MONDAY DIARY - THIS AND THAT

Nothing dramatic happened this week but here are a few tidbits.

It had been a couple of years since I donated blood and this past Friday our Knights of Columbus hosted a Red Cross blood drive and so I went. It changed quite a bit since the last time I donated. It is much more high tech. This is not nearly as disturbing as when they switched from having homemade goodies to prepackaged cookies and tiny tins of orange juice. That was a heartbreak.

There is a new question they ask now that they must ask with an absolute straight face. “Are you now and have you always been a male?” They must have completely believed me although I think a look rather masculine of for no other reason than I have a beard. Each station I went to they asked, “Is male your gender from birth?” They don’t come up with questions unless they see a problem such as when Mad Cow Disease was floating about and all of sudden they had to ask you if you’d been to Europe. Apparently this has been a problem.

I came to understand the horrors of water boarding this week. I was baptizing one of the most active babies in my life. He squirmed and lifted his head up and down and I was doing my best to hit my target but, gosh darn it, this tyke was quick! Just when I thought I had him he threw back his head and I hit square in the face and water must have gone up his nose. He was not too happy with me after that though his (slightly) older brother said, “Don’t worry about it. That’s Okay.”

There was a Family Fun Night here at the parish this past weekend. If you missed Fr. Ference’s performance (who was at the 4:30 Mass and who celebrated the 9:00) here is a little taste of what he did in Zwisler Hall on Saturday Night. (Far better than my accordion playing during intermission.)


It is an honor as well as enjoyable being the administrator of Saint Sebastian but I found one thing that I truly miss about being a parochial vicar. One afternoon I got down to the Jewish Community Center to exercise and found half of the parish there and probably spent half of the time chatting. I do not get to do this as much anymore. As a parochial vicar you get to add that extra flavor to the parish that the pastor is unable to do because of his other duties. So taking an hour just to chat about matters of faith or throwing together a program (such as Fr. Ference did above) is just a bit out of the range of possibility. Of course the trade off is fantastic but still I miss the opportunity just to sit around and discuss what faith topics are on people’s minds.

FRIDAY FAIR - WE'VE GOT IT IN HAND

Hands continued:

The way the priest holds his hands is not incidental. The hands of the priest are held in a certain fashion, some prescribed some by tradition, because of the Church’s symbolic code which should be easily read by any Catholic in any parish in the world.

Some are neither prescribed nor enforced but have value in them though a priest could ignore them completely and it not effect the Mass whatsoever. For example, have you ever considered where the practice of placing one’s hands palm to palm in prayer comes from? In ancient times someone who pledged service to their lord would place their hands thusly into the hands of their superior. This is a vulnerable position and a symbol of service and humility. This is the very act that occurs in the ordination right as a man kneels before his bishop and promises obedience to him and his successors. When we pray we often adopt this position of hands perhaps not even realizing that we are indeed symbolically placing ourselves thusly into the hands of our Master and Lord and trusting Him to care for us even as we defend His Name here on earth.

Other positions of the hands are indeed prescribed. A flat hand with the palm facing the desired target is used for calling down a blessing. So, for example, when a priest is ordained we have the laying on of hands, at the epiclesis (calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine at Mass) the flat hand is used, or the laying on of hands at the anointing of the sick.

Another hand gesture is indicative. It is the blade of the hand that faces the target of the imparted blessing. At the end of Mass when the Sign of the Cross is passed over the assemblage or when the Cross is made over the gifts, it is this indicative mode that is used.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

AND SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD!

AND WORLD PEACE DAY!

GUEST BLOG

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank His Holiness, Pope Benedict for guest blogging for today's post. Here is his message for World Peace Day

And for a little bit of silliness - I came across this video the other day. It is of a record that my sister had when I was but a wee little one. One day I dropped her record on the floor and a large chunk came out of it. It is a silly song (we had it in English) and nobody we sang it to ever believed that it existed. A couple of years ago I found the record at an antique shop and righted the great wrong I had done as a child. Here is a video in Spanish (you really can find anything on the Internet) for your holiday - holy day - listening pleasure. Make sure that you sound is turned WAY up.

