The reasons for this series are explained here. This "installment" comments about a prayer noted by Domenico Bettinelli and Dale Price, a prayer which appered as an endorsed devotion on the web page of the Archdiocese of San Franciso:
We greet you Spirit of the North.The pagan nature of this "devotion" has already been described by Dale Price and Dom Bettinelli. I'd like to briefly note some other aspects of this item which have occurred to me. Before that, however, I'd like to point out that the Archdiocese, realizing its devotion to the Great Earth Mother has been noticed, has now put up a fake version of the prayer -- without disclosing that it's been changed from the original pagan version.[**]
Teach us to plant our feet securely on the earth and to see things as they really are, that the coming of your Spirit may find us standing firm in integrity. Teach us, Spirit of the North, in the solitude of winter, to wait in darkness with the sleeping earth, believing that we, like the earth, already hold within ourselves the seeds of new life.
ALL: May the deep peace of mercy be on us forgiving us, beckoning us, encouraging us; and may our readiness to forgive calm the fears.
We greet you, O Spirit of the East.
Awaken in us with each day, new hopes, new dreams of colors, loves and joys never before imagined. Fill our bodies with your breath, invigorate us. Carry us to the farthest mountains and beyond. In-spirit us that we might reach out to you boldly to grasp the miracles that are given birth with each new dawn.
ALL: May the deep peace of compassion be on us holding us close when we are weary, hurt and alone; and may we be the warm hands and warm eyes of compassion when people reach out to us in need.
We greet you Spirit of the South.
You bring the winds of summer and breathe on us the warmth of the sun to sooth [sic] and heal our bodies and our spirits. Quicken us, draw us by the urgings of your warm breath to break through the soil of our own barrenness and fear. Teach us to hold sacred the memory of the spring rains that we might have the strength to withstand the heat of the day, and not become parched and narrow in our love. Lead us to accept fatigue with resignation, knowing that life is not to be rushed, that there is no flower of the field that grows from seed to blossom in a single day.
All: May the deep peace of gentleness be on us caressing us with sunlight, rain and wind; may tenderness shine through us to warm all who are hurt and lonely.
We greet you Spirit of the West.
Cool our hot and tired bodies, refresh and bring laughter to our hearts. It is you who usher in the setting sun. Guide our steps at the end of day; keep us safe from evil. Fill us with your peace as you enfold us with your great mystery of night that we might rest securely In your arms until morning call us forth again.
ALL: May the deep blessing of peace be on us stilling our hearts that have fear and doubt and confusion within them; and may peace cover us and all those who are troubled and anxious. May we be peacemakers.
We greet you, Great Spirit of the Earth.
It was from you we came as from a Mother; you nourish us still and give us shelter. Teach us to walk softly on your lands, to use with care your gifts, to love with tenderness all our brothers and sisters who have been born of your goodness. And when the day comes when you call us back to yourself, help us to return to you as a friend, to find ourselves embraced, encircled and enfolded in your arms.
ALL: May the deep peace of community arise from within us, drawing us ever nearer, speaking to us of unity, true community where distinctions of persons is also oneness in being.
I want to write a bit about how ridiculous this devotion is, even by pagan standards. This "devotion" is not about anything real. Its sophomoric use of bucolic imagery is not addressed to a person. Its Hallmark-card sniffling does not even acknowledge the possibility of real healing and justice. The "prayer" is, to paraphrase Shakespeare, a tale told by an idiot, full of saccharine and weakness, signifying nothing. Compare it with Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus:
I'd take Cleanthes' Zeus over the Archdiocese's soulfully-sighing, soft-touching, warm-feeling earth-spirit any day. So would most people. Because life is hard. It needs a god who can rule it, bring justice from evil and order from chaos. Because man is noble. He needs a god who can match his thirst for peace, goodness, and truth. I'd lay a good wager that Cleanthes' soul will benefit more from God's "winking"[***] than author who penned this "devotion" or the Archdiocesan functionaries who urged men to pray it. I think it's really quite impossible to drive people away from Christianity properly described and devoutly practiced; the religion which proclaims "the Glory of God is man fully alive" is too powerful an antidote to evil, too congenial to human nobility, to give much cause for dissatisfaction. But I think it's quite easy to drive people away from the Church with burbling, nonsensical, wiccan chic that answers to nothing in the human condition save man's unending capacity for the banal.Most glorious of the Immortals, many named, Almighty forever.
