The Way of Beauty Podcast

Here is a recent interview I did with Brandon Vaidyanathan for his Beauty at Work podcast.

This is a channel about how beauty works in our world and shapes the work we do. Brandon is a sociology professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. His podcast explore the meaning of beauty in relation to science, justice, morality, food, religion, work, and other aspects of our lives. Through the interviews he conducts he examines how beauty works -- how it shapes our personal and social lives in ways that may both contribute to and impede our flourishing.

I talk about my work as a painter and how my training at university in science has contributed to that.

I refer to the work of the 17th century sculptor, Bernini in the course of the interview:

Bernini, the Rape of Proserpino.

Bernini deliberately cut deeply into the stone to generate sharp shadows and create a rythmical array of lines that mimic the mathematical parabolas and elipses that the physicist uses to describe the natural order.

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Buy The Daily Routine Journal on Amazon today to begin your journey of personal vocation and purpose:

David shares how a chance encounter 35 years ago led him to develop a process – The Vision for You – for discerning one's calling in life through spiritual exercises and daily habits. Simone Rizkallah was mentored through this process, which helped her reevaluate her life during COVID-19 and accompany others in understanding current events.

Simone has partnered with the Way of Beauty to produce the Daily Routine Journal, providing a place to continue these exercises, to remember how God is working in your life, and to narrow in on your calling each day.

The Vision For You: How to Discover the Life You Were Made For

Here is a recording on an interview by Trea Bailey of the Classical Education podcast of myself and my wife Margarita talking about beauty in our lives and in education.

Margarita and I are both going to be talking on how to introduce and education in beauty into a classical education at the excellent Koinonia Academy in Plainfield, New Jersey on May 6th

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It was my pleasure to be invited by Bonnie Landry, who lives in British Columbia, Canada, to an conversation on her podcast for Catholic families and homeschoolers.

Here are Bonnies show notes:

The Way of Beauty by author David Clayton is a book I’m reading presently. We are loving the book so much that I wanted to interview David to help explore the ideas he presents in light of family life. We can augment the richness of Catholic family life through beauty and parents will reap the harvest of deepening their understanding of beauty and the role it plays in our lives. We expand our ability to contribute to the culture through David’s exceptional book.

6:17 - How do we cultivate an appreciation of beauty in family life?
16:25 - How to engage children in Sacred art
18:40 - Harmonious proportion and how it plays out in our lives
34:43 - The Liturgy of the Hours and it's patterns
40:57 - What is the best way to encourage artistic ability in children?
50:23 - The Way of Beauty and The Little Oratory books

Can the love of the common good be recovered when we live in countries whose culture and institutions seem at odds with it? Should we retreat in enclaves, join secession movements, or stay put in our local community, wherever it may be? Can a political common good ever be achieved given the political realities that we live in? What is the Christian called to do in such a situation?

Jacob wrestling with God

Come and join Charlie Deist and me on the March for Eternal Life. We walk and we pray the palms in the weekend of the Octave of Pentecost. Details from Charlie at anaturalmethod.com/march.

This is a march for freedom in these times of Covid and we are asking for the Holy Spirit to give us divine wisdom and courage so that we can be soldiers for Christ in the spiritual battle.

We will sing a traditional hymn the Troparion of the Holy Cross and a Psalms eight times during the day, followin the traditional pattern of the Divine Office by which we sanctify the day. By ordering our work to the pattern of Christ (8) and the Holy Spirit (50) as baptized Christians we enter into the Mystery of the Trinity (3) and hope to draw others into the joyful path we tread.

In the Troparion, we pray to God for victory for our nation over its enemies. The measure of that victory, if it comes from God, is peace.

The path of the walk is through the beautiful countryside of Marin County, north of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. We start at Point Reyes and end in San Francisco having walked across the bridge.

12:00 - 1 pm - Palomarin Trailhead (lunch)

2:30 - 3 pm - Downtown Bolinas

5 pm - Stinson Beach (Swimming and barbecue)

7:30 am - 8 am - Stinson Beach

11 - 11:15 am - Muir Woods

2 - 2:15 pm - Tennessee Valley Trailhead

5:15 - 5:30pm - Golden Gate Bridge View Vista Point (North)

7:30 pm - Aquatic Park Cove (Swimming + celebration dinner)

The numerical symbolism.

Traditionally it was believed that the degree that we seek to adopt, consciously, the pattern of the Light and of Christ as best we can grasp it and live it in this world we are living the pattern of beauty which impresses its order on our hearts. If we consciously conform to a principle of beauty, then our instincts to do what is good and beautiful will develop.

We use the numbers eight, three, and 50 to govern the pattern of beauty for our March for Eternal life. 

Eight is the governing number of beauty in music. The eight-note scale, the octave, is the key to all musical harmony. 

It also has a spiritual beauty:

Christ is the “eighth day” of creation, who by his life, death and resurrection ushers in the new covenant. Seven is the number of the old covenant, and eight is the number of the new covenant. We celebrate his Resurrection on the eighth day of the week, which is simultaneously the first day of the week, that is, Sunday. Jesus is the Rising Sun, rising in the East, the orient, to whom we orient our prayer. The rising sun is the symbol of the second coming of the Light, the Son of God in majesty. 

Similarly, the seven petitions in the Lord’s prayer are really eight petitions, for the fourth “Give us this day our daily bread,” has a double meaning. It means our daily food for physical nourishment and the body of Christ in the Eucharist for our spiritual nourishment. Again, the pattern of eight draws us into an understanding of the words of the prayer.

