamental virtues, and these are those of obedience, repentance, remembrance of death and joyful mourning, which appear like the roots of a tree that offers its fruits to his faithful in difficulty. From 8 to 25 discourse the hard passions that every Christian must fight and the corresponding virtues that he must recover are described. The 26th discourse generally mentions their passions, virtues, thoughts and simple distinctions. The latter reasons are the fruits of labor and toil and are the symbolic ascent to the top of the ladder of virtues.
At this point I would like to refer to three of the Saint's speeches mentioned in the Scala. The first reason refers to the apostasy of this vain life. That is, as the author of the book says, to begin life in Christ, one must renounce the vanity of the present world. And the word world in the Bible does not have the meaning we perceive in the world today. It means the worldly mind, the worldly life and not our fellow men, those around us. One cannot approach God without saying no to sin and above all to his selfish desires. Because these wills hold us captive in the sinful world. According to the Holy Shepherd, man's will is a bronze wall that separates him from God.
So, getting away from the world means changing your worldly mind, the worldly way of thinking about life and getting the mind of Christ, that is, the spiritual way in which you see things around you. We see, therefore, that St. John places it as the basis of life in Christ. This also refers us to the word of the Lord "whoever wants to return to me, I renounce myself and see his cross and follow me" [2]. The word of the Lord is understandable. It is the same as our Saint says, to save his own vain life. What the Lord says "I renounce myself" does not mean that man denies himself, his existence, his body, but he renounces sin, the old, his passionate and sinful self "plus sufferings and desires" [3].
The other reason I would like to mention is the ninth reason for resentment. Revenge means remembering with disgust the evils that have been done to me by others and finding it difficult to forgive them. Unfortunately, sometimes we also want their revenge. The evangelist John mentions "you go half brother of him is a murderer" [4]. That is, if we want to hurt our brother, it is as if we wanted to kill him. Saint Chrysostom states: "God is not abhorred as a man of vengeance and anger". That is, nothing disgusts God as much as he does not like the man who is vindictive and holds his anger against the other.
Passion is fought with forgiveness, which is the most effective medicine that cures this disease. How will God forgive us if we do not forgive those who have wronged us? So, in order for God to forgive us, it is necessary to forgive our enemies. Love them, so that God can love us too. St. Maximus the Confessor says that we find forgiveness for our transgressions by forgiving our brothers and we find God's mercy by having mercy on our brothers. The more long-suffering we show our brothers that they have offended us, the more we enjoy divine long-suffering.
Through the Bible we see that the spirit prevails over revenge. In the Old Testament there are several testimonies that condemn resentment. The prophet Zechariah says: "Don't let each of you take revenge on this brother." In the book of Proverbs we read that the vindictive are illegal "he who does not resent, illegal" [7] and their end will be physical and spiritual death "the way of the vindictive to death" [8]. In the New Testament, resentment is unequivocally condemned and forgiveness is taught.
The last word refers to love, hope and faith. These virtues are the last because all three maintain the connection of all the other virtues, according to the apostle Paul, faith, hope, love "and love is greater than these" [9]. As John of Klimakos says, I see one as a ray, the other as light and the other as your solar disk, but all three together as a luminous splendor and the same brilliance. Faith can accomplish anything, hope is surrounded by God's mercy and does not shame the hopeful. Love never falls from his height, nor does it stop running, nor does it allow those who have been wounded by its arrows to calm down from the blissful mania it caused them. [10]
Love is a cornerstone of the Orthodox faith. Love is a good disposition of the soul, which makes it prefer none of beings more than the knowledge of God [11], says St. Maximus the Confessor. And he goes on to say that without love, salvation is problematic.
The New Testament promotes love not only as a good human sentiment, but as a mystery determined by the essence of God and imbued with the cross of Christ. God's love was expressed to the world through the incarnation of the second person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ. With love man becomes perfect and according to love we will be judged on the Day of Judgment, as the evangelist Matthew tells us [12].
Hope in God removes despair, takes away divine mercy and salvation, redeems all men who sin, raises the wounded and the afflicted, rejuvenates man, tones hearts and highlights them strong and courageous to face adversity . Hope is the original creative force of all goods, according to Saint Nektarios.
What is faith? Our definition is given by the apostle Paul in the letter to the Hebrews: "Faith is in you, the hope of your being, the control of things seen" [14]. Faith is absolute certainty and unshakable conviction, that I as a believer will enjoy in the future goods that do not exist now, it seems that they do not exist, but I hope, that is, I wait for them with lively hope, I wait to realize them and enjoy them, like the resurrection of the dead, the Second Coming, the eternal judgment.
Faith is the key with which the divine treasure is opened, it is the spiritual mouth, says St. John of Krostand [15]. And the same father goes on to say that the more the mouth of faith moves, the more ruthlessly we believe in the omnipotence of God, the more divine mercies will be upon us. The Holy Successor of the Light says that faith without works and works without faith will be rejected by God in the same way. This is why the believer must offer God the faith that is manifested through works.
My dear brothers and sisters, our celebrated Saint, Saint John of Klimakos, is a great example for every Christian in need. He urges us not to hesitate, but also not to be shy in the arising of our spiritual struggle. Let us strive every day to carry on our spiritual struggle, so that, by the grace of God, we can claim to ascend to spiritual levels, just like him. Amen!
"And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the Scripture says, 'God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble'"
1 PETER 5:5
TREES SERIES #2
zp.214
*** THE WORLD IS WHAT WE MAKE OF IT ***
About ...
Steel rails that once fed the powers of industry in Buffalo. These are along a line that stretches from the feet of Bethlehem Steel, to the grain elevators in South Buffalo, and towards the Ford Motor plant just south of there. The corridors of wealth, as I like to call it, have long dried up and are a shell of their former selves, but like the Phoenix rising from the ashes this city reinvents itself not through the amassing tools of steel or the ships of the Great Lakes, but the people who breath small businesses to life from an ember of hope and humility. They are the wealth of this city now, and will make it stronger as time passes. We are uncertain about what paths are ahead of us, but will prevail.
