Reflection
..intellectu conspicere
imitatione complere..
LH III:1167
This attractive reflection comes from the Oratio of the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church. Every one of these words is nutrient-rich in the classic composition, and concentration of this liturgical element.
Catalan Turron
The dessert for my dinner was apricot, date, and Catalan Turron, a sort of gastronomical expression of the riches of the Mediæval Doctor's gifts. I am wiser of Saint Thomas' gifts because of the late Reverend Professor Father James McEvoy. Two books of collected essays co-edited by Father James I own:
Thomas Aquinas: Teacher and Scholar (The Aquinas Maynooth Lectures volume 2, 2002-2010)
and
The Irish Contribution to European Scholastic Thought 2009
Mediæval Richness
Father James McEvoy so reflected Scholastic Richness in its most humble and fullest. Rightly, in the foreword to The Irish Contribution to European Scholastic Thought, HE Cardinal Daly made stern observation of a creeping market mentality toward University funding. (My Mediæval Studies' Journal f18, f19)
Lo bello es difícil
Professor Emilio Lledó wrote a magisterial essay on this topic La belleza de la escultura in El Pais Semanal Domingo 18 de enero de 2009 (My Mediæval Studies' Journal f.04, f11). European Scholastic thought in so many ways had a beauty not dissimilar to that of sculpture: vital, polychrome, rich in its spirituality, dispersed through all the Schools, and latterly, Universities, about the major Archdioeses of Europe.
Hipster Briefs
Not irreverently, the analogy of the modern palette and cut of hipster briefs for men, and the intellectual polychrome of Saint Thomas' day suggested itself. After buying myself a collection of new underwear and marveling at the fabric pigment, and anatomic modulation of the cut of the hipster briefs, I studied the ethno-sociological aspects of this garment and its evolution since the mid-nineties. This extra-compass of my interest must add new material to the knowledge graph of my web providers, as the personalised advertisements hinted at during this study.
There is ample material for a full dissertation. But to continue my analogy, there is a frisson of playfulness, and masculine vibrancy in these garments, and in their designers' many expressions and inventiveness, just as there is in the emporia of Scholastic Intellectual riches. Something for every taste, and mood. Really!
The Last of Catalan Turron
The fine food purveyor said to me that's the last of the Catalan Turron!
Why, didn't it prove popular, its my favourite? I enquired.
No, its just that you have to buy it in such an enormous block.
Did the christianising Spanish take with them Catalan Turron when they landed in Ireland, and so sweetened the ensuing wholesomeness of the Jewel of the North's contribution to European Scholastic thought? Who can say.
Like the accretion of a beautiful pearl, the Irish Pastors invested a unique spiritual intellectual magic in the patrimony of Europe. No fine layer chromatography can now separate the ingredients of this, for it is part of the mystery hinted at by Mr Hugh O'Neill's personal tribute to Father James
Above all, he was a priest of the Diocese of Down and Connor.
..intellectu conspicere
imitatione complere..
Grateful Acknowledgement
Liturgia Horarum
El Pais Semanal Domingo 18 de enero de 2009
Thomas Aquinas: Preacher and Scholar McEvoy, J; Dunne, M; Hynes, J Editors
The Irish Contribution to European Scholastic Thought 2009 McEvoy, J; & Dunne, M Editors
Photographs
Fuji X-100 macro setting Provia film simulation Catalan Turron, Apricot and Date Dessert
Fuji X-E1 macro setting Provia film simulation Hipster Briefs