Awareness of God

Thanks to Colleen at Thoughts on Grace for hosting this meme each week.  Be sure to visit her, too.

Since I’ve been absent the past two weeks, I’ll include more than the Sabbath Moments for this week.

Rule of St. Benedict

Every January we start from the beginning in the meditations on the Holy Rule, beginning with the Prologue.  Today it occurred to me that the good Benedictines from St. Meinrad who wrote these are giving us little snippets of daily spiritual direction, and I have to say that this week’s commentaries by Father Placidus Kempf (RIP) are fantastic. I posted on Renunciation earlier this week and will write some more on this week’s commentaries soon so others can enjoy it too.

My little grand-neice

Our family Christmas Eve get-together was very entertaining because of my eighteen month old grand niece.  She is half Chinese and half American and totally adorable. Am I prejudiced? My sister had bought a cute red dress and little Mary Janes with lace socks for her Christmas outfit.  Finding a red Santa hat on the hearth, she made us all laugh with her antics as she put it on and took it off. She will speak both Mandarin and English fluently when she grows up – a good combination in today’s world. God blesses us in ways we don’t expect, and I am glad that East has met West in our family.  It provides a richness of culture that will somehow work in His plan for us.

Adoration

Yesterday, in addition to being the feast of the Epiphany in the 1962 calendar, was First Friday and the local parish had adoration after Mass.  I had plenty of time to mull over a problematic article I have to write for the newsletter I publish every month.  Praying before I write has become a habit. I’m always afraid of being inaccurate, or, on emotionally charged issues, coming across snarky or mean-spirited.  The Lord has always come to my aid at these times, and time spent in adoration helps me be charitable.

Talk with an old friend

Last evening I had a talk with a priest friend of mine and received great news for the good of our diocese.  The bishop just appointed him as Director of Diocesan Liturgy.  He is very orthodox and has a good knowledge of the sacred liturgy.  In addition, he is supportive of the Traditional Latin Mass.  When I founded an Una Voce chapter in 1999 and worked on petitioning the former bishop for the Latin Mass, he was very encouraging to me.  As Father Zuhlsdorf says, “brick by brick” and it doesn’t matter if it takes a year or more to lay just one or two, the great news is that the sacred liturgy in our diocese will slowly become in conformity with the Roman Missal as it should, and the Catholic faith will be strengthened.

Well, I have to go now.  Last night the dog threw up on the bed sheets and I have to get started on a laundry, which means stripping the bed.  Usually when the dog vomits it wakes me up, but not this time.  I don’t know why the whole thing seems funny to me, but it does.  I must not be normal.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

What better way to begin the new year than by celebrating today’s feast: the Holy Name of Jesus?

From Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year we read:

Today’s Mass, continuing St. Paul’s thought, offers us a majestic picture of the glory which is due the holy Name of Jesus: “That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” (Introit).

The entire Church — triumphant, militant, and suffering — is prostrate in adoration; the whole of creation seems to be silent, having stopped in its course for a moment to hear this most holy Name which gives glory to God and salvation to mankind.

Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee (Song of Songs 1:3).

“Oil gives light, it nourishes, it anoints,” writes St. Bernard.  “It is light when it is preached; it is food in meditation; it is balm and healing when it is invoked for aid.”

Thou, O Lord, art… our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name (Is. 63:16).

Jesus is, ever was, and always will be the perfect sin offering who saved us from everlasting torment.  His name invoked drives evil away and brings peace of heart.  “Just say ‘no’” should be, “Just say ‘Jesus’” with perfect trust.

Thy name, O Lord, is forever: thy memorial, O Lord, unto all generations (Ps. 135:13).

The Holy Mass is His memorial offered to the Father until the end of time when we shall celebrate the eternal todah.

On this day in particular we make up for the endless blasphemy against His Name and His Person by bowing down in spirit and in person, “for there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Collect for today’s feast:

O God, Who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the savior of mankind, and didst bid Him be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who venerate His holy Name on earth, may fully enjoy also the vision of Him in heaven.  Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ who lives a reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.  Amen.

In the holy Name of Jesus I ask the Father to bless all my readers and protect them from all harm in this coming year.  May He be praised, loved, and honored by all men everywhere.

Awareness of God

Welcome to Sabbath Moments hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. This Saturday meme prompts us to review our week and note times when we were “resting in the Lord” or encountering Him in the ordinary events of our life.

