Angels calling

 

It is an inevitable phenomenon, the urge to visit the places where we have spent our earliest Christmas celebrations. Maybe in search of the warmth of it we once knew? Breathe in the air, the atmosphere?

This time we decided to leave the car back home and hopped on the Intercity train Amsterdam-Maastricht. Frenzy on the platforms, relaxation once on the train. It is fun to travel by train, no worries about speeding cars all around you on the motor ways. You can sit back and enjoy whatever that meets the eye and hears the ear.  Young fellow passengers for instance, who had installed themselves as if the final destination of the train was not Maastricht, but some faraway place. I must admit, once on a train I get that feeling too, let’s travel on. Some had taken their shoes off, sleeping, plenty of food and drinks on the shelf next to them, books and magazines to read. A boisterous crowd of students exchanged happily their present experiences. A simple minded man endeared us all by insisting on a place near the window, by his worries of getting off at the next station and his warm Christmas wishes for the ticket controller.

Sitting at the top level of the train the view on the passing scenery brought surprises. Massive rail road extensions around Utrecht station, hare hunters lined up in the field, the rivers flooding into waste lands, one farm almost drowning at a peninsula near the river Waal. The high water level is early this winter season. In Germany there is a special word for it, Weihnachtstauwetter, melting mountain water over Christmas because of warm humid sea air coming in from the West(Illustration: Dutch Landscape, by Hendrik Jan Visser).

In ‘s Hertogenbosch we hopped off the train and on the city bus towards the Jheronymus Bosch Art Center. My husband’s face changed in an ear to ear smile on the recognition of the festive decorations, the hustle and bustle, the memories he holds on the city. We almost fell out of our seats trying to catch a glimpse of the decorated home of a relative as we passed it. It poured with rain once we got off, what a day to choose for a sentimental journey! And how about being so stupid to leave your umbrella and wax hat at home?! However, a warm cappuccino and salmon cucumber club sandwich in the nice museum restaurant encouraged us to continue. A tiered cake on display in the restaurant, by a local baker representing the Christmas story In the Jeroen Bosch style, immediately drew our attention. A piece of art as such.

The day before I had been going through the art work of Laetitia de Haas, forever one of my very favourites. Her art is so quiet and meaningful, no people, just nature, flowers, trees, birds. So different and contrarily, full of creatures are the paintings of Jeroen (Jheronymus) Bosch, obsessed as he was about heaven and hell, the seven sins: Superbia  (pride), Avaritia (greed), Luxuria (impurity), Invidia (jealousy), Gula (indulgence), Ira (fury), Acedia (laziness).

After the video introduction we took the glass lift to start the tour at the very top of the St Jacob's church, in which the Jheronymus Bosch Art Centre is situated.

 

It was freezing cold in the church and the tower. The top floor of the tower is sheltered with glass windows inside, not making it easy to take pictures. I must admit, inquisitive and curious as I am, I did try a door handle, but no way of opening the door and peering over the sides. On a clear and bright day the view must be magnificent. We had a good view at St Jan’s Cathedral, which appears in his painting ‘The Epiphany’ as a cathedral under construction.

 

For hours on end you can study and view his paintings.  His work is so fascinating, so creative, every inch a discovery. ‘The Epiphany’ shows Maria and Jezus in the local landscape, a typical Brabant farm house. Too much to take in during one visit. We must return. The museum shop could hardly be resisted,  off I went with a new book and Christmas cards.

Jeroen Bosch is of course an endless source of inspiration to other artists and creations. Beautiful tapestries with details are on show in the Center.

Little did I know that when I took a picture of the tapestry on the transformation from our earthly life to heaven that on Christmas Eve one of my quilting friends would be taken away suddenly by the angels. Imagine, she was tired, decided to put her head down for a moment, went to bed, and then left this earth ….. She was a creative, warm, engaged person, always dressed in black, but her quilts so colourful. I will treasure  the moments we shared during Christmas and Easter floral workshops, her interest in everyone’s life, her little quilt gifts and the seeds she gave me for our garden. The plants that she gave me will be named after her from now on.

On we went to the Sint Jan as we call it, to hear Christmas carols being sung, to light a candle in the Maria Chapel. So much goes through your mind when you sit there in meditation. In silence we watched others and wondered what would be going through theirs? Memories on loved ones, on previous Christmas celebrations, praying for recovery of dear friends like in our case?

 

On the Parade next to the cathedral it was Christmas party time: a skating rink, a Christmas tree full of wishes that would be broadcasted on TV, wood fires, winter delicacies. But who is looking down at all of this from the cathedral?

 

A very modern angel, dressed in today’s fashion with a cross bag and a mobile phone! You can phone the angel. Of course it is a pre-recorded voice, but if you do so it is very moving. It would not be a modern angel if there would not be money involved in this: the call costs 0,80 cents per minute, the revenues go to the restoration of the cathedral.
 

We were soaked to the bone in the mean time; my hair looked as if I had put my head upside down in a pond. Plenty of warm cosy cafés around the Parade to shelter though and always the end of our day trip. Inviting personnel with a warm Brabant accent organized a nice table for us, serving dark Trappist beer and Dutch cheese. One of my neighbours always says (from Brabant herself): 'it is warmer when you go South'. It is true, it is warm in Brabant. It is more hospitable, people are easier the way they live, Burgundian. There is a true difference between ‘above’ (Calvinistic) and ‘below’ (Roman Catholic) the rivers.

Deciding we would soon return to the City of ‘s Hertogenbosch we climbed on the train in the dark. We chatted with a young musician, a member of the Utrecht Student Concert, on her way to a concert in Amsterdam. She considered Sjostakovitsj on the program heavy going for Christmas. We, on our turn, shared how a week ago we enjoyed the concert ‘Noël de France’, chamber music by French composers in the Town Hall of the Naarden Fortress.

Celebrations, celebrations, there is no Greater Feast to celebrate than Christmas, in whatever manner. Merry Christmas to you all!
When you have a moment do call the angel. At first the angel explains a few things, you can make choices, you can pray together: (+31) (0)900-7468526