#traditional catholic images of our lord's passion

[stjohncapistrano67]

The crowning of thorns of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic modern art #the most holy rosary #the catholic bible #new testament #the passion of our lord and savior jesus #the passion of jesus devotion #the third sorrowful mystery of the most holy rosary #the crowning of thorns #traditional catholic images of our lord's passion #traditional catholic images of our lord jesus

[spiritualdirections]

Communion in the Hand in the Early Church

My colleague Prof. Elizabeth Klein got a bee in her bonnet about certain traditionalist Catholics claiming that receiving communion in the hand is “an abomination”, and has never been practiced in the history of the Church. As a professor of patristics with a specialization in the history of liturgy, she was frustrated, since the historical record is clear. She typed up the following to make the evidence available.

TL;DR Early Christians definitely received communion in the hand for at least seven centuries. There is no historical question about this issue. The question of what we ought to do today is not the same question as what Christians did in the first seven centuries, but we must avoid sweeping generalizations about what counts as reverent.

Early Christians received communion in the hand at least up until the eighth century. The manner of reception is often described as cupped hands or hands in the form of a cross, and there is remarkable consistency in this detail. Attestations to this are widespread across time and geographical regions. The below represents a selection of these attestations in chronological order; it is by no means exhaustive.

Tertullian (North Africa; c. 155-220): Against Idolatry 7.1; Here Tertullian is chastising Christians who still participate in pagan sacrifices, lamenting that they use the same hands to touch the Eucharist as they do those sacrifices. He asks if they “should put their hands on the body of the Lord with which they have carried the bodies of demons.”

Cyril of Jerusalem (Jerusalem; c. 313-386)*: Mystagogical Catechesis 5.21; “Approaching, therefore, come not with your wrists extended or your fingers open, but make your left hand a throne for your right, which is on the eve of receiving the King. And having hollowed your palm, receive the body of Christ, saying after it amen. Then after you have with carefulness hallow your eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, partake of it, being careful lest you should lose any of it, for what you lose is a loss to you as if of your own members.”

*Note: Some have claimed that this passage is spurious. There is no reason to think so, but the mystagogical catechesis may be falsely attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem and are instead composed by his successor, John. For the purposes of evidence of what early Christians practiced, it makes no difference; the evidence would be from the same place, 50 years later.

Theodore of Mopsuestia (Syria; c. 350-428): Catechetical Homilies 6; “To receive the Sacrament which is given, a person stretches out his right hand, and under it he places the left hand. In this he shows a great fear, and since the hand that is stretched out holds a higher rank, it is the one that is extended for receiving the body of the King, and the other hand bears and brings its sister hand, while not thinking that it is playing the role of a servant, as it is equal with it in honour, on account of the bread of the King, which is also borne by it. When the priest gives it he says: ‘The body of Christ.’ He teaches you by this word not to look at that which is visible, but to picture in your mind the nature of this oblation, which, by the coming of the Holy Spirit, is the body of Christ. You should thus draw near with great awe and love, according to the greatness of that which is given: with awe, because of the greatness of (its) honour; and with love, because of (its) grace. This is the reason why you say after him: ‘Amen.’”

Augustine (North Africa; c. 354-430): In both quotations below, Augustine is pointing out that the Donatists also share the Eucharist with sinful priests (the Donatists argued that sinful priests could not offer valid sacraments).

Answer to the letters of Petillian 2.23.53; “Add to this the fact that I am referring to a man who lived with you, whose birthday festivities you used to frequent with great crowds, to whom you used to give the kiss of peace while celebrating the sacraments, in whose hands you used to place the Eucharist, to whom you in turn extended your hands when he was giving it to you.”

Answer to Parmenian 2.7.13; “Why, then, was he accustomed to offer gifts to God and were others accustomed to accept from him with joined hands what he, blemished and imperfect, had offered?”

Quinisext Council, AKA Council of Constantinople Trullo (Syria; 692): The canon is prohibiting the practice of receiving communion with a vessel rather than one’s hands.

Canon 101 “Wherefore, if anyone wishes to be a participator of the immaculate Body in the time of the Synaxis, and to offer himself for the communion, let him draw near, arranging his hands in the form of a cross, and so let him receive the communion of grace. But such as, instead of their hands, make vessels of gold or other materials for the reception of the divine gift, and by these receive the immaculate communion, we by no means allow to come, as preferring inanimate and inferior matter to the image of God.”

Venerable Bede (England; c. 672-735): In this passage, Bede is recounting the death scene of a certain brother was known for singing scripture verses. He foresees his death approaching although those around him do not.

Ecclesiastical History of England 4.24 “‘What need of the Eucharist? for you are not yet appointed to die, since you talk so merrily with us, as if you were in good health.’ ‘Nevertheless,’ said he, ‘bring me the Eucharist.’ Having received it into his hand, he asked, whether they were all in charity with him, and had no complaint against him, nor any quarrel or grudge.”

John Damascene (Syria; c. 675-749): On the Orthodox Faith 4.13; “Let us draw near to it with an ardent desire, and with our hands held in the form of the cross let us receive the body of the Crucified One: and let us apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divine coal.”

Further questions and clarifications

Did early Christians receive while kneeling?

No. Kneeling on Sundays was forbidden at the Council of Nicaea (325) because at that time it was seen as being related to penance rather than reverence. The below image may help us visualize how early Christians received, although the details about the posture are not as widely attested.

The Rosanna Gospels (Italy; Sixth Century)

This image from a sixth century illuminated manuscript helps us to visualize how communion was received (at least by some) in the early Church. It depicts the Last Supper as a communion line. The disciple at the front of the line first offers thanks to God in prayer with hands raised, then bows and receives in cupped hands very close to his mouth. The other disciples in line tilt their heads in reverent prayer waiting their turn.

Was communion in the hand an exception in the early Church?

The plentiful evidence for communion in the hand means that it was not an exception, but normative. Taken out of context, sometimes certain passages from the Fathers (and later documents) seem to forbid communion in the hand, but they are usually referring to self-communion; i.e. taking the Eucharist oneself from the altar or at home by yourself from a reserve, and not receiving it from the hand of a minister. Self-communion was also allowed in the early Church, but Basil of Caesarea tells us that this practice is to be undertaken only under exceptional circumstances, such as a hermit, or in times of persecution when not everyone was readily able to attend the liturgy (Letter 93).

What about that weird eye thing?

Both Cyril of Jerusalem and John Damascene mention touching the Eucharist to one’s eyes before receiving. The posture in which the Eucharist was received in the hand may help explain this custom of reverence. As in the image above from the Rosanna gospels, the communicant is bowed with cupped hands to receive, and his hands are very close to his eyes. One could imagine passing these cupped hands over one’s eyes before receiving without physically touching the Eucharist.

However, we also have to keep in mind that reverence and understandings of reverence do change over time. Augustine, for example, mentions a miracle involving putting the Eucharist on someone’s eyes, which healed them (Unfinished Work Against Julian 3.162). He neither approves nor censures the mother who used the Eucharist in this way. Although we have no reason to think that this was a common practice, we would not consider that appropriate today nor seek to use the Eucharist for medicinal purposes. There is no golden age of the liturgy to which we should aim to return. Liturgical reforms, including signs of reverence, require sensitivity both to the tradition and to the needs of the modern church.  

Did the Church totally reject this practice at some point?