First Friday Adoration

A couple of months ago when I learned that my local parish was having Adoration on the first Friday of every month after morning Mass I decided to participate.  Sometimes my mind is rocketing around like an uncontrolled ping-pong ball, bouncing off walls, paddles, and tables.  After awhile during Adoration it calms down and I can focus much better. What I like is the great quiet time with the Lord where I can ask Him to help others, speak to Him about what’s going on in my life, and praise and thank Him for His loving care for me and all those I love and pray for.

Reading the New Translation

Yesterday I stayed longer than the usual hour of Adoration so I could read more of the new translation of the Ordinary of the Mass in the Real Presence of Our Lord. It is a huge step forward in terms of the potential for deepening the spiritual life of those who attend Mass regularly.  Although I already knew what some of the new translation was from reading Father Zuhlsdorf’s blog, looking at all of it was very encouraging.

First of all, in those prayers shared in common with the Extraordinary Form, the English translation is either close to or identical to what has been in use since the 19^th and 20^th centuries when vernacular/Latin missals became common.  That is, it is very faithful to the Latin original. Many of these shared prayers date from the early Church, such as the Gloria, the Credo, and the “Deliver us, O Lord…” to name a few.

Perhaps the most important change is the restoration of the vocative case in addressing God. Since 1969 when the Ordinary Form was approved (in Latin) by Pope Paul VI, the English translators have had us ordering God around.  “Do this, do that” as in “God, come to my assistance.”  “Lord, see to it that…”.  This approach disrupts our right relationship with God.  He is our Creator.  We are His creatures.  He is the Commander.  We are the ones to be commanded.  We are not and never will be equal to God. But remember, the serpent in the garden of Eden lied to Eve and told her otherwise (Gen. 3:5), a lie the world still would have us believe today – a lie that led to the woes of all our lives.

The use of the vocative case expresses our true relationship to God beautifully, creating subtle changes in our hearts that will help us be more humble and trustful of Him if we reflect on the words. This translation is counter cultural – it is fully Catholic.  It will help us drive the zeitgeist out of our souls so that we may more fully embrace the True Geist, the Holy Spirit and His promptings.

I don’t think it is possible to overestimate the importance of this much more faithful English translation of the Ordinary Form.  Lex orandi, lex credendi – the law of prayer is the law of belief. As St. Paul says, “faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Ro. 10:17).  What we hear with our ears at Mass enters our hearts. What comes out of our mouths ascends from our hearts (Matt. 15:18).  I can see the possibility of a much better witness to the world on the part of Catholics if this new translation is fully taken to heart. I also believe that when non-Catholic seekers of Christ hear the words of this liturgy they will have an easier time recognizing that they have come home.

Pope John Paul II did a very good thing in reforming ICEL and forming Vox Clara. Pope Benedict XVI has done a very good thing in following through with his predecessor’s initiatives.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Today seems like a perfect day to write about the sacred liturgy from last Sunday.  Jesus healed a palsied man, evangelized the people because he did it in public, and in so doing, painted us an image of who we are as repentant sinners.

About ten years ago we bought Dom Prosper Guéranger’s (1805-1875) The Liturgical Year collection.  Although it was expensive, I’ve never regretted the investment in what is a good resource for understanding the sacred liturgy for each day, especially Sundays.

I try to keep in mind thoughts from the scriptural themes of every Sunday throughout the week so that I may more faithfully walk in the footsteps of Christ.  Of course, I fail, but the words of the sacred liturgy always revive me. This past Sunday was the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Gospel reading is Matt. 9:1-8.

And entering into a boat, he passed over the water and came into his own city.

And behold, they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed.  And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth.

And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.

And he arose, and went into his house.

And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.

According to ancient tradition, the Church urges us to distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual (CCC #115), with the spiritual sense subdivided into the allegorical, moral, and anagogical senses. I’ll post on this another time, but you can always grab your Catechism and read more about this now.

Guéranger cracks open the Gospel for us, linking this passage to the sacred priesthood and the meaning of the healing of the palsied man to us sinners.  You can find all three spiritual meanings of the passage in his exegesis.  Also, the more I consider it throughout the week, the more meaning I find.  But to bring you the expert’s writing from volume 11 of The Liturgical Year:

The Gospel (Matt. 23:1-12) which speaks of the scribes and Pharisees who were seated on the chair of Moses has now been appointed for the Tuesday of the second week of Lent.  But the one which is at present given for this Sunday equally directs our thoughts to the consideration of the superhuman powers of the priesthood, which are the common boon of regenerated humanity.

