Pass the Hotteok, Please!

From the very beginning of the Christian era, the intention of persecutors (that would be them)was to terrify, intimidate and ultimately get rid those they were persecuting (that would be us).  But in the long run (and sometimes even in the short run), attempting to stamp us out just contributed to them becoming part of us.

For at the heart of the Good News is this: that the love of God is stronger than hatred, violence and even death.

Which I suppose explains the distinctive manner in which our Catholic tradition honors the memory of the martyrs. Solemnly, yes, with the Mass, hagiography, icons, stained glass and statues but cheerfully, even playfully with distinctive food, drink and other festivities.

Feast of St. Agatha or St. Lucy?  Pass the 'minni Sant'Agata' or a 'lussekatter'  (St. Lucy Cat) pastries!  Feast of St. Lawrence?  Fire-up the grill!  Even Good Friday has its own (delicious) pastry: hot cross buns!

Today is the memorial of the Korean martyrs St. Andrew Kim Taegon, St. Paul Chong Hasang and companions.  They were put to death during a persecution in the mid- 19th century and their courageous witness was and continues to be the foundation of the Church in Korea.

I don't know if there is a particular food yet associated with the Korean martyrs, but my vote would be for hotteok.  Its a kind of dough-cake, filled with chopped nuts and cinnamon, browned in hot frying pan. In Korea hotteok is a popular street food.  I was introduced to them a few years back by my Carmelite friends from Korea at the Terre Haute Carmel. They are delicious (particularly on a cold winter day)!  

So on this feast day of St. Andrew Kim and his companions, remember with gratitude their courage and sacrifice and perhaps celebrate with a hotteok or two and a hot cup of tea.    


 

Getting in Touch with My Inner Salieri

A friend and student of mine, who is herself a cloistered Carmelite sister kindly shared with me some of her thoughts on St. Therese (and the rough sketch of a pattern for her icon.)  I based the pattern I drew on her own completed icon of St.Therese, which she has graciously given me permission to shamelessly copy.  Besides saying that the drawing bore a passible resemblence to the actual Carmelite habit, and the gentle but firm suggestion that I lose the flowers in the background, she also shared some great insights into Therese herself.  

She sharted that she thinks the key ot understanding St. Therese is that she is the Mozart of the spiritual life - simple, direct, profound, but in the end, elusive.  And she noted that while Therese has grown on her, that as the oldest in her family, she found Therese, who was the youngest in the Martin family, less than sympathetic.  But she also wrote that as she has matured in the spiritual life, St.Therese has directed her to what is most essential, which is to rely, unreservedly, on the love and mercy of God.  

So thanks, Sister, for opening the door of my heart (if only just a bit more) to this elusive genius of the spiritual life.  

Please Capture My Heart!

I've begun reading "Shirt of Flame:A Year with St.Therese of Lisieux" by Heather King.  Its an introduction to the life of St.Therese and her "Little Way" refracted through the life and experiences of the author, an ex-lawyer, recovering alcoholic, contemplative and Catholic convert at midlife.  I'm only a chapter past the introduction, but I'm hoping that this might provide me with the way into a deeper appreciation of this remarkable saint who is the patroness of our diocese here in Juneau and whose shrine north of town on Lynn Canal is a place of particular devotion to her.   And of course, because I read and pray better with a brush in my hand, I've also begun drawing the pattern for an icon of her.

Given all that, you'd think a devotion to St.Therese would come naturally to me.

Well, think again.  For reasons that I don't fully understand, I've never really warmed to St.Therese.  Not dislike or repugnance or disagreement -- but to date, she hasn't yet seized hold of my imagination or more importantly, captured my heart.  Which is necessary (at least for me!) to compose an icon that has any life or truth in it.  Yes, I understand that the icon, (which makes visible the person or salvation narrative invisibly present to the one coming before in prayer ) does not depend on the ability or temperment or even the understanding of the iconpainter.  But for me at least, grace has to build on nature, which in my case means that there has to be an inner resonance between the saint or the mystery which is the subject of the icon and my own spiritual vision and understanding.  That vision, however weak, fallible and limited, is, for all that, uniquely my own.

So as I begin to ponder what Heather King has to say about St.Therese (presented throughout the book in the words of her spiritual autobiography), I hope this holy young woman who dedicated herself to the Child Jesus and to the Holy Face, will indeed seize my imagination.  And that she will eventually capture my heart.