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11:32am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: PAHA publishes article on the PNCC http://tinyurl.com/da6soj
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11:32am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: PAHA publishes article on the PNCC http://tinyurl.com/da6soj.
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11:58am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Year of Grotowski in New York http://tinyurl.com/bonfha.
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11:58am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Year of Grotowski in New York http://tinyurl.com/bonfha
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12:22pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: There’s a lot we can learn from the Reformed Churches http://tinyurl.com/arov7y
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12:22pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: There’s a lot we can learn from the Reformed Churches http://tinyurl.com/arov7y.
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2:05pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Reaching the manifested God in the intellectual sphere http://tinyurl.com/dfmgcm
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2:06pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Reaching the manifested God in the intellectual sphere http://tinyurl.com/dfmgcm.
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4:34pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Of note http://tinyurl.com/czwkf3
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4:34pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Of note http://tinyurl.com/czwkf3.
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6:27pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
Re-living my grandfather’s favorite cocktail – an Old Fashioned.
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6:27pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim Re-living my grandfather’s favorite cocktail – an Old Fashioned.
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10:45pm |
Scrobbled 16 songs on Last.fm. (Show Details)
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2:28am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) http://tinyurl.com/dn6fhq
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2:28am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) http://tinyurl.com/dn6fhq.
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2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Juliusz Słowacki and the 160th anniversary of his death.
Tadeusz Łomnicki, the end of Kordian’s monologue from Act II, in a 1956 production of Kordian.
Spojrzałem ze skały szczytu,
Duch rycerza powstał z lodów…
Winkelried dzidy wrogów zebrał i w pierś włożył,
Ludy! Winkelried ożył!
Polska Winkelriedem narodów!
Poświęci się, choć padnie jak dawniéj! jak nieraz!
Nieście mię, chmury! nieście, wiatry! nieście, ptacy!
I looked up from the summit,
The spirit of the knight was locked in ice…
Winkelried gathered enemy spears and put them to his breast,
People! Winkelried has risen!
Poland, the Winkelried of nations!
Sacrifice yourself, come fall as before! as often!
Bear me, cloud! wind! bird!
Translation by Dcn. Jim
KORDIAN, written after the failed Polish uprising of 1830-31, and published in 1833, is a metaphysical and political myth-drama. The play unfolds in this world and beyond, real protagonists appearing side by side with symbolic ones. The central theme is the failure of the November Uprising. Słowacki succeeded by creating Kordian, the story’s protagonist, as an interesting Romantic hero — an individualist disappointed with the world, a revolutionary implicated in a tragic conflict of values.
In “Preparation” forces from hell create and send the leaders of the uprising to Poland. In Act I Kordian experiences an unhappy love affair. In Act II his travels leave him disappointed with contemporary Europe. In the monologue which culminates the act he transforms into a political activist, fighter for the national cause. Act III, set on the eve of the uprising, presents Kordian’s conflict and ethical dilemma as to ‘crime for a cause’ and the morality of bloodshed. Abandoned by other conspirators, Kordian intends to assassinate tsar Nicholas, just crowned the king of Poland. However, he is overcome by the sprits Fear and Imagination, and proves unable to commit the bloody act. Sentenced to death for an attempted coup, he is later saved.
From Niedziela, the Polish (Roman) Catholic Weekly: Patrons of scientists and intellectuals by the Rev. Ireneusz Skubis
We are approaching the Feast of the Epiphany, popularly known as the feast of Three Kings. It is a reminder of the mystery of God’s manifestation to the Gentiles. The Magi from the East arrive in Jerusalem, seeking the newborn Babe whom they call the King. It makes the royal environment upset and even terrified. We learn from the Gospel passage that King Herod was very upset hearing the news and that he took some actions to annihilate the newly born Infant: many children who were born then were killed and this event was passed down as the slaughter of the Innocents. The Three Wise Men – Kings followed a star that announced them an extraordinary event —“ birth of Someone Great. The Jewish world was expecting the promised Messiah, Price of Peace. The Magi understand that the Newly Born is not the Messiah for one nation, the Jews, but he is the Saviour of the world. They foresee that his coming will concern all mankind and is the most important event in the history of the world. Since God foretold and promised to send the Redeemer to order the history of the world and to bring people to salvation.