We.Are.Buffalo
Pride, Spiritual
Spiritual pride in its own nature is so secret, that it is not so well discerned by immediate intuition on the thing itself, as by the effects and fruits of it; some of which I would mention, together with the contrary fruits of pure Christian humility.
Spiritual pride disposes to speak of other persons’ sins, their enmity against God and his people, the miserable delusion of hypocrites, and their enmity against vital piety, and the deadness of some saints, with bitterness, or with laughter and levity, and an air of contempt; whereas pure Christian humility rather disposes, either to be silent about them, or to speak of them with grief and pity.
Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others; whereas an humble saint is most jealous of himself; he is so suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The spiritually proud person is apt to find fault with other saints, that they are low in grace; and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are; and being quick to discern and take notice of their deficiencies. But the eminently humble Christian has so much to do at home, and sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts; he complains most of himself, and complains of his own coldness and lowness in grace. He is apt to esteem others better than himself, and is ready to hope that there is nobody but what has more love and thankfulness to God than he, and cannot bear to think that others should bring forth no more fruit to God’s honor than he.
Some who have spiritual pride mixed with high discoveries and great transports of joy, disposing them in an earnest manner to talk to others, are apt, in such frames, to be calling upon other Christians about them, and sharply reproving them for their being so cold and lifeless. There are others, who in their raptures are overwhelmed with a sense of their own vileness; and, when they have extraordinary discoveries of God’s glory, are all taken up about their own sinfulness; and though they also are disposed to speak much and very earnestly, yet it is very much in blaming themselves, and exhorting fellow-Christians, but in a charitable and humble manner. Pure Christian humility disposes a person to take notice of every thing that is good in others, and to make the best of it, and to diminish their failings; but to give his eye chiefly on those things that are bad in himself, and to take much notice of every thing that aggravates them.
In a contrariety to this, it has been the manner in some places, or at least the manner of some persons, to speak of almost every thing that they see amiss in others, in the most harsh, severe, and terrible language. It is frequent with them to say of others’ opinions, or conduct, or advice—or of their coldness, their silence, their caution, their moderation, their prudence, that they are from the devil, or from hell; that such a thing is devilish, or hellish, or cursed, and that such persons are serving the devil, or the devil is in them, that they are soul-murderers, and the like; so that the words devil and hell are almost continually in their mouths. And such kind of language they will commonly use, not only towards wicked men, but towards them whom they themselves allow to be the true children of God, and also towards ministers of the gospel and others who are very much their superiors. And they look upon it as a virtue and high attainment thus to behave themselves. Oh, say they, we must be plain hearted and bold for Christ, we must declare war against sin wherever we see it, we must not mince the matter in the cause of God and when speaking for Christ. And to make any distinction in persons, or to speak the more tenderly, because that which is amiss is seen in a superior, they look upon as very mean for a follower of Christ when speaking in the cause of his Master.
What a strange device of the devil is here, to overthrow all Christian meekness and gentleness, and even all show and appearance of it, and to defile the mouths of the children of God, and to introduce the language of common sailors among the followers of Christ, under a cloak of high sanctity and zeal, and boldness for Christ! And it is a remarkable instance of the weakness of the human mind, and how much too cunning the devil is for us!
Jonathan Edwards
Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 826–827.
"The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, became the handmaid of divine Love: she accepted the Father's will and conceived the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. In her the Almighty built a temple worthy of him and made her the model and image of the Church, mystery and house of communion for all human beings. May Mary, mirror of the Blessed Trinity, help us to grow in faith in the Trinitarian mystery" – Pope Benedict XVI.
Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and also the last day of Our Lady's month.
My sermon for today can be read here.
Boss in the Dominican church of San Esteban in Salamanca.
Through the illuminated voice of a child
Or a man
Or a woman
It may happen
Full throated and perfect
While every cell of the body stretches
Leaps high
Shakes every nerve awake
The Self
Wide-eyed and open
Feels At-One-Ment
With all humility
Ask That
Your heart may feel It:
This Joy
Once It finds you
Takes residence
When anxious thought flees
Back to a world of information
This Truth Song finds a heart to enter
And is at once at Home
© Ganga Fondan, 2012
The early 15c south door "humility" entrance, believed to probably be the finest carved door in the county. It has Tudor roses, crockets and rich canopies. The Knowles shield is set between the emblems of St Luke and St John.
The South door is perpendicular and is probably the finest carved door in the county and one of the best in the whole country. It has tudor roses, crockets and rich canopies. The wicket is traceried and has signs of St Luke and St John. There are niches running from the sill of the door with mutilated figures of Saints and the Four Doctors of the Church (Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, & Augustine). There is a lion at the bottom of the door and a stag at the East side.
www.ggmbenefice.uk/our-churches/harpley/harpley-church-hi...
See photos below showing closer details of the carved door.
"This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell - to the abyss of separation from God - this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus and transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope.
"This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings from slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. Because God is life, life alone, and his glory is the living man (cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 4,20,5-7)."
..."So this is the invitation which I address to everyone: Let us accept the grace of Christ's Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.
"And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world" – Pope Francis.
My sermon for today, Easter Sunday, can be read here.
Detail from the medieval south rose window in Notre Dame de Paris.
It was fun to see all out there on humility. I found this quote on pinterest and thought it really fits since I have spent my life watching people toss cactus in the trash rather than enjoy the beauty that is natural in our little paradise.
I really liked this quote too: "People with the smallest minds often have the biggest mouths" Habeeb Akande ; ) how perfect but didn't fit my most recent shots!
Great blog post on humility
www.crossway.org/blog/2011/02/pride-vs-humility-in-marriage/
AND EVEN BETTER VIDEO ON LOVE
At a great deal of effort and even MORE humility I found a POSTERIOR view of my republiCON congressman. I spare no expense, NO expense whatsoever, in bringing this shot from the dark dregs of the underground to all my loyal followers on Flickr! It brings new meaning to the term of "Potomac Porker." Personally I'd think that with all of his filthy lucre, the chump would have a touch more fashion sense. He is PURE Crisco - "Fat in the can." I am sorry for and must apologize for any "naughty bits" that are included in the "found" image. Monty said that; I said pucker up! I am not a particularly good tailor.