Zeus, ruler of Nature, that governest all things with law.
Hail! for lawful it is that all mortals should address Thee.
For we are Thy offspring, taking the image only of Thy voice,
as many mortal things as live and move upon the earth.
Therefore I will hymn Thee, and sing Thy might forever.
For Thee doth all this universe that circles round the earth obey, moving
whithtersoever Thou leadest, and is gladly swayed by Thee.
Such a minister hast Thou in Thine invincible hands;
-the two-edged blazing, imperishable thunderbolt.
For under its stroke all Nature shuddereth,
and by it thou guidest aright the Universal Reason,
that roams throught all things,
mingling itself with the greater and the lesser lights,
till it have grown so great, and become supreme king over all.
Nor is aught done on the earth without Thee, O God,
nor in the divine sphere of the heavens, not in the sea,
Save the works that eveil men do in their folly -
Yea, but Thou knowest even to find a place for the superfluous things,
and to order that which is disorderly, and things not dear to men are dear to Thee.
Thus dost Thou harmonize into One all good and evil things, that there should be one
everlasting Reason of them all.
And this the evil among mortal men avoid and heed not;
wretched ever desiring to possess the good, yet they nei'er see nor hear the universal law of God,
which obeying with all their heart, their life would be well.
But they rush graceless each to his aim,
Some cherish lust for fame, the nurse of evil strife,
Some bent on monstrous gain,
Some turned to folly and the sweet works of the flesh,
Hastening, indeed, to bring the very contrary of these things to pass.
But Thou, O Zeus, the All-giver, Dweller in the darkeness of cloud,
Lord of thunder, save Thou men from their unhappy folly,
Which do Thou, O Father, scatter from their souls; and give them discover the wisdom,
in whose assurance Thou governest all things with justice;
So that being honored, they may pay Thee honor,
Hymning Thy works continually, as it beseems a mortal man.
Since there can be no greater glory for men of Gods than this,
Duly to praise forever the Universl Law.
The Archbishop's spokesperson has told at least one concerned Catholic[****] that the Great Earth Mother prayer is a grand thing because it "was part of an apology ceremony - planned largely by local victims of clergy sexual abuse - in which the Archdiocese of San Francisco was a participant. An apology to clergy abuse victims for the pain and suffering caused to them by ministers of the Church was delivered by the Archbishop. The planners felt that because many of the abuse victims are alienated from the Catholic Church, the text was appropriate." In other words, because the Archdiocese's priests have made faith in Christ appear odious it behooves the Archdiocese to publicly relinquish Him in favor of the Great Earth Mother as a token of the Church's good will. It once read as a condemnation, but for the Archdiocese it now sounds more like an epitaph:
And yet a hackneyed reproach of old date is leveled against her, that the Church is opposed to the rightful aims of the civil government, and is wholly unable to afford help in spreading that welfare and progress which justly and naturally are sought after by every well-regulated State. From the very beginning Christians were harassed by slanderous accusations of this nature, and on that account were held up to hatred and execration, for being (so they were called) enemies of the Empire.Now that we've figuratively burned some incense on Caesar's altar, does anyone think they'll take us back? Does anyone hope for it? Apparently so.-- Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, P. 2 (1885)
We greet you, Great Spirit of the Earth. It was from you we came as from a Mother; you nourish us still and give us shelter. Teach us to walk softly on your lands, to use with care your gifts, to love with tenderness all our brothers and sisters who have been born of your goodness. And when the day comes when you call us back to yourself, help us to return to you as a friend, to find ourselves embraced, encircled and enfolded in your arms.I've sinned. In fact in God's eyes I'm no better than Kos, Shanley, or the rest of them. We all need a Redeemer. But His name is Jesus Christ, not Gaia, and the wind which blowed on Pentecost day was not God, it was only evidence of His greatness. We can all sin, do all sin, and stand judged. That is the human condition. And it is not the point here. The point is that if any of us -- sinners and victims alike -- abandon God's name, we cannot hope for more than His judgment. Prayers to the Great Earth Mother and her Wind Spirits are harbingers of despair for all of us, perpetrators and victims alike.