The faithful…are now invited to meditate upon the prerogative which these same men have of forgiving sins and healing souls.  Even if their conduct be in opposition to their teaching [are we not all hypocrites ourselves?], it in nowise interferes with the authority of the sacred chair, from which, for the Church and in her name, they dispense the bread of doctrine to her children.  Moreover, whatever unworthiness may happen to be in the soul of a priest, it does not in the least lessen the power of the keys which have been put into his hands to open heaven and to shut hell.

For it is the Son of Man, Jesus, who, by the priest, be he a saint, or be he a sinner, rids of their sins His brethren and His creatures, whose miseries He has taken upon Himself, and whose crimes He has atoned for by His Blood.

The Healing of the Paralytic, c. 1560-1590, Netherlandish 16th century, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale collection, 1943.7.7

The miracle of the cure of the paralytic [who represents everyman], which gave an occasion to Jesus of declaring His power of forgiving sins inasmuch as he was Son of Man has always been especially dear to the Church….The catacomb frescoes, which have been preserved to the present day [and continue to be discovered], equally attest the predilection for this subject, wherewith she inspired the Christian artists of the first centuries.  From the very beginning of Christianity, heretics had risen up denying that the Church had the power, which her divine Head gave her, of remitting sin.

Such false teaching would irretrievably condemn to spiritual death an immense number of Christians, who, unhappily, had fallen after their Baptism, but who, according to Catholic dogma, might be restored to grace by the sacrament of Penance.

With what energy, then, would our mother the Church defend the remedy which gives life to her children!  She uttered her anathemas upon, and drove from her communion, those Pharisees of the new law, who, like their Jewish predecessors, refused to acknowledge the infinite mercy and universality of the great mystery of the Redemption.

…The outward cure of the paralytic was both the image and the proof of the cure of his soul, which previously had been in a state of moral paralysis; but he himself represented another sufferer, viz., the human race, which for ages had been a victim to the palsy of sin….At once, to the astonishment of the philosophers and skeptics, and to the confusion of hell, the world rose up from its long and deep humiliation; and to prove how thoroughly his strength had been restored to him, he was seen carrying on his shoulders, by the labor of penance and the mastery over his passions, the bed of his old exhaustion and feebleness, on which pride, lust, and covetousness had so long held him.

From that time forward, complying with the word of Jesus, which was also said to him by the Church, he has been going on towards his house, which is heaven, where eternal joy awaits him!

Let us also give thanks to Jesus, whose marvelous dower, which is the Blood He shed for His bride, suffices to satisfy, through all ages, the claims of eternal justice. It was at Easter time that we saw our Lord instituting the great Sacrament, which thus in one instant restores the sinner to life and strength.  But how double wonderful does its power seem, when we see it working in these times of effeminacy and of well-nigh universal ruin!

Iniquity abounds; crimes are multiplied; and yet, the life-restoring pool, kept full by the sacred stream which flows from the open side of our crucified Lord, is ever absorbing and removing, as often as we permit it, and without leaving one single vestige of them, those mountains of sins, those hideous treasures of iniquity which had been amassed, during long years, by the united agency of the devil, the world, and man himself.

Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B.’s cause for beatification was opened by the diocese of LeMans in December of 2005.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. Dominic Adoring the Crucifixion, 1440s, Fra Angelico (b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma), Fresco, Convento di San Marco, Florence

Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the effective date for implementation of Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, in 2007.  Thanks again, Holy Father, for clarifying that all Catholics who wish to worship according to the 1962 liturgical books have a right to do so and that bishops must facilitate this wherever access difficulties arise.

Today’s meditation in Divine Intimacy was on gratitude.  Father Gabriel writes:

This is our position in regard to God: we have nothing of our own; all that we are and have comes from Him, and in return for His infinite generosity, we can do nothing but use His gifts to express our gratitude to Him.  “In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all” (Thes. 5:18).

