Ash Wednesday – and St Valentine’s Day – 14 February 2024
Dear Reader,
After an absence of two months we return to your inbox, hoping that we’re still welcome. We shall continue to work in our sphere: insisting on the indissoluble relationship between a culture and its religion, a central element in the thinking of Christopher Dawson. Western Civilisation cannot endure for long if it is choked and deprived of its spiritual nourishment. The marriage of Faith and Reason is likewise fundamental to a cultural environment in which humanity can find its full potential.
Speaking personally, I’ve always been an optimist: my glass of milk is usually at least half full. But it’s getting harder to keep it up. This Sky panel discussion on an anti-Israel demonstration, with visuals, is truly chilling. OK, so it’s from Sky TV and therefore vitiated by ultra-right bias, right? Watch it and decide. But bear in mind that Israel wants to survive and co-exist with its neighbours, yet many of the leaders of the Shiite world would prefer it to be totally annihilated. We begin the year on extremely dangerous ground.
I recently came across this piece from John Ruskin (1819-1900):
‘This then is the great enigma of Art History – you must not follow Art without pleasure, nor must you follow it for the sake of pleasure. And the solution of that figure is simply this fact, that wherever Art has been followed only for the sake of luxury or delight, it has contributed, and largely contributed, to bring about the destruction of the nation practising it. But wherever Art has been used also to teach any truth or supposed truth – religious, moral or natural – there it has elevated the nation practising it, and itself with the nation.’
It contrasts strongly with many prevailing views of art. Bernard Gaynor is campaigning to have grossly indecent books removed from public libraries. Brave man. Is he overreacting? Read this.
KOINE GREEK SUMMER SCHOOL
We held our annual Koine Greek summer school in the last week of January. Only four attended, two absolute beginners and two who had some prior experience. I loved teaching it – it’s always one of the high points of the year for me – and I hope my four students derived commensurate pleasure! Certainly they can say that they read and understood quite extensive extracts from the Gospels and Epistles, part of a homily by St John Chrysostom, and a selection of prayers from the Orthodox liturgy. We even finished with the first 20 lines of Homer’s Odyssey! There is something wonderful about reading truly important literature, in the original, from the inside (a term I’m fond of), even if some of the subtleties of grammar are unclear. The sound and rhythm of each language are unique; in a way they constitute its soul. Even beginners come to appreciate the challenges faced by translators who strove to interpret the thoughts of the original writer.
Our guest writer in this first issue is Emeritus Prof Steven Schwartz AM, formerly Vice-Chancellor of three universities (Brunel, Murdoch and Macquarie). We welcome guest contributors and I am particularly grateful to Prof Schwartz for giving us this charming meditation on today’s twin commemorations!
With best wishes to all for a safe and fulfilling year, courageous in the face all adversity!
David Daintree
HEARTS AND ASHES
by Steven Schwartz
Valentine’s Day is an annual symphony of sentiment where hearts flutter, florists flourish, and affection is tenderly expressed, one rose petal at a time. This year, Valentine’s Day coincides with Ash Wednesday, which beckons the faithful to reflect and repent. The two observances last coincided 10 years ago. Before that, we must go back to 1945 when the world emerged from a bloody war seeking peace and understanding, much as our own seeks comfort and connection today.
Tracing Valentine’s Day back to its roots reveals a history steeped in both pagan and Christian traditions. Legend has it that Valentine’s Day commemorates a defiant saint who performed marriage ceremonies before they were acceptable. Over the centuries, it evolved into a secular celebration of love. The customs surrounding Valentine’s Day are as varied as the cultures that embrace it—from Japan’s month-long chocolate exchanges to the Welsh tradition of gifting intricately carved ‘love spoons’—each practice reflects a universal song of love while singing its unique cultural verse.
In contrast to Valentine’s Day, Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day. But the themes it invokes—reflection, repentance, and the acknowledgment of our mortality—are not limited to Christians. They are echoed across many other faiths. From the solemn fasts of Ramadan to the introspective atonement of Yom Kippur, the search for redemption weaves a common thread through the tapestry of human experience.
The confluence of Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday offers a dual lens through which we can examine our lives. The Christian faithful will be reminded of their earthly transience with the words, “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” Within this memento mori lies a call to embrace the most sacred form of love—a love that is thoughtful, generous, and enduring. A love that is not declared with fleeting gifts but demonstrated through the way we live our lives.
In a way, we are very fortunate. This year’s calendar quirk elevates Valentine’s Day from a commercial holiday to a day imbued with sacred meaning. It reminds us that the journey of true love parallels the spiritual sojourn of Lent—both require us to face our imperfections and choose growth over comfort.
