At 09:35 AM 2/22/2003 +0000 Richard Baker wrote:
>John said:
>
>> Ahem, you can't *keep* the EU "godless", let alone religionless, until
>> you change its flag.
>
>How is a circle of yellow stars on a blue background religious?
A circle of 12 stars is the Catholic symbol for Mary, Queen of Heaven.
Indeed, the flag was even adopted on December 8th, the Catholic Feast of
the Immaculate Conception - when Catholics celebrate the conception of Mary
by Anne and Joachim without original sin.
JDG - Coincidence. Maru.
"COINCIDENCES" OF EUROPEAN FLAG
Designer Inspired by Virgin's Image in Paris' Rue du Bac
ROMA, DEC 7 (ZENIT) - December 8 is a very special day for Europe: in 1955,
on that day, the European Ministers' delegates officially adopted the
European flag designed by Arsene Heitz, who today is an octogenarian artist
in Strasbourg. The decision was taken following the 1950 European Council's
(one of the predecessors of today's European Union) convocation of a
competition to design the flag of the newborn European Community. Among
many other artists, Heitz presented several designs, and one was chosen: 12
stars on a blue background.
Recently Heitz revealed to a French magazine the reason for his
inspiration. At that time he was reading the history of the Blessed
Virgin's apparitions in Paris' Rue du Bac, known today as the Virgin of the
Miraculous Medal. According to the artist, he thought of the 12 stars in a
circle on a blue background, exactly the way it is represented in
traditional iconography of this image of the Immaculate Conception. In the
beginning, Heitz saw it as a flight of fancy, among the many that run
through an artist's imagination; but the idea caught his attention, to the
point that it became the subject of his meditation.
According to Javier Paredes, Professor of Contemporary History at the
University of Alcala in Spain, in statements sent to ZENIT, "Heitz listens
to God in his interior; in other words, he prays with his heart and his
head. He says he is profoundly religious and devoted to the Virgin, to whom
he never misses praying a daily Rosary, together with his wife. Because of
this, he believes the inspiration not only from his artistic talents, but
from the silent voices that Heaven always speaks to men of good will, among
whom Heitz can undoubtedly be numbered. He is an artist who, virtually at
the end of his life and at the zenith of his career, can proclaim with the
guarantee of authenticity that he recalls that moment, that he is
interested in very few but very important things, that he regards himself
as a man who loves the whole world, but especially the Blessed Virgin, who
is our Mother."
Professor Paredes admits that "neither the stars nor the blue of the flag
are particularly religious symbols, thus respecting the conscience of all
Europeans, regardless of their beliefs."
Indeed, he recalls that "when Paul M.G. Levy, first director of the Press
and Information Service of the European Council had to explain to the
Members of the Economic Community the meaning of the design, he interpreted
the number of 12 stars as a 'figure of plenitude,' given that in the 50s
there were not 12 members in that Council, nor in the European Community."
"However, in Heitz's soul the words of the Apocalypse were very present: 'A
great sign appeared in the Heavens: a Woman clothed with the sun and with
the moon at her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.' And,
perhaps without realizing it, the delegates of the European Ministers
officially adopted the design proposed by Heitz on the feast of Our Lady:
December 8, 1955," explained Prof. Paredes. "That's a lot of coincidences,
so henceforth it should not be difficult for us to discover in the folds of
the Europeans' flag the smile and affection of Our Mother, the Queen of
Europe, ready to lend a hand in that great challenge that St. Peter's
successor has proposed to us: to re-Christianize the Old Continent with the
example of our lives and the testimony of our words."
Article #ZE99120707 from ZENIT News Agency, kindly forwarded by Mark Polo,
7 December 1999
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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