Practices evolved in both East and West such that receiving directly on the tongue / into the mouth was normative. These changes are related to reverence, but the chief concern is the prevention of dropping or spilling – patens and unleavened bread in the West and spoons, drop cloths and tincture in the East both minimize Eucharistic mishaps. The prevention of spilling/dropping was also a chief concern of the Fathers in their recommendations, as mentioned in some of the citations above. However, the Church does not seem to have ever forgotten these earlier roots and practices of receiving communion. Take the following for an example.

In a vision recorded in the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity (North Africa; 3rd century), where Perpetua receives a piece of cheese from Jesus in paradise continued throughout the centuries to be identified as Eucharistic because of the way she received it, in cupped hands.  

Pope Benedict XIV (Rome; 1748) interprets Perpetua’s reception of the cheese as a kind of miraculous reception of the Eucharist prior to martyrdom because it is called in Latin a buccella (morsel) and eaten reverently (On the beatification of the servants and canonization of the Blessed vol. 3, p. 180): “It is certain that in this vision one can discern a sketch of the Eucharist; in the morsel offered to Perpetua and in reverent accepting and eating of it and in the voices surrounding saying ‘Amen.’” (It should be noted that Pope Benedict specifically notes that “ipsa accepit junctis manibus”,  that she received it with joined hands, which, as Dr. Klein notes, he describes as reverently receiving it.)

#Eucharist #liturgy #dr. elizabeth klein

[vajranam]

Drifting Yogi

DRIFTING YOGI– A rare modern day story of a spiritual adventure

PART -- 1 LEAVING HOME

"On December 13th 2004, I gave up my class 12th board exams and fled to India to become a monk.

I was brought up by a single mother along with three sisters. Growing up through dire poverty, my early childhood years were unforgettably sad and painful.

Having been a dreamy boy, i took comfort from reading poetry and spiritual books at school. I was a lazy, dull-witted student and did not perform well in exams.

Since i couldn't figure out an ambition

for my future, i remember studying the academic subjects only to get through the exams; so that i don't disappoint my guardians who were spending for my schooling.

To distract my attention from the troublesome situations of a boarding school life those years, where resources were scanty... and the constant bullying by elders, i drove my emotions deeper into spirituality and consoled myself through writing poems.

Sometimes gazing at the serene images of Lord Buddha.... i started dreaming of studying and practicing meditation to achieve that amazingly peaceful and hypnotic composure of a sitting Buddha.

And i didn't care about achieving anything otherwise.

So in December 2004 in Zhemgang higher sec. School, aged nineteen i gave up my bio-science exams and embarked on an extremely uncertain, risky and adventurous journey to India without a penny in my pocket.

Making the long story short.......

I arrived in india somehow and with much jubilation got admitted in a renowned Tibetan buddhist monastery in north India.

But soon i was disappointed to learn that the monasteries are just another institutions to study ethics, philosophy and rituals in their respective traditions. And no monastery offered direct meditation instructions to the monks/students to realise for themselves.

After just about one year in the Shedra, i quit the monastic life and started wandering in search of a master or a 'Tsa wai Lama'.

Which happened to be yet another crazy decision.

PART -- 2 MEETING WITH MASTER

AND PRACTICE

After a couple months of leaving the monastery i happened to travel in Lahoul valley near Ladakh.

There i met a wandering Tibetan Yogi building an old-style rock Stupa on the mountain.

Our meeting sparked in me a curious sense of emotions that was mixed with joy and tears when ever he talked to me.

Tired of wandering and pilgrimage, the desperate me requested him to take me to where ever he was based, so that i can serve him and learn more from him and about him.

Living with him, my life became more difficult and uneasy.

Since his nature was extremely harsh and extremely loving sometimes. But at the end of each passing day i found out that my emotions were being tested to the limit and he was teaching me a lot in disguise.

So considering his arrogance to me as a rare blessing i made a firm resolution to never leave him in no matter what situation.

After much waiting, i received instructions and his protection to pursue solitary retreats. Constantly wandering from one mountain cave to another, from deep forests to deserts,

From sea shores to solitary islands, sleeping on the roadsides, under the trees and cemeteries, i wandered like a fallen leaf carried by the wind.

Once i walked about 700 miles and bicycled 2000 miles under the heavy rains and scorching sun of tropical India. They were all a part of my yogic practice of drifting without a particular aim.

For more than twelve years, being so lost and carried away in retreats and wandering... i have almost forgotten my home country Bhutan.

PART -- 3 A VISION

During my retreats in the forests of central India, my provisions were taken cared by the innocent villagers, who were newly converted buddhists due to caste issues in indian social system.

Villagers were more than happy to have me, a buddhist practitioner from a foreign land in their remote villages.

So moved by their innocent reverence i started teaching them meditation, the essence of all the teachings of the buddha.... Although i struggled to interpret my thoughts to them through my extremely poor spoken Hindi.

Later in early 2017 i travelled to south east asian countries invited by some friends.

There i was surprised to discover a vibrant culture of education and youth who were equally enthusiastic to practice meditation to enhance their quality of lives through spiritual values and understanding.

We can all agree to one inevitable challenge, that our pursuit of modern lifestyle and it's glamour, is costing a serious toll on mental health to everyone.

And simultaneously dragging our beautiful home planet into a disaster of pollution and over-exploitation.

It was highly nourishing for me to meet amazing young people in those countries, who were raising concerns about the future of humanity and giving their commitments to spiritual lives through the practice of meditation in their daily lives.

In late 2018 i came back to Bhutan to visit my mother.

And started travelling and teaching meditation in Bhutan without the pre-requirements of arduous ngondro practices.

To my surprise many students young or elderly, literate or illiterate, started giving me amazing feedbacks through their own experiences just after a few months of practice. And were thoroughly inspired to follow the path of meditation in order to understand the dharma deeper for further enlightenment.

Some students have stopped drinking and smoking as a natural effect of meditation. And a few more have recovered from depression and migraine.

But at the same time, some people seemed still confused and quite suspicious regarding my initiatives.

While i welcomed their doubts and criticism, i was also scanning the psychological landscape of people influenced by their own belief systems.

So my dear elders, youngers, friends and relatives in Bhutan.

Let me take some space to share my humble opinions of what meditation is all about.

In other countries buddhist meditation is taught in school systems to enhance the performance of students.

i have seen buddhist meditations practiced in christian churches to generate faith and devotion in christ.

Buddhist meditations are practiced by psychologist and psychiatrists and implemented on their patients to recover from their mental disorientation.

Buddhist meditations are taught in high profile leadership and business management courses to enhance their productivity.

Buddhist meditation is practiced in the military of some countries for better focus and precision in their training.

Buddhist meditation is practiced by hard-core criminals in prisons to recover from their corrupted state of minds.

One friend in Philipines, a school teacher is teaching meditation in a catholic school, and the school administration approves her initiative.

In Burma, Sri lanka and thailand politicians practice meditation to render their political service more effectively.

So my dear friends in Bhutan,

those people in other countries may never have heard of arduous ngondro practices but they are still practicing meditation as the heart of all teachings of buddha and getting benefited immensely.

Now.... one can definitely argue my statements that those meditations are from different origins, like the Theravada from Burma or Srilanka,

Zen from Japan and ours is secret Dzogchen from the path of vajrayana.

To this possible argument, i can simply answer that even if the meditation practices originate from different, different countries and traditions....... ALL THOSE MEDITATION MANUALS EXIST IN THE VAST COMPILATION OF KANJUR AND TENJUR, TO WHICH WE ALL PROSTRATE UN-KNOWINGLY

WHEN WE VISIT THE TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES.

Ngondro, a set of mandatory preliminary practices that require five to 6 months to complete is an amazing tool to enter the Vajrayana buddhist path.