This beautiful Gospel story was interwoven with a rich tradition. How many artistic works: paintings, literary [sic] and theatrical works, have been performed by outstanding artists, trying to deepen this meaning of this event. The Eastern Church experiences the mystery of God’s manifestation to the Gentiles in a very profound way. We must realise that we belong to this group of mankind that experiences the feast of the meeting of the Magi from the East with the newly born King as their own feast. The Polish culture carries some features of the presence of this feast in its whole national history. Because of the character of this feast and the reflections that accompany the search of those who would like to reach the manifested God in the intellectual sphere, it can be described as the patron feast of philosophers, scientists and intellectuals…
Unfortunately, the rest of the article descends into a political appeal, urging that the Epiphany be reinstated as a national holiday in Poland (something that failed muster in the Sejm). It is too bad really. Rev. Skubis had a good start here. He could have reflected (more deeply) on the man-made conflicts between intellectualism, the arts, science and God. He could have developed this into a meaningful appeal, reconnecting the West to its intellectual history, describing the Magi as mentors for today’s intellectuals.
This is one of the persistent sins in the Roman Catholic Church in post-communist Poland, its involvement politics over faith, rather than faith as the path that supports the good and opposes evil.
From Kosciol.pl: Abp Gołębiewski: wiele możemy się nauczyć od Kościołów reformowanych (Archbishop Gołębiewski: There is much to be learned from the Reformed Churches).
Od protestantów możemy się nauczyć większego szacunku dla Słowa Bożego —“ powiedział metropolita wrocławski (We have the opportunity to learn great regard for the Word of God from the Protestant Churches says the Metropolitan of Wrocław)
Unfortunately, the article is only available in the Polish language. The translations provided above are mine. More on Archbishop Gołębiewski
As I’ve noted in previous posts, the Roman Church held a Synod on the Word of God this past October. Let’s pray that the Roman Church follows the PNCC in elevating the hearing of and teaching on the Word of God to sacramental status.
The Polish Cultural Institute and the Performance Studies Department of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University are presenting Tracing Grotowski’s Path: Year of Grotowski in New York starting February 6 and continuing through July 13, 2009. The program is curated by Professor Richard Schechner.
Tracing Grotowski’s Path: Year of Grotowski in New York celebrates the work and legacy of world-renowned Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski.
Considered one of the most important and influential theatre practitioners of the 20th century, Grotowski revolutionized contemporary theatre in a number of ways. Beginning in 1959 with his early experiments and productions in the Polish town of Opole and subsequently with the Polish Laboratory Theatre in Wrocław, Grotowski changed the way Western theatre practitioners and performance theorists conceive of the audience/actor relationship, theatre staging, and the craft of acting. UNESCO has designated 2009 as —The Year of Grotowski— —“ 50 years after the founding of the Polish Laboratory Theatre and 10 after the death of the world-renowned Polish theatre director,
The opening program: The Theatre of Thirteen Rows (1959) and the Frotowski Institute in Wrocław (2009) will take place on Friday, February 6, 2009, 7:30pm at the Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, New York, NY
This event brings together former literary director and co-founder of the Theatre of Thirteen Rows (later the Polish Laboratory Theatre), Ludwik Flaszen and the current directing team of the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, Poland: Jarosław Fret and Grzegorz Ziolkowski. What brought the Polish Laboratory Theatre into existence? What was the Polish theatre scene like in those days of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain? What is the current work of the Grotowski Institute? How is the Institute preserving, researching, and using Grotowski’s archives and his Polish heritage? The panel discussion, moderated by Richard Schechner, will be preceded by a screening of a film on Jerzy Grotowski. The event will conclude at 11:00 PM.
