I thought of this old article I saved as being appropriate for Theophania/Epiphany or the Adoration of the Magi. This painting is by Siennese Bartolo di Fredi (c. 1330-1410) a 14th century masterpiece. The article by Mr Holland Cotter, NYTimes. The baby’s feet must smell sweet to the rapt old king who kneels and cups them … Continue reading The Adoration of the Magi by Bartolo di Fredi
As most of us know from the song about the partridge and the pear tree, there are twelve days of Christmas. The season ends on January 6, traditionally celebrated as the day when the three wise men arrived in Bethlehem with those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Elizabethan England the last night of … Continue reading Christmastide
Israelites hid in the caves in the mountains with little to eat as the Midianites destroyed their herds (camels not cows, remembering this is the desert), flocks (sheep) and crops, and they cried to the Lord Jehovah and asked for deliverance and mercy. Times are so bad that even when processing the wheat, one has … Continue reading Judges vi: Pleading for mercy