As is typical of chancery responses to inquiries about theological malfeasance, at least one person[****] was advised to stop insisting on Christianity and try instead to become a better person: Finally, I hope that there are more important things in this life to which you could give your attention and energy — perhaps following the Holy Father's message to welcome the immigrant; or volunteering at a soup kitchen; or some other good Christian acts of charity. Apparently someone's not been keeping up with his or her National Catholic Reporter reading:
The gospels suggest that there was only one type of person for whom Jesus expressed moral repugnance and even contempt: the self-righteous who condemned others from a position of ecclesiastical power. We are not even told that the publican praying in the temple who begged, "God have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13) made a firm purpose of amendment or reformed, but we are told that he went down to his house justified, while the Pharisee who thanked God that he was more righteous than the publican did not. Jesus castigates the whitened sepulchers (Matthew 23:27-28), those who bind heavy moral burdens for others to carry, who keep the minutest regulations of the Law while driving their neighbors to self-hatred and despair of God's goodness, who marginalize and exclude from the table those they judge unworthy (Luke 6:41-42), their elaborate defenses against the moral gnats as they swallow the camel of religious abuse of the downtrodden (Matthew 23:24).When a sinner [****] suggests to an Archbishop's staff that Christianity is not about Great Earth Mothers, Wind Spirits, and the like, he is met by an accuser of the brethren who calls him out for having a cold heart, a dead soul, and a fixation on little things which ill-behooves a man aspiring to the beatitudes. I don't think the lesson applies as broadly as Sandra Schneider, the Immaculate Heart sister who wrote the above article, probably thinks it does. But it certainly must apply here, unless it really doesn't apply at all.
I wonder if the Archdiocese's catechism program is clearly teaching the idea that fixating on large doctrinal issues is an impediment to the good work Christians can do in soup kitchens. Apparently so, because there are quite a lot of San Francisco Catholics who have fallen for the heresy of believing that their efforts in the faith go beyond potato-peeling. Some have taken up the Archdiocese's own cries for a worldwide ban on landmines, massive welfare-reform legislation, and affordable housing. Others are helping the Archdiocese advocate "an equitable and fair partnership between consumers in North American and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean." Why aren't those Catholics told to shut up and get back in the soup kitchen? Surely members of the Archbishop's staff, like the one whose reply I'm quoting,[****] must be very worried about the spiritual health of all those Catholics obsessing over "big-picture" issues like landmines, poverty, and trade tariffs. No? Then I think we can take the words of the Archbishop's spokesperson for what they are -- a cruel, bullying jibe intended to shame and humiliate people who like the Trinity to figure in the public prayers of a Roman Catholic Archdiocese.
The Archbishop's spokesman also writes that the ceremony at which this prayer was used, "was not a liturgy and was not held in a church." Let me get this straight. If I want to pray to the Great Earth Mother or, for that matter, commit any other kind of sin, it's acceptable so long as I'm not doing it as part of a liturgy or inside a Church? Is it even commendable, so long as I do it to placate people who've been alienated from Catholicism? This dark text was prayed publicly and published for public use on the Archdiocese's main website, which is itself published under the Archbishop's approval. If -- as the Archdiocese's social-justice website never tires of reminding us -- our Catholicism should inform our social actions with respect to landmines, health-care legislation, and 20% discount cards for fuel purchased by low-income Californians, doesn't that imply that Catholicism is not a "Sunday Christianity" confined to "liturgy" and parish buildings? And if that's the case, what difference does it make whether a Wiccan prayer is offered by the Diocese on its website or on its altars? You can't eat your Gaia cake (see Jeremiah 44:19) and have it. Either Catholicism applies across the board, in church and out, or it doesn't apply at all. But it does, you see. And that's why the folks who like to induce these embolisms into the Body of Christ will not prevail.