But at the same time...... Buddhas meditation teachings, being the answer to all human quests....sadly remain inaccessible to a large section of devout buddhists in our country. Simply because most aspiring meditation practitioners cannot fulfill the obligation to complete the long and arduous ngondro which is the standard practice required by tradition, as the gateway to the path of meditation.

But dear friends.... I speak with conviction through what little experience and observations i have gathered, that ngondro can be also practiced after meditation.

in fact NGONDRO BECOMES MUCH MORE AUTHENTIC AND JOYFUL IF PRACTICED WITH A PRIOR EXPERIENCE OF MEDITATION.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine sent me the Royal Kasho granted by our beloved His majesty the king, regarding the reformation of educational system.

As a humble citizen, I was deeply moved by the concerns made by His majesty the King, regarding the future of our youth and education in comparison to the extremely fast changing environment we live in.

My heart was throbbing.... and while i was holding my breath, i realised that even as a humble and a nameless citizen, living lonely as the road, i have fondly entertained many dreams.... if my independent research in the field of meditation therapies from the deep buddhist wisdom, can contribute an additional facility to our existing model of education.

So on this beautiful social networking platform i drifting yogi would like to share my deep prayers and aspirations

To teach meditation further in Bhutan,

Purely as a science of self discovery under secular setting.... and also as the essence of our Vajrayana path.

I have a dream to teach meditation to our budding youth to empower themselves to pursue their passion in life and achieve their goals to live a life of contentment.

And recovering from any kind of addictions from substance abuses through mental strength cultivated from meditation.

In 2019 when i was still in India, i heard some horrifying news from Bhutan about a series of rapes of minors in Paro, Dagana and somewhere.

My senses went numb.... and my mind was in dilemma out of sheer terror.

Because deep down.... i felt, if our youth can be educated in the practice of meditation, then such horrors can be totally prevented, by transforming the emotions of the practitioner into a naturally joyful and liberated state of being.

Finally, before i end this story,

I will drop a wish, that this story reach as many readers as possible.

And I deeply apologise if reading this story was a waste of time to some readers.

If any reader like this story, then i thank you for ur gesture of support.

And if any reader find flaws in my statements,

I welcome your valued criticism, so that i can learn a little from you.

MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY!"

– By Drifting Yogi (Aka Sherab Dorji, 35)

Written on the bank of River Gamri, Lungten Zampa, Trashigang, Eastern Bhutan on 17 Feb.2021.

#wisdom #spirituality #mindfulness #meditation #religion #buddhism #self care #zen #visualization #tibet

[pamphletstoinspire]

Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2021

Lent (the word “Lent” comes from the Old English “lencten,” meaning “springtime) lasts from Ash Wednesday to the Vespers of Holy Saturday — forty days + six Sundays which don’t count as “Lent” liturgically. The Latin name for Lent, Quadragesima, means forty and refers to the forty days Christ spent in the desert which is the origin of the Season.The last two weeks of Lent are known as “Passiontide,” made up of Passion Week and Holy Week. The last three days of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — are known as the “Sacred Triduum.”

The focus of this Season is the Cross and penance, penance, penance as we imitate Christ’s forty days of fasting, like Moses and Elias before Him, and await the triumph of Easter. We fast (see below), abstain, mortify the flesh, give alms, and think more of charitable works. Awakening each morning with the thought, “How might I make amends for my sins? How can I serve God in a reparative way? How can I serve others today?” is the attitude to have.

We meditate on “The Four Last Things”: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, and we also practice mortifications by “giving up something” that would be a sacrifice to do without. The sacrifice could be anything from desserts to television to the marital embrace, and it can entail, too, taking on something unpleasant that we’d normally avoid, for example, going out of one’s way to do another’s chores, performing “random acts of kindness,” etc. A practice that might help some, especially small children, to think sacrificially is to make use of “Sacrifice Beads” in the same way that St. Thérèse of Lisieux did as a child.

Because of the focus on penance and reparation, it is traditional to make sure we go to Confession at least once during this Season to fulfill the precept of the Church that we go to Confession at least once a year, and receive the Eucharist at least once a year during Eastertide. A beautiful old custom associated with Lenten Confession is to, before going to see the priest, bow before each member of your household and to any you’ve sinned against, and say, “In the Name of Christ, forgive me if I’ve offended you.” One responds with “God will forgive you.” Done with an extensive examination of conscience and a sincere heart, this practice can be quite healing (also note that confessing sins to a priest is a Sacrament which remits mortal and venial sins; confessing sins to those you’ve offended is a sacramental which, like all sacramentals one piously takes advantage of, remits venial sins. Both are quite good for the soul!)

In addition to mortification and charity, seeing and living Lent as a forty day spiritual retreat is a good thing to do. Spiritual reading should be engaged in (over and above one’s regular Lectio Divina). Maria von Trapp recommended “the Book of Jeremias and the works of Saints, such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross; The Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales; The Story of a Soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux; The Spiritual Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila; the Soul of the Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard; the books of Abbot Marmion, and similar works.”

As to prayer, praying the beautiful Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) is a traditional practice. It is most traditional to pray all of these each day of Lent, but if time is an issue, you can pray them all on just the Fridays of Lent, or, because there are seven of them, and seven Fridays in Lent, you might want to consider praying one on each Friday. These Psalms, which include the Psalms “Miserére” and “De Profundis,” are perfect expressions of contrition and prayers for mercy. So apt are these Psalms at expressing contrition that, as he lay dying in A.D. 430, St. Augustine asked that a monk write them in large letters near his bed so he could easily read them.

Another great prayer for this season is that of St. Ephraem, Doctor of the Church (d. 373). This prayer is often prayed with a prostration after each stanza:

O Lord and Master of my life,

take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power, and idle talk;

But grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions,

and not to judge my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.

In the East, this prayer is prayed liturgically during Lent and is followed by “O God, cleanse me a sinner” prayed twelve times, with a bow following each, and one last prostration.

Also, on all Fridays during Lent, one may gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, by reciting the En ego, O bone et dulcissime Iesu (Prayer Before a Crucifix) before an image of Christ crucified.

Food in Lent

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rule for the universal Church during Lent is abstain on all Fridays (inside or outside of Lent) and to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Some traditional Catholics might follow the older pattern of fasting and abstinence during this time, which for the universal Church required:

Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: fasting and total abstinence. This means 3 meatless meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: fasting and partial abstinence from meat. This means three meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principle meal.

On those days of fasting and abstinence, meatless soup is traditional. Sundays, of course, are always free of fasting and abstinence; even in the heart of Lent, Sundays are about the glorious Resurrection. This pattern of fasting and abstinence ends after the Vigil Mass of Holy Saturday.

As to special Lenten foods, vegetables, seafoods, salads, pastas, and beans mark the Season, in addition to the meatless soups. The fasting of this time once even precluded the eating of eggs and fats, so the chewy pretzel became the bread and symbol of the times. They’d always been a Christian food, ever since Roman times, their very shape being the creation of monks. The three holes represent the Holy Trinity, and the twists of the dough represent the arms of someone praying. In fact, the word “pretzel” is a German word deriving ultimately from the Latin “bracellae,” meaning “little arms” (the Vatican has the oldest known representation of a pretzel, found on a 5th c. manuscript). Below is a recipe for the large, soft, chewy pretzels that go so well with beer. 

by St. Thomas Aquinas Ash Wednesday : Death

By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death.–Rom. v. 12.

1. If for some wrongdoing a man is deprived of some benefit once given to him, that he should lack that benefit is the punishment of his sin.

