Beauty is at once an allusive and controversial concept. All humans are attracted to beautiful things manifested in different forms, such as the physical, aesthetic, artistic or musical. Catholic thinkers from Augustine to Aquinas understand beauty as a gift from almighty God and discern an intrinsic link between Beauty and Truth: both ideas point towards Perfection and our journey towards it. Attempting to identify examples of the beautiful is somewhat fraught with difficulty given ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’. I think that beauty, and this is something important for the boys to comprehend, is to be found in the ordinary and mundane – one thinks of the natural world or the cosmos – and nearly always involves an invitation to engage with a person or an object that is considered to be beautiful. The late (and great) philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton, argued that we should ‘feel at home’ with beauty and recognise, whether that be through a painting or a piece of music, that it opens an ‘inner door’ to reflection and repose.
The life of a St Anthony’s boy is characterised by lots of beautiful moments such as on the sports field, in music-making or, perhaps the most obvious and moving, in the kind relationships forged between each other (and with the staff). I never take this for granted because whilst it is part of our culture it isn’t always so in other schools. Nor does it just happen, and the young need to be introduced to behaviour and learning that will be attractive and enriching. This of course is another hallmark of beauty: in that whatever form it takes, there is almost an irresistible attraction. Prospective parents and visitors to the school nearly always comment on the warmth and ‘feel’ of the place. This makes me think of Psalm 133, particularly apposite for places of learning, Ecce quam bonum: “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity”.
The paradox associated with beauty is that wonder and awe does not preclude shock and challenge. Engaging with beauty is not the same as enjoying a nice cup of tea or a piece of chocolate. If beauty is something of value, which it clearly is, then our search for it necessarily involves effort and an element of discernment. It is perhaps too easy (especially for children) to stay with the familiar, because going outside one’s comfort zone can be very unsettling. Yet it is precisely in such a ‘zone’ that genuine learning and growth takes place. To be sure, it isn’t easy to make sense of Picasso’s Cubist inventions (such as Les Demoiselles d’Avignon) but a little bit of effort in trying to understand the painter’s intentions will bring the genre to life. It is the same with the great Bach Passions, works of monumental structure and form, that capture the drama of Christ’s Passion and speak of the architectonic qualities that have shaped western civilisation. Beauty is an integral and essential part of the Catholic liturgy – a means of transporting the supplicant into the realm of the numinous, an external reflection of internal beliefs: lex orandi, lex credendi. Hence the image of a solemn Traditional Latin Mass accompanying this week’s Notes.
Contemplating the beautiful provides an opportunity to escape the utilitarianism of our age. One doesn’t learn the violin or listen to a Beethoven sonata because it is useful. Having said that, each person’s journey through life will involve a diverse array of experiences from the joyful to the challenging and the downright sad. Finding love, losing love, career frustrations, or a searingly painful bereavement can render our normal rational faculties impotent. It is at such times that strength and meaning (and resolution of purpose) can be found through poetry, music, or art. In the ugliness of any situation it is in the beautiful that we find our repose.
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