Our town got gerrymandered into the Fourth District so they could dilute the effect of the educated university crowd. This stupe declared war on the endangered species list and that's more than just the dwindling middle class and mankind itself. "The only good animals are those being farmed!" That's been pretty darn obvious since his dad was caught frolicking in the pig pen! He certainly includes all of the constituents as animals to be farmed for profit.
I posted this shot as an "action" shot because this is as active as the congressional right ever gets: we all know he has poor taste but on the other hand... he might taste pretty good. Their best work is accomplished at the trough. It's clear that we need time clocks installed in congress and they need to report to the internet. We are getting hog swill for our money. If the congressional salaries are issued by the Executive Branch, it's clear they should be curtailed! Let's all pray for a 3:10 trip BACK to Yuma!
This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.
In the collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the painting in oil on wood and dates from circa 1518. The band of discoloration at the top is a consequence of not knowing how to take indoor shots. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), friend of Martin Luther, was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker. He was known for his portraits, religious subjects (at first representing Catholicism then later Protestantism), hunting scenes, and mythological scenes. The placard in the museum states: “In this picture the Madonna and child are placed in an extensive northern European landscape with pine trees and a fanciful gated city in the distance. The Madonna is seated on the ground, emphasizing her humility, while the pensive Christ child reaches for as bunch of grapes, a symbol of the Eucharistic wine and, by association, his sacrifice on behalf of his followers.” The painting, after determination that Nazis had illegally seized from Philipp von Gomperz, it was restituted to the rightful owner. It then returned to the museum as a partial gift and partial purchase.
The Wikipedia article is at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Cranach_the_Elder
You can view numerous art works online at World Gallery of Art
www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/cranach/lucas_e/biograph....
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Señor de la Pacencia / The Lord of Humility
Front View
18th Century
Soft wood and polychromy
Left arm missing.
Attributed to the Panay School
Provenance: Collection of Dr. Porfirio J. and Mrs. Socorro Rodriguez Callo
Purchased from Likhâ Gallery in the late 1970s.
National Museum registration sticker in back.
A small, table-top image of the Senor de la Pacencia made of soft wood with traces of original polychromy. The Christ figure is sitting on a piece of wood naturalistically painted to look like a stump complete with tree bole.
The left arm is screwed into the shoulder at the upper joint. Lower hand missing. Wooden screw still visible. This indicates that the arm may have been artuculated at one time.
The body color has faded to a pleasing brown color. The savage wounds inflicted on Christ's back is very much evident in the deep grooves incised into the back of the Christ figure. The hair of the patient Christ is carved into thick individual strands typical of sculptures of the 18th century.
(known as Fray broom) Your party is held on November 3.
Fray Broom San Martín de Porres was born in Lima in the year 1579. He was the son of a Spanish Hidalgo, D. Juan de Porres, and a mulatto girl, Ana Velázquez. Martín was baptized in the Church of San Sebastián, in the same baptismal font that seven years later would be Santa Rosa de Lima.
Since childhood Martin was very generous with the poor, who gave part of the money when he went shopping. His mother often carried him to the temple. His father, Governor of Panama, gave him a good education.
Martín learned the barber trade, which included surgeon and general medicine. He fulfilled his trade well, especially in favor of the poor, and took the opportunity to speak to them of God, and it was such his kindness that touched all. I worked for the day. At night he was engaged in prayer.
At the age of fifteen he entered as a Dominican tertiary in the convent of Rosario de Lima. There he was happy, serving with humility and charity to the inside and the outside. He turned the convent into a hospital. He collected sick and wounded in the streets, loaded them on his shoulders and laid them down in his own bed. He cared for them and pampered them like a mother. Some religious protested, because it violated the closing and the peace. The charity is above the closing, answered Martín. His rudimentary medicines, and even more his hands, worked cures and miracles. His charity extended to the poor little animals he found hungry and wounded.
There were a lot of homeless people in Lima. He sought money and founded the Santa Cruz Asylum for boys and girls. There he cared for them and taught a profession.
His favorite devotions were: Christ crucified, and in memory of the sufferings of Christ on the Cross, three daily disciplines were given. Jesus Sacrament, and spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament with frequent ecstasy. The Virgin Mary-especially under the dedication of the Rosary-with whom she chatted lovingly. And the Guardian Angel, who came very often. He fought tenaciously against sleep in prayer.
It reputó control over nature, the plants it sowed germinated before time and all kinds of animals tended to their mandates. One of the most famous episodes of his life is that he made eat from the same dish to a dog, a mouse and a cat in complete harmony. He was also attributed the gift of healing, of which there are many testimonies, the most extraordinary being the healing of hospice patients. «I heal you, God heals you» was the phrase he used to say to avoid samples of veneration to his person.
When smallpox started wreaking havoc in Lima, Martin's activity and care multiplied. Everywhere he had consolation and remedy. He was told that he enjoyed the privilege of multilocation (being in several places at once), seeing him healing and comforting simultaneously in several places. Everyone came to him. They all had him for a saint. It was the angel of Lima.
That superhuman effort came to weaken him dangerously. He fell ill. He knew he wouldn't come out of that disease. It suffered then many attacks of the demon, but felt the consolation and company of the Virgin.
When he saw that the happy moment of going to enjoy God was near, he asked the religious around him to entonasen the creed. As they sang it, he gave his soul to God. It was November 3, 1639.
His death caused deep commotion in the city. He had been the brother and nurse of all, singularly of the poorest. Everyone was disputing to get some relic. The whole city gave him the last farewell.
His cult has spread prodigiously. Gregory XVI declared it beatus on 1837. It was canonized by John XXIII in 1962. The Pope recalled, in the homily of canonization, the devotions in which the new saint had been distinguished: his profound humility which made him consider all superior to him, his apostolic zeal, and his continual sleeplessness to care for the sick and needy, which would It was worth, on the part of all the people, the beautiful nickname of "Martín de la Caridad".
