Remember Jesus of Nazareth, staggering on broken feet out of the tomb toward the Resurrection, bearing on his body the proud insignia of the defeat which is victory, the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God.
– Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
In Latin...
- νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ·
- ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου,
- ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
- φῶς εἰς αποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ.
And in the English of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer...
- Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
- Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
- Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
- Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
The prayer, known as the 'Nunc Dimittis', became part of the night time office of the Christian church called Compline, or Evening Prayer, and many composers have written settings for the 'Nunc Dimittis' from Thomas Tallis to Arvo Part. (You can click on the composers' names to link to recording of their versions.)
- Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
- For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
- Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
- To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
In popular culture, the 'Nunc Dimittis' will be forever associated with the closing titles of the 1979 BBC TV dramatisation of John le Carré's spy novel, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in a setting by the late Geoffrey Burgon (responsible for another magnificent television score accompanying Brideshead Revisited).
The picture is full of symbolism – such as the basket of bread (representing the Eucharist) hanging above the head of the Christ Child or the cross-shaped gift held by the King on the right, but what immediately caught my attention was the diminutive figure in the bottom left hand corner of the picture?Joseph, the Virgin's husband who had not yet been canonized... was taken to typify the poor among the more distinguished personages of the Bible. In scenes of the Adoration of the Magi he is definitely depicted as the symbol of poverty... shown plying his craft as a carpenter or as the modest and diligent father of Jesus, doing household tasks, hanging up napkins to dry or cooking soup....Personally, I'm with those who see in the image something less mocking and a reminder that this painting was made in an age when poverty and humility were regarded as virtues: I see Joseph as the practical provider of his little family.
These pictures do not always evince a sympathy for poor people. Sometimes Joseph is mockingly ridiculed. In the Ortenberg Altarpiece, for example, the shabbily dressed, tiny figure is so fully engrossed in stirring the soup with a spoon he is grasping with both his hands, that he does not notice the presence of the Magi.
It's well known that cleanliness is up there next to Godliness, but Roisin McCourt wasn't expecting Jesus to pop out of her washing machine load.
Dance teacher Ms McCourt was shocked when she saw the unusual brown stain, which shows what seem to be the facial features of a long-haired, bearded man.
Ms McCourt, 31, has since been mobbed with requests from believers wishing to make a pilgrimage to see the holy imprint.
The Coventry resident said: 'When I took it out I could not believe it. I could see it was Jesus straightaway. I took it to my husband and he agreed with me.
'I don't even know what the stain was made from I had not seen it before I had put it in the washing.
She believes that she has received a sign from God after receiving the surprise.She said: 'I am Catholic but I am not extremely religious we don't go to mass every weekend but after finding this it has definitely made my faith stronger.'
Some of Ms McCourt's friends have said the image on the towel looks more like Elvis, but Ms McCourt is not convinced.'I know some people will think it's crazy and I feel a bit silly saying it but I really believe that it is his face.'
'The strange thing is that I have started receiving calls from people asking me if they can come and see the tea towel.
'You never know, it could be Coventry's answer to the Turin Shroud,' she added.Another resident from Coventry, Alex Cotton, last year claimed to see Jesus face on her drainpipe.
We all know that the Lord likes to make his presence felt, be it on a naan bread, in a chip pan or even on Google maps, but now it seems he's taken to the drainpipes of suburbia as well.
Nurse Alex Cotton, 38, returned home from a football match with friends when the holy son decided to make his entrance. While chatting in the garden, eagle-eyed Cotton noticed the mysterious smudge, noticing that ‘It’s got his crown of thorns and beard,’.
We're not entirely sure it's the son of God (it's not), but talk to us after an afternoon's drinking while watching the football and we may well change our minds.
Cotton has even invited the Pope to visit the scene of Jesus' latest apparition, though we imagine his holiness will probably give this one a miss on his next tour of the UK.
Then, just a few days back, there was Jesus in (or on) a log.And they are not alone, Mrs Robertson.
However, someone who probably won't be laughing (apart from the Pope that is) is Mitchell Grainger, 25, who spotted the Good Lord in a photo of his pet chicken taking a dust bath. A well-known organ of the press (yep, them again) reported Mr Grainger's astonishment at the revelation:
'I literally said ‘Jesus Christ’ when I saw the picture. The face of Jesus is clear to see and when I showed my mom she even pointed out the ring of thorns.'
Gloria, of Rowley Regis, West Midlands, obviously has someone watching over her, after miraculously escaping a vicious fox attack.
'It is strange that it would appear on Gloria because not long ago she was the only chicken out of 20 that wasn’t killed by a fox. She was standing on the step when he came and miraculously wasn’t touched' Grainger added.
'That's why we called her Gloria, after Gloria Gaynor's song 'I Will Survive.'
I confess, on this Palm Sunday, that I believe that the person of Jesus is, in a mystical sense, alive and abroad in our world, infusing and informing the cultural history of mankind.
Thanks to the Metro, I now also believe that quite a lot of people are amazingly stupid and gullible and that newspapers are utterly shameless in their devotion to such attributes!
Mrs Allen said her 14-year-old son Jamie had also remarked on the likeness. She told the South Wales Echo: "Straight away Jamie said 'that looks like God', and my other boys (Robbie, four, and Tomas, 11) even said they could see a face. People might think I'm nuts, but I like to think it's Jesus looking out for us. We've had a tough couple of months; my mum's been really ill and it's comforting to think that if he is there, he's watching over us."
