Fogou at Carn Euny, Sancreed Nr Penzance. A fogou is a sacred chamber beneath the earth. There are several in West Cornwall and this is one of the best preserved. I took this photograph last year. Its difficult of access and one prays not to meet a car coming in the opposite direction. Dad first took us there when we were children. But it has ever since fascinated me and has a spiritual message.
Our remote ancestors looked deep beneath the earth for images of spirituality. The Catholic priest and poet Fr Gerard Manley in his poem God’s Grandeur wrote the following lines.
“And for all this nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;”
St Mary Undercroft Crypt in Canterbury Cathedral
The crypt, the cave, the cairn, the well, are among the ancient earth sites that still remain as testimonies to this deep spirituality, sometimes called chthonic. They also represent our personal experiences of the spirit which are often discovered in the caves and crypts of memory. Powerful bodily emotions and feelings, frequently cause long forgotten memories to surface in our waking minds. The human soul has been compared to a cave – hidden, dark, mysterious and unfathomable. The beauty of the soul is shrouded in emotional haze and mist. The depths of the mind and soul reach down to our earliest origins in our mother’s womb…that inner sea from which we first emerged as human beings.
True spiritual strength isn’t always to be found in broad day light on the mountain top. For religion to be grounded, it must also reach deeply into the tortuous patterns of personality and life. The Lord may indeed be enthroned in the heavens, but it is often out of the depths that we cry to him. Neither should we forget that each of us was formed in the depths of the earth as Psalm 139 reminds us.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
It is an elusive law of the Spirit that we cannot safely go on high unless we also visit the depths. Without attention and cultivation, deep thoughts can remain raw and wild. Spiritual people often ignore those wild and raw imaginings and thinking themselves “holy” are plagued by bigotry, aggression and sexual confusion. Zealotry (fanaticism) in all its manifestations is the very enemy of our Lord’s generous and loving nature. Our depths are the very locations of the soul where we learn and breathe compassion
The Crucifix is in the Church of San Dominico in Siena.
The end of evening prayers include the following:
De Profundis
De profundis clamo ad te, Domine, Domine, audi vocem meam!
Fiant aures tuae intentae ad vocem obsecrationis meae.
Si delictorum memoriam servaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?
Sed penes te est peccatorum venia, ut cum reverentia serviatur tibi.
Spero in Dominum, sperat anima mea in verbum ejus.
Exspectat anima mea Dominum, magis quam custodes auroram.
Magis quam custodes auroram, exspectet Israel Dominum.
Quia. penes Dominum misericordia et copiosa penes eum redemptio;
Et ipse redimet Israel ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.
V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
V. Requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.
V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
OREMUS Fidelium, Deus, omnium Conditor et Redemptor, animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum, ut indulgentiam quam semper optaverunt piis supplicationibus consequantur. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
R. Amen.
V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
V. Requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.
Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.
If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?
But with You is forgiveness, that You may be revered.
I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in His word.
My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord is kindness and with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.
Psalm 129
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto You.
LET US PRAY O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins; that through our fervent prayers they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.