The Sun

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We have been a little cooped upped these last few days. The weather continues on grey and soggy. Minime has been working hard at his studies, and so it was definitely time for an escape. What better day trip is there than a trip to space. It has been a few months since our last visit, and the HR MacMillan Space Centre has gotten a few new planetarium shows and returned an old favorite as well. Midday saw a showing of the full dome show, The Sun, our living star. We just so happen to be studying photosynthesis in our Biology course, and so it was our choice for the day, both an escape and some scholarly reinforcement. You don't have to travel all the way to Vancouver to view the show. The Sun, Our Living Star is in the Creative Commons and available for free on Youtube. It is a great accompaniment to Biology, Chemistry, History, and of course Astronomy. Enjoy.

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Two Preachers Walk into a Bar

We continue to work our way through European History in Social Studies. The Reformation was a major area of study for us. We finished our look at the Reformation and at the Counter Reformation by entertaining the idea of being a peasant pilgrim on the Santiago de Compstela Trail in Spain in the Middle Ages and having a Catholic priest and a Lutheran Pastor vie for our eternal soul.

Taking the role as a poor pilgrim peasant, Minime was faced with the decision: would he turn his back on the Catholic Church and its sale of indulgences and embrace the Lutheran Reformation, or would he accept the corruption of the Church, but maintain his community. He may not choose as you would think. Please enjoy our petit morality play.

The Priest, the Pastor, and the Pilgrim on the Road to Santiago de Compostela

Time and Setting

Summer 1525, an inn on the Santiago de Compostela Trail

Characters

Poor French, illiterate pilgrim
Catholic priest selling indulgences
Lutheran pastor

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Priest:

Hello, my child. Where have you come from? How far have you travelled?

Pilgrim:

I have come from a small village in northern France, and I am making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to repent for my sins. I have spoken the Lord’s name in vain.

Priest:

I see great faith in you. Heaven is waiting for you when you die, and purgatory can be avoided if you help the Church build St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. I will sell you an indulgence. For a few pieces of gold, your sins will be absolved and those of your loved-ones who have already passed, and who now suffer in purgatory.

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Pilgrim:

But Father, I don’t have much money, only a few pieces of sliver.

Priest:

I will take what you can give now and you can give me the rest later.

( Another man approaches)

Pastor:

Don’t listen to him. He is trying to steal your money. It will only go to support the wealthy and their children. You can’t buy your way into Heaven with indulgences or even good works. I have been to Germany and met with Martin Luther, after your Diet of Worms, read Luther’s 95 theses. He and the Schmalkaldic League of Princes offer another way. Salvation is through faith and the word of God alone. To get into heaven all you need to do is pray and read the Bible. With the invention of the printing press, you can get it in French now and know God for yourself. You don’t need the Catholic Church, the Pope, the Papacy, a cathedral, or even this good father. He too is a sinner. Join us instead in our Reformation. House God in your heart. The Catholic Church is corrupt and in love with gold, marble, and icons, and its grand cathedrals. All you need is a Bible and faith in God.

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Pilgrim:

But good Sir, I cannot read in French or Latin.

Priest:

(Turns to the Priest) See. Without the Catholic Church, its teachings and traditions, and its art, how can this man know God?

Pastor:

Would you have him practice idolatry and pray to graven images?

Priest:

You, iconoclasts destroy this man’s way of learning when you destroy holy images. Through paintings and relics, people who cannot read can be taught about faith and God. When someone is praying to a statue of the Virgin Mary, a saint, or our saviour, Jesus Christ, they are really praying to the Holy Mother, Saint Paul, and God’s one and only Son.

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Pilgrim:

(Turns to the Pastor) I am sorry but I cannot follow you. I cannot read, and so I cannot know the Bible myself. I need the Father to help me understand the Bible, and I need my holy images to pray. I cannot afford the indulgences, but I can offer good works to the Catholic Church. If I went with you, I would never see my family again and be excommunicated from the Church. I would lose my family, my traditions, and my place in society. I cannot read, but I have faith and so, as you say, it is enough and I will get into heaven. (Turns to the Priest). I will travel with you to Santiago de Compostela and be the Church’s servant and earn my way out of Purgatory.

(The Priest and the Pilgrim leave the Inn together. The Pastor opens his Bible and reads.)

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