(conocido como Fray Escoba) Su fiesta se celebra el 3 de Noviembre.
Fray Escoba San Martín de Porres nació en Lima el año 1579. Era hijo de un hidalgo español, D. Juan de Porres, y de una muchacha mulata, Ana Velázquez. Martín fue bautizado en la iglesia de San Sebastián, en la misma pila bautismal en que siete años más tarde lo sería Santa Rosa de Lima.
Desde niño fue Martín muy generoso con los pobres, a los que daba parte del dinero cuando iba de compras. Su madre lo llevaba con frecuencia al templo. Su padre, gobernador de Panamá, le procuró una buena educación.
Martín aprendió el oficio de barbero, que incluía el de cirujano y la medicina general. Cumplía bien su oficio, sobre todo en favor de los pobres, y aprovechaba la ocasión para hablarles de Dios, y era tal su bondad que conmovía a todos. Por el día trabajaba. Por la noche se dedicaba a la oración.
A los quince años entró como terciario dominico en el convento del Rosario de Lima. Allí fue feliz, sirviendo con humildad y caridad a los de dentro y a los de fuera. Convirtió el convento en un hospital. Recogía enfermos y heridos por las calles, los cargaba sobre sus hombros y los acostaba en su propia cama. Los cuidaba y mimaba como una madre. Algunos religiosos protestaron, pues infringía la clausura y la paz. La caridad está por encima de la clausura, contestaba Martín. Sus rudimentarias medicinas, y más aún sus manos, obraban curaciones y milagros. Su caridad se extendía a los pobres animalitos que encontraba hambrientos y heridos.
Había muchos vagabundos por Lima. Buscó dinero y fundó el Asilo de Santa Cruz para niños y niñas. Allí les cuidaba y enseñaba una profesión.
Sus devociones preferidas eran: Cristo Crucificado, y en recuerdo de los sufrimientos de Cristo en la Cruz se daba tres disciplinas diarias. Jesús Sacramentado, y pasaba horas ante el Santísimo con frecuentes éxtasis. La Virgen María -sobre todo bajo la advocación del Rosario- con la que conversaba amorosamente. Y el ángel de la guarda, al que acudía con mucha frecuencia. Luchaba tenazmente contra el sueño en la oración.
Cuando la viruela empezó a causar estragos en Lima, la actividad y los cuidados de Martín se multiplicaron. A todas partes llevaba consuelo y remedio. Se cuenta que gozó del privilegio de la multilocación (estar en varios lugares a la vez), pues le veían curando y consolando simultáneamente en varios sitios. Todos acudian a él. Todos le tenían por santo. Era el ángel de Lima.
Aquel esfuerzo sobrehumano llegó a debilitarle peligrosamente. Cayó enfermo. Él sabia que no saldría de aquella enfermedad. Sufrió entonces muchos ataques del demonio, pero sintió el consuelo y compañía de la Virgen.
Cuando vio que se acercaba el momento feliz de ir de gozar de Dios, pidió a los religiosos que le rodeaban que entonasen el Credo. Mientras lo cantaban, entregó su alma a Dios. Era el 3 de noviembre de 1639.
Su muerte causó profunda conmoción en la ciudad. Había sido el hermano y enfermero de todos, singularmente de los más pobres. Todos se disputaban por conseguir alguna reliquia. Toda la ciudad le dio el último adiós.
Su culto se ha extendido prodigiosamente. Gregorio XVI lo declaró Beato el 1837. Fue canonizado por Juan XXIII en 1962. Recordaba el Papa, en la homilía de la canonización, las devociones en que se había distinguido el nuevo Santo: su profunda humildad que le hacía considerar a todos superiores a él, su celo apostólico, y sus continuos desvelos por atender a enfermos y necesitados, lo que le valió, por parte de todo el pueblo, el hermoso apelativo de "Martín de la caridad".
Se le reputó control sobre la naturaleza, las plantas que sembraba germinaban antes de tiempo y toda clase de animales atendían a sus mandatos. Uno de los episodios más conocidos de su vida es que hacía comer del mismo plato a un perro, un ratón y un gato en completa armonía. Se le atribuyó también el don de la sanación, de los cuales quedan muchos testimonios, siendo los más extraordinarios la curación de enfermos desahuciados. «Yo te curo, Dios te sana» era la frase que solía decir para evitar muestras de veneración a su persona.
Según los testimonios de la época, a veces se trataba de curaciones instantáneas, en otras bastaba tan solo su presencia para que el enfermo desahuciado iniciara un sorprendente y firme proceso de recuperación. Normalmente los remedios por él dispuestos eran los indicados para el caso, pero en otras ocasiones, cuando no disponía de ellos, acudía a medios inverosímiles con iguales resultados. Con unas vendas y vino tibio sanó a un niño que se había partido las dos piernas, o aplicando un trozo de suela al brazo de un donado zapatero lo curó de una grave infección.
Fiestas en honor a San Martín de Porres
En Perú, gracias a los frailes dominicos de Lima, las celebraciones en honor a San Martín de Porres se celebran durante 40 días. Mediante esta extensa celebración, el objetivo de los dominicos es fomentar la devoción a este querido gran santo.
Las festividades comienzan el 31 de octubre dado que es el día previo en el que se coloca la imagen del santo durante todo el mes de noviembre en un trono especial en el convento de Santo Domingo, donde vivió y murió. Las celebraciones terminarán el 9 de diciembre, dado que ese día se conmemora el nacimiento de San Martín de Porres.
Las actividades programadas para esos 40 días están inspiradas en las obras de caridad del santo peruano y en su importancia cultural. Estas son algunas de las actividades que se realizarán en el Convento de Santo Domingo y en la Basílica del Santísimo Rosario ubicada allí:
El día 31 a las 6:00 p.m. se entronizará la imagen de San Martín de Porres y se celebrará una Misa en la Basílica del Santísimo Rosario.
