This is a very special bird.
Almost hard to believe.
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Hunchback of Notre Dame & Hocktide
“. .. . but it must be a sin
to look at this one.”
Quasimodo Sunday
The name of this Sunday is the origin
of the name of the hunchback, Quasimodo, in Victor Hugo's "The
Hunchback of Notre Dame." Poor Quasimodo was a foundling who was
discovered at the cathedral on Low Sunday and so was named for the Feast. He is
introduced in Hugo's book like this:
Sixteen
years previous to the epoch when this story takes place, one fine morning, on
Quasimodo Sunday, a living creature had been deposited, after Mass, in the
church of Notre- Dame, on the wooden bed securely fixed in the vestibule on the
left, opposite that great image of Saint Christopher, which the figure of
Messire Antoine des Essarts, chevalier, carved in stone, had been gazing at on
his knees since 1413, when they took it into their heads to overthrow the saint
and the faithful follower. Upon this bed of wood it was customary to expose
foundlings for public charity. Whoever cared to take them did so. In front of
the wooden bed was a copper basin for alms.
The sort of living being which lay upon that plank on the morning of Quasimodo, in the year of the Lord, 1467, appeared to excite to a high degree, the curiosity of the numerous group which had congregated about the wooden bed. The group was formed for the most part of the fair sex. Hardly any one was there except old women.
In the first row, and among those who were most bent over the bed, four were noticeable, who, from their gray cagoule, a sort of cassock, were recognizable as attached to some devout sisterhood. I do not see why history has not transmitted to posterity the names of these four discreet and venerable damsels. They were Agnes la Herme, Jehanne de la Tarme, Henriette la Gaultière, Gauchère la Violette, all four widows, all four dames of the Chapel Etienne Haudry, who had quitted their house with the permission of their mistress, and in conformity with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, in order to come and hear the sermon.
However, if these good Haudriettes were, for the moment, complying with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, they certainly violated with joy those of Michel de Brache, and the Cardinal of Pisa, which so inhumanly enjoined silence upon them.
"What is this, sister?" said Agnes to Gauchère, gazing at the little creature exposed, which was screaming and writhing on the wooden bed, terrified by so many glances.
"What is to become of us," said Jehanne, "if that is the way children are made now?"
"I'm not learned in the matter of children," resumed Agnes, "but it must be a sin to look at this one."
The sort of living being which lay upon that plank on the morning of Quasimodo, in the year of the Lord, 1467, appeared to excite to a high degree, the curiosity of the numerous group which had congregated about the wooden bed. The group was formed for the most part of the fair sex. Hardly any one was there except old women.
In the first row, and among those who were most bent over the bed, four were noticeable, who, from their gray cagoule, a sort of cassock, were recognizable as attached to some devout sisterhood. I do not see why history has not transmitted to posterity the names of these four discreet and venerable damsels. They were Agnes la Herme, Jehanne de la Tarme, Henriette la Gaultière, Gauchère la Violette, all four widows, all four dames of the Chapel Etienne Haudry, who had quitted their house with the permission of their mistress, and in conformity with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, in order to come and hear the sermon.
However, if these good Haudriettes were, for the moment, complying with the statutes of Pierre d'Ailly, they certainly violated with joy those of Michel de Brache, and the Cardinal of Pisa, which so inhumanly enjoined silence upon them.
"What is this, sister?" said Agnes to Gauchère, gazing at the little creature exposed, which was screaming and writhing on the wooden bed, terrified by so many glances.
"What is to become of us," said Jehanne, "if that is the way children are made now?"
"I'm not learned in the matter of children," resumed Agnes, "but it must be a sin to look at this one."
Note:
In England, at one time anyway, on the Monday after Low Sunday, between the
hours of 9 and noon, there was the strange custom by which men
"captured" women (often by lifting them up in chairs) for a ransom
which was given to the Church. On Tuesday the women reciprocate by capturing
the men. These two days became known as "Hocktide."
Quasimodo Sunday
|
This day is known as "Quasimodo Sunday" from the first two words of the opening Antiphon at Mass that speak especially to those baptized at Easter:
I Peter 2:2
Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite ut in eo crescatis in salutem si gustastis quoniam dulcis Dominus. As newborn babes, alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Rejoice to God our helper. Sing aloud to the God of Jacob.
It is the day that the newly
baptized officially put away their white robes, hence, it is known
liturgically as "Dominica in albis depositis" or the "Sunday
of putting away the albs."
The day's Gospel reading is John 20: 19-31, which focuses, in part, on the doubts of St. Thomas at hearing the news of the risen Christ:
Now when it
was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where
the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said
this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were
glad, when they saw the Lord.
He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God. Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name. |
Where have you gone, Quasimodo?
Q. What
was the name of the poor crippled bell ringer in The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
A.
Quasimodo
Today is
known on the Christian calendar by at least six names.
In the traditional Missale Romanum, it is referred to as“Dominica in albis octava Paschae” -- Sunday in White Within the Paschal Octave, when the robes of the neophytes are removed eight days after their initiation into the Sacraments during the Paschal Vigil.
In the traditional Missale Romanum, it is referred to as“Dominica in albis octava Paschae” -- Sunday in White Within the Paschal Octave, when the robes of the neophytes are removed eight days after their initiation into the Sacraments during the Paschal Vigil.
In the
traditional Roman calendar, it is officially known as “The Octave Day
of Easter” or more colloquially as “Low Sunday.”
It has also
been popularly known as “Quasimodo Sunday”(my personal favorite,
hence the title), after the first words of the Entrance Antiphon, or
Introit: “Quasi modo geniti infantes, alleluia ...” (“Like
newborn infants, alleluia ...”)
In the
Eastern churches, it is known as “Thomas Sunday” as the same
gospel is read, that of our Lord showing himself to the doubting apostle
Thomas.
Since 2000,
by decree of the late Pope Saint John Paul II, it is also known in the
universal Roman calendar as Divine Mercy Sunday, "the
culmination of the novena to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, a devotion given to St
Faustina (Mary Faustina Kowalska) and is based upon an entry in her diary
stating that anyone who participates in the Mass and receives the sacraments of
Confession and the Eucharist on this day is assured by Jesus of full remission
of their sins." (fromWikipedia)
(I already thought Confession did that anyway. This is what I get for using Wikipedia for the short version.)
(I already thought Confession did that anyway. This is what I get for using Wikipedia for the short version.)
April 25 - St. Mark's Day
St. Mark, a cousin of
Barnabas, accompanied St. Paul on his first missionary journey and later went
with him to Rome.
He was a disciple of St.
Peter whose teaching was the basis for Mark's Gospel.
Mark is said to be the
founder of the Church in Alexandria.
He was martyred in 68 A.D.
by having his body dragged by a horse through the streets of Alexandria for 2
days!
St. Mark - Pray for Us
WARNING --NEW GAS (E15) COMING TO STATIONS -- Don't use it
Watch
video about E15 gas if you have a car older than 2012
OR WATCH ON YOUTUBE
(recommended)
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THIS - SEND IT OUT TO YOUR LIST.
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TV ad from when we were kids. You'll
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