Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-08-24
CalnaSe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. ID.


sermon the preacher shows rs John.
the beloved disciple. In a new light
and as model OF strength. courage
aud heroism for Christians OF every
age. The text Is John XIII. %. "Now
there was leaning on Jesus bosom one
or bis disciples. whom Jesus loved"
No art student feels that he has truly
studied to the best advantage unless
he has sat At the feet OF the old mas
ters- What Mecca is to the Moham-
medsns and Benares to the Hindoos
and Jerusalem TO the Christians. Rome
and Venice and FLORENCE and Milan
and Paris and Antwerp are to the
young artists and sculptors. So over
come was Michael Angelo when he
first looked upon the wonderful figure
OF st. George carved by the sculptor
Donatello on the outside OF the church
of San Michel at Florence that for q
time he could not speak. Then as he
studied the magnificent proportions OF
that greatest of all the great works of
the Florentine sculptor he raised his
hand majestically and cried. Now.
march," In these two simple words
the architect OF st. Peters, the sculp-
tor OF David" and Moses" and the
artistic creator of THE Last Judgment
and OF the frescoes OF the Pauline
chapel affirmed that the statue of st.
George was perfect In Its physical pro-
portions and had everything in its
makeup but human soul
The works OF the old masters are
almost empowering; hence we find
h0f In arA
world are near TO the galleries In which
are preserved the immortal pictures
and the statues OF the greatest artists
and sculptors of past centuries. The
Louvre has more to do with attracting
art students to the Latin quarter OF
Paris by the hundreds and thousands
than any other cause. Not a day pass
es but you can see scores of young stu
dents, with their easels, copying Mu-
rillo's Holy Family" or his s.Assump-
ton OF the Virgin" which hang upon
the Louvse's walls. There Rubens and
Rembrandt and Velasquez and Fra.
Bartolemeo and Da Vinci are still as
much art professors as though they
were alive In the flesh. What Is true
OF Paris Is equally true OF all the Ital-
ian cities. So much are the models OF
the ancient artists sought after for
copying purposes that the Italian gov
eminent has forbidden any of its SUBJ
1ects to sell any OF these old master
pieces to any buyer outside OF the
country. The king Of Italy knows that
the loss OF the works of the old mas
tiers would be irreparable, and II they
were scattered one OF the greatest gio-
ries OF Italy would have vanished for
ever.
What Raphael's Madonnas are to
the young art students as models, the
characters OF Moses and Joshua and
Samuel and Nehemiah and Daniel and
John the Baptist and Peter and Paul
ana John. the beloved disciple, are
10 young Christians. These Bible char
acters are not perfect. any more than
the artistic. works of the old masters
are perfect. Paul Veronese, one OF the
greatest OF Venetian artists, painted
his female characters OF ''The Family
or Darius at the Feet OF Alexander
After the Battle OF Issus'' In the hoop
skirts and low bodiced waists OF the
venetian costumes OF the sixteenth
century, although the battle of Iss,is
fore Christ was born. There is only
one perfect being mentioned In the
Bible. and that person Is Jesus. Christ.
But though the best Bible characters
are not perfect, yet. many OF them are
rightly held up as prototypes for young
Christians to copy after. Today want
TO speak about one OF the best and
noblest OF the apostles foe US TO emu
late. ~ want to show how St John
was strong. and how he was one OF
the most influential and perhaps the
best beloved OF all the Disciples who
gathered about the table at the last
supper, just preceding the crucIfxion.
st. UoAn = Model.
The model Of my text, In the first
place. was. I believe. a Christian OF
superb physical proportions. He was
not, as some people suppose. physical
weakling. He did not have his head
piliowed upon Christ's breast ut the
banquet table Of the last supper be-
cause he was suffering invalid. Oh.
no. Far from that. OF all the stall
wars young men gathered about this
TABLETOP at that time they were prob
ably all youngest. John. believe. had
the best and the strongest physical
frame. his eye. like David's, the shep.
herd boy. must have been clear and
quick. His limbs must have been sun.
pie and sinewy. His chest must have
been broad and deep. His skin must
have been aglow with health. He
must have had the body OF an athlete
He must have been a young man buh
bling over with fun and good humor
ON account OF the resiliency OF his
strong physical constitution. He must
nave had all the advantages which &C.
erue from good health. because the
Bible indirectly effirms T..
How does the Bible assert thIs3 Yon
must read between the lines. The HI
bile implies that John lived to be a
very old man. You must not Study st.
John the young man at the foot of the
cross unless you study St John az old
man on the island OF Pstmos. There
he was supposed to have lived to a
very advanced age. Albert Barnes de-
clared that In all probability ST. John
must have lived far on IN the pineties
before ne died. Like Titan. the great
artist. who died or the Venetian plague
In his ninety-ninth year. 81. John may
have almost reached the century mark.
before ne passed to glory. Now, no
man could have lived as long as st.
John lived and have done the work he
did unless he started with an Unlimited
supply OF physical health and had care
fully husbanded bis health all through
life. Lord Palmerston. governing the
dest;nies OF England in his eighty first