Now in man’s first creation he was divinely endowed with this advantage that, so long as his mind remained subject to God, the lower powers of his soul were subjected to the reason and the body was subjected to the soul.

But because by sin man’s mind moved away from its subjection to God, it followed that the lower parts of his mind ceased to be wholly subjected to the reason. From this there followed such a rebellion of the bodily inclination against the reason, that the body was no longer wholly subject to the soul.

Whence followed death and all the bodily defects. For life and wholeness of body are bound up with this, that the body is wholly subject to the soul, as a thing which can be made perfect is subject to that which makes it perfect. So it comes about that, conversely, there are such things as death, sickness and every other bodily defect, for such misfortunes are bound up with an incomplete subjection of body to soul.

2. The rational soul is of its nature immortal, and therefore death is not natural to man in so far as man has a soul. It is natural to his body, for the body, since it is formed of things contrary to each other in nature, is necessarily liable to corruption, and it is in this respect that death is natural to man.

But God who fashioned man is all powerful. And hence, by an advantage conferred on the first man, He took away that necessity of dying which was bound up with the matter of which man was made. This advantage was however withdrawn through the sin of our first parents.

Death is then natural, if we consider the matter of which man is made and it is a penalty, inasmuch as it happens through the loss of the privilege whereby man was preserved from dying.

3. Sin–original sin and actual sin–is taken away by Christ, that is to say, by Him who is also the remover of all bodily defects. He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. viii. II).

But, according to the order appointed by a wisdom that is divine, it is at the time which best suits that Christ takes away both the one and the other, i.e., both sin and bodily defects.

Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ’s sufferings. It is then only right that Christ’s liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it. (6)

by Abbot Gueranger Ash Wednesday

Yesterday the world was busy in its pleasures, and the very children of God were taking a joyous farewell to mirth: but this morning, all is changed. The solemn announcement, spoken of by the prophet, has been proclaimed in Sion: the solemn fast of Lent, the season of expiation, the approach of the great anniversaries of our Redemption. Let us then rouse ourselves, and prepare for the spiritual combat.

But in this battling of the spirit against the flesh we need good armor. Our Holy Mother the Church knows how much we need it; and therefore does She summon us to enter into the house of God, that She may arm us for the holy contest. What this armor is we know from St. Paul, who thus describes it: “Have your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice. And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things, taking the shield of Faith. Take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6: 14-17). The very Prince of the Apostles, too, addresses these solemn words to us: “Christ having suffered in the flesh, be ye also armed with the same thought” (1 Peter 4: 1). We are entering today upon a long campaign of the warfare spoken of by the Apostles: forty days of battle, forty days of penance. We shall not turn cowards, if our souls can but be impressed with the conviction, that the battle and the penance must be gone through. Let us listen to the eloquence of the solemn rite which opens our Lent. Let us go whither our Mother leads us, that is, to the scene of the fall.

The enemies we have to fight with, are of two kinds: internal and external. The first are our passions; the second are the devils. Both were brought on us by pride, and man’s pride began when he refused to obey his God. God forgave him his sin, but He punished him. The punishment was death, and this was the form of the divine sentence: “For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Gen. 3: 19). Oh that we had remembered this! The recollection of what we are and what we are to be, would have checked that haughty rebellion, which has so often led us to break the law of God. And if, for the time to come, we would persevere in loyalty to Him, we must humble ourselves, accept the sentence, and look on this present life as a path to the grave. The path may be long or short; but to the tomb it must lead us. Remembering this, we shall see all things in their true light. We shall love that God, Who has deigned to set His Heart on us, notwithstanding our being creatures of death: we shall hate, with deepest contrition, the insolence and ingratitude, wherewith we have spent so many of our few days of life, that is, in sinning against our Heavenly Father: and we shall be not only willing, but eager, to go through these days of penance, which He so mercifully gives us for making reparation to His offended justice.

This was the motive the Church had in enriching Her liturgy with the solemn rite, at which we are to assist today. When centuries ago She decreed the anticipation of the Lenten fast by the last four days of Quinquagesima week, She instituted this impressive ceremony of signing the foreheads of Her children with ashes, while saying to them those awful words, wherewith God sentenced us to death: “Remember man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” But the making use of ashes as a symbol of humiliation and penance, is of a much earlier date than the institution to which we allude. We find frequent mention of it in the Old Testament. Job, though a Gentile, sprinkled his flesh with ashes, that thus humbled, he might propitiate the Divine mercy (Job 16: 16): and this was 2,000 years before the coming of the Savior. The royal prophet tells us of himself, that he mingled ashes with his bread, because of the Divine anger and indignation (Ps. 101: 10, 11). Many such examples are to be met with in the sacred Scriptures; but so obvious is the analogy between the sinner who thus signifies his grief, and the object whereby he signifies it, that we read such instances without surprise. When fallen man would humble himself before the Divine justice, which has sentenced his body to return to dust, how could he more aptly express his contrite acceptance of the sentence, than by sprinkling himself, or his food, with ashes, which is the dust of wood consumed by fire? This earnest acknowledgment of his being himself but dust and ashes, is an act of humility, and humility ever gives him confidence in that God, Who resists the proud and pardons the humble.

It is probable that, when this ceremony of the Wednesday after Quinquagesima was first instituted, it was not intended for all the faithful, but only for such as had committed any of those crimes for which the Church inflicted a public penance. Before the Mass of the day began, they presented themselves at the church, where the people were all assembled. The priests received the confession of their sins, and then clothed them in sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on their heads. After this ceremony, the clergy and the faithful prostrated, and recited aloud the Seven Penitential Psalms. A procession, in which the penitents walked barefoot, then followed; and on its return, the bishop addressed these words to the penitents: “Behold, we drive you from the doors of the church by reason of your sins and crimes, as Adam, the first man, was driven out of paradise because of his transgression.” The clergy then sang several responsories, taken from the Book of Genesis, in which mention was made of the sentence pronounced by God when He condemned man to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, for that the earth was cursed on account of sin. The doors were then shut, and the penitents were not to pass the threshold until Holy Thursday, when they were to come and receive absolution.

Dating from the 11th century, the discipline of public penance began to fall into disuse, and the holy rite of putting ashes on the heads of all the faithful indiscriminately became so general that, at length, it was considered as forming an essential part of the Roman Liturgy. Formerly, it was the practice to approach bare-footed to receive this solemn memento of our nothingness; and in the 12th century, even the Pope himself, when passing from the church of St. Anastasia to that of St. Sabina, at which the station was held, went the whole distance bare-footed, as also did the Cardinals who accompanied him. The Church no longer requires this exterior penance; but She is as anxious as ever that the holy ceremony, at which we are about to assist, should produce in us the sentiments She intended to convey by it, when She first instituted it.

As we have just mentioned, the station in Rome is at St. Sabina, on the Aventine Hill. It is under the patronage of this holy Martyr that we open the penitential season of Lent. The liturgy begins with the Blessing of the Ashes, which are to be put on our foreheads. These ashes are made from the palms, which were blessed the previous Palm Sunday. The blessing they are now to receive in this their new form, is given in order that they may be made more worthy of that mystery of contrition and humility which they are intended to symbolize.

When the priest puts the holy emblem of penance upon you, accept in a spirit of submission, the sentence of death, which God Himself pronounces against you: “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” Humble yourself, and remember what it was (pride) that brought the punishment of death upon us: man wished to be as a god, and preferred his own will to that of his Sovereign Master.

