July 24-25
Beginning the week before, on Sunday, July 18, video presentations by Dr. Kathryn Barush, Fr. Brendan McAnery, OP, and the School of the Madeleine students will be available on the website. Links to these videos will be on this page.
The weekend begins with a three-part presentation on Zoom. At 9:15AM, Dr. Kathryn Barush’s video talk will be shown, followed by a short break.
The video is available for viewing on our website and Dr. Barush provides a brief introduction:
A Song from a Saint: A Pilgrimage through Art and Music for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen
Once upon a time in medieval England, St. Mary Magdalen appeared with the Blessed Virgin Mary to give a pious hermit, St. Godric of Finchale, a song to sing in times of need, to bring him joy and protection. It is the oldest song in English vernacular, recorded in a manuscript during Godric’s lifetime, and continues to be sung on Marian pilgrimages today. This lecture integrates both song and image to explore the idea of sacred music as a relic and souvenir from the middle ages to today.
At 10:00AM the Zoom continues, Fr. Chris Renz, OP will give a response followed by a question and answer period in which both Dr. Kathryn and Fr. Chris will take questions.
At 2:15PM, Saturday afternoon, the process repeats with a three-part presentation on Zoom of Fr. Brendan McAnerney’s video, The Iconography of Mary Magdalen. This video is available on Facebook, and YouTube.
Fr. Brendan writes:
“St. Mary Magdalene, the first to preach the Risen Christ to the Apostles, has always been a principal saint in the Christian panoply of revered persons. She is a patroness of the Dominican Order, Order of Preachers, and continues to be a model of the active feminine in the contemporary Church.”
“Her artistic depiction in the West, and in the venerable tradition of holy icons in the East, display the divergent pious traditions that define her person and her place in the two historical conventions. The East maintained the Scripturally based and the minimally extended story of the Magdalene as one out of whom Jesus casts seven devils, who then becomes one of his devoted followers, and one of the Myrrh Bearers at his tomb. In the West she was conflated with the unnamed repentant harlot in the Gospel of Luke, and with another repentant harlot, Mary of Egypt, a principal but entirely different Mary venerated in the Eastern Church. Add to the western mixture the 1260 popular legendary the Golden Legend” and one has a recipe for a proper tangle.”
“In this brief presentation we explore the person of St. Mary Magdalene as depicted in the traditions of Western art and the sacred craft of iconography in the Byzantine-Orthodox East and attempt to sort out the major components of the Magdalene’s history and legend.”
You can learn more about the Saints and Iconography in Fr. Brendan’s book Art & Spirituality of Holy Icons, available on Amazon.
At 3:00PM the Zoom continues with a response followed by a question and answer period. At the 5:30PM Mass (livestreamed), Dr. Gina Hens-Piazza will offer the reflection at Mass. A video greeting from our Sister parish in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, Parroquia Santa María de Guadalupe will be shown as well.
The Mass will be followed by a Happy Hour in Rengel Plaza.
The festival continues on Sunday, July 25 at the 9:00AM Mass with Andy Canepa and a small ensemble to provide music written in honor of Mary Magdalen with Dr. Gina Hens Piazza. A video greeting from our Sister parish in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, Parroquia Santa María de Guadalupe will be shown as well. The 11:00AM Mass will proceed as usual with Dr. Gina Hens-Piazza, followed by a Cookout in the church parking lot and possibly a labyrinth activity for the children. Enjoy a School of the Madeleine Labyrinth video. The festival concludes with an Icon Art exhibit by Justin Zolli at the Blackfriars Gallery at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at 2:00PM.