So, let us not see this day as a collision of opposites, but as a confluence of parallels, where the spirit of Valentine’s Day informs the Lenten journey, and the reflection of Ash Wednesday deepens our understanding of love. As we move through this day of hearts and ashes, may we find ways to express love that align with the spirit of both occasions—love that seeks not only to be understood but also to understand, not only to be loved but also to love freely and selflessly. February 14th is an opportunity to forge an ever-deepening connection to the profound mysteries of the heart and the soul.
FOR FURTHER READING
‘CLASSICAL’ EDUCATION AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
Maggie Phillips of the US Tablet Magazine (a Jewish paper, not at all to be confused with the UK’s The Tablet) cautiously threads her way through the apparent links between conservatism in education and in religion. It’s a discerning and complex piece, all the more valuable for approaching from a Jewish viewpoint. Yes, she does find some correlation between reactionary religion and elitist educational ideas, but she also reminds us that Frederick Douglas memorised Cicero’s speeches to help his campaign for abolition, and that Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panthers, was a big fan of Plato! Here again is the link.
CHRISTOPHER DAWSON AND AMERICA
Our Christian Nation, by US Senator Josh Hawley, applies Dawson’s notion that every culture depends on ‘a common moral order and a common religious ideal’ to the realities of modern American life.
COMING EVENTS
Several events are being planned, but we propose to keep them under wraps till dates have been finalised. But don’t forget –
COLLOQUIUM 2024
The 2024 Colloquium will be on SATURDAY 6 JULY
Topic: Authentic Humanism and the Crisis of Culture
We also draw your attention to this:
ROUND TABLE FORUM
Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney.
Tuesday 20 February, 6.00 pm
Panel discussion: ‘Ideology in Education’
Political agendas are increasingly guiding the curriculum and teaching methods within our school and university systems. Male school students apologise for their ‘toxic masculinity’. The presumption of innocence has also largely been abandoned, replaced by ‘group guilt’. Malleable students are encouraged to become activists.
Dr Kevin Donnelly and The Hon. Alan Tudge
Register here. All welcome
FINALLY, FROM THE DIRECTOR, A MEDITATION
(included here with thanks to the Editor of the Catholic Standard, Hobart)
The hymn below was written in about 700 by St Andrew of Crete and translated into English by John Mason Neale. The melody it’s usually sung to is literally monotonous for the first three lines of each stanza, but at the words “Christian, up and smite them!” it soars stirringly. You can easily find sung versions on YouTube and you’ll be impressed.
Christian, dost thou see them
On the holy ground,
How the troops of Midian
Prowl and prowl around?
Christian, up and smite them,
Counting gain but loss;
Smite them by the merit
Of the holy cross.
Christian, dost thou feel them,
How they work within,
Striving, tempting, luring,
Goading into sin?
Christian, never tremble,
Never be downcast;
Smite them by the virtue
of the Lenten fast.
Christian, dost thou hear them,
How they speak thee fair?
“Always fast and vigil,
Always watch and prayer?”
Christian, answer boldly,
“While I breathe I pray”;
Peace shall follow battle,
Night shall end in day.
“Well I know thy trouble,
O my servant true,
Thou art very weary;
I was weary too.
But that toil shall make thee
Some day all mine own,
And the end of sorrow
Shall be near my throne.”
Modern western Christians often like to persuade themselves that there is no real and personal Devil, but wishful thinking of that kind wouldn’t wash with St Andrew of Crete, and doesn’t square with Gospel accounts of the Gadarene swine or of Jesus’s own temptations in the wilderness. C S Lewis in his Screwtape Letters insists that nothing suits the Devil’s purpose better than our refusal to belief in him. Our denial makes his self-imposed task of dismantling creation so much easier!
Nevertheless, a relativist, allegorical interpretation of the most fundamental propositions of our Faith has great allure. It’s literally awful to think of the existence of a malign force in the world; far more comfortable to believe that all evil arises from what we might call natural causes: our own selfishness, for example, and our greed for physical possessions and power over others. These motivations are grim enough – nobody denies them – but are they sufficient to explain why bad things happen too often to good people? If we take allegory too far, are we not in danger turning our Faith into a charming and cosy myth?
A friend recently copied to me a letter from the distinguished protestant writer, Vishal Mangalwadi, to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in which he warned the government that certain populist Hindu practices are diabolical and therefore exceedingly dangerous. It is fascinating for a westerner to read correspondence between an Indian Christian and a Hindu about matters that seem utterly alien to us, yet uncannily remind us of so much in St Paul’s letters to the churches.
Here’s material for a meditation for Lent: is the discipline of Lent just about self-restraint and generosity to others? Is it just a spiritual get-fit-quick course? Or are we contending with dark and malicious powers? The worry for those of us who hope for a naturalistic explanation of evil is that our founders and leaders in the Faith, without exception, believed that Satan was real, and was to be overcome at all costs.