Reflect, too, on that long list of sins, which you have added to the sin of your first parents, and adore the mercy of your God, Who asks only one death for all these your transgressions.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites” (Matt. 6: 16). In the Gospel of the Mass, we learn that our Redeemer would not have us receive the announcement of the great fast as one of sadness and melancholy. The Christian who understands what a dangerous thing it is to be a debtor to Divine justice, welcomes the season of Lent with joy; it consoles him. He knows that if he be faithful in observing what the Church prescribes, his debt will be less heavy upon him. These penances, these satisfactions (which the indulgence of the Church has rendered so easy), being offered to God united with those of our Savior Himself, and being rendered fruitful by that holy fellowship which blends into one common propitiatory sacrifice the good works of all the members of the Church militant, will purify our souls, and make them worthy to partake in the grand Easter joy. Let us not, then, be sad because we are to fast; let us be sad only because we have sinned and made fasting a necessity. In this same Gospel, our Redeemer gives us a second counsel, which the Church will often bring before us during the whole course of Lent: it is that of joining almsdeeds with our fasting. He bids us to lay up treasures in Heaven. For this we need intercessors; let us seek them amidst the poor.

Every day during Lent, Sundays and feasts excepted, the priest before dismissing the faithful, adds after the Postcommunion a special prayer, which is preceded by these words of admonition: “Let us pray. Bow down your heads to God.” On this day he continues: “Mercifully look down upon us, O Lord, bowing down before Thy Divine Majesty, that they who have been refreshed with Thy Divine Mysteries, may always be supported by Thy heavenly aid. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen.” (9)

by Rev. James Luke Meagher, 1883

The fast of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts till Easter Sunday. During this time there are forty-six days, but as we do not fast on the six Sundays falling in this time, the fast lasts for forty days. For that reason it is called the forty days of Lent. In the Latin language of the Church it is called the Quadragesima, that is, forty. St. Peter, the first Pope, instituted the forty days of Lent. During the forty-six days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, we are to spend the time in fasting and in penance for our sins, building up the temple of the Lord within our hearts, after having come forth from the Babylon of this world by the rites and the services of the Septuagesima season. And as of old we read that the Jews, after having been delivered from their captivity in Babylon, spent forty-six years in building their temple in place of the grand edifice raised by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians, thus must we rebuild the temple of the Holy Ghost, built by God at the moment of our baptism, but destroyed by the sins of the past year. Again in the Old Testament the tenth part of all the substance of the Jews was given to the Lord (Exod. xxli. 29). Thus we must give him the tenth part of our time while on this earth. For forty days we fast, but taking out the Sundays of Lent, when there is no fast, it leaves thirty-six days, nearly the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. According to Pope Gregory from the first Sunday of Lent to Easter, there are six weeks, making forty-two days, and when we take from Lent the six Sundays during which we do not fast, we have left thirty-six days, about the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year.

The forty days of fasting comes down to us from the Old Testament, for we read that Moses fasted forty days on the mount (Exod. xxiv. et xxxiv. 28). We are told that Elias fasted for forty days (III. Kings xix. 8), and again we see that our Lord fasted forty days in the desert (Math. iv.; Luke ix). We are to follow the example of these great men of the old law. But in order to make up the full fast of forty days of Moses, of Elias and of our Lord, Pope Gregory commanded the fast of Lent to begin on Ash Wednesday before the first Sunday of the Lenten season.

Christ began his fast of forty days after his baptism in the Jordan, on Epiphany, the twelfth of January, when he went forth into the desert. But we do not begin the Lent after Epiphany, because there are other feasts and seasons in which to celebrate the mysteries of the childhood of our Lord before we come to his fasting, and because during these forty days of Lent we celebrate the forty years of the Jews in the desert, who, when their wanderings were ended, they celebrated their Easter, while we hold ours after the days of Lent are finished. Again, during Lent, we celebrate the passion of our Lord, and as after His passion came His resurrection, thus we celebrate the glories of His resurrection at Easter.

During the services of Lent we read so often the words: “Humble your heads before the Lord,” and “let us bend our knees,” because it is the time when we should humble ourselves before God and bend our knees in prayers. After the words, “Let us bend our knees,” comes the word, “Arise.” These words are never said on Sunday, but only on week days, for Sunday is dedicated to the resurrection of our Lord. Pope Gregory says: “Who bends the knee on Sunday denies God to have risen.” We bend our knees and prostrate ourselves to the earth in prayer, to show the weakness of our bodies, which are made of earth; to show the weakness of our minds and imagination, which we cannot control; to show our shame for sin, for we cannot lift our eyes to heaven; to follow the example of our Lord, who came down from heaven and prostrated himself on the ground in the garden when in prayer (Matt. xxvi. 39); to show that we were driven from Paradise and that we are prone towards earthly things; to show that we follow the example of our father in the faith, Abraham, who, falling upon the earth, adored the Lord (Gen. xviii. 2). This was the custom from the beginning of the Christian Church, as Origen says: “The holy prophets when they were surrounded with trials fell upon their faces, that their sins might be purged by the affliction of their bodies.” Thus following the words of St. Paul: “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephes. iii. 14),” we prostrate ourselves and bend our knees in prayer. From Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday the Preface of Lent is said every day, unless there comes a feast with a Preface of its own. That custom was in vogue as far back as the twelfth century.

At other times of the year, the clergy say the Office of Vespers after noon, but an ancient Council allowed Vespers to be commenced after Mass. This is when the Office is said altogether by the clergy in the choir. The same may be done by each clergyman when reciting privately his Office. This cannot be done on the Sundays of Lent, as they are not fasting days. The “Go, the dismissal is at hand,” is not said, but in its place, “Let us bless the Lord,” for, from the earliest times the clergy and the people remained in the church to sing the Vesper Office and to pray during this time of fasting and of penance.

We begin the fast of Lent on Wednesday, for the most ancient traditions of the Church tell us that while our Lord was born on Sunday, he was baptized on Tuesday, and began his fast in the desert on Wednesday. Again, Solomon began the building of his great temple on Wednesday, and we are to prepare our bodies by fasting, to become the temples of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle says, “Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I. Cor. iii. 16)?” To begin well the Lent, one of the old Councils directed all the people with the clergy to come to the church on Ash Wednesday to assist at the Mass and the Vesper Offices and to give help to the poor, then they were allowed to go and break their fast.

The name Ash Wednesday comes from the ceremony of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy and the people on this day. Let us understand the meaning of this rite. When man sinned by eating in the garden the forbidden fruit, God drove him from Paradise with the words: “For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).” Before his sin, Adam was not to die, but to be carried into heaven after a certain time of trial here upon this earth. But he sinned, and by that sin he brought upon himself and us, his children, death. Our bodies, then, are to return to the dust from which God made them, to which they are condemned by the sin of Adam. What wisdom the Church shows us when she invites us by these ceremonies to bring before our minds the dust and the corruption of the grave by putting ashes on our heads. We see the great men of old doing penance in sackcloth and ashes. Job did penance in dust and ashes (Job ii. 12). By the mouth of His prophet the Lord commanded the Jews “in the house of the dust sprinkle yourselves with dust (Mich. i. 10).” Abraham said, “I will speak to the Lord, for I am dust and ashes (Gen xviii. 27).” Joshua and all the ancients of Israel fell on their faces before the Lord and put dust upon their heads (Joshua vii. 6). When the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines, the soldier came to tell the sad story with his head covered with dust (I Kings iv. 12).

