The Neomedievalist

Kiss of Judas (1304–06), fresco by Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy Since we're near the end of the Holy Week, I thought to share my reflections on the Good Friday, with a special focus on Judas and the controversial topic of suicide. Recently, we have witnessed a tendency of rehabilitating Judas' suicide, and suicide in general, even by certain theologians in the past and present. Through the analysis of this topic, I see the necessity of saying a few words on the nature of sin, hope, and mercy. In our secularized era, the aforementioned concepts might sound as outdated or even meaningless. So, we should start by questioning the definition of sin. According to the Compendium of the Catholic Catechism, sin is defined as the deliberate action which separates one from God.[1] So basically, sin is a 'sui generis' apostasy, and understanding the pain of despair, our weak human nature, it is natural to show a kind of compassion. Because at a certain moment of our...

  This medieval painting is called "Mater Boni Consilii" (en. Mother of Good Counsel; sq. Zoja e K'shillit t'mirë), also known as "Our Lady of Scutari" (sq. Zoja e Shkodrës). It's located in the Augustinian Church of Genazzano, near Rome. Many scholars believe it was painted by the Italian renaissance artist Gentile da Fabriano during the first two decades of XV century. What makes it special, is its story. According to the Medieval legend, on the feast day of St. Mark, in 1467, [during the time of the Albanian-Ottoman war], two Albanian noblemen were praying in the church, asking for protection of the Holy Mary before exiling to Italy. The image, which was located in Shkodër (it. Scutari), was, allegedly, lifted in the air by angels, who announced the fall of the city under the Ottomans, and accompanied the two men to Rome. Thus, miraculously, it was transported to Genazzano. The locals, as the tradition says, in the midst of celebration, heard ...

You've probably heard that the Medieval people thought the Earth was flat. Is this true? I'll show you some images from various manuscripts, as well as quotes from two well-known Medieval scholars. Regarding this issue, here’s what Bede Venerabilis (673-735) says: “ Why the same days are unequal in length? The reason why the same (calendar) days are of unequal length is the roundness of Earth ...”  Bede, The Reckoning of Time , trans. Faith Wallis (Liverpool University Press, 1999), pp. 91.  God the Geometer 13th century . Full quote:  The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise (1445) by Giovanni di Paolo St. Thomas Aquinas O.P. (1225-1274), the most famous Medieval and Catholic thinker, knew that the Earth was round. Here's what he said: “[ T]he astronomer and the physicist both may prove the same conclusion—that the earth, for instance, is round: the astronomer by means of mathematics (i.e., abstracting from matter), but the physicist by means of matter i...

The Ancient of days by William Blake (1794) I’m a graduate in Medieval Studies, and when I try to explain some myths about it, people look at me as if I was insane. The Enlightenment propaganda is so strong, that telling the truth about Medieval era sounds like a crazy right-wing conspiracy theory. And this is a serious problem. Many school textbooks, media, etc. promote most of these myths, which are inherently biased and dangerous, because they distort the truth.  The Enlightenment historiography is still the most successful propaganda ever made; it refused to die, because the [anti-Christian] sentiment which these thinkers had promoted seems to be popular ever since. Demonizing the Other is the best way to begin a fight, because it gives you the feeling of the moral superiority. In our case, this has been done by distorting and misinterpreting historical facts, and inventing myths and false villains and heroes. This genius propaganda has affected and influenced most of us, there...

Conservative writer and philosopher Roger Scruton, photographed in London in March last year © Greg Funnell (www.ft.com) Remembering Sir Roger Scruton, the profound English philosopher, writer and artist who, unlike his contemporary colleagues, was a thinker as much as a doer; and to me, a Professor and mentor whom I never had the chance to meet in real life, but only through his writings and virtual lectures. The news of his passing away last year touched and saddened me, among many other people, who valued him, his cause, and thinking. Therefore, today I'm writing a short reflection, as a sign of gratitude and to honour his memory. I began reading Sir Roger Scruton, for the first time in 2016; it was for my political ideology class at University. Back then, I have to say, my views were much different than now. More or less, liberal-left-leaning, like most Humanities' students. I was warned to be careful, and I had prejudices not only towards him, but the conservative philos...

On the 4th of November, thirty years ago in 1990, Albanian Catholics and non-Catholics gathered spontaneously at the former Catholic cemetery of Rrmaj in Shkodër, Albania. They were waiting for the surviving priest to say the Holy Mass. Since the Communist government had killed and convicted most of the clergy and laity, and eventually banned religion in 1967, the aforementioned action was considered deadly. The brave priest Dom Simon Jubani (pictured here) showed up, improvised the altar, and brought a Missal, crucifix, and vestments which he had kept secretly for decades.  Rev. Simon Jubani celebrating the Holy Mass according to the Ancient Roman Rite, Versus Populum Knowing he could be killed during the Mass, Fr. Robert Ashta O.F.M. decided to wear the liturgical vestments as well, in order to be there to finish the Mass if necessary. Thank God, nobody was shot. The first public Mass was celebrated in Latin according to the traditional Roman Rite, because neither of the survivin...

  L'Allegoria della Virtù e del Vizio by Lorenzo Lotto Recognizing the disastrous history of totalitarian regimes, R. Reagan and M. Thatcher minimized the government and promoted the free market, thinking they would give more liberty to the individual and prevent the rise of totalitarianism. But evidently, they had 'forgotten' about the existence of mega-corporations—that grew big enough to fill up the governments' place/role, in which they systematically impose certain ideologies, and of course, exploit and oppress the Middle and Working classes. Their idea of individualism, of course, had gone too far, at a point which one may think they had forgotten about the existence of common good and society—whose existence Thatcher and a few neoconservative thinkers and politicians had begun to deny. If one thinks deeply, the concept of the neoliberal Free Market is quite nihilistic and indifferent in its nature. The idea of ethics, common good, and culture doesn't seem t...