In a little quiet town, just South of the Mexican border

There lived a lovely Juanita, a banana grower's daughter

She longed to sing at the opera but her father laughed and made fun

Still Juanita would sing each day in the fields as soon as her work was done

Juanita moved to the city in search of fortune and fame

It didn't take more than a couple of songs,

she had won the world's acclaim

Her father back home was astounded, his Juanita Banana a star?

He burned down the trees,

he moved to the city and he bought himself a guitar!

Q: WHAT DO DISHWASHING MACHINES AND MANGER SCENES HAVE IN COMMON?

A: There is my way of setting them up and the wrong way.

O come on! You know that it's true. Everybody has their opinions on the correct way of setting up the manger scene. There is your way and the wrong way. That’s it. I’ve set up too many manger scenes in too many churches with too many committees to not know that this is true. Fortunately for me the way I do it is really correct.

This occurred to me the other day as I was standing at the entrance of the Church waiting for a person to show up and noticed one of the small manger sets in our lobby. The numerous manger manglings were unbearable. Immediately I, in my secret role as Monsignor Manners, set about rescuing the poor statues from their embarrassing plights. Could you imagine knowing that you are improperly placed and have no way of stirring? The dishonor of it all. St. Francis would be appalled.

The most heinous of all crèche transgressions is the ignoring of the stare. What is there to see here people? Jesus! Yet how many manger scenes have you seen where people have set the figures in places where they look good rather than focusing on the guest of honor? This is a moment of worship, not a barn party. Wrapped in newspaper for 11 months the figures finally escape from their out of season confinement to be set in the manger scene staring at some hay or the foot of some shepherd or something. “Jesus is just three inches over to the left. If only somebody would come by and knock the table a little so that I could see him! That is what I was made to do! Oh the iniquity of it all.”

That goes for the animals too! Yes! The ox and the ass are actually interested in the baby Jesus. If you find that they spoil the scene being too close to Jesus leave them in the box. They will not even know Christmas is come in gone. Their animals they can’t tell time.

The one exception is sheep. Sheep can do whatever you want them to. Some of them are eating anyway. (They will be the ones on the left at the second coming.) I do have a weakness for letting one eat the hay out of Jesus’ crib though. Sheep are known to be stupid so they can get away with it. Camels can also do whatever they want. Let them have fun. They’re the first piece that breaks anyway.

Kings have a certain way of standing. You can’t force them to fit your idea of all facing the same way from the same direction. Don’t blame me, blame the artist. Take the king that is kneeling. You know the one I mean. The one that looks like he is saying,

"If you can grab this gold before I do, you can have it."

He has one way of kneeling. The artist spent some time trying to figure out how to get him to kneel toward the baby Jesus without completely turning his back on everybody. Don’t make the artist sad.

Absolutely forbidden under penalty of reserved sin that can only be forgiven by the pope himself is the placing of the Three Kings across the room and have them slowly move toward the manger on the days between Christmas and Epiphany. I mean, come on. Let us be reasonable. The kneeling king did not crawl to Bethlehem on his knees.

I was once at a parish that had two camels both of which were laying down and did the travel thing. Apparently they CRAWLED all the way from the East. Now those are mighty pious camels.

Also, let him be anathema who puts Saint Nicholas in the manger scene. Even those who live in Akron, from when we get the word AnAkronism may not do this for reasons too numerous to mention.

Lastly – ditch the snow. THERE WAS NO SNOW. Or, if you prefer, knit little hats and gloves for all the figures, especially the shepherd and the guy who holds on to the camel who are near immodestly dressed as it is.

Of course these scrupulously correct directives only pertain to my world. Rules in your state may be different. But just the same I would not advise leaving me alone in a room in your home where there is a manger scene.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCVI

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin

QUOTE II: "The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." ~G.K. Chesterton

IN OTHER NEWS:

We are still celebrating Christmas so Jay says it is not too late to read the Christmas Catholic Carnival.