When Job’s three friends came and found him in such affliction, “they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven (Job ii. 12).” “The sorrows of the daughters of Israel are seen in the dust upon their heads (Lam. ii. 10).” Daniel said his prayers to the Lord his God in fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Dan. ix. 3). Our Lord tells us that if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the miracles seen in Judea, that they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes (Matt. xi. 21; Luke x. 13). When the great city will be destroyed, its people will cry out with grief, putting dust upon their heads (Apoc. xviii. 19). From these parts of the Bible, the reader will see that dust and ashes were used by the people of old as a sign of deep sorrow for sin, and that when they fasted they covered their heads with ashes. From them the Church copied these ceremonies which have come down to us. And on this day, when we begin our fast, we put ashes on our heads with the words, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).”

In the beginning of the Church the ceremony of putting the ashes on the heads of the people was only for those who were guilty of sin, and who were to spend the season of Lent in public penance. Before Mass they came to the church, confessed their sins, and received from the hands of the clergy the ashes on their heads. Then the clergy and all the people prostrated themselves upon the earth and there recited the seven penitential psalms. Rising, they formed into a procession with the penitents walking barefooted. When they came back the penitents were sent out of the church by the bishop, saying : “We drive you from the bosom of the Church on account of your sins and for your crimes, as Adam, the first man was driven from Paradise because of his sin.” While the clergy were singing those parts of Genesis, where we read that God condemned our first parents to be driven from the garden and condemned to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, the porters fastened the doors of the church on the penitents, who were not allowed to enter the temple of the Lord again till they finished their penance and came to be absolved on Holy Thursday (Gueranger, Le Temps de la Septuagesima, p. 242). After the eleventh century public penance began to be laid aside, but the custom of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy became more and more common, till at length it became part of the Latin Rite. Formerly they used to come up to the altar railing in their bare feet to receive the ashes, and that solemn notice of their death and of the nothingness of man. In the twelfth century the Pope and all his court came to the Church of St. Sabina, in Rome, walking all the way in his bare feet, from whence the title of the Mass said on Ash Wednesday is the Station at St. Sabina. 

#ash wednesday

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for Passion Sunday (Dominican rite)

Heb 9:11-15; John 8:46-59

From Septuagesimatide, to Lent, and now to Passiontide: we have entered the third and final phase of our preparation for the Easter festival. The Crosses and sacred images have now been veiled in church, a further deprivation of the senses in this holy time of fasting and abstinence. But this year, Passiontide is truly, for all of us, as the name indicates, the time of suffering, and deprivations and the strangest of abstinences have been forced upon us: we have been deprived of access to our churches, deprived of the sacraments in some cases, and a prolonged Eucharistic fast, an abstinence from sacramental communion is the yoke placed upon us. This is the passion, the spiritual suffering, that many Catholics now undergo. And, moreover, there are the temporal sufferings of the whole world from sickness and death and the far-reaching effects of this pandemic that strike at us physically, socially, materially, and psychologically. Truly, this is a Passiontide, a time of suffering for all of humanity, that will extend beyond this fortnight of liturgical veiling. 

How shall we respond, as Christians? “Stat crux dum volvitur orbis” say the Carthusians. “The Cross stands steady while the world spins”. Hence this liturgical time of Passiontide directs our attention to the Cross. The readings of this Passion Sunday Mass focusses us on the suffering and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Liturgy today points us to the Sacrifice of the Mass itself, whereby Christ’s Cross is once again exalted in triumph over a world broken by sin and sickness and selfishness. As the preface says: “you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth”. 

Therefore, throughout this extended passiontide of the pandemic season, the Sacrifice of the Mass continues to be offered every single day in countless churches throughout the world by Christ’s priests. This is most necessary because the Mass proclaims the victory of Christ over sin and all its effects such as sickness. The Cross, that is to say, the Mass, stands steady while the world is in tailspin. And at the same time, the Mass objectively calls down upon the world, and upon the Church, the blessings that flow from Christ Crucified,  namely, life and health, and, above all, the graces of salvation, eternal life. 

Our forebears knew this well, and they would often go to church to “hear Mass”, even though they seldom partook of Holy Communion itself. This practice, at least since the time of Pope St Pius X, is now rather alien to our Ecclesial experience. But in the current circumstances, you now find yourself, in an odd way, through the medium of audio-visual technology, able to see and hear Mass but not partaking in sacramental Communion. You find yourselves, in a certain sense, united to this part of our liturgical tradition whereby Holy Communion was infrequent, and maybe even just an annual event. Hence, the current canon law of the Church still only obliges us to receive Communion once a year, a remnant of this (often pious) approach to infrequent Communion. But nobody doubted, thereby, that the blessings of the Mass did not continue to benefit the world and its inhabitants for their salvation and for their true good. For while the world continues to revolve, so the Cross must stand steady – the Mass, therefore is necessary for the very life and health of the world. This is the sense in which Saint Padre Pio said: “It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!”

But what about you as an individual? How are these blessings of the Sacrifice of Christ – his redemption and new life of grace – to be received then by you? My favourite Catechism, the St Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which was prepared for teenagers in school, puts it simply: “Those who cannot go to daily Communion, but would if they could, can make a spiritual communion. This means a real desire to go to Communion when it is impossible to receive sacramentally. This desire obtains for us from Our Lord the graces of Communion in proportion to the strength of the desire.” 

There is something mysterious and providential, then, in this current situation. For when we receive Communion every day, as a matter of course, is it not possible for our desire to become less focussed on an intimate union with God through love, and more focussed on myself, my needs, and my desire to have an unbroken track record of daily Communions? Sometimes self-will and pride can be disguised by objectively good external routines. But in this period, when we cannot receive Communion – which, incidentally, has put an end to the scandal of sacrilegious and unworthy Communions – behold the wonderful work of God’s grace in this time of suffering. For to those souls who love him and know what the Mass is, is it not true that their desire for union with God has also increased? Therefore, in proportion to the strength of this desire, as the Baltimore Catechism says, know that the graces of Holy Communion are being given to you today by the good and loving and merciful Lord Jesus. In other words, nobody should despair of receiving the graces that are necessary for our salvation because God, who is not restricted by the Sacraments, can and does act without them, in an extraordinary manner, to confer graces on those souls who truly love him.   

However, because you cannot see, touch, and taste the Eucharistic Lord with your own bodies, something greater is now demanded of you, namely Faith. In his hymn, Adoro Te devote, St Thomas Aquinas thus says: “Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of you, but hearing suffices firmly to believe. I believe all that the Son of God has spoken; there is nothing truer than this word of Truth.” Therefore, in this time, as Cardinal Nichols put it, “dig deep” and believe that which the Word of God has promised. Jesus says in John 14: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you… If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:18-20, 23) Or, again, as the Lord says in today’s Gospel: “If any one keeps my word, he will never see death.” (Jn 8:51)

So, the Lord, right now and throughout this time of our sufferings is present and alive in your life, and he comes to you where you are, and he gives himself to you if you open yourself to him in love, and prepare a home for him in your heart, if you treasure his Word and keep his commandment of charity. Indeed the Rededication of England to Our Lady today is precisely about this kind of faith. For just as the Lord sought out Mary in her humble abode in Nazareth, and the Word became flesh in her life, and dwelt within her, so the Lord shall also come to our homes, and, if we keep his Word because we love him, he wills to give us himself through grace and so to remain with us, dwelling within us. 

