Day 4 - Saturday, February 17
Title:  FAITHFUL TO THE END
Scripture #1: Acts 20:24 (NKJV)
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Scripture #2: 2 Timothy 4:6–8 (NKJV)
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Poetry & Poet: 
“The Runners”
by Irving Feldman

Here or there hundreds of them, phantom-like,
bobbing in place at street corners, then
lifting their knees suddenly and leaping
into the densest, loudest traffic
(of briefest trajectories, of shortest views),
in transit yet at ease, breathing, loping,
like bearers of distance and pure directions,
darting half naked out of nowhere and
where, where in the world are they running to?
swift and solitary, silent beings
who, should you now step into the path,
have dodged away, or, if you raise a hand
to stay them or speak, immediately
are gone: who are these runners who create
in their gliding such fine, singular spaces
among the street’s vociferous jargons?
—as if each one were a still, wordless message
or question one would answer if one could grasp it,
this one, that one, sliding past, going away,
while you stand there, your hand raised to no purpose,
your hidden heart rejoicing that the quick heel
won’t soon, won’t ever, be overtaken,
although you, as you have longed to, suddenly
disburden yourself and follow follow.

FAITHFUL TO THE END

Paul, no doubt refusing to take part in Rome’s social and civic life, the cornerstone of which was making offerings to the emperor and pagan gods, likely fell prey to Nero’s rounding up of Rome’s Christians. After being held in the Mamertine Prison, previously known as the Tullianum dungeon––a notorious place of “neglect, darkness and stench” according to the Roman historian Sallust––Paul was duly convicted and sentenced to death. As a Roman citizen, Paul was afforded the mercy of beheading by the sword as opposed to the fate his fellow Apostle Peter embraced––that of crucifixion. Mattia Preti’s The Martyrdom of Saint Paul sets the scene for us with almost cinematic-like monumentality and kinetic energy.

The artist has seated us in a viewing gallery so as not to miss even the slightest twitch of muscle, texture of flesh or fleeting glance. We are as if frozen in time moments before the pinnacle of the action unfolds. A fleshy golden statue of Nero in the guise of Hercules towers above the scene, pressing and making present his right to oversee this lowly Christian’s demise.

Paul, at the bottom of the canvas, serves as the composition’s center point. His aged flesh radiates with a silverfish-green pallor, demarking his advanced years of ascetical struggle in the faith that he helped to establish far and wide. With hands bound behind his back, stripped to the waist, and enrobed in white and deep crimson, the divine light of grace illuminates the Apostle’s face––the same light that toppled him from his horse on the Road to Damascus so many years before. The Apostle fixates on the open Scriptures before him, as a supernatural gust of wind gently stirs to turn the page. We have been denied access to Paul’s fiery eyes. The deep shadow of his brow beckons us to contemplate the surety of his hope.

Preti bids us to bear witness to Saint Paul as he enters into his agonia––the Greek term used aplenty in the Gospel and Paul’s own epistles that bespeaks the great struggle for victory. We are led to believe that this prone position is not unfamiliar to Paul––if not for the occasion of execution––at least for his posture during prayer. Only a great artist could so convincingly convey the depths of the Christian mysterium tremendum, or awe-inspiring mystery.

Lent beckons us to pour ourselves out in repentance as a drink offering as we approach the Feast of Feasts. Our faithfulness during this journey may be challenged as we glimpse clear-eyed into the depths of our own sin. But in moments of doubt or struggle, Saint Paul provides us an example for the ages, as he remained faithful to the end. As we struggle through Lent let us not forget our reward, which is the divine light of Christ’s Resurrection. He has destroyed death to bestow life. His love casts out all fear.

Prayer:
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages.
   - St. Ephrem the Syrian

Dr. James Anno
Associate Curator of European Art
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, Texas

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