"…The purely human figure of the Carpenter, carved by carpenters or craftsmen as simple as carpenters, was already rising on shrines and pedestals far away, in the crypts of Rome or the niches of Rouen. There was something symbolic, like a mysterious repetition of the Flight into Egypt, in the way in which the Mother, carrying the Divine Humanity in her arms, took refuge in the Roman world of the West; and seemed still to be fulfilling some destiny even in moving continually westward."

 And when they were departed, behold,

the angel of the Lord appeareth to

Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and

take the young child and his mother,

and flee into Egypt, and be thou there

until I bring thee word: for Herod will

seek the young child to destroy him.

Matthew 2:13

"…The purely human figure of the Carpenter, carved by carpenters or craftsmen as simple as carpenters, was already rising on shrines and pedestals far away, in the crypts of Rome or the niches of Rouen. There was something symbolic, like a mysterious repetition of the Flight into Egypt, in the way in which the Mother, carrying the Divine Humanity in her arms, took refuge in the Roman world of the West; and seemed still to be fulfilling some destiny even in moving continually westward."

G.K. Chesterton (“The Mission of Ireland, Christendom in Dublin’)

Rembrandt, The Flight into Egypt

Giotto, The Flight into Egypt

“...it raises the real questions of our times, which are these: can we reject the idea of a benevolent God and still hold on to our inherited morality, founded on respect for the other and the absolute authority of truth? Can we adopt the posture of forgiveness that Murray is so keen to advocate, without turning to the supreme example that was once given to us?

Can we re-learn the habits of polite disagreement, and address each other as rational beings, capable of forming real communities in which differences are respected and decencies honoured? I want to answer yes to those questions. But as someone who has suffered more than most from the prevailing madness I have my doubts.

My own solution — which is to ignore social media and to address, in my writings, only the interest in the true and the false, rather than in the permitted and the offensive — confines me within a circle that is considerably narrower than the Twittersphere. But here and there in this circle, there are people who do not merely see the point of truthful discourse, but who are also eager to engage with it. And I cling to the view that that is enough, as it was for the Irish monks who kept the lamp of learning alight during the Dark Ages. They may have thought they were losing, but they won in the end.”

Roger Scruton

Book of Kells

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