Devotion to the Holy Face

The philosophy of art-- primarily, literary art-- in this blog is understood to be anchored in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy and sacrilege as direct offenses--- mainly semiotic & spiritual offenses--- against God Himself in the first Three Commandments that serve to sanctify man's divine self-same image.

According to Catholic tradition, the Imago Dei (or, the "Divine Image" in Man) "is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God," that man has been created "in the image and likeness" of the Creator [and] it is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God." (CCC 1701). Moreover, "by virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."

Thus, the basis of humanity's claim to "human rights", the possession of supposedly manifest "dignity" and so on and so forth that serve as a kind of meta-topic of literature's regard for the "human condition" stem from this Imago Dei, as revealed by the Incarnation, that are evidenced by the spiritual dimensions of language and Man's awareness of both time and place as the proof of this innate freedom-- the dual sense of which belong only to Humanity among all of the visible order of Creation (and also the Second and Third Commandments respectively). This is most manifest in what humanity pursues for its own sake (namely, Art).

(To clarify, the devotion of the Holy Face not only seeks to view the Divine imprinted in a Human form but is recognized as ultimately preoccupied with offenses towards God in the First Three Commandments). The reasoning of this reprioritizing offense away from injury against neighbor and "social commentary" directly towards the subject of impiety towards God is that without God, there would be no "human dignity" (indeed, there would be no humanity!).

The root of the problem of injustice from this view is not about human beings on their own terms since a more fundamental injustice has been created before human society was established. Those are real injuries within societies, mind you, but they are not fundamental as those against the order of creation itself. Rather, they reflect a deeper more profound spiritual problem with the uses of freedom, the "truths" expressed in art, and the abuse of the liberal arts in rearing the new generations to even approach the truth. This problem is rooted in three specific forms of impiety against Our Creator and against our background understanding of what human life itself encompasses.

Thus, according to the First Commandment, one should not worship anything other than God (much less deny the Creator as such.).

What does this actually mean?

First, to deny God is to deny rationality itself (a proper grasp of causality) and thus the right order of things, including the Sovereign Good, as well as the "Alpha" and "Omega", the First and Last Thing through which are lives are sown together, the absence of which "everything is permitted" and "Man" (almost always meaning certain men) becomes the "measurer of all things." Sinfulness in general follows from this willful aversion to the right order of things.

Within our world, man (again, meaning certain men) have come to define the order of things. When such a heavy thumb on the scale, the result can only be an imbalance on the whole.

This is painfully obvious in the world of literature and art where transgression has become a kind of cliche and dissent a commodity whose end result is a kind of cultural conformity far surpassing anything you could observe in the days of Inquisitions and Indexes. When Christian morality was still in force, such transgressions had great "shock" effect. Now that Christian morality is no longer in force, the transgressions become a new badge of allegiance to the regime.

Secondarily, to make "idols" of any kind is not just an injustice against the Creator, but a self-degrading vandalism of sorts against His image and likeness in Mankind.

Why is that?

Because we are rational animals who by the image and likeness of God certainly transcend nature and "stand above it" in a sense, given that we are rational if embodied creatures of this world, and thus we should not condescend to worship literally dumb creations of our own making or even God's making in this world (Psalm 113/115).

This emphasis against idolatry was so great in what we term the "Old Testament" that it is the foundation of all human dignity. Individually and collectively, we are more than the sum of all visible and tangible things. Our materialistic civilization has deadened us to this indignity. In truth, Idolatry is an offense first against the dignity of Man and ultimately by a subversion of Man's stewardship over creation thereby constituting a sin against the Creator of Man and the true Sovereign of Nature.

For writers, this commitment for the time being must extend to the ethical aspect of the literary craft: for what end do we write? For its own sake? To entertain? To create something beautiful? Memorable? What?

Each has his or her own motivations, but certain truths remain: There are certain things one should not do as a writer---indeed, must not do--- even if technically "free" to do them (thus, we would not consider writing nonsense expressions like "asjkl is dkdhfd" or "chocolate is tall in the Spring of August" as award-winning prose and consider our physical freedom to write such nonsense words as an invitation to do so. Form already obeys laws of its own in order to be recognized as such (in literature, that involves grammar and other conventions of topoi)--- you must learn and master them, not discard them--- just as painters must understand lines and perspective.).

A major problem in the world of arts and letters is that our "Picassos" of today don't know how to draw a convincing orange but are yet so eager to challenge the medium... By lacking competency (that's the key word), they have no right to be creative: And no, they don't "challenge" our conventions-- they don't even understand the past's conventions.