Yow.  I needed this reminder.  For the past two weeks I’ve been suffering from awful hives.  Tuesday morning I cancelled my workout at the therapy pool because I woke up around 5:30 with my head, shoulder, arm and legs itching like crazy.  These are not small bumps.  They start small, swell, and expand to cover numerous square inches of skin, even joining one another, until the heat and itch is just awful.  They were not only on my scalp, they were around the edges of my face and on my ears.  I could feel the little devils wanting to spread all over my face and other body parts.  Last week my lower lip swelled like a wiener.  When they get that big, that’s when they become painful, too.

Every 4-5 years these crop up and continue for weeks, necessitating the use of prednisone and anti-histamines along with a sharp change in diet.   No doctor has been able to explain the cause except that they think it is caused by allergies and probably I’m being exposed to too many irritating substances in the air, food, and who knows what all other sources.  So I am not only not normally normal in what I can do, eat and drink, when these strike what has become normal has to be adjusted even further.

hives (urticaria)

St. Paul tells me I must be grateful for this scourge which will last for an unknown amount of time and which can barely be controlled.  Actually, I am grateful.

Thank God for the extra time to read, meditate, and pray since it’s hard to do some of the things I’d like to do.  Thank God for the medicines and herbs that help.  Thank God for another lesson in dependency on Him and self-discipline. Thank God for the chance to suffer in union with His Son on the Cross.  Thank God for a reminder that self-pity is useless and that He’s relieved me before and will do so again when He’s ready.  Thank God for giving me the faith to know that these hives are a gift from Him to make me a better person, and trust that the experience will bring forth good fruit.  After all, these attacks are nothing compared to what Jesus suffered for us.

So now I offer this to Him with a smile even though I don’t feel like rejoicing.  But then, faith, hope, and charity are not about feeling but about our free will conforming ourselves to the will of God.  May this make up for all the times I wasn’t grateful for His gifts, and for those who, like me, forget to be grateful.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Not a great deal is made of this feast in the Catholic calendar.  True, it is celebrated in the Divine Office and in the propers of the Mass, but it is not a Holy Day of Obligation.  Yet the birthday of Our Lady heralded the immanent coming of the Light that shone in the darkness so I don’t want to let this special day pass without honoring the Mother of God at my blog.

Rorate Caeli published a beautiful meditation on the Nativity of Mary that I recommend to all my readers for a deep appreciation of Our Lady’s role in salvation history.  It is far better than anything I could write:

Our Lady in the Month of Her Nativity

The Birth of Mary, 1486-90, Domenico Ghirlandaio ((b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze), Fresco, Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a Sunday meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Visit her to find other Catholic bloggers’ posts for the week.

My blogging was really lightweight this week, partly because I had the Una Voce newsletter to do.

On the pro-life front, I wrote Missouri Passes Pro-life Bill. It’s a good step forward to stop the killing of viable children.

At Sabbath Moments I wrote, among other things, about the state being ultimately answerable to God.

Here’s the link to the Una Voce Arkansas Ozarks Regional Newsletter where I cover how to obtain the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and what to do in the case of liturgical abuse.  It also contains an article I referred to in my Sabbath Moments post about Joseph de Maistre’s view of the French Revolution.  As he was both Catholic and a contemporary of that sorrowful event, his words are worth pondering.

My booklet on Tips for Participating in the Traditional Latin Mass has now had over 1600 downloads since I uploaded it to Mediafire in March.  It must be helping the newcomers as I had hoped.

Prayer for the Eighth Sunday After Pentecost:

Graciously grant to us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the spirit to think and do always such things as are rightful: that we, who cannot exist without Thee, may be enabled to live according to Thy will.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Welcome to Sunday Snippets hosted by RAnn at This That and the other Thing.  Visit her to read other Catholic bloggers’ posts for the week. Join us by including your blog if you wish and have a good time.

Being an art lover, I wrote about the discovery of another authentic da Vinci painting in Leonardo da Vinci’s “Slavator Mundi”.

How the Spirit Works in Us is part of my ongoing exploration into the effects of the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.

In Sabbath Moments I recount our misadventures with zucchini this year and some thoughts on St. Vincent de Paul whose feast we celebrated this week.

Over at the Community of Catholic Bloggers I wrote The Action of the Holy Spirit.

Collect (Prayer) for the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost:

O God of hosts, to Whom all that is best doth belong, graft in our hearts the love of Thy name, and grant us an increase of religion: that Thou mayest foster what is good, and with tender zeal guard what Thou hast fostered.