Habemus Papem, from whom we've not heard in a spell, sent this link that has a video interview with the Nashville Dominicans where we have mutual friends. There is also a place to sign up for their on line newsletter if you are so desirous.

Kay sent this video in of a dog having fun in the snow with Harry Connik Jr. singing a Christmas song in the background.

Kay also sent in this Christmas game. Warning: Addiction Level: LOW

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter sends in this link to Bishop Lennon's Christmas message.

I'll give you just one guess as to why today's post is late - again. Today was booked to be a catch up day for everything that was put on the back burner over Christmas and of course very little of it was accomplished. The Internet is down again and we do not know why, but when it is down we cannot even so much as use the copy machine which pushes the bulletin completely off schedule and puts us into panic mode. So once again, no Emails are getting through. Then we had the emergency of a lady in a power scooter stopping by who without a coat and having no idea where she was or where she came from. That resolved itself nicely when one of our ever competent office staff was able to coax the name of her residence out of here - no small distance away. So, now I escape to the coffee house - the only place that I can get work done! So here is a post written yesterday just now being published.

Gather around friends and I shall tell you about my first Christmas at Saint Sebastian – or at least my favorite moment from it. Christmas day was a flury of practices and preparations. The four o’clock Children’s Mass, which everyone kept saying was going to be as out of control as the final 30 seconds of a Super Bowl game, went on smoothly enough. Seven o’clock Mass passed and we waited to begin Midnight Mass (which I might add was at midnight.) I had every intention of taking a nap but I was too keyed up even to be able to sit still for too long.

Finally the Mass came and it went well. It was well attended despite predictions that nobody would show up. In the end we even had more servers than I knew what to do with (the procession was already as long as the aisle of the church.)

So I sat down after Holy Communion and look back at the clock and see that it is going on 1:00AM. “Good,” thought I, “I will get them out of here by five after.” That was before the choir began a spectacular post communion hymn. Then the congregation joined in Silent Night, and finally there was gorgeous solo in German. I loved it. I could have stayed there for another hour listening (after all I only had a few yards to go to my bed.) But now it was about quarter after and I feared that the congregation would want to bolt for the doors at the very first opportunity and I had promised our talented music director that I would stay in the sanctuary for all the verses of Hark Herald the Angel Sings.

Thus did I do and then we started down the aisle to Handle’s Hallelujah Chorus. As we reached the back (front?) of the church our deacon said, “I’ll go purify” which left me and my cousin who is a deacon and who is up to be ordained to the priesthood this year to greet the people as they leave. So we turned and waited for the onslaught. But nobody left. They all stood and turned back toward the choir and listened – an occasional voice singing out the tenor, bass, alto, or soprano line.

It was the oddest thing. This is defiantly not a Catholic practice. Catholics volunteering to stay longer at Mass – especially when it has already gone 80 minutes!? This needed to be investigated. So I walked back into church and indeed nobody stirred. They just stood and stared. It was like being in a Sci Fi movie.

After the Chorus ended the was still no particular “Day After Thanksgiving Walmart Opening” type rush to get out. I suppose people wanted to give Santa a little extra breathing space to get all his packages out of his pack in case they might have walked in on him and spoiled the holiday.
It is wonderful to have anybody at Mass, but it was particularly touching to see so many college/post college age persons there to greet the new born King at the first hour of the very day on which we celebrate His birth. The whole night was so intoxicating that I could not fall asleep again even though I had to be up in a couple of hours for the later-morning Masses.

But I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

And that is why I love Midnight Mass.

FRIDAY FAIR - A HANDY LITTLE POST

Fr. O was over just before Christmas and he passed along a comment by Fr. Groeschel as to why Catholics do not seem to pray to the Holy Spirit as much as to the other two persons of the Blessed Trinity or the Trinity as a whole. He suggests that the symbolism of the Holy Spirit is a difficult one two grasp. Until you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit praying to a dove or a flame of fire. For early artists the depictions of God the Father posed a similar problem. They were reluctant to paint God the Father. Who could paint the unseen God? Jesus was made flesh and so appear in the world, not so the Father. So exactly what is there to paint?

