Some Disturbing [Preconciliar] Catholic Art:
Bad News About Christianity has some excellent posts about Christianity’s obsession with death. We have ‘[Christianity and] Necrophilia’, for example. Bad News About Christianity’s post: ‘[Christianity and] Sadomasochism’ is also pertinent to our discussion.
In the above image, we have the Instruments of the Passion portrayed. We have the cockerel that crowed when Peter denied him. We have the basin of water wherewith Pontius Pilate washed his hands of the death of Jesus. We have the seamless garment for which the soldiers involved in the Crucifixion threw dice. We have the torches that the soldiers used when arresting Christ in the Garden of Olives. The portrait of Christ is itself an instrument of the passion; it is Veronica’s veil containing the miraculous imprint of the Holy Face of Jesus.
The Latin captions that go along with this image are interesting:
‘Respice mē! Mē conde animō! Mē pectore servā!’
‘Arma vidēs: hīs mortem peccāta daemōna vīcī.’
‘Haec animō memorī sacra trophaea tenē!’
I would idiomatically translate the above Latin captions into Biblical English as:
‘Look thou at me! Bury thou me in thine heart! Serve thou me with thy soul!’
‘Thou seest the weapons: with these I conquered sin [and] the Devil.’
‘Keep thou these sacred trophies[, mementos of the defeats suffered by death and the Devil by means of my Passion,] in mind!’
I would idiomatically translate the above Latin captions into Modern English as:
‘Look at me! Bury me in your heart! Serve me with your soul!’
‘You see the weapons: with these I conquered sin [and] the Devil.’
‘Keep these sacred trophies[, mementos of the defeats suffered by death and the Devil by means of my Passion,] in mind!’