Perhaps I should write a post this week on the virtue of religion as this prayer prompts me.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

This Thursday in all the Catholic world, except for the United States of America, we celebrate Corpus Christi, a holy day of obligation. The Pope will be conducting the sacred liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica with solemn procession as will Catholic parishes all around the world, small and large.  In the United States the feast has been moved to this coming Sunday except for groups observing the 1962 liturgical calendar.

The doctrine of the Real Presence is a great example of how our understanding of a mystery deepens over the years and finds expression in both the sacred liturgy and devotions.

The first record of this feast being celebrated publicly comes from Liège where Bishop Robert de Thorete called a synod of bishops in 1246 and decreed that Corpus Christi be celebrated the following year in his diocese.  As has so often happened in Catholic history, it was cloistered nuns who, from their many hours of adoration, asked for this liturgical recognition of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

If we believe that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist, and if we have even an inkling of how great a gift this is, how can we not desire to praise and honor Him on a specially designated feast during the year? So it was that on September 8, 1264 (the feast of the birthday of the Blessed Virgin who was the first tabernacle of Christ), Pope Urban IV extended the feast to the universal Church.

The importance of Corpus Christi celebrations and the public processions that accompany it is underscored by the current state of Catholicism. Surveys of Catholics in recent years show that today, sadly, around 2/3 of them do not believe the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  Yet Jesus spoke unequivocally in the Gospels about this sacrament.  In John 6:51-55 for instance He says:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

What underscores the importance of this passage is that Jesus prefaced the core of it with the Hebrew word, “Amen” which means “truth”, and as such, He was speaking under His own authority.  Only God can speak truth under His own authority because He is Truth itself. No other rabbi throughout all the centuries of Judaism ever spoke “Amen, Amen I say to you” and none has ever since.

It’s very interesting to me that this part of the conversation at the Temple is close to the end of a discourse with the Scribes and Pharisees who stubbornly refused to accept what he was saying and still did not, even after the “Amen, amen I say to you” part.  Even after this plain talk many of His disciples left Him.  We can see that disbelief in His words is nothing new but ever sad.

Those who had ears to hear in the Temple that day – that is, faith, even if they didn’t understand such a statement, knew Christ was not speaking a parable or allegory here.  He was speaking literally.  How His followers literally were to eat His flesh and drink His blood remained to be revealed at the Last Supper when Jesus left the accidents of bread and wine in place but altered the substance to be His body, blood, soul and divinity. We discover this in Matt. 26: 26-28:

And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.

Again, Jesus was speaking literally.  He did not say, “This is like my body.” nor “This is like my blood.”  This most precious gift of Himself was to be for all His followers until the end of time through the sacrament of the sacred priesthood which He instituted that night when he ordered the Apostles to do the same.

Mysteries like the Holy Eucharist are accessible to us partially by reason, but largely by faith, which is a gift of the Father.  If we don’t take Jesus at His word, we are in essence calling Him a liar.  How can God, who is Truth, lie?  It cannot be.  So if we don’t understand this mystery, we must ask our Father to enlighten us by the Holy Spirit.

Whether your parish celebrates Corpus Christi on Thursday, the day of the week that connects to the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist, or this coming Sunday, you will be celebrating a sacred liturgy with hymns and prayers that are almost 800 years old, much of them written by the great Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas who has explained the meaning of the Holy Eucharist so well in his writings.

For those who struggle with doubt, over the centuries God has performed many miracles of the Blessed Sacrament.  One of them occurred in recent years in Argentina which I posted about last year in Recent Eucharistic Miracles. And whichever day your parish celebrates Corpus Christi, please pray for the unbelievers that they will believe.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Here we are again for our Catholic blog carnival hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Join us at RAnn’s for interesting and enjoyable posts by other Catholic bloggers.

First, Happy Birthday Catholic Church and all Christians everywhere!  And now, my posts for the week:

Pope Benedict and the Croatian Cardinal Stepinac contains some Catholic trivia as well as an inspiring statement by Blessed Aloysius Stepinac very germane to us today.

For Extaordinary Form devotees, A Permanent Home for St. Peter Parish in Tulsa? brings good news to midwesterners. Every Latin Mass community has an interesting story and since I’ve been associated with the Tulsa group since 1999 I thought a bit of their story would inspire others.