When we lead a life that revolves around a weekly cycle of Sunday Mass it is ordered to the Eighth Day, which is a repeated Octave of Easter throughout the year. In the Church’s liturgy, an ‘octave’ is a reference to the commemoration of a feast or even eight days after the first. It is analogous to a musical scale: just as we go higher in pitch eight times until we progress from Middle C to high C, and we come to a point where the note is higher but has the same quality, that of C. So, we move from Easter to the following Sunday, marching on in time one day at a time. The second Sunday is eight days later but has the same quality, that of the Resurrection. Every Sunday is, in effect, an Octave of Easter, and the Sunday of 30th of May is simultaneously the Octave of Pentecost, and as a Sunday, an Octave of Easter.

There are seven weeks in Lent in the approach to Easter, and including Easter Sunday, eight Sundays to Pentecost after easter. Seven is the number of the old covenant, and eight is the number of the new. The number 15 is the sum of seven and eight. St Thomas Aquinas said that the Book of Psalms contains all of theology and that is why it is sung in our worship. There are 150 psalms reflecting a division of 70 and 80, proportioned to the old and new covenants, just as with the seasons of Lent and East with Pascha - Easter at the division. 

If we pray the Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office) we pray the traditional pattern of prayer for that sanctifies the day, and we are participating in the daily cycle of prayer of the Church. Praying the Hours was seen traditionally as a process of tithing time – giving an appropriate proportion of the day to God. Following the ancient Jewish practice of praising God, “seven times a day” and “at midnight” Christians since the time of the Apostles have prayed eight occasions of prayer in the day. The more we can order our external lives to this pattern of prayer, as part of the Christian life, the more that we order our spirits and our hearts – where the spiritual and material are enjoined – to Christ. If we cannot manage the whole monastic Office, which is long and complicated - and most of us cannot - we might perhaps aim to mark each hour each day with a single psalm. Traditionally some psalms are said every day at particular Offices (another word for Hours), and so one might start there with a reduced version of each Office based upon this, as described below.

For our March for Eternal Life, every ‘Hour’ or occasion of prayer during the day has the following similar structure. We face East and sing the following:

1. Trisagion Prayers

2. Troparia of the Holy Cross

3. Psalm of the Hour 

4. Petitions and Closing Prayer

All can join in and it takes 10 minutes each time.

Trisagion Prayers

Glory to thee, O God, glory to thee.

O heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come, and abide in us and cleanse us from every stain and save our souls, O Good One.

+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

+Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

+Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Troparia of the Holy Cross

Oh Lord save Your people and bless your inheritance. Grant victory to our country over its enemies, and preserve your community by the power of your cross.

Oh Christ our God who chose by Your free volition to be elevated upon the holy Cross, grant Your mercies to Your new people who are called by Your name; in Your power gladden the hearts of our civil authorities; strengthen them in every good deed so that Your true alliance may be for them a weapon of peace and a standard of victory. 

O dread Champion who cannot be put to confusion, despise not our petitions. O Good one, all lauded Theotokos, establish the way of those who hold the orthodox faith; save those you have called to rule over us; bestow upon them victory from heaven; for You gave birth to God, O only blessed one. 

Psalm of the Hour 

Our plan is to sing eight offices in the course of the walking, so sanctifying our day’s pilgrimage. So we will amend the timings to suit this. .

Matins (midnight interrupting sleep, or the very first prayer on awakening) Psalm 120(121); 

Prime (around 6 or 7 am) Psalm 5; 

Lauds (main prayer in the morning) Psalm 62(63); Psalm 50(51)

Terce (around 9 am) Psalm 24(25); 

Sext (around midday) Psalm 53(54); 

None (around 3 pm) Psalm 83(84) Psalm 50(51)

Vespers (evening) Psalm 103(104); 

Compline (before bed) Psalm 50(51); 

Notice that Psalm 50 is sung three times during the day. Is a psalm of repentance and God’s mercy and a prophecy of salvation through baptism. It is also a teaching about worship in sprit. It is considered a liturgical deposit of gold in the Church, expressing the most basic things that need to be said by the faithful before their God. It is best learned and understood through its use in prayer. In the context of our pilgrimage of Pentecost, it is fitting that this pivotal psalm is numbered 50, connecting it to the day and the Holy Spirit. As one of the three persons of the Trinity it is fitting that it is said three times, and the 3 X 50 = 150 the number of the psalms and of the book that contains all of theology.

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David Clayton, Fr Brad Elliot OP, Dr. Michel Accad, and Charlie Deist discuss the rediscovered ideas of Ivan Illich, who died 15 years ago, and in particular an essay from a collection called Shadow Work. His essay describes how the imposition of Castilian as the national language of Spain by Queen Isabella, became a tool of the state for control of the people. We also show how the development of communication through the printing press created a desire to control its use and has parallels today in how big institutions and governments are trying to control the flow of information through the internet.

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This week I talk to Fr Jeffrey Kirby about his book, published by Catholic Answers Press called Real Religion - How to Avoid False Faith and Worship God in Spirit and Truth. Why the search for social justice, self-help, sentiment and parish programs is the worship of self. And why the worship of God will give us the authentic justice, self fulfillment, true happiness and genuine community we all yearn for.

I take a break this week. Charlie Deist is interviewed by our mutual friend, Dr. Michel Accad on his book Hormetics - Physical Fitness for Free People. Dr. Accad interviewed Charlie for his podcast, The Accad and Koka Report. Dr Accad tells us that he recommends Charlie’s book to his patients!

Charlie Deist, author of Hormetics: Physical Fitness for Free People. This is an engaging and somewhat philosophical conversation on principles of health. How do we identify good nutritional and exercise habits? Amongst the myriad of fads, what rules should guide one’s health choices and behaviors?

Charlie Deist: Website and Twitter

Accad and Koka Report: accadandkoka.com