Celebrating the Second Sunday of Lent

(L) During Lent, the altar is stripped of flowers in keeping
with the Church's penitential tradition. (R) After Mass, we
venerated the first-class relic of St. Francis of Assisi

Hear ye Him.

On the Second Sunday of Lent, we attended the traditional Latin Mass at Our Lady of Peace Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Prior to Mass, we recited the Holy Rosary, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Stations of the Cross in Latin. 

Memento mori at the feet of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Gerard

In faithful continuity, we dedicated our Sunday Rosary to the Beatification of Servant of God King Francesco II of the Two Sicilies and to the Canonization of Blessed Queen Maria Cristina di Savoia.

“Whatever is well and truly made, will be beautiful in kind because of its perfection.” ~ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Christian & Oriental Philosophy of Art

After Mass, we allowed ourselves a small reprieve from Lenten discipline and paid a long-overdue visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Asian Art Galleries. I had not returned since the death of a friend, with whom I often sat in the Astor Chinese Courtyard, listening as she waxed poetic on the works. Spanning from the 3rd millennium BC to the 21st century, the collection is among the largest and most comprehensive in the West.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, March 3rd, Feast of Beato Pietro Geremia

(L) Head of an Attendant Bodhisattva, Northern Qi dynasty (550-77), ca. 565-75, Hebei province, Northern Xiangtangshan, Central Cave, limestone with pigment. (R) Head of an Attendant Bodhisattva, Northern Qi dynasty (550-77), ca. 565-75, Hebei province, Southern Xiangtangshan, limestone with pigment

(L) Standing Bodhisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future), Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara), ca. 3rd century, schist. (R) Krishna Killing the Horse Demon, Keshi, India (Uttar Pradesh), 5th century, Gupta period, terracotta

(L) Bust of a Bodhisattva, possibly Maitreya, Pakistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, probably Loriyan Tangai monastery, ancient region of Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century, Schist. (R) Mask of Vaikuntha Vishnu, India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir), late 5th century, bronze

Head of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, Afghanistan,
probably Hadda, 5th-6th century, clay, garnet (eyes )

Wrestler's Weight with Hercules and the Nemean Lion,
Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara), 1st century, stone

Shiva Seated with Parvati, Nepal, Kathmandu Valley
Thakuri period, 11th century, copper alloy

(L) Chamunda, the Horrific Destroyer of Evil, India (Madhya Pradesh), 10th-11th century, sandstone. (R) Yoga Narasimha, Vishnu's Man-Lion Incarnation, India (Tamil Nadu), Chola period, 12th century, copper alloy

Vishnu Accompanied by Lakshmi and Sarasvati,
Bangladesh Pala period, 12th century, black phyllite

(L) Mask of the Spirit Deity Jumadi, Bhuta culture of Tulu Nadu,
coastal Karnataka, India, early 20th century, copper alloy with silver
pendants. (R) Bhairava, Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, Malla period,
16th century, gilded copper, rock crystal, paint

(L) The Goddess Durga Slaying the Demon Buffalo Mahisha, Bangladesh or
India (Bengal), Pala-Sena period, 12th century, argillite. (R) The Goddess
Durga Slaying the Demon Buffalo Mahisha, India (Himachal Pradesh,
probably Chamba Valley), 12th century, brass

Goddess Durga slaying the demon Mahisha, Pala-Sena dynasty, ca.
12th century, Bangladesh, northern Bengal, possibly Varendra
region, inscribed in proto-Bengali Gaudi script, copper alloy

(L) Goddess Durga Slaying the Buffalo Demon Mahisha, Eastern India,
Bihar, probably Gaya district, Pala period, second half of the 9th century,
black phyllite. (R) Four-Armed Durga Seated on Her Lion Vehicle,
India (probably Uttar Pradesh), 9th century, stone

(L) Tree Dryad (Shalabhanjika), India (Orissa), 12th-13th century,
ferruginous stone. (R) Celestial Beauty (Surasundari), India
(southern Rajasthan), 11th century, marble

Standing Parvati, India (Tamil Nadu), Chola period,
ca. first quarter of the 10th century, copper alloy

(L) Vasudhara, Goddess of Wealth, Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, Early Malla
period, 14th-15th century, gilt-copper alloy. (R) Tara, the Buddhist
Savior, Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, Malla period, 14th century. gilt
copper alloy with color, inlaid with semiprecious stones

Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo Demon Mahishasura, Nepal,
Kathmandu Valley, Early Malla period, 14th-15th century,
gilt-copper alloy inlaid with semiprecious stones

(L) Dharmapala Standing on a Lion, Tibet, ca. 16th century, stone with traces
of gold paint, inlaid with turquoise. (R) Hevajra and Nairatmya,
Tibet, late 12th century, brass with silver and pigment

(L) Standing Buddha, Thailand, Lan Na style, 15th century, gilt bronze. (R) Standing Crowned and Jeweled Buddha, Burma, Pagan period, 12th-13th century, wood with traces of red lacquer, gesso, and gold leaf

(L) Mandala of Chandra, God of the Moon, Nepal, Early Malla period,
late 14th-early 15th century, distemper on cloth. (R) Vaishravana,
the Guardian of Buddhism and Protector of Riches,
Tibet, 15th century, distemper on cloth

(L) Guru Dragpo, Padmasambhava's Fierce Emanation, Tibet,
18th century, distemper on cotton. (R) Vajrabhairava with His
Consort Vajravetali, Tibet, 18th century, distemper on cloth

(L) Kali, the wrathful protector (Shri Shri Kali), G. C. Dass, Kolkata,
West Bengal, ca. 1880-85, lithograph with watercolor on paper.
(R) Tara, a form of Kali (Tara Thakoorani), Kolkata, West
Bengal, early 20th century, gouache and ink on paper

(L) Kali, the wrathful protector, published by Calcutta Art Studio, Kolkata, West
Bengal, ca. 1879, chromolithograph with watercolor on paper. (R) Kali, the
wrathful protector, published by Ravi Varma Press, Malavli, Maharashtra,
ca. 1910-20, chromolithograph with varnish on paper

Teisai Hokuba (1771-1844), Evening Rain in the Yoshiwara, Edo period (1615-1868), ca. 1830-44, hanging scroll, ink, color, and gold on silk

(L) Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753-1806), Wisteria Maiden with an Ōtsu
Demon Dressed as an Itinerant Monk, from the series Souvenir Paintings
from Ōtsu, Stocked in Edo (Edo Shi-ire Ōtsu Miyage), Edo period (1615-1868),
ca. 1802-3, woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper. (R) Huang
Xiangjian (1609-1673) Landscape, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), mid-17th
century, Album of twelve leaves, ink on paper