If you love beautiful music and beautiful voices, read Choi Sung Bong – Korea’s Susan Boyle. If you can get through the video without tearing up, you’re better than I am.

Worthwhile Reading for Pentecost contains comments and links for good Pentecost – related reading.

I wrote about how I hate politics in Sabbath Moments and what we can look forward to in heaven.

Pentecost Sunday’s sacred liturgy in both the Novus Ordo and the Extraordinary Form contains one of the few sequences left in the Roman rite.  It is also one of my favorites next to the Dies Irae. Here in Gregorian Chant is the beautiful Veni Sancte Spiritus by the great Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis.

Here’s the English translation of this hymn that dates from some time in the 900s:

Come, Thou Holy ghost, come, and from Thy celestial home shed a ray of light divine.

Come, Thou Father of the poor, come, Thou source of all our store, come, within our bosoms shine.

Thou of Comforters the best, Thou the soul’s delightful guest, Sweet refreshment here below.

In our labor rest most sweet, pleasant coolness in the heat, solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine, shine within these hearts of Thine, and our inmost being fill.

Where Thou art not, man hath nought, nothing good in deed or thought, nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew, on our dryness pour Thy dew, wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will, melt the frozen, warm the chill, guide the steps that go astray.

On Thy faithful who adore, and confess Thee evermore, in Thy sevenfold gifts descend.

Give them virtue’s sure reward, give them Thy salvation, Lord, give them joys that never end.  Amen.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

June 5, 2011

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing.  Join us over there to read other Catholic bloggers’ posts for the week.  I’ve come to know some great people through this meme thanks to RAnn.

This week I wrote three posts about Rogation Days, including Litany of the Saints and Mass of Rogation.  These days are important to mankind but have fallen out of use in many places.

Now that we’ve celebrated the Ascension we can look forward to Pentecost.  I posted a couple of my favorite prayers to the Holy Spirit at Consecration to the Holy Spirit.

The weather is hot and somewhat humid which is perfect for growing things.  At Sabbath Moments I wrote a little about flowers.

I hope everyone is having a good start to your summer.  My plan is to work everyday for at least 40 minutes in the garden to keep ahead of bugs and weeds, no matter how hot it is.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Yesterday I wrote about the Rogation Days and how, even if we can’t participate in the sacred liturgy these three days before the Ascension, we can pray the Litany of the Saints on our own as a way of uniting with the universal Church in this time of pleading for God’s mercy on the earth.

Christ in Glory, 1597-98, oil on canvas, Annibale Carracci (b.1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

The Church has only a few official litanies and the Litany of the Saints could be ranked as #1 because it is the only one that has a place in the sacred liturgy. If you’ve ever been to an Easter Vigil service, you prayed the Litany of the Saints.  It is also prayed as part of the rite of ordination for priests, and is a central part of the Rogation Days procession and liturgy.

When you see the Rogation procession, it is an outward sign of the communion of saints which is made all the more present to us through this great litany. With the eyes of faith we know that all the angels and saints of heaven are marching with us, a holy throng petitioning the Holy Trinity.

Whether chanted in Latin or in English, the Litany is beautiful in its simplicity and feeling.  It is the longest of all the official litanies, too.  This often results in the completion of the litany in the church itself because most parishes observing the Rogation Days don’t have that many people in procession.

Some of the petitions are poignant.  You will find some permanently enshrined as verse and response in the Divine Office.  Some are lifted and used as a single petition in a fitting circumstance.  Among them you will find petitions that fit all our various needs of the moment as well as those that address lifetime needs.

In one part of the litany we end each petition with libera nos, Domine - deliver us, O Lord.  I can still hear it in my head from when I was a child – an impressive sound from us on earth joined with the unsounded voices of the angels and saints.  Some petitions ending in libera nos, Domine:

From all sin,

From Thy wrath,

From sudden and unprovided death,

From the snares of the devil,

From anger, hatred, and all ill will,

From the spirit of uncleanness,

From lightning and tempest,

From the scourge of earthquake,

From plague, famine, and war,

From everlasting death.

In a subsequent part of the litany, the end of each petition is chanted: te rogamus audi nos – we beseech Thee, hear us.  Some of those petitions are:

That Thou wouldst humble the enemies of holy Church was prayed by the priests of the Dachau concentration camp after every Mass they were fortunate enough to celebrate in that awful camp.