So many artists chose not to. Instead they painted the hands of God. That seemed an easier concept to capture. Rather than having to create a face for our God from the prayers of faith and Scripture it get the idea of the “hand of God” or “the right hand of God” which of course make the life of inventive artists much easier. So you might see, for example, a hand extending from the heavens which is the creating hand of God the Father. At my first parish there was a depiction of the Garden of Eden and a hand extending from the heavens and pointing toward the egress accompanied by the flaming sword of expulsion as a motivator which of course was the Father kicking His wayward children out of the garden.

Sometimes the hand stands alone usually with three fingers extended and behind it the nimbus or halo reserved for depictions of the Trinity alone (having three red or gold rays of light.) Rarely the hand is seen holding something and I have read reports of but never have seen a picture of the hand holding people to suggest His protection and favor.

Hands express much more than we might at first assume and that is not just for people who talk with their hands a lot. They are used in our liturgies quite extensively and their position and what they touch mean quite a bit. But that will have to wait until next week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

DUE TO THE DEMANDS OF CHRISTMAS THIS SINGLE POST IS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS

IT'S ADAM'S ALE CHRISTMAS NIGHT AT THE MOVIES!

FIRST: THESE SHORTS:

AND WHAT IS BANK NIGHT WITHOUT A SING-A-LONG?

ANOTHER SELECTED SHORT

THE CHIPMUNK CHRISTMAS SONG!

Please turn of your cell phones.

AND NOW OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION:

THE BLOODY OLIVE!

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "What life and death may be to a turkey is not my business; but the soul of Scrooge and the body of Cratchit are my business." Chesterton

QUOTE II – “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.” C. S. Lewis

QUOTE III – “There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.” Hillaire Belloc.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Not wind nor rain nor impending Christmas holiday can keep Jay from announcing another Catholic Carnival.

Ellen from Paraclete Press writes, "In these 7 days before Christmas, our home page features the text of the "O Antiphons" with the singing of the Magnificat (The Song of Mary), as it is traditionally sung at evening prayer or Vespers. These short texts sung before and after the Magnificat recall the prophecies associated with Mary's acceptance of her calling to be the mother of Jesus."

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter reports, "Dignitas Personae, Vatican Instruction on Bioethics, Welcomed for Guidance on issues of Procreation, Medical Research Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of a Person), an Instruction from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on ethical issues arising from biomedical research, provides guidance on how to respect human life and human procreation in our heavily scientific age, said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops." Read more here.

They also report that, "The following Christmas season television and radio programming information is provided to you by the Department of Communications, Diocese of Cleveland."

My cousin sent this in: "Enjoy watching Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Mei Lan and the newest cub on PandaCam, but unfortunately, this feature will soon come to an end. Due to limited resources, Zoo Atlanta will not be able to offer PandaCam after December 31, 2008. Panda Cam will be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday."

This video was sent in by F. S. Only if you need a good laugh:

Adoro sent this interesting mind trick in. Thanks Adoro!

And to sum up - here is an essay on Christmas by Chesterton.

MONDAY DIARY - GIVING A LEG UP

Christmas is coming like a steam locomotive. Or better yet – Christmas is like an overstuffed suitcase being sat upon in a desperate attempt to keep shut until the right time but already the case is groaning, bursting at the seams, pieces of Christmas already flying out through the cracks. So even a rigorist like myself decides to relax a little bit and let it happen. And instead of seeming like a shock it is a more like a nice, relaxing, hot shower.

Well, somewhat. It is still as busy as all get out. I worry about being able to greet the holy day completely – or at least satisfactorily - prepared. So the past few days I set a firm rule for myself: “Self! You have a lot to prepare and nobody is going to cut you slack because you were too busy. So – no more last minute appointments, no problem solving that does not involve Christmas directly, everything will just have to wait the next so many days. The world has turned without you thus far and it will continue to do so. Focus on your mission!”

And then God, who is the Father of irony, gets in the mix. A phone call comes in. A family needs a priest at a local hospital. They are stressed. The family is in from out of state and their Mother is unexpectedly and severely ill and not expected to make it through the holidays. Will you come? A well respected and beloved nurse is in hospice care, not expected to make it through the night. Will you come? A priest’s father has passed away. Can you help them out? A soldier is about to be shipped out and needs to talk to you before he leaves. Can you make the time?

Of course priests and lay people alike do these things. That is what allows us to wear the title Christian. And if privately we grumble beforehand we are exceedingly grateful for the opportunity and for having been able to reach out to others.

These blessings reminded me of the Chesterton quote: “"When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?" What blessings we have. That we can be stressed about the coming festivities of course means we have festivities to be stressed about. Let us be grateful for the “interruptions” which are not interruptions at all but part of the celebration. Let us be thankful that they allow us to exercise our charity in this season of charity and that they remind us to be thankful for our stockings full of legs that allow us to do them.

FRIDAY FAIR - I'M A DOCTOR JIM, NOT A MIRACLE WORKER

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. ONCE AGAIN it was a problem with the computers – this time it was actually a mechanical problem within the house. (No, not me.) Once the computers were up it was late and I was too involved with the day to post.

Every single solitary year when I was a kid watching the movie “Jason and the Argonauts” on Super Host (an old local movie host on channel 43) we would get to the point where Jason was about to fight the army of skeletons and Mom would walk in and say, “It’s time to go to Mass.” I have never seen that part of the movie.

No bones about it. When a skeleton appears in Christian art it is rarely for happy reasons. As you might suppose most of the time they refer to death and remind us that this world and all that is in it will eventually fail us – including our bodies. There is only One that lasts and that is God and we would be wise to be in God so as to live with Him eternally.

Sometimes a skeleton will remind us that life is short by carrying an hour glass or a scythe. They seem to say, “As I am so you will be and soon enough so take heed.” Sounds a bit like Marley.

Sometimes they are presented as a choice. I once saw a picture of a man in confession and he was deciding whether to confess a serious sin or not. On the one side was his unwillingness to be humble and confess and the skeletons represented the spiritual death of that decision and on the other were the angles ready to welcome him back into the Father’s company through his act of contrition and humility.

So – avoid skeletons - unless it's yours.

O DEAR

This morning we start Act II of advent. A play in two acts the second half always begins in the 17th of December. Up and until this point we have been preparing for the coming of Christ at the end of time. Then on the 17th, things change, almost imperceptibly.

This is the day we begin preparing for the immanent coming of Christ at Christmas. We start preparing for the big birthday bash. The preface at the Mass changes, the genealogy of Christ from Matthew is read (unless it occurs on a Sunday,) and those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours start saying the O Antiphons with the Canticle of Mary.

You know the O Antiphons however even if you do not pray the Breviary. The O Antiphons are the Old Testament names for the coming Messiah.

O Sapientia – Wisdom
O Adonai – Lord of Might
O Radix Jesse – Flower of Jesse’s Stem
O Clavis Davidica – Key of David
O Oriens – O Rising Dawn
O Rex Gentium – King of Nations
O Emmanuel – God-with-Us

Hence the song, “O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel. Happy part II of Advent!

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK XCIIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND: "Richard Burton became acknowledged as a great Shakespearean actor not by deleting problematic passages but by studying them and interpreting them in such a way that his audiences came to appreciate them for all their meaning and beauty; the responsibility of a priest is not different." Fr. Stravisnskas

QUOTE II - "All translators are betrayers." Italian proverb.

IN OTHER NEWS:

A number of videos ended up in my mail this week. This one is actually an advertisement but it is still funny and sort of pertinent to the season. This actually happened to a good friend of mine. Thanks Kay.

C. D. sent this in: "There is an organization called ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) which began a couple years ago in Denver under the direction of Bishop Chaput." It is in the process of (hopefully) being approved for the Diocese of Cleveland. Send up a prayer for the organization. Here is their web site if you want to know more.

C. P. sent this video in. It is the only version of the 12 Day of Christmas that I can handle at the moment.


102 Catholic Carnivals

A message from Kay: "I created a new blog site specifically for those who have died - I pray for these people at Mass (usually I attend daily Mass) as well as during Adoration & daily prayer time."