God will help Archbishop Levada. He already has. I refer to the fact that, once the Wiccan prayer was noticed, persons in the Archdiocese felt constrained to censor themselves and remove mention of their deity, transforming the prayer into the kind of ICEL-ized mush we've come to expect from the orthodox-but-befuddled Church. In the end it was, I submit, they who apostasized, abandoning witness to their Wind Spirits and their Earth Mother once the facts became known among people who cared about the difference between Ebal and Gerizim. Yes, the weevils are still there. They still want the decay their prayer would bring upon all of us. But they have a Roman Catholic Archbishop who, even if he were not devout and orthodox, can at least realize that once we've embraced Gaia and the Wind Spirits we'll have no need for bishops. The site's resources on prayer still recommend Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection, and The Dark Night of the Soul. And Catholics in San Franciso and elsewhere still love Jesus Christ and keep the faith He entrusted to His apostles. In this little, but significant, affair, the light has shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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[**] Since I read this two days ago, the text has been altered to omit the Archdiocesan prayers to the Spirits of the South, East, and West Winds and to the Great Earth Mother. The Bowdlerized, for-public-consumption-now-that-we've-been-noticed devotion reads as follows:
Teach us to plant our feet securely on the earth and to see things as they really are, that the coming of your Spirit may find us standing firm in integrity. Teach us, in the solitude of winter, to wait in darkness with the sleeping earth, believing that we, like the earth, already hold within ourselves the seeds of new life.Fortunately for people who are interested in truth, the original version of the prayer has been captured by the Internet Archive. I say the present display is a "fake" version, because it was not read at any ceremony nor used anywhere until recently, when people began contacting the Archdiocese to ask why the Great Earth Mother isn't in the Nicene Creed.
ALL: May the deep peace of mercy be on us forgiving us, beckoning us, encouraging us; and may our readiness to forgive calm the fears.
Awaken in us with each day, new hopes, new dreams of colors, loves and joys never before imagined. Fill our bodies with your breath, invigorate us. Carry us to the farthest mountains and beyond. In-spirit us that we might reach out to you boldly to grasp the miracles that are given birth with each new dawn.
ALL: May the deep peace of compassion be on us holding us close when we are weary, hurt and alone; and may we be the warm hands and warm eyes of compassion when people reach out to us in need.
You bring the winds of summer and breathe on us the warmth of the sun to sooth and heal our bodies and our spirits. Quicken us, draw us by the urgings of your warm breath to break through the soil of our own barrenness and fear. Teach us to hold the memory of the spring rains that we might have the strength to withstand the heat of the day, and not become parched and narrow in our love. Lead us to accept fatigue with resignation, knowing that life is not to be rushed, that there is no flower of the field that grows from seed to blossom in a single day.
All: May the deep peace of gentleness be on us caressing us with sunlight, rain and wind; may tenderness shine through us to warm all who are hurt and lonely.
Cool our hot and tired bodies, refresh and bring laughter to our hearts. It is you who usher in the setting sun. Guide our steps at the end of day; keep us safe from evil. Fill us with your peace as you enfold us with your great mystery of night that we might rest securely In your arms until morning call us forth again.
ALL: May the deep blessing of peace be on us stilling our hearts that have fear and doubt and confusion within them; and may peace cover us and all those who are troubled and anxious. May we be peacemakers.
It was from you we came; you nourish us still and give us shelter. Teach us to walk softly on your lands, to use with care your gifts, to love with tenderness all our brothers and sisters who have been born of your goodness. And when the day comes when you call us back to yourself, help us to return to you as a friend, to find ourselves embraced, encircled and enfolded in your arms.
ALL: May the deep peace of community arise from within us, drawing us ever nearer, speaking to us of unity, true community where distinctions of persons is also oneness in being.
[***] "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands . . . And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: . . . And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:22-24, 26-27, 30-31 (KJV)
[****] Originally assumed to be Dom Bettinelli. He's since clarified the matter, and so corrections were made at the points where he was originally mentioned.
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