That Thou wouldst give and preserve from harm the fruits of the earth – would that all the starving people of this world would cry this to the heavens.

That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires…

Then there are the final petitions, among which are:

In Thy clemency, O Lord, show Thine unspeakable mercy to us: that Thou mayest both loose us from all our sins, and deliver us from the punishments which we deserve for them.

O God, Who by sin art offended, and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication to Thee, and turn away the scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins.

O God, from Whom are all holy desires, right counsels, and just works, give unto Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts, given over to Thy commands, and our times, the fear of our foes removed, may by Thy protection be peaceful.

Go before, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thine inspirations, and further them by Thine assistance; that every word and work of ours may begin always from Thee, and by Thee be likewise ended.

With the condition our world is in, I can’t think of a more powerful petition to God, nor a more powerful reminder of our own weak state, than this litany.

St. Teresa of Avila always referred to God as “His Majesty.”  The Rogation Days and the Litany of the Saints remind us powerfully in words and bodily action that He indeed is His Majesty before whom all must bow, upon whom we are all dependent, and without whom we can do nothing good.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

We might find it strange that in Paschal time we would have several days of penance, but the Church has good reason for it.  We are approaching commemorating the final hours of Jesus walking this earth.  For those of us who have a hard time saying “goodbye”, we understand the grief the Apostles, disciples and Mary must have experienced.  So although we are in a time of rejoicing, we are also in a time of sorrow immediately preceding the Ascension.

St. Mamertus, engraving

The History of Rogation Days

Rogation Days (from Latin rogare, to beseech) are a wonderful example of what Vatican Council II meant when in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilium) it spoke of “organic growth.”  We owe these days to the churches of southern Gaul, specifically the church at Vienne.  This tradition dates back to the 400s under the great bishop St. Mamertus.

Just after the Burgundians had conquered the area of Vienne in the mid 400s, all sorts of calamities began to occur, not unlike today with earthquakes, floods, great winds, hail, sicknesses, starvation, etc. Crops were destroyed and many died.

The good bishop, unbeknownst to himself, began a practice in this time of trouble which has come to form a part of the sacred liturgy of the universal Church and which is Biblically based.  Remember that whenever the Israelites were suffering greatly, a good dose of penance and sacrifices accompanied by the psalms would bring them relief.

St. Mamertus prescribed three days of public expiation and supplication to God in which the faithful were to devote themselves to penance, walking in procession chanting appropriate psalms, and fasting.  The three days preceding the Ascension were chosen. Masters were required to dispense servants from work so that all could assist at the long functions that filled most of the three days.  In his time the procession lasted six hours as the people went from church to church throughout the countryside.  Before beginning, the people received ashes as on Ash Wednesday and were sprinkled with holy water.  Everyone walked barefoot, led by a cross of the principal church in charge of the observance.

A detail recorded by a monk of St. Gall’s tells us that Charlemagne would join the procession barefoot and walk from his palace to the stational church.  St. Elizabeth of Hungary did the same, for in 816 Pope Leo III brought this practice to Rome and from there it spread everywhere.  St. Charles Borromeo in the 1500s observed Rogation Days in his see of Milan, visiting over ten churches every day in procession.

Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B. wrote in the 1800s in his great The Liturgical Year series:

If, then, we would have a correct idea of the Rogation days, we must consider them as Rome does – that is, as a holy institution which, without interrupting our paschal joy, tempers it. The purple vestments used during the procession and Mass do not signify that our Jesus has fled from us, but that the time for His departure is approaching. By prescribing abstinence for these three days, the Church would express how much she will feel the loss of her Spouse, who is so soon to be taken from her.

Abstinence is no longer an obligation for Rogation days, nor are they holy days of obligation. Ashes and sprinkling the faithful with holy water is not part of the ritual anymore.  Also, the diocesan Bishop may transfer these days to three other consecutive days which are more accommodating to local custom and need.

Purposes of Rogation Days

The Church observes the Rogation Days for two reasons:

1. To, in Biblical terms, appease the anger of God and avert the chastisements which the sins of the world justly deserve, and
2. To draw down the Divine blessing on the fruits of the earth.

Today the faithful chant the litany of the Saints during the procession as well as Psalm 69 (Deus in adjutorium meum intende or O God, come to my assistance).  When the procession is over, the Mass of Rogation is offered.

