Well, it’s been one calendar year since I received the sacraments of initiation. What a year! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I want to take some time and read some of my journals from this time last year.

Speaking of reading, one of the unicorn books I mentioned in The Good Friday post arrived. I’m still waiting on the other. As soon as it came I flipped through it. Oh, the nostalgia! This was my favorite book from age seven on. Even as a teenager and on into college I’d still pull it out and read it occasionally.

It consisted of the author’s account of his “discovery” of a 1500s Latin manuscript about unicorns in a monastery. The author was also “given” a unicorn horn set in a gold and jewel-encrusted setting and charged with hiding it. The book was filled with clues and concluded with a poem to help someone find it. Like many puzzle books in the 80s there was an actual prize to find for anyone smart enough to solve the riddle. It wasn’t a real unicorn horn, of course, I think it was ivory or marble. As far as I can find, no one has found it yet.

But as I flipped through the book, I was surprised by how many Biblical references there were. There is Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, the temptation from the serpent and the fall. Nowhere does it mention Jesus or God or the Bible. Even so, it is replete with Christian themes. I had no idea, this went totally over my head when I was little! It even has Jesus riding a unicorn. Don’t laugh at me, Reader! I know it sounds like a meme, but look:

I used to like this page specifically because I liked to ride horses and I always wondered, who is that riding the unicorn? Now I think… it looks like Jesus, doesn’t it? With his white robes and purple sash? And the Holy Spirit is there too in the form of a dove. Wild. He should have pierced hands and feet though.

I was curious about Unicorns and Christianity. Is this something the author made up or what? Apparently not! The Google tells me the unicorn was an early symbol for Jesus. I’d like to learn more about this someday.

Illuminating Jesus in the Middle Ages has a chapter “The Unicorn as a Symbol for Christ in the Middle Ages” that I’d like to read but the book is $185 on Amazon so I’ll have to try interlibrary loan.

I also found this article by Fr. Michael Rennier on the Aleteia blog “Bet you didn’t know this about unicorns…” Fr. Rennier wrote another book I love “The Forgotten Language: How Recovering the Poetics of the Mass Will Change Our Lives” Small world!

The symbolism of the unicorn was highly developed by the Catholic Church. There is even artwork in churches depicting unicorns. The chaste lady represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the unicorn is Christ. He is captured because even though he is mighty, he is gentle and kind with his mother. He allows himself to be captured for her sake.

When I told my parish children this story about unicorns – it’s often one that is told around the Annunciation on March 25 – they seemed more engaged than usual. More than anything, I want them to learn from the story that strength is found in gentleness and love, that people who are strong aren’t afraid to make a commitment or a sacrifice on behalf of another person. I told the children that, each time they put on their unicorn shirts, to remember that love is mightier than all the creatures of the forest and more powerful than every hunter who may try to capture it.

https://aleteia.org/2020/03/22/bet-you-didnt-know-this-about-unicorns/

I am sure there are many more resources, (This one looks interesting, at first glance – Sacred Architecture: The Horn of Salvation and Symbol of Chastity) I only need the time to explore them! I just think it’s funny that this book I loved so much had such imagery hidden in it. I wish it had been more explicit, though if it had I might have decided it wasn’t for me. I wonder if the Holy Spirit uses everything He can to draw us to Him. Then, when we eventually do find our way home, all those seeds that He buried inside us sprout and click into place.

Fr. Rennier is also a convert to Catholicism. In an article about his book, The Forgotten Language, he says:

Fr. Rennier:Being a convert means that I don’t get to take anything for granted. There was a period of time when the Mass was entirely foreign to me. I came to it like a small child, knowing nothing. I experienced the dense symbolic worship of the Church and the wonder of it immediately drew me into the liturgical life of the communion of saints. Because I had no idea what was going on, the images and symbols were like a fresh well of living water, mysterious and sacred. I didn’t have any preconceptions of how the Mass was supposed to look or sound. The point of sacred worship isn’t so much the wonder and awe itself, but the effects of those experiences is very powerful and causes seekers to turn directly to the beautiful heart of God. 

I love being a priest for the simple personal reason that it’s my vocation, so it’s my best path to happiness and sainthood. What we so often forget is that, if we follow God’s plan for our lives, whatever that plan might be, it might require sacrifice but it’s also a great joy. To love exactly what God loves, that’s my goal.

This author views the Mass as a poem (and so much more) – Sarah Robsdottir

It makes me wonder what symbols and seeds were waiting inside him to connect with what he was experiencing in Mass. Also, I think I found a quote for a Facebook post for the week leading up to World Day of Prayer for Vocations!