“Calm, temperance, pleasantness:
behold the dominant notes of this painting”
[William Powell Frith ― 'Many
Happy Returns of the Day' 1856. Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate Museums and
Arts]
A
room with cleverly calculated proportions: wide
enough and with a high enough ceiling to
simultaneously convey the harmonious yet
contrary impressions of warmth and relief. It
easily accommodates the furniture, paintings,
chandelier, and people with enough space for
them to move about naturally, without bumping
into something or someone. The furnishings are
not luxurious. They are solid, decent,
comfortable, pleasant to look at, and also lend
themselves handily to human use. There is a good,
spacious table to sit a large family and
accommodate without disorder all the modest but
healthy delicacies served during a birthday
lunch of a family from the small or middle
bourgeoisie. The chairs are well designed in
mild shapes and are strong enough to last
indefinitely. There is a large, simple,
commercial-grade carpet which gives the room
some warmth. Their clothes are fully consistent
with the environment. They are made of good
fabric, comfortable, and with a cut not lacking
a certain bourgeois distinction. The maid,
though with a more modest presentation, is
dressed with decency and comfort. Through the
window, protected by a curtain, enters a mild
light largely sufficient for the whole room but
gauged so as not to hurt people’s eyes and to
maintain a calm and temperate clarity in the
ambience.
* * *
Calm,
temperance, pleasantness: behold the dominant
notes of this painting. The highly modest
costumes give an aspect of purity to this family
life, which in turn explains why their
conviviality is so pleasant. In a family invaded
by the gnawing worm of impurity, souls do not
have the wholesomeness or freshness to delight
in chaste affections such as those of home.
Everyone feels happy and relaxed in this
environment, knowing they are esteemed,
supported and given the consideration they
deserve.
* * *
We
intentionally spoke of consideration. Note the
position of the old couple. The family’s
greatest affection is turned to them. The two
daughters flank their mother, full of respectful
affection. The girl feels happy and honored to
present her grandfather a drink, under the
watchful and friendly gaze of that mature old
man.
To the children’s delight, they also have a place at this meeting. The
two boys chat happily as another child is lovingly tended to by his
mother. A little farther, another child, with a tranquil temperament,
enjoys her peace and quiet. Meanwhile, the little birthday girl, happy
and serious like a queen under her flowery arch, has just tasted a
delicacy and her gaze wanders around the room, at the same time carefree
and attentive. But if the children play a large role in this picture,
they are not its dominant note.
* * *
This
comfortable, healthy, placid and chaste ambience
could even be compared to that of Buissonnets in
Lisieux, the home of St. Therese the Little
Flower, if only the room also had some statue or
supernatural note that transcended, illuminated
and elevated even further this domestic ambience
so rich in the traditional values of an
authentic Christian civilization. In short, it
is an ambience that favors the health of mind
and body and admirably prepares people’s spirits
to practice solid, balanced and stable virtue.
* * *
Anonymity,
hurry, worry, rat race. While some quickly
swallow their share of fast food, others wait
for their turn. No one smiles. One or the other
person says something, but there is no
conversation. Everyone thinks about the work
they have done or will do. Many men wear a hat,
as in a train or bus station. Note, however, how
these characters are dressed: they all come from
the average or small bourgeoisie: Precisely the
level of the family in the painting above. This
is the interior of a fast-food restaurant in a
large modern city. And this is how millions of
people eat their lunch (and many also their
dinner) almost every day of the year.
How could it be otherwise? Large agglomerations bring about a
concentration of business and a fast-paced life made even more hectic by
the vertiginous ease with which radio, the telegraph and telephone allow
the circulation of money; and all this finally helps to give modern man,
frenetic and strenuous conditions of life.
* * *
Yes,
but at what cost to your health, nerves,
balance, virtue, and family life? Doesn’t all
this reflect a dangerous mechanization of life,
against which the Holy Father has warned the
world?
(*) The preceding article has been translated
and adapted for publication without the author's
revision by
Return to
Order - A Special Campaign of the American TFP.
|