A CONVERSATION WITH CHRISTINA

To my friends and family in Christian goth,
I enjoy a number of encouraging emails, and some not so encouraging, but for the most part people seem to like what we do here at GothicChristianity.com and they let me know—and I really appreciate it when they do. Christina was one such person and this is how our email exchange went:

"Thanks for your website. I had never heard of Gothic at all, but now I see and understand. I wonder if there are Catholics who recognize orphan-hood as the essential of Gothics.

Be blessed,
Christina"

Christina,
Thank you so much for your kind words. Could you please elaborate further on this, "I wonder if there are Catholics who recognize orphan-hood as the essential of Gothics." I would be very interested in hearing your comments.

David

"David,
Thank you for your reply. Certainly, I’d like to elaborate further. In fact, yesterday I started to make a website of my own in Dutch. You won't believe it, but by a coincidence I saw the word gothic. I needed a dictionary to know the meaning of this idea.

First, let me introduce myself. It will make you rapidly understand why I asked my question to you.
Christina is not my prename, but one of my Christian names. But more important, it was my name as I was a nun. More than ten years ago I went into a monastery. I took on the black veil, wore a black habit and when we go to Mass, we wore white surplice and the black cape.

Sisters who made eternal vows also wore red cords on their capes. The history of nuns wear means it is originally a widow’s habit, and so monastery life is explained. A woman, whose husband has died, does not long any more to the living. She lives as if her heart is already in heaven, "in coelo" in Latin. So there is the origin of the word celibacy.

I only made temporary vows. My health condition was not good enough, so I had to leave before the solemn pledge. Monastery life is a state of life. It is your choice, your answer to a vocation of God. Gothic is the shape of cathedral windows, the place where candles burn, where God is looking for your grief, to comfort you.

Now I see the orphan-hood. Children who have lost their parents—dead or alive—are wearing mourning clothes. The official mourning color is black, but the liturgical color is purple. Children never wear pumps, but tight shoes. At the funeral one wears no jewelry at all. The silver rings, necklaces, crosses are copies of the wrought-ironwork of the cemetery.

I saw on gothic websites there is a tendency to Victorian age. Of course, the ladies wore long dresses, hats, gloves and blouses close to the chin, and white lace. Gentlemen wore white ruches. It is a strong—but romantic—underlining of chastity.

After the funeral orphans stick together. Gothic’s sticking together is a real orphanage. What else can they do? It is the best way to survive, to support each other and making the best of it.

Not only children, but also so many people are orphaned. Parents divorced, parents who do not care at all or abuse their children, priests who do not know how to be a correct father for their parishioners, and really, people do suffer! The ultimate goal of Christ is to bring people to his own Father, and not without Jesus we will meet our heavenly Father. On earth we speak to the Pope and say "Holy Father." So I see Gothic as an authentic, catholic state of life.

I am reading the book The Cry for Spiritual Fathers & Mothers by Larry Kreider, and really, a great light is shining!

Your website made me happy; we are not mistaken.

Thank you for listening.

God bless you,
Christina"

Christina,
This is one of the most beautiful and articulate explanations of goth I have ever read. Your insight and wisdom is very deep. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. May I share your message with them? Please feel no obligation, I simply like to pass on wisdom when it comes my way but if for any reason you aren’t comfortable with that then I will keep it just between us.

David

"David,
Yes, bring the gospel to your fellows and let them know they are not alone in their mission. Before Ascension Jesus Himself said to His brothers, 'I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.' ~ John 14:18

When I contemplate the idea of Gothic, I see Christ as the 'homo dolorosus,' and everyone knows that the deepest sorrow of Jesus was to be forsaken from His God and Father, but when Jesus hung on the cross, he knew that horrible moment would come and He did not want His people suffering from this ontological pain. So He told His mother to take care after them. That is why the Mater Dolorosa is so well-known on In Memoriam cards.

Christina"