A lovely play to celebrate the Christmas season, Twelfth Night, or What You Will.
Why, what you will? Because the play highlights a few differences between the different churches in Christendom in Shakespeare's England. Yes, Shakespeare gives us not only a comedy, but a little bit of church history. And for me, it's personal. This play's teaching on the sacraments was why I decided to get baptized and confirmed and receive the eucharist in the Catholic church. So it touches me a little differently than his other plays. While Hamlet started my journey towards the church, Twelfth Night cemented my reception into the Church during that lovely Easter vigil many years ago.
What I love about America is how much of a melting pot it is. It takes ideas and traditions from everywhere. We celebrate Irish holidays (St. Paddy's day) and Mexican holidays (Cinco de Mayo), we have our own holidays like Thanksgiving, and like many nations of the new world, we even have our own Independence Day. And like all nations of a Christian heritage, we also have Christmas. And the very word hints at our English-Catholic roots (Christ's mass).
While many Christians celebrate Christmas, it's Catholics who go to mass. In Latin American countries, we call it Navidad (“nativity,” as we’re celebrating the birth). Either way, it's not a day, but a season. For Catholics that season lasts 12 days, all the way till three kings day when we leave hay on our doorstep and wait for our presents from the magi. And in America, some of the traditions are kept, but due to our Protestant roots the Christmas season in the good ole US of A more closely coincides with what Catholics call Advent.
These are subtle differences of our Christian cultures in our melting pot called America, and these are the things preserved for us to learn in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will.
Why, what you will? Because the choice is ours to celebrate the Twelfth Night. But twins and mistaken identities are opportunities for Shakespeare to hide allegories about the differences in churches (e.g., Comedy of Errors). And we will cover these themes and other themes in our newsletter over time, but today we will highlight one issue in Twelfth Night, and that is the issue of the sacraments.
All Christians get baptized, it's a clear command from our Lord and Savior. We hold that in common. Where we differ is on the other sacraments. And Shakespeare used comedy and mistaken identity to show us this key difference in the characters of the twins, Viola and Sebastian.
For when Viola is disguised as Cesario she looked like her brother Sebastian. Note the name meanings and allusions. Caesar was the lead of the Roman empire, the State, and in this case also a picture of England as Violet was the color of Royalty. Sebastian means revered or venerable. And in the play, Sebastian is entrusted with Antonio’s purse. Antonio (meaning: priceless or highly exalted one) is a Christ figure.
In Merchant of Venice, Antonio was the giver of credit to Bassanio, allowing him to marry someone who would not have been able to marry on his own merit, but who woes Portia only because of his friendship with Antonio, who freely gives all he haves, even willing to lay down a pound of his own fair flesh for his beloved friend. And in Twelfth Night, Antonio gives his purse to Sebastian. He entrusts his purse to the one called “Revered.”
Viola is entrusted with the message of the Duke's love, just like all Christians are entrusted with the good news of our king's love. But when it comes time to disperse the purse of Antonio, she has to confess, “my having is not much.”
Protestants are given the message of love, but not the sacraments, including the eucharist. The eucharist is entrusted to Catholic priests for the Catholic people. Yes, we have both the message of God's love, but only Apostolic Christians have the gift of his body in the eucharist. We look to the ones revered, our fathers in the faith, to dispense these sacraments.
It was this story that helped me understand the differences in Christendom. And it was this story that helped me realize that while all Christians carry the message of love, if we want the sacraments, the Church carries that purse of divine graces. If we want the eucharist, we have to go to his priests, whether Orthodox or Catholic, they must be Apostolic.
And so, as Catholics, we celebrate the Twelfth Night. Or, what you will.