El 3 de noviembre, día de la fiesta del santo, se celebrará una Eucaristía en el convento a las 7:00 p.m.
El 4 de noviembre se premiará a las 6:00 p.m. a los ganadores del Concurso de Pintura Rápida dedicado a San Martín de Porres, que se realizará el 29 de octubre en el claustro del convento.
El 9 de noviembre a las 8:00 p.m. se celebra un cóctel benéfico titulado “Pan y Vino” que ha sido organizado por la Casa San Martín de Porres, una institución que atiende a los ancianos pobres. Los interesados en participar en la cena pueden escribir al correo casadesanmartindeporres@gmail.com.
El 10 de noviembre a las 8:00 p.m. el Nuncio Apostólico en el Perú, Mons. Nicola Girasoli, inaugurará en el convento de Santo Domingo una nueva capilla dedicada a Santa Rosa de Lima, que fue amiga de San Martín de Porres. Ese día también comenzará en la basílica el rezo de una novena al santo que terminará el 18 de ese mes.
El 12 de noviembre se celebrará a las 9:00 a.m. una Misa de Romería en el cementerio “El Ángel” en memoria de todos los miembros fallecidos de la Hermandad de Caballeros de San Martín de Porres y San Juan Macías O.P (Orden de Predicadores).
A la 1:00 p.m. en el atrio de la basílica miembros de la Asociación de Peluqueros y Estilistas cortarán el cabello gratis a quienes lo deseen y a las 3:00 p.m. los niños que pertenecen a la Hermandad de Caballeros de San Martín de Porres y San Juan Macías O.P realizarán una procesión por las calles cercanas al convento.
El 19 de noviembre a las 7:00 a.m. el Obispo Auxiliar de Lima, Mons. Adriano Tomasi, presidirá una Eucaristía en la basílica y una procesión con la imagen de San Martín de Porres por las calles del centro histórico de Lima.
El 25 de noviembre a la 1:30 p.m. en el atrio del convento se brindará atención médica gratuita. Al día siguiente habrá una campaña gratuita de atención veterinaria a la misma hora.
El 8 de diciembre se realizará a las 8:00 p.m. una “Serenata a San Martín de Porres” y al día siguiente los dominicos celebrarán una Misa Solemne por el aniversario del nacimiento del santo y como cierre de los 40 días de festejos.
En los días 31 de octubre y 4, 11,18 y 25 de noviembre se realizarán por la noche conciertos gratuitos y los dominicos han pedido que las personas traigan víveres que se destinarán a la Casa San Martín de Porres.
Además, durante ese periodo de tiempo, se instalará un muro de peticiones en el atrio de la Basílica del Santísimo Rosario.
This is "Dunnock Day" in the Bothy.
AKA Hedge Sparrow, an unassuming and little noticed wee bird, content to live in the undergrowth on crumbs from the rich birds' table.
SHAME Definition: A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.
For one that truly feels shame, humility, and emptiness inside from their own poor wronging actions, the feeling around you is a dark lonely sick feeling... a sense of internal cold chills flushing through you. Like you are exposed and standing alone in a cold damp misty darknesses of an erie forest. A place you really wished you were not surrounded by but one you know you fully deserve for whatever pain you inflicted on another / others. Children tend to more purely express all emotions - including shame. But you see these signs in many adults that truly feel shame.
Shame has the reputation of being a clearly negative emotion - one that most of us would immediately label as a "BAD" "Unhealthy" emotion. But when one takes a moment to ponder, Shame - if its a true emotion and not an act to fool others - is a very good and healthy emotion. For it is a person that can feel the deepest pains and feelings of shame that you should know has flaws but also has inside him/her a core value of morality somewhere inside. Be fearful and stay clear from any human that cannot truly understand nor feel the pains of SHAME - for these are people that can easily step across the clear lines/borders of cultural moralities and execute some of the sickest act of pain upon fellow humanity.
So how does one artistically express these feelings of shame? Well, for me I believe it can often be seen in many ways - be it a child or an adult. The head hung down in almost an unconcious attempt to hide ones face from public and to want to crawl into obscurity. The eyeslids partly closed - eyes looking even further down to ensure no direct eye contact is possible. Mouth neutral expression or sad - almost as if one is mixed between sad and puzzlement. As if you can see this person arguing and scolding him/herself by replaying the pain inflicted and asking oneself "why would I have done this??".
When I looked at a small cheap plastic garden statue that has stood in our garden for several year from just the right angle, I saw this exact set of SHAME symbols in her. I took photos of her from the angle that would provide this shame effect the strongest. Then cropped out the rest of her body that would destroy this "shame" emotion. Next I cropped her from the background and applied background layers of one of my Secondlife forest landscapes and real life clouds to create this damp cold dark scary forest scene she stood within.
I then used 3 layers of the girl ontop of herself to give me the darkness and shadows in her face I wanted. Finally I applied a mix of my own personal stock textures and a couple of the amazing textures I so love from Pareeerica (credits below) to further enhance the "sick" greens and "acidic" yellows (like the bile one thinks of when they feel queezy inside from doing wrong).
I hope my artistic expressions of SHAME has come across to all of you.
CREDITS & PERMISSION:
Real Photo of "garden girl" ornament is my own photo: toysoldierthor.deviantart.com/art/Garden-Girl-Raw-210859301
Real Photo Clouds & crackled glass are my own private stock photos
PAREEERICA texture - Touch of LAce 2: www.flickr.com/photos/8078381@N03/2799028367/
PAREEERICA texture - FireWalker: www.flickr.com/photos/8078381@N03/3861893046/
Toysoldier Thor
“We're sitting on our blessed Mother Earth from which we get our strength and determination, love and humility ~ all the beautiful attributes that we've been given. So turn to one another; love one another; respect one another; respect Mother Earth; respect the waters - because that's life itself!”