Likewise, during this liturgical time of Passiontide, the sight of the crosses and saints in our churches is removed from us. Why? Because we are called to rely not on what we see and touch, but on what we know by faith. Firstly, we know that the Cross stands steady no matter how shaken the world becomes. It is our anchor and our one hope. And secondly, we recall that the Cross, although removed from our sight, is not removed from our lives. Rather, the Cross is to become part of our lives, through the different kinds of sufferings that we each carry day after day, and because we are united to Christ by grace, so the Lord is with us to carry that Cross with us, and to suffer alongside us, and therefore to sanctify us and give us a greater share in his final victory. 

This time of Passiontide, therefore, although it is focussed on the sufferings of Our Lord, and the bitter pains he endured because of our sins, is not principally a time to wallow in self-reproach and shame. The Benedictine monk, Dom Pius Parsch, in his classic commentary on the traditional Liturgy, states that the Liturgy does not focus attention upon the human side of the passion as much as upon its goal, our salvation.” So, too, in this time of suffering that is the pandemic, let us remain focussed on the goal of salvation, and, with a living faith, know that in this time of suffering and death, God’s grace is poured out with even greater intensity to sanctify us. Therefore, look steadily ahead at the Cross. As our Holy Father Pope Francis said last Friday: “We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved. We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed. We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love.”

#spiritual communion #salvation #Cross #Holy Mass #grace

[xathia-89]

A Lesson in the Biblical Sense

Big thank you to @thequeenshuntress for proofreading this. I was nervous about unleashing things back out. And thank you to everyone for being patient, I now get to enjoy a four to six week wait on the outcome of yesterday’s assessment. 

“Lady Hampton!” A curt voice attracted the woman’s attention from across the marketplace. A young man made a path through the crowds of the gathering. His eagerness to get to her was suggesting that he had been actively looking for her, and his robes put her inclinations towards him being a Catholic priest. Though his youth was something of a surprise as he approached. Evelyn kept a small smile on her face, she knew that Sebastian would have heard her title shouted and would likely be trying to keep tabs on her as well. They had both been shopping for the food for the shelter, while Sebastian was then also mulling over dinner for the evening at the mansion. She had attempted to cover her status with a modest dress, but the way she carried herself was ingrained and would often give her away. 

“Can I be of assistance, Father?” Her smile was polite and pleasant, there was no need to be hostile straight off, but she couldn’t just let her guard down around anyone. Her basket was carefully placed in the crook of her elbow, and she had already purchased some root vegetables which would come in handy as projectiles should things turn sour. 

“I wished to discuss your shelter,” he was a little out of breath, suggesting that he had exerted more energy than usual in his coverage of the market square to ensure that she didn’t leave. 

“I’m not certain what interest my shelter could hold for yourself,” it was taking everything in the woman to remain civil at a glance, the religious were usually the ones petitioning against her work. She was becoming sorely tempted to shout for Sebastian as she pulled the basket in front of her. A physical barrier against the male. 

“I mean no offence, Lady Hampton,” the priest gently replied, he had apparently sensed that she was used to attacks regarding it, holding both of his hands up in a surrendering motion. “I was just hoping to discuss it with you so I can understand your motives, I have only heard about your work from the more unscrupulous sides of my parish.”

“Then maybe we can be civil about it, and discuss it over dinner. My benefactor will be attending,” her smile was lethal, and her tone was crisp. It was an ultimatum, rather than an offer. “He may also be able to help you in your understanding.”

***

It wasn’t the first time that Evelyn was dressing herself up for the main course of a dinner. Sebastian knew what would impress at any occasion, and he was becoming a master at styling her curls delicately. He was delicately placing the ornate headband amongst her tresses, ensuring that the gems would be sparkling and not sunk underneath her dark green locks. It was the first time she would be dining with a clergyman in regards to her shelter, but she couldn’t rule out the fact that he would be angling for her hand in marriage. 

“Monsieur Le Comte wouldn’t allow for it,” Sebastian interrupted her inner monologue, drawing attention to his unusually emotive face with a coy smile on it. “He would marry you himself rather than allow anyone else to even entertain the idea.”

“I fear that one day he may have to entrap us all in this mansion and its grounds permanently because of the attention my work brings, and that would mean William as well. And I like that idea even less than the constraints of a traditional marriage that the Church would have you believe is the only good place for a woman to be.” 

Le Comte had insisted on arriving at the restaurant early, and for once Evelyn hadn’t been able to slow Sebastian down to her usual pace. Which meant that she was on his schedule. He didn’t pass her a smile when she was presented to him in the entrance hall, but merely just offered his arm to her so that she could be escorted to the waiting carriage.

The restaurant staff were falling over themselves to seat the pair, but then the surprise of being told that they were waiting for a Father Berger to join them. It stunned most of the conversation around them as well, as minds jumped to conclusions before Evelyn politely coughed to break the spell woven over their frozen waiter. The pureblood was on edge, ordering a bottle of the finest champagne for the table out of automation and to get some space from the prying gazes of everyone around them. 

It was only the third time that Le Comte could recall Evelyn asking for his help, and that was what was making him feel so on edge. The woman wasn’t breaching the silence as the waiter returned with an uncorked bottle of champagne, pouring it into the crystal flutes that had appeared on the table in the meantime. Evelyn was acting like the noblewoman she was, a role she loathed to fill, but even she had to admit there were occasions it came to hand as the waited for third party finally arrived. 

“Apologies for keeping you both waiting,” the human male was a surprise to the pureblood. Evelyn hadn’t said how young he appeared, and the cleanly pressed robes added to his sharp image that he liked to present to the world. His faith was clearly displayed around his neck as he took the empty seat opposite the male vampire. “Good evening, Lady Hampton. I wanted to thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I appreciate that you had no reason to comply with my request.”

“You wished to understand my motives, and you appeared open to learning,” Evelyn replied curtly, ensuring to keep the barrier up to stop him getting close to her before turning her attention to the pureblood next to her. “Monsieur Le Comte de Saint Germain, my benefactor-” 

“I believe it is seldom that I step in now,” Le Comte interrupted with a hollow smile, demanding that the priest look at him. “You keep it going under your own means and are doing more than just meeting the requirements to keep the shelter open. It is merely a title given to me because people never wish to believe that a woman could manage anything as well as, or better than, a man could play in your position.” 

Father Berger chuckled, stopping a waiter from filling his glass with champagne, and resting some water instead before offering his hand to the pureblood. “It is rare to hear such passion spoken about another’s work. I feel as though I am possibly intruding.” 

Le Comte squeezed the human’s hand harder than strictly necessary in a display of dominance before the meals were brought out for them. 

“You wished to discuss the complaints you had heard from some of your flock?” Evelyn was being polite and forcing the conversation back onto track, reminding the two men about the reason for their meeting.

“Yes, I understand from what I have heard is that you take in women and young children, but you exclude men and are renown for turning out young boys because you state that they are a threat. You break up marriages, and claim all sorts of vile things about the husbands,” the Father explained, picking up the correct cutlery from the assortment in front of them as he was prepared to cut into his lamb. “Yet, the bible teaches us that marriage is a sacred bond between one man and one woman, and that with the blessing of our Lord that they should be fruitful and multiply.” 

“Yet in Ephesians, it states that the husband should give up for his wife as the Lord did for us,” Evelyn was glowering a little at the man. “The state these women come to me is as a battered and bruised wife, they have not been treasured as Peter teaches us. They are abused as the weaker gender, and their husbands believe that they should dominate and terrorise their family to maintain their status.” 

It made the pureblood smile. Her Father had been keen to use the bible against his daughter, and she knew that book more than most would. It was something that their new ‘friend’ was also not missing, a warm smile at the challenge from the female as they politely tucked into their food. 