The Autumn 2008 issue of Polish American Studies, the semi-annual periodical of the Polish American Historical Association (PAHA) has just been published. The journal features an article on the PNCC —“ —The Role of Polish and American Identities in the Future of the PNCC— by Jeffrey M. Jozefski.
The issue is available from Polish American Historical Association, Central Connecticut State University, 1615 Stanley St., New Britain, CT 06050.
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9:08am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: January 30 – Song XXIV by Jan Kochanowski http://tinyurl.com/cnh2om
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9:08am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: January 30 – Song XXIV by Jan Kochanowski http://tinyurl.com/cnh2om.
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I hear the clock striking,
Away, profound mourning.
Staidness is for the day,
Eve and night to be gay.We are fools in God’s eyes,
Though among men blameless,
And the more we labor,
The greater our error.If one tried on this earth
To find out what takes place,
This truth I likely think,
Man is but God’s plaything.High places and stations
Are mere deviations,
Death treats us all the same,
Power can’t much reclaim.
Nothing is more piteous
Than a man covetous,
He reaps for another,
While suffering hunger.And so if all youngsters
Were just like their fathers,
For years because of that
The world would turn to beg.But God found the answer,
What some put together,
Others quickly squandered;
The world should not be starved.Hard to rule after death;
You, father, did not err,
The son just counts his gains,
Did not inherit brains.So these groundless worries
Are the devil’s curses;
When they leave our heads,
Let them find Fokar’s chests.Bring us wine, let it flow,
And soon good cheer will grow,
Sorrow washed down with wine
Melts like snow in sunshine.
Translated by Michal J. Mikos
Zegar, słyszę, wybija,
Ustąp, melankolija!
Dosyć na dniu ma statek,
Dobrej myśli ostatek.U Boga każdy błazen,
Choć tu przymówki prazen,
A im się barziej sili,
Tym jeszcze więcej myli.A kto by chciał na świecie
Uważyć, co się plecie,
Dziwnie to prawdy blisko,
Że człek – boże igrzysko.Dygnitarstwa, urzędy,
Wszystko to jawne błędy;
Bo nas równo śmierć sadza,
Ani pomoże władza.A nad chłopa chciwego
Nie masz nic nędzniejszego;
Bo na drugiego zbiera,
A sam głodem umiera.Więc, by tacy synowie
Byli jako ojcowie,
Dawno by z tej przyczyny
Świat się jął żebraniny.Lecz temu Bóg poradził,
Bo co jeden zgromadził,
To drugi wnet rozciska;
Niech świata głód nie ściska.Po śmierci trudno rządzić;
Tyś mógł, ojcze, nie błądzić,
Syn tylko worki zliczy,
W rozumie nie dziedziczy.Przeto te troski płone
Szatanowi zlecone;
Niech, uprzątnąwszy głowę,
Mkną w skrzynię Fokarowę.A nam wina przynoście,
Z wina dobra myśl roście;
A frasunek podlany
Taje by śnieg zagrzany!
Those dutiful dogtrots down airport corridors
while gnawing at a Dunkin’ Donuts cruller,
those hotel rooms where the TV remote
waits by the bed like a suicide pistol,
those hours in the air amid white shirts
whose wearers sleep-read through thick staid thrillers,
those breakfast buffets in prairie Marriotts—”
such venues of transit grow dearer than home.The tricycle in the hall, the wife’s hasty kiss,
the dripping faucet and uncut lawn—”this is life?
No, vita thrives via the road, in the laptop
whose silky screen shimmers like a dark queen’s mirror,
in the polished shoe that signifies killer intent,
and in the solitary mission, a bumpy glide
down through the cloud cover to a single runway
at whose end a man just like you guards the Grail.
Source: Poetry (June 1999).
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12:08am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: January 29 – On the Road by John Updike http://tinyurl.com/auqp72
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12:08am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: January 29 – On the Road by John Updike http://tinyurl.com/auqp72.
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