~ Phil Lane, Sr., YANKTON SIOUX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
Honey got a sexy all steamin
She givin hotness a new meanin
Perfection mama you gleamin
Inception you got a brother dreamin dreamin
Damn baby I'm feignin
I'm trynna holler at you, I'm screamin
Let me love you down this evenin
Love you love you ya you know you are my demon
Girl we could form a team and
I could be the king you could be the queen and
My mind's dirty and it don't need cleanin
I love you long time so you know the meanin
Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough
Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
Honey got me runnin like I'm flow joe
Signs her name on my heart with an X-O
Love's so sweet got me vexed oh
I wanna wish it right back like presto, yes
Meantime I wait for the next time
She come around 'fore I toast to the best time
We lol back and forth on the text line
She got me fishin for her love I confess I'm
Somethin bout her smile and that combo
Got me high and I ain't comin down yo
My heart's pumpin out louder than electro
She got me feelin like Mr. Roboto
Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough
Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough
*this is mega switch up*
switch up
switch up
I just can't
switch up
Not
Sunk in your bed rock
Caught
Up in your love shock
Knocked
Out by your cold shot
I'm stuck in your head li-
switch up
Can't get out won't when
Makin me feign, give it to me
I want it all, know what I mean
Your love is a dose of ecstasy
switch up
Addicted
I can't get
Away from
You
Afflicted
I need it
I'm missin
switch up
I want your lovin right next to me
And I can't
Erase ya out of my memory
I just can't
switch up
* Just Can't Get Enough * ~ by Black Eyed Peas
All Saints, Bingley, West Yorkshire.
East Window, 1890 - detail.
Charity - Purity - Love - Truth - Humility.
Designed by Henry Holiday (1839-1927).
Made by James Powell & Sons.
Henry George Alexander Holiday entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 15 and was soon drawn to the ideas, and the artists, of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He succeeded Edward Burne-Jones as the chief designer for the stained glass firm James Powell & Sons in 1863 and his style had a long-lasting effect on their production into the 1920s. Some of his windows were made by Lavers & Barraud and Heaton, Butler & Bayne, and after eventually ending his association with Powells, he established his own workshop in 1890. From about 1900 he even made his own glass at the workshop. His later work was made at the Glass House, Fulham.
Henry Holiday also worked as a painter, illustrator and sculptor, and his broad range of interests led to involvement in the campaign for Irish Home Rule, women's suffrage and dress reform.
This humility before God is basic to all our relationships in life. We cannot begin to experience humility in any other relationship until we experience a deep and profound humility in our attitude toward God. When we are conscious of our (sinful) creature relationship to an infinitely majestic and holy God, we will not wish to selfishly compare ourselves with others. And to the extent that our awareness of our lowly place before God is an abiding one, we will avoid the temptations of pride and competition.
Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1983), 75.
In all necessary humility I regard this photograph one of my best images ever. Maybe I love it so much because it conveys what I tend to call the "essence" of Wuppertal's Nordstadt quarter. The photo looks like a photomontage, but it is "real". The condensed effect has been created with a telephoto lens. The shot might give you an idea why so many film crews come to Wuppertal and choose the city as a movie location.
Humility
What is humility,
If not our soul’s nobility
Revealed in and through
Our lives?
Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, part 268, Agni Press, 1998
Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.
The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.
"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement.
"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.
Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement — and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Tenzing Norgay.
He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared: "We knocked the bastard off."
The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later, and she knighted Hillary as one of her first act.
But he was more proud of his decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, the homeland of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.
He wrote of the pair's final steps to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.
"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation — these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted.
"But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it.
He said: "I removed my oxygen mask to take some pictures. It wasn't enough just to get to the top. We had to get back with the evidence. Fifteen minutes later we began the descent."
Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement — and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Norgay.
His philosophy of life was simple: "Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself," he said in a 1975 interview after writing his autobiography, "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win."
Close friends described him as having unbounded enthusiasm for both life and adventure.
"We all have dreams — but Ed has dreams, then he's got this incredible drive, and goes ahead and does it," long-time friend Jim Wilson said in 1993.
Hillary summarized it for schoolchildren in 1998, when he said one didn't have to be a genius to do well in life.
"I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it," he said before planting some endangered Himalayan oaks in the school grounds.
The planting was part of his program to reforest upland areas of Nepal.
Hillary remains the only non-political person outside Britain honored as a member of the Britain's Order of the Garter, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II on just 24 knights and ladies living worldwide at any time.
He reached the summit of Everest four days before Elizabeth was crowned Queen of Britain and the Empire on June 2, 1953. She immediately knighted the angular, self-deprecating Hillary, who was just 33.
Throughout his 88 years, he was always the atypical "typical New Zealander" who spoke his mind.
In his 1999 book "View from the Summit," Hillary finally broke his long public silence about whether it was he or Norgay who was the first man to step atop Everest.
"We drew closer together as Tenzing brought in the slack on the rope. I continued cutting a line of steps upwards. Next moment I had moved onto a flattish exposed area of snow with nothing by space in every direction," Hillary wrote.
"Tenzing quickly joined me and we looked round in wonder. To our immense satisfaction we realized with had reached the top of the world."
Before Norgay's death in 1986, Hillary consistently refused to confirm he was first, saying he and the Sherpa had climbed as a team to the top. It was a measure of his personal modesty, and of his commitment to his colleagues.
He later recalled his surprise at the huge international interest in their feat. "I was a bit taken aback to tell you the truth. I was absolutely astonished that everyone should be so interested in us just climbing a mountain."
Hillary never forgot the small mountainous country that propelled him to worldwide fame. He revisited Nepal constantly over the next 54 years.
Without fanfare and without compensation, Hillary spend decades pouring energy and resources from his own fund-raising efforts into Nepal through the Himalayan Trust he founded in 1962.
Known as "burra sahib" — "big man," for his 6 feet 2 inches — by the Nepalese, Hillary funded and helped build hospitals, health clinics, airfields and schools.
He raised funds for higher education for Sherpa families, and helped set up reforestation programs in the impoverished country. About $250,000 a year was raised by the charity for projects in Nepal.
A strong conservationist, he demanded that international mountaineers clean up thousands of tons of discarded oxygen bottles, food containers and other climbing debris that litter the lower slopes of Everest.
His commitment to Nepal took him back more than 120 times. His adventurer son Peter has described his father's humanitarian work there as "his duty" to those who had helped him.
It was on a visit to Nepal that his first wife, Louise, 43, and 16-year-old daughter Belinda died in a light plane crash March 31, 1975.
Hillary remarried in 1990, to June Mulgrew, former wife of adventurer colleague and close friend Peter Mulgrew, who died in a passenger plane crash in the Antarctic. He is survived by his wife and children Peter and Sarah.
His passport described Hillary as an "author-lecturer," and by age 40 his schedule of lecturing and writing meant he had to give up beekeeping "because I was too busy."
By that time he was touring, lecturing and fund-raising for the Himalayan Trust in the United States and Europe for three months at a time, speaking at more than 100 venues during a tour.
He was known as ready to take risks to achieve his goals, but always had control so that nobody ever died on a Hillary-led expedition.
He was at times controversial. He decried what he considered a lack of "honest-to-God morality" in New Zealand politics in the 1960s, and he refused to backtrack when the prime minister demanded he withdraw the comments. Ordinary New Zealanders applauded his integrity.
He got into hot water over what became known as his "dash to the Pole" in the 1957-58 Antarctic summer season aboard modified farm tractors while part of a joint British-New Zealand expedition.
Hillary disregarded instructions from the Briton leading the expedition and guided his tractor team up the then-untraversed Shelton Glacier, pioneering a new route to the polar plateau and the South Pole.
In 2006 he climbed into a row over the death of Everest climber David Sharp, stating it was "horrifying" that climbers could leave a dying man after an expedition left the Briton to die high on the upper slopes.
Hillary said he would have abandoned his own pioneering 1953 climb to save another life.
"It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by," he said. "Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain."
Named New Zealand's ambassador to India in the mid-1980s, Hillary was the celebrity of the New Delhi cocktail circuit. He later said he found the job confining.
He introduced jetboats to many Ganges River dwellers a decade earlier, in 1977, when his "Ocean to the Sky" expedition traveled the Ganges by jetboat to within 130 miles of its source.
The last segment was by foot, and two mountain peaks near Badranath, where the Ganges rises, were also climbed. He sought adventure in places as distant from each other as the Arctic and Antarctic.
Hillary didn't place himself among top mountaineers. "I don't regard myself as a cracking good climber. I'm just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm and I'm good on ice," he said.
Despite his fame, he spoke of being "really embarrassed" even when introduced at a lecture.
"I really am an ordinary person with a few abilities which I've tried to use in the best way I can," he said.
The first living New Zealander to be featured on a banknote, he helped raise nearly $530,000 for the Himalayan Trust by signing 1,000 of the sparkling new five-dollar bills sold at a charity auction in 1982. They were snapped up by collectors round the world.
Honored by the United Nations as one of its Global 500 conservationists in 1987, he was also awarded numerous honorary doctorates from universities in several parts of the world.
One of his accolades was the Smithsonian Institution's James Smithson Bicentennial Medal for his "monumental explorations and humanitarian achievements," awarded in 1998.
Throughout his life Hillary remembered his first mountain he climbed, the 9,645-foot Mount Tapuaenuku — "Tappy" as he called it — in Marlborough on New Zealand's South Island. He scaled it solo over three days in 1944, while in training camp with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. "Tapuaenuku" in Maori means "footsteps of the Rainbow God".
"I'd climbed a decent mountain at last," he said later.
Like all good mountaineers before him, Hillary had no special insight into that quintessential question: Why climb?
"I can't give you any fresh answers to why a man climbs mountains. The majority still go just to climb them."
"Humility has as its object to eliminate that which is imaginary in spiritual progress. There is no harm in thinking ourselves far less advanced than we are: the light is in no way decreased thereby for its source is not in opinion. There is great harm in thinking ourselves more advanced, because then opinion has an effect."
~ Simone Weil
Gravity and Grace
*********************
I find in regards to 'myself' that this approach presents more
positive possibilities in life... too many humiliations have brought me to this.
Our Daily Challenge
C'est Moi...
Even if you have defeated one, the mountain remains the greater one in the end.
Photo taken after climbing the Lärchenturm mountain (1967 m).
Where are you going? Wait! Don’t you see how beautiful I am?! WHAT? That the true beauty is hidden inside? …
Don’t go away - PLEASE - stay here for a while with me.
I … I will learn a humility …
*****************************************
My author crochet brooch:-)
Please, respect copyright - thank you:-)
"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8 ESV
Thank you for your comments and faves – they are greatly appreciated!
Select photos from my Flickr stream are available for purchase as prints or personal download at [www.winterfirephotographicarts.com].
Coachwork by Vanden Plas
Chassis n° LM1342
Registration n° F8689
Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais
Bonhams
Estimated : € 650.000 - 850.000
Sold for € 701.500
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2018
- One of 513 Speed Models built
- Rare original aluminium body
- Full matching numbers
- Exceptionally original
- Well documented history
- Restored by Graham Moss
- Pebble Beach 2015 Class Award
With characteristic humility 'W O' was constantly amazed by the enthusiasm of later generations for the products of Bentley Motors Limited, and it is testimony to the soundness of his engineering design skills that so many of his products have survived. From the humblest of beginnings in a mews garage off Baker Street, London in 1919 the Bentley rapidly achieved fame as an exciting fast touring car, well able to compete with the best of European and American sports cars in the tough world of motor sport in the 1920s. Bentley's domination at Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 is legendary, and one can only admire the Herculean efforts of such giants as Woolf Barnato, Jack Dunfee, Tim Birkin and Sammy Davis, consistently wrestling the British Racing Green sports cars to victory.
