NOTES 01-12-08

 TRIP-3 ENTRIES   2 OF 3 

Hi!

My next stop was the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the campus of Catholic University in Washington DC. The church and main altar are enormous. The mosaic (3,670 square feet) is the largest mosaic of Christ in creation. There are also dozens of side altars all dedicated to visions of Mary from around the world. The mosaic on the right is Our Lady of La Vang in Viet Nam. The verity of art is as varied as the visions.

 

I was at the basilica to record images of the concert rehearsal.

 

Part of my assignment was to take pictures of an exhibit at the basilica about the Russian Orthodox Church under Communism. The Crown of Thorns was created by a priest, Pavel Florensky, from the barbed wire fence enclosing his Siberian Gulag before he was executed for not renouncing his religious beliefs. The bullet holes in the icon (middle picture) occurred in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. Under Communism many of the churches were turned into museums that displayed the evils caused by religious belief. The word “revolution” comes from the time of the Catholic Inquisition and referred to anyone who believed the heresy that the Earth “revolved” around the Sun. The word, “catholic,” means “universal.”

I found myself making my own judgments about religion and beliefs as I shot the exhibit and was led to this quote by Hieromonk Seriaphim (Rose) 1934-82, “Orthodoxy does not at all mean having the right opinions about Christianity. True faith is in the heart and is fruitful, humble, patient, loving, merciful, compassionate…”

As a side trip for the Russians we went to the National Portrait Gallery. Using only gestures I arranged three of our party, who didn’t speak English, in front of the museum for a portrait. I don’t know what gesture I used to make them laugh out loud. My friend Silvio gestured like Lincoln for a picture.

I took the picture, “The Changing of the Guard at Lenin’s Tomb in Red Square” when I was in Russia in 1987 when “they” were our “enemy.” The Russians enjoyed the part of the gallery that was dedicated to images from the Cold War period. Having spend my time in Russia and the last few days with these very warm individuals I wondered what “we” had been thinking. I told one of the English speaking Russians about a poet that I had met on a train between Leningrad and Moscow. The poet and I were having a great discussion and he said, “Let us have a cigarette.” We moved to the open space between railroad cars. As the countryside that looked a lot like Minnesota rolled by he said, “Now we can talk openly.” and added, “There is no difference between our people. There is really no difference between our governments. Both governments both lie to the people. The only difference between the American public and the Soviet public is that we know it.” Standing on the steps, in front of the museum in our nation’s capital, I finished the story and we both laughed out loud.

On Monday it was time for the Christmas Oratorio by the Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev at the basilica. The organizers wondered how many people would attend. Well before the first note it was standing room only.

After taking a few pictures of the choir assembling I ascended into the heights of the Basilica as the powerful music rose from beneath me.

Earlier, the church staff had shown me how to get to the choir loft and to the secret passages through the stone walls in the upper regions of the mammoth cathedral. I was in a unique position to witness the performance and the audience. I love the license being a photographer allows me.

I get to have a very intimate point of view of our world and our fellow inhabitants. I am free to be with nuns who are none too shy to smile and kids kind enough to let me capture their likeness.

Thank you for accompanying me on this next stanza of this life spawned by the Music of the Spheres. The next verse will be of snow falling in Colorado and the crescendo will be a thunderous storm that knocked out the lights on my return to California. If you want to be removed from these mailings just send a reply with “No Thanks” in the subject line. If you received this from a friend and want to be added to the list, send me an email. I will be delighted to include you.  jd@jerrydownsphoto.com. I leave you with a shot on the steps of the cathedral that cracks me up.

Love, Jerry

Jerry Downs Photography
P.O. Box 1082
Larkspur, CA 94977
415-686-2369
http://www.jerrydownsphoto.com/

A painter paints pictures on canvas.  But musicians paint their pictures on silence.  ~Leopold Stokowsk