This idea that form already has its own laws is not specific to literature, much less art as a whole. Indeed, the same holds true not only for art but for every aspect of life, which art both depends and comments upon, for the rule of life is illuminated most of all by true religion, the observance of pleasing FORM in the eyes of the Divine, which is the clearest, most direct articulation of the created order as a whole. My bringing the Holy Face here among an audience of aspiring catholic (lower case "c") writers is a signal that Art too must conform to recognize-- and certainly not deny-- the Logos as Sovereign, Christ as King of the Universe.

Form will be recognized at the end of the day, either way, either positively by our actions or negatively by neglect.

In ancient times, idolatry took the superstitious form of worshipping a golden fertility statue that promised 'good fortune' to miserably desperate and recently emancipated wanderers. In our equally confused times, the idols are not crude projections of this material kind that stem from the material impoverishment of a nomadic people facing an existential crisis without a homeland, but spiritual idols rooted in a culture of material overabundance, e.g. vanity, self-glorification by way of careerism, virtual exhibitionism, "one-upmanship", novelty for the sake of being "trendy", the sport of accusations and scandals, and other disordered lifestyles and pursuits where means become ends in themselves, and the accidental confused with the essential. Pandemonium, in short.

A lot of this is rooted in the creature's confused understanding that it is at the center of things and yet limited at the same time. Nobody, after all, actually thinks they are the All Powerful, All Knowing, Omnipresent One. Instead of recognizing this inconsistency--- namely, that I might feel tempted to believe I am a god but deny deity as such due to my limitations---as an indication of something higher and BEYOND the individual's subjective experience of reality, they turn inwards to an ironic appreciation of life's contradictions. "Life is meaningless", they quip, and so "I will make my own meaning." Fortunately, that is not the case; for, in less noble moments where they lack self-possession, these aspirant existentialists who only believe in themselves (if that much) also turn on one another with increasingly unrealistic demands and insensible accusations, which is why mental illness, suicide, deaths of despair, drug use, escapism, and loneliness are on the rise. "Hell is other people", said one such famous existentialist philosopher who has long since passed into the grave.

However sophisticated we appear to ourselves (and again, we are but troglodytes in Borges' foretelling), our self-directed purposes are just as pointless as illiterate sheepherders in the Sinai desert who were originally called "idolaters." Even so, the greatest offense against the First Commandment in our own days is probably not the prioritization of our hopes and fantasies or the lesser created goods to the Eternal Good (as created goods are in some way "good" when properly used and prioritized), but the outright denial of God, His rights (and yes, He is owed by us), and the very idea of a Supreme Good either in a practical or theoretical Atheism.

Literary craft that supports this idea that there is no Sovereign Good, no objective moral order (think George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" or Machiavelli's "The Mandrake"), and no moral constraints upon creativity, is necessarily wicked prose. Young people should avoid it entirely. Experienced people who must bear witness to the evils of this world should approach it like a doctor approaches a diseased patient. Such caution is important: People fill their heads with these words, this imagery, these falsehoods on a daily basis! It is the material by which they construct the delusions that entrap them in a false reality. None of this, dear reader, should be news to you!

Correspondingly, just as one should only worship God alone-- because He is literally the Source of All That is Good (and indeed Goodness itself; and thus, if anyone deserves to be paid a debt of gratitude, it is He)--- it further extends through the Second Commandment that one should not speak irreverently about the Divine (but piously and well-- the template for the literary use of Man's beauteous gift of language, which is essentially meant for the contemplation of worthy subjects, especially and ultimately God Himself, but also to sing His praises with the celestial choir of angels!). In its positive light, the Second Commandment encourages us not only to refrain from blasphemy and irreverence. It encourages to use our words well in our prayer life. The spirit of prayer must permeate all that we do--- writing included! (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

That sounds noble, but what of it?

Legally speaking, treason and even sedition are punishable offenses in the eyes of the State because they put the authority of the State into question. If the authority of the State goes, so follows the argument, then the laws become unenforceable, and anarchy ensues. Sovereignty is very much a jealous god over what her devotees and subjects think and say. This is why treason and sedition, whether real or trumped up, are actually punished so severely because they put into question the foundational order. Without the foundational order of sovereignty, there is no legal reality. Without a legal reality, there is no economic or political assurances. Without economic or political assurances, the good life is impossible to secure for most, if not all (including the strong who parasitically find no goods are left to exploit).

Blasphemy is the spiritual equivalent of sedition in the eyes of the Sovereign Good (that is, God). What goes for the criminality of treason as a "high crime" in the political realm (even if it is just conspiracy without any tangible damage) also goes for spiritual reality of blasphemy.

Sound far-fetched? Ok, just take the time to consider the following: On its own terms, it is necessarily unjust to convict and imprison an innocent person (i.e. False arrest is itself a crime). It is also absolutely wrong to speak lies about an honest man in order to discredit his reputation (e.g. slander). What then of the offenses against God who is infinitely more innocent and honest than any mere mortal? In terms of natural justice (as opposed to Christian charity), we owe a stranger-- however innocent or honest-- next to nothing when his business is far removed from our own (think about the atrocities across the globe that you know nothing about! How can you be guilty of what you do not know and can do nothing about?), but for God we do in fact owe everything! To be vigilant against blasphemy is to protect the Sovereign Good (and thus the possibility of particular goods that we directly enjoy through God as well as a safeguard against offenses and crimes in general.). Thus, a world where blasphemy is punishable in some form (even if it is merely a Christian speaking up against a blasphemer and publicly admonishing the blasphemer) is far less likely to be a world where the innocent is presumed guilty, or calumny or slander is openly tolerated and suddenly the norm.

If I sound "extreme" ask yourself this, would you like to live in any such a degenerate and shameless society where character assassinations are suddenly the norm? It is clear that first principles matter and must be safeguarded in their own right. And as for the most selfish egoistic reader, the observance of the First Three Commandments is fundamental to the stability afforded by the rest (Why honor your mother and father and by extension the Nation, if you deny fatherhood as such or sovereignty as such?). Sadly, that used to be commonly understood. When a man commits adultery, it was said that he first commits the sin spiritually in his mind...

Now that the men of fashion are consequentialists, they assume they grasp the consequences. My point is that they haven't seen the end of what they believe. But they will...

Now, the Second Commandment is a commitment to safeguard against the violation of the First.

In a similar fashion, that logic of the Second Commandment further extends to the Third:

We are meant not to speak ill of the Creator but to worship Him. And such undertakings take place in times and places within a spiritual community that we call the Church (not abstractly or interiorly as within an isolated atomized individual-- just as a 'private language' philosophically makes no sense, neither does an entire religion!). Thus, according to the Third Commandment, one should honor those moments in social time to give honor to God as a traditional liturgical community of authentic worship (Namely, His appointed day of rest from quotidian and servile affairs to contemplate things in themselves, esp. divine realities (but also "liberal" ones--- books, drawing, conversation, music, etc.).). Why is this necessary? Why can't we just "pray in our closets" as Christ seems to suggest? (Well, one should pray in their closets-- devotionally, that is-- but that is another matter!). It's because we are social animals and the cultural institutions of the Church shape us and who we are. Thus, we cannot dispense with them impiously as if we were not under their authority.

Regarding public worship of God, there are important standards: that God revealed Himself not to us personally and individually but to Mankind gradually and fully in history is precisely why the Liturgy matters more so than the sum of our private relationships that we contrive for ourselves. The Third commandment is issued not merely to individuals, but groups--- indeed, entire nations and humanity as a whole! (see Matt. 27: 19). As far as conventions go, they have to be enforced by an authority to be lived in a secure way. According to theologians like Dietrich , the liturgy's primary intent is the proper worship of God but it's secondary effect is the proper shaping of healthy personalities in a human community (hence, most people who have dispensed with the liturgy and also dispensed with the day of rest and now have no sense of a "weekend", much less a "day of rest"). These people are either slaves to work or slaves to consumption. Either way, they drown in their materialism and lose touch with spiritual realities in their dereliction of duty as adopted sons and daughters of God and members of His bride, the Church.

For readers, this idea that some time should be left by mandate for leisure is paramount for the continuity of reading as such as a distinct cultural practice.

With both the rise of noise in our culture and the velocity of everyday life, the idea of centering yourself, honing your sensibilities through the "best of what has been thought" has left a corrosive effect on the minds of modern people.

After all, what is the point of me writing any of this blog-- if you cannot take the time to read it without being forced or compensated directly?

What is at stake in the Third Commandment is not just proper worship of the source of all good, but a day of rest for ourselves: for as Christ pointed out, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27).

For all of the reasons above, the Holy Face should matter to writers, to readers, to the intellectual life of Christians, Catholic or otherwise. It is a reminder of our true dignity which is not innate so much as redeemed. For this reason, it's a devotion that is reparative rather than adulatory in focus. That is, it presupposes that a wrong has been committed--- not just occasionally, but within the culture writ large. In its course, the devotion reminds us of the ultimate purpose of letters, of the rules of the craft, and of leisure is to make us better at knowing Him, serving Him, and loving Him. These are harder to do when the contemplative life has been expunged by the worldly forces of markets and politics.

If we wish to rediscover the enchantments of this Earth, and to align the soul of the world with its Creator, we obviously must look not here but elsewhere and seek to give restitution to Heaven above.

Let us stop dallying as to how to proceed especially as we have a model to work with!

Therefore, let us do good work!

Pax Christi.