How to keep the Rogation Days if you can’t observe them at your parish

In all the 18 years of living in our diocese, never once have I heard “Rogation Days” mentioned even though we are a dominantly rural diocese.  Never once have I seen them observed and I am well informed of what is going on regarding the sacred liturgy here.  I suspect the same is true for others here and there.  But you can be sure they are observed in the 1962 liturgy and in various other dioceses around the world.

To join the universal Church in these celebrations you can pray the complete Litany of the Saints and Psalm 69 all three days. Simple, isn’t it?

Why we need to keep the Rogation Days

Let’s take a look at 2010 and 2011:

• Major earthquake and destruction in Haiti
• Major Gulf oil spill and loss of life
• Civil war and rebellion everywhere in the Middle East
• The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami
• Terrible flooding up and down the Mississippi this spring
• Tornadoes throughout the South, the Midwest and eastern parts of the USA
• Slaughter of Christians everywhere in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, India, etc.
• Food shortages and extremely high food prices around the world
• Riots spreading across Europe and Greece falling apart
• Crop failures of all kinds the world over
  

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things that should be on the list.  Can anyone seriously say that we don’t need observance of the Rogation Days?  Are we not enduring great chastisements now? Do we not have troubles with planting and harvests the world over now because of many different calamities?

The Church gives us a great opportunity for instruction in the Catholic faith and spirituality with the observance of Rogation Days. Everywhere we have Catholic schools we have an opportunity to celebrate these days with the parish children in procession even if parents have to be at work.  Pastors can encourage parishioners to come for the sacred liturgy if they can and explain the meaning and purpose of these days to all.

As in so many instances, our sacred liturgy offers us the chance to re-orient ourselves to God – to reinforce a right relationship with Him. The world needs these days observed with a humble and contrite heart.  Remember that God told Abraham if he could find only ten just men, He would spare Sodom.  Can we not be among those ten just men today, calling God’s mercy on this sickened world?

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Here we are for another round of Sunday Snippets hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Please join us and visit her blog to meet other Catholic bloggers who might be writing just about anything.

This week I wrote about the Joplin Tornado and some Bible verses that seemed to fit.

At A Missionary to Be Declared Blessed I wrote about how a twentieth century missionary to Burma inspired me.

At Ascension Thursday I commented about the switch of the feast to Sunday and included a fresco by Giotto of the Ascension.

Sabbath Moments mentions a few inspirational moments from the week.

It feels good to be writing a bit more now that I’m over the virus that ate up my May.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Just why the North American Bishops decided that forty days after Easter was unimportant and moved the great feast of the Ascension to Sunday, June 5, I don’t know. Most of the rest of the Catholic world celebrates it June 2.

I am convinced that the change is one more strike of the axe severing our sacred liturgy from its Biblical roots.  Forty days is forty days and it means something.  In the Bible something important always happened at the end of a time period of forty, whether days or years.  So for most of the Catholic world forty days after Easter really is, and always has been, Ascension Thursday.

This great feast commemorates Christ taking possession of the Kingdom of Heaven with the promise of His return to judge the living and the dead.  The introit strikes me as somewhat humorous in a way.  Perhaps it is because I can put myself in the shoes of the apostles and disciples so easily.  Acts 1:11 has angels telling the gawking apostles, “Ye men of Galilee, why wonder you, looking up to heaven?  He shall so come as you have seen Him going up into heaven.”

I can just see them staring into the heavens with their mouths agape as Jesus vanishes into the clouds.  This was truly wondrous, but sad, too, because they would never see Him again during their lifetime as He was with them on earth.  I can imagine them thinking, “What are we going to do without Him?”  At the same time, the joyful proof was right before their eyes that the kingdom of heaven belongs to all who believe in Jesus, our Head.  If the Head is the King of heaven, the Body, we, will follow and partake of the inheritance.  More proof of the faithfulness of our God.

The Ascension was both very joyful and full of hope, and at the same time, a little bitter for those who had walked along side Jesus on earth.

I love sacred art from the 12th to 16th centuries.  Please enjoy this lovely fresco by Giotto di Bodone and think of it when we celebrate the Mass of the Ascension Sunday, June 5.

The Ascension, 1304-06, Giotto di Bodone (b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze), Fresco, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua