Farewell to 2017; It's Still Christmas

Tomorrow is the Octave Day of Christmas, so it's still Christmas, even as we end the calendar year of 2017. The Church is still celebrating the beginning of our liturgical year, which began with the First Sunday of Advent. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, we are still pondering this mystery of the Incarnation. This painting, The Nativity at Night, is by the young Flemish master, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, and dates from about 1490. We don't know much about the artist, according to the National Gallery in London:

The name Geertgen tot Sint Jans means 'little Gerard of Saint John', and refers to the Brethren of Saint John at Haarlem, a lay order to which the artist presumably belonged. Not much is known of his life; works are attributed to him mostly on stylistic grounds. Van Mander is the main source of information about Geertgen, and writes that he was born in Leiden and trained by Isaac van Ouwater; he died young, aged about 28.

John Mason Neale included this translation of the medieval hymn (Anonymous; Germany; 12th century), In hoc anni circulo in his 1853 Carols for Christmas-tide:

In the ending of the year
Life and light to man appear;
And the Holy Babe is here,
De Virgine;
And the Holy Babe is here,
De Virgine Mariâ.

What in ancient days was slain
This day calls to life again;
God is coming, God shall reign,
De Virgine;
God is coming, God shall reign,
De Virgine Mariâ.

From the desert grew the corn,
Sprang the lily from the thorn,
When the Infant King was born
De Virgine;
When the Infant King was born
De Virgine Mariâ.

On the straw He lays His head,
Hath a manger for His bed,
Thirsts and hungers and is fed
De Virgine;
Thirsts and hungers and is fed
De Virgine Mariâ.

Angel hosts His praises sing,
Three Wise men their off'rings bring,
Ox and ass adore the King,
Cum Virgine;
Ox and ass adore the King,
Cum Virgine Mariâ.

Wherefore let us all to-day
Banish sorrow far away,
Singing and exulting aye,
Cum Virgine;
Singing and exulting aye,
Cum Virgine Mariâ.

I have been ending this year reading a masterful survey of the Counter-Reformation era in Europe by the late Father Marvin O'Connell. This volume was part of The Rise of Modern Europe series published by Harper & Row in the middle of the 20th century. When Father O'Connell died in 2016, the University of Notre Dame eulogized him in a news release:

“Father Marvin O’Connell stands in the very front rank of the distinguished historians who have taught and written at Notre Dame,” said Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., professor of history. “He utilized his striking talents as a historian as an integral part of his fundamental vocation as a priest. He well understood the crucial role of the historian in the life of the Christian people, and he made the history of the Church his special subject. Father O’Connell’s magisterial account of the life and times of Edward Sorin should be required reading for all those who want to understand the history of this university that he loved and served so well."

In addition to his biography of Father Sorin, Father O’Connell published numerous articles and essays in scholarly and popular journals and several books, including “Pilgrims to the Northland: The Archdiocese of St. Paul, 1840-1962,” “John Ireland and the American Catholic Church,” “Blaise Pascal: Reasons of the Heart,” “Thomas Stapleton and the Counter Reformation,” “McElroy,” “The Oxford Conspirators: A History of the Oxford Movement, 1833-1845,” “The Counter Reformation, 1559-1610” and “Critics on Trial: An Introduction to the Catholic Modernist Crisis.”

The subjects Father O’Connell taught and wrote about varied widely, including the characters and controversies of the 16th and 17th centuries in early modern Europe; the ecclesial, theological and cultural arguments of 19th-century Oxford and among Catholics and Anglicans in England; the Catholic Modernists in Europe and Archbishop John Ireland’s interactions with the Americanist movement in this country. He was an inveterate storyteller, and his books, no less than his lectures, were notable for what one reviewer called “a painterly eye and an elegant craftsmanship.” Shortly after his retirement from active teaching, Father O’Connell himself, in an address to the American Catholic Historical Association, said that “history, whatever its scientific trappings, remains an art, and we are artists. Existentially the past is gone beyond recall; whatever reality it possesses depends upon us who think about and write about it.”

I have read Critics on Trial, Blaise Pascal, and The Oxford Conspirators, but reading this book has made me appreciate his clarity, concision, and interpretative sureness even more. He narrates the history of the French Civil Wars of Religion so deftly, for example, describing the characters of Catherine de Medici, her unfortunate sons, the Guise family, the Huguenot party leaders, and how they influenced the way the wars were fought and the ever unstable peace was kept (or not). His description of the Counter Reformation era in England obviously owes much to Father Philip Hughes, who was to have written this volume in the series and had made a draft that O'Connell was asked to complete (but decided to begin again). It's clear, however that Hughes' Rome and the Counter Reformation in England was an influence.

One line stood out for me: O'Connell quotes the Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza: "The papacy was never abolished in that country," he said to Bullinger, "but transferred to the sovereign." As O'Connell continues, Elizabeth I, like some other rulers, believed that "religion, both in itself and in its cultural and political ramifications, was too important to be left to the clergy." Then he proceeds to demonstrate how Elizabeth controlled the Church of England probably more completely than any pope has ever controlled the Catholic Church: determining doctrine, worship, and theology; holding fast to her prerogatives; and never reforming the episcopacy or the clergy of the abuses of which the Catholic Church was accused. 

Father O'Connell is equally adept at explaining Philip II's many-faceted efforts to maintain Spain's power throughout Europe, aiding the Church's interests whenever they fit with his. He gives due attention to Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma two of Philip's (bastard) lieutenants in the Spanish Netherlands. O'Connell introduced me to the Counter-Reformation history of Poland and Lithuania. His judgments of character are always clear and backed up by evidence of the person's actions and reactions, so that O'Connell shows that events are driven not by some dialectic but by the leaders, monarchs, generals, popes, theologians, etc.

This is a tremendous achievement and if you are interested in this era, or would just like to read excellent historical prose, find a copy!