W O Bentley proudly unveiled the new 3-litre car bearing his name on Stand 126 at the 1919 Olympia Motor Exhibition, the prototype engine having fired up for the first time just a few weeks earlier. Bentley's four-cylinder 'fixed head' engine incorporated a single overhead camshaft, four-valves per cylinder and a bore/stroke of 80x149mm. Twin ML magnetos provided the ignition and power was transmitted via a four-speed gearbox with right-hand change. The pressed-steel chassis started off with a wheelbase of 9' 9½" (the 'short standard') then adopted dimensions of 10' 10" ('standard long') in 1923, the shorter frame being reserved for the TT Replica and subsequent Speed Model. Rear wheel brakes only were employed up to 1924 when four-wheel Perrot-type brakes were introduced.
In only mildly developed form, this was the model that was to become a legend in motor racing history and which, with its leather-strapped bonnet, classical radiator design and British Racing Green livery, has become the archetypal Vintage sports car.
Early success in the 1922 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, when Bentleys finished second, fourth, and fifth to take the Team Prize, led to the introduction of the TT Replica (later known as the Speed Model) on the existing 9' 9½" wheelbase, short standard chassis. Identified by the Red Label on its radiator, the Speed Model differed by having twin SU 'sloper' carburettors, a higher compression ratio, different camshaft and the close-ratio A-type gearbox, the latter being standard equipment prior to 1927 when the C-type 'box was adopted. These engine changes increased maximum power from the standard 70 to 80bhp and raised top speed to an impressive 90mph. Other enhancements included the larger (11-gallon) fuel tank and (usually) André Hartford shock absorbers. Bentley made 1,613 3-Litre models, the majority of which was bodied by Vanden Plas with either open tourer or saloon coachwork, 513 of which were to Speed Model specification.
Vanden Plas had been founded in Belgium in the 19th Century, gaining a British offshoot when Warwick Wright obtained the UK rights to the name in 1913. After an uncertain start and numerous changes of ownership, the British firm went on to forge its not inconsiderable reputation by a most fortuitous alliance with Bentley, bodying some 700-or-so of the latter's chassis during the 1920s, including the Le Mans team cars.
A 1927-specification Speed Model on the 9' 9½" wheelbase chassis, 'LM1342' is a late example and thus represents the best and most sought-after 3-Litre variant, having the 'big sump' engine with its stronger crankshaft, two-bolt direct-metal con-rods, and Duralumin rockers in separate boxes. Numbered 'LM1348SS', the engine is original to the chassis and would have been built with the Speed Model's high-compression pistons, BM1800 camshaft, and drilled valve caps. When new, these 'SS' engines were said to produce around 86bhp.
'LM1342' was bodied by Vanden Plas with its standard open four-seater sports coachwork (body number '1306', still fitted). This particular body is unusual in being panelled in aluminium (most were fabric-covered), and has an unusually low windscreen (around 1" shorter than normal) giving it more pleasing proportions. The car was ordered new by Gilbert & Sons Ltd of Pelham Street, Lincoln, and given a Lincolnshire registration, 'FE 8689', which it carries to this day. Subsequent owners listed in the Service Record are A C Scott (1928), A Staveley Hill (1929), Major G E L Pardington (1930), and J Shakespeare (1936). The Service Record is continuous through to December 1936, with only minor works carried out (no replacement of major components or accident repairs).
Correspondence on file indicates that by 1945 the Bentley was owned by a Captain M E Webbe, while an old-style continuation logbook lists two subsequent owners: Thomas Walker (from June 1946) and Frank Wood, who purchased the Bentley in January 1967 from a local farmer who wanted to buy a new Ford. There is a charming photograph in the file depicting Mr Wood's two daughters sitting in the car. After Frank Wood's passing, the family offered the Bentley for sale at a UK auction in March 2012 where it was purchased by the present owner.
The Bentley was then despatched to renowned marque specialist Graham Moss for total restoration with no expense spared. Examination revealed the 3-Litre to be exceptionally original - unlike so many of its ilk - retaining the original Supersports engine, A-type gearbox, front axle, steering box, differential casing, the correct number, 'LM1342', being found stamped on all of these components. Graham went to extraordinary lengths to maintain authenticity, even going so far as to reproduce the lead seals for the steering box, magneto turret, and crankcase; these were routinely fitted by Bentley Motors and removing them would void the guarantee.
As the car had been re-upholstered, the owner researched the original colour scheme and leatherwork, enabling the original manufacturer – Connolly – to reproduce the correct material. Many more such instances of this admirably fastidious approach are detailed in the vendor's wonderful illustrated book documenting the history and restoration of 'LM1342'. The car also comes with a copy of Bentley authority Dr Clare Hay's typically thorough - and very favourable - illustrated report on its specification, originality, and 'as purchased' condition, concluding: 'Overall this is a very original chassis with few minor changes from new, with all its original numbered parts and with its original Vanden Plas sports four-seater body'. Perusal of both is highly recommended.
In addition, the car comes with an original owner's instruction manual, a selection of accessory manuals, and a full set of genuine 3-Litre tools. There is also a letter from the first owner, and even a (replica) list of 'Don'ts', which would be hung on the starter switch to help new Bentley owners care for their cars correctly!
The extensive restoration works, carried out over a period of three years, are detailed by Graham's bills totalling some £475,000, while a further £25,000 was spent on obtaining correct parts such as the lights, correct magnetos, etc. Since completion, 'FE 8689' has covered around 2,000 miles and is fully sorted, having recently been serviced by Graham Moss.
Nobody seeing this magnificent Bentley today would question that the cost of its restoration was money well spent. Indeed, if proof were needed, in 2015 'LM1342' received a richly deserved 2nd-in-class award at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance. There can be no better way to enjoy the many celebrations planned for Bentley's 100th anniversary in 2019.
"The Lord is a judge who is no respecter of personages.
He shows no respect of personages to the detriment of a poor man,
he listens to the plea of the injured party.
He does not ignore the orphan’s supplication,
nor the widow’s as she pours out her story.
The man who with his whole heart serves God will be accepted, his petitions will carry to the clouds.
The humble man’s prayer pierces the clouds, until it arrives he is inconsolable,
And the Lord will not be slow, nor will he be dilatory on their behalf."
– Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14, 16-19, which is today's First Reading at Mass.
Stained glass in the nave of the National Cathedral in Washington DC.