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter reports, "On August 16, 2006, Joseph H. Smith, former chief finance and legal officer of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with an alleged kickback scheme that federal authorities believed netted him nearly $785,000.

The 23 count indictment alleged that Smith conspired to defraud the Cleveland Diocese and falsified tax returns and other documents. Smith was found guilty on six tax-related charges including conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service on July 3, 2008.Smith was sentenced today, December 11, 2008, to one year and one day in federal prison." Read the Diocesan statement here.

MONDAY DIARY - GOODNIGHT SWEET PRINCE

You may have heard this past week of the passing of Avery Cardinal Dulles of whom it was said, “he was a reader’s writer and the believer’ theologian.” He also had the nick name of Dull, Duller, and Dulles as his speaking tone was soft and very technical. But he was a brilliant man and Catholic to the core.

I once had an occasion to talk with him. He came to Saint Mary Seminary to give a talk and to the seminarians and somehow between his formal talk in the theater of the seminary and the dinner in the refectory I was left alone with him. I have no idea how it happened but it did.

I was enthralled. He was perfectly willing to jabber on with a lowly seminarian on just about any topic I threw at him. As we talked I offered to escort him to the refectory and we walked arm and arm down to where the rest of the crowd was gathering for the dinner honoring our important guest.

We made our way in his brilliant mind caught a thread that he would not let go of. We was saying something very important to me but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was for what happened next.

As we were talking he took to leaning against one of the refectory tables. I remember thinking that this was not wise for the large round tables only had only one central leg holding them up. I do remember thinking, “He shouldn’t be doing that but he’s Avery Dulles, who am I to say anything to him?”

Somebody brought us some coffee and we continued to dialogue, I enthralled and he leaning on a one legged table. He finally leaned back too far and the table tipped propelling forward spilling hot coffee down the front of my shirt and landing him in my arms. I suppressed screams of pain and righted the man who kept talking as if nothing at all had happened. Someone offered me a towel which I refused and kept my focus on him. After all I was thinking, “Oh my gosh, Avery Dulles spilled coffee on me. I will never wash this shirt again.”

God rest you merry Cardinal Dulles!

SKULL DUGGERY

Momento mori!

Remember man that you must die!

“Alas poor Yorick.”

There’s a cheery thought.

Yet for a Christian steeped in his faith this is not the worst thing that could happen. In fact we contemplate it, prepare for it, and if we gain any amount of spiritual maturity (while maybe still being afraid of the dying process) look forward to it. It is the idea of death that moves us to action. If we would never die, if we had not the idea of the passage of time, we might perpetually put all things off till tomorrow. Death is a motivator. And if it is a motivator in things of this life, it also reminds us to use this life to prepare for that glorious (or horrible) life in the next. It is not a morbid practice to think on death as long as the promise Christ reminds us of its meaning, fills us with hope, and fends off despair.

So if you see a beautiful picture of, say, Saint Jerome in his cave with his penitential rock (Oh! Jerome – if it weren’t for that rock!) and all of his writing utensils, a crucifix, his cardinal, robes, a lion resting at his feet like a pet dog and a skull sitting on his table, the skull should not be shocking or disgusting, it should remind us of the transitory nature of this world and focus us on the life to come. It was this that allowed Jerome to swallow his pride and seek forgiveness for his transactions.

Often saints, particularly monks, will have a skull symbolically placed by them showing their rejection of earthly enticements for the enticements of heaven. Conversely a person who does not pay head to these things but lavishes themselves in the delights of this world might be depicted with all of their “stuff” around them and in a corner or under a table or behind them on a shelf will be a skull giving the viewer the hint that while this may look awfully nice, it will all pass away and if the person has not stored up treasure in heaven they are in for mighty poor after life.

Sometimes too you will see a skull at the base of the crucifix. Remember that the place where Christ was crucified was also called, “The Place of the Skull,” or in other less poetic translations, “Skull Place” which sounds more like the latest dance club. Legend also says that the cross stood on the bones of Adam and that it is through the cross that all men would be redeemed.