| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: for it. And this custom is not new in the Church; for the
Fathers before Gregory make no mention of any private Mass,
but of the common Mass [the Communion] they speak very much.
Chrysostom says that the priest stands daily at he altar,
inviting some to the Communion and keeping back others. And it
appears from the ancient Canons that some one celebrated the
Mass from whom all the other presbyters and deacons received
the body of he Lord; for thus the words of the Nicene Canon
say: Let the deacons, according to their order, receive the
Holy Communion after the presbyters, from the bishop or from a
presbyter. And Paul, 1 Cor. 11, 33, commands concerning the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: believe those poisons necessary. It follows that God did not
know how to arrange matters properly, since, without asking the
opinions of the priests, he has combined things as they are. Man
needs, so they have decided, to satisfy his sensual desire, and
here this function is disturbed by the birth and the nursing of
children.
"What, then, is to be done? Why, apply to the priests; they will
arrange everything, and they have really discovered a way. When,
then, will these rascals with their lies be uncrowned! It is
high time. We have had enough of them. People go mad, and shoot
each other with revolvers, and always because of that! And how
The Kreutzer Sonata |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: God's name, or making a pretty show, or claiming to be right, whether
it occur in gross, worldly business or in sublime, subtle matters of
faith and doctrine. And among liars belong also blasphemers, not alone
the very gross, well known to every one, who disgrace God's name
without fear (these are not for us, but for the hangman to discipline);
but also those who publicly traduce the truth and God's Word and
consign it to the devil. Of this there is no need now to speak further.
Here, then, let us learn and take to heart the great importance of this
commandment, that with all diligence we may guard against and dread
every misuse of the holy name, as the greatest sin that can be
outwardly committed. For to lie and deceive is in itself a great sin,
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: Tourniquet.
It was one day early in the following May that, as Caroline was giving
the roots of the honeysuckle a glass of water, one Saturday morning,
she caught sight of a narrow strip of cloudless blue between the black
lines of houses, and said to her mother:
"Mamma, we must go to-morrow for a trip to Montmorency!"
She had scarcely uttered the words, in a tone of glee, when the
Gentleman in Black came by, sadder and more dejected than ever.
Caroline's innocent and ingratiating glance might have been taken for
an invitation. And, in fact, on the following day, when Madame
Crochard, dressed in a pelisse of claret-colored merinos, a silk
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