“Corinthians also states that a married couple are to give their bodies over to each other, they are to be devoted to their marriage,” the Father had plenty to go on it as he sipped at the water. “And Hebrews teaches us that marriage is to be honoured by everyone as well. Not just the two involved directly, and then Mark states that what God has joined together should not be separated by anyone.”

“Colossians says to never be harsh with your wife, I have had to treat more than just a little harshness to these women I receive. The bible may say many things, but your flock are the reason I have to keep my shelter open. If they loved them so, I would have no need to be here,” Evelyn reminded the man. “I may be interfering with the Lord’s work, but it is only out of my own devotion and love for my fellow beings that I act. Corinthians teaches us that love is kind and gentle, but nothing of what I have seen could be classed as anything but the devil’s work.” 

Father Berger was enjoying the cutting edge of the female’s mind, Le Comte knew better than to intervene when Evelyn was feeling as threatened as she was in the moment. Her cerise gaze was fixated on the young man, determined to prove her own worth in her own terms to him. He was merely present as society demanded. 

“The bible says many things I think you will find,” Evelyn continued, apparently going unchallenged. “A daughter could be sold as a slave according to the bible, but we have agreed that this is a level of savagery that we should be above as a country. No one should own another being for them to be worked to death. Why should a woman be forced to stay with a husband because they are married, when he is treating her akin to his own personal slave? She is expected to endure his temper and beatings because they have a so-called sacred bond that is endorsed by God, and society believes in this for some reason. If we are to use the bible as the basis for our laws and arguments, then we should also be repeating back at the husbands about how they should be treating their wives.” 

“I must admit, your knowledge of scripture does surprise me. I have yet to see you step foot inside a house of our Lord of any faith,” Father Berger was enjoying himself far too much.

“My father insisted it was my studying as a child because I was to devote myself to making him happy only. My life had no other purpose to him, I had killed his wife off if you asked him, which did free him from committing adultery, but that meant he was then burdened with my upbringing,” her smile was empty and devoid of any pleasant emotions. “He was far from pleased when I had begun to dictate verses back to him about how I should be treated as well.” 

“Your motives are admirable,” the human nodded. “Would you be requiring any assistance in your works?” 

“I do not allow men onto the grounds. I would hate for any of the women to be at risk of an abusive family finding her again, so I simply do not allow any man of an age to be able to throw a punch onto the grounds. Which is where the complaints arise, I believe,” she was already mentally closing the door on the man, that much was evident in her voice and eyes. 

“There have been several occasions I have been required to send my butler and coach searching the streets of Paris for her as well,” Le Comte broke his silence, sipping on the champagne languidly. “Because she is hunted down to be beaten by the husbands. All for the fact she is protecting the women from the treatment that she is now subjected to at their hands, and they believe themselves worthy of complaint because they show up to your Church to listen to God’s words.” 

“I would like to open my Church to your users as well. I would like to give your residents a chance to share God’s work, and I would be willing to ensure that it is a private session where no outside individuals could partake in,” the Father paused, weighing up the possibilities and logistics. 

“There is an old shed on the outskirts of my grounds, perhaps a similar shelter could be built on the outsides of the railings, and it could be better purposed, then it would allow for those who wish to attend to do so in safety, since the railings would keep any unwanted out as well,” she proposed, putting her cutlery to the side on her plate. 

“That sounds like an appropriate compromise for both of you,” Le Comte commented, relaxing a little. 

***

True to her word, the women of the shelter were more than a little keen to transform the shed that had been derelict for as long as anyone could remember. They enjoyed the challenge and refused to even let Evelyn help as the small group who wanted to create the space for worship barreled their way through the task. 

Father Berger had been spending his time addressing those with complaints after it was seen that he was making a space on the other side of the railings to shelter him from the extremes of weather. It drew a lot of attention, and it became clear that the door would require frequent replacement from the offset as many saw it as a chance to shelter from bitter and harsh weather when the streets were being unforgiving. 

The first session was a success, many of the attendees were more out of curiosity to see who had agreed to work with Lady Hampton on such a case. The young priest was charismatic, even the vampire had to admit that as she watched everyone filter out in the evening light. It was agreed that the worship would be held on a Tuesday evening, Sunday was too tight for him to dedicate and Evelyn had insisted on being able to set a slot for the daily routine of her shelter. It was warming her to see so many regulars attending as the sound of the door opening attracted her attention. 

“Lady Hampton, I am surprised to see you here,” Father Berger was all smiles. “I assume that I am doing an adequate job?”

“Yes, those who wish to attend your sermons are encouraged to, whilst those who fear religion are not forced. The only complaints I have heard are that we need to enhance the shelter to deal with wind, but the women are already thinking around that, and I have been banished from helping,” she smiled. 

“How is your husband?” The question caught Evelyn off guard, and she began to choke on air. 

“H-husband?” She asked, her eyes watering as she tried to stop herself coughing. 

“Yes, Monsieur Le Comte de Saint Germain,” Father Berger smiled. 

“We are not married or committed to each other,” she laughed, managing to finally get herself under control. 

“But do you not live together?”

“We live in the same mansion when I am not here, yes, but there are also eleven other individuals present who reside there.”

“That must make life interesting,” he chuckled. 

“Just a little indeed, thank you, Father,” she inclined her head slightly, before going to follow the last woman inside. 

“Are you sure I couldn’t interest you to attend the next session of worship?” 

“I believe it would interrupt everyone else’s enjoyment. I would be merely interrupting you constantly.”

“Then I must invite you to dinner again, I enjoyed our conversation,” Father Berger smiled. “And I have no intention of marriage, the Catholic Church does tend to frown on anything but celibacy.” 

“Then may I suggest you allow me to host you a dinner at the mansion, I am not the only intellectual who may enjoy jousting with you,” Evelyn replied. “I’m not certain that they would appreciate me meeting you outside of the mansion without one of them present until you have been given their approval.”

“It sounds as though they believe themselves your family.”

“They are. We deeply care for each other, and always ensure that everyone else is safe,” the woman replied with a nod and a smile. “I will send an invitation to your residence, and have the boys suitably chastised to your visit.”

#evelyn hampton #ikevamp le comte #ikevam le comte #le comte de saint germain #ikevam #ikevamp #ikémen vampire #Ikemen Vampire #ikevam sebastian #sebastian

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

24th October >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 12:49-53 for Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’.

Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 12:49-53

How I wish it were blazing already!

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 12:49-53

I have not come to establish peace but division.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Reflections (5)

(i) Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

It is strange to hear Jesus say in today’s gospel reading that he did not come to bring peace but rather division. However, the gospel as a whole suggests that we have to understand Jesus to mean that he did not come with the explicit intention of causing division but, rather, that division was the consequence of his coming. As Simeon prophesied to Mary, in the temple of Jerusalem, her child was destined ‘for the falling and rising of many in Israel’. Some would accept him and rise, others would reject him and fall. Early in our gospel reading, Jesus had said that he came to bring a fire to earth, the fire of the Holy Spirit. That spiritual fire would be welcomed by some as a life-giving power and vehemently rejected by others as too explosive and dangerous. If Jesus created divisions, so, Jesus implies, his followers who allow themselves to be led by his Spirit will also create divisions, even within their own family. Some of the great saints did not always bring harmony everywhere they went. They were often perceived as bothersome and troublesome by many. John Henry Newman who was canonized recently was no different in that regard. His unflinching search for the truth led to many people opposing him both within the Anglican communion and later within the Roman Catholic Church. The gospel reading is reminding us that if we are committed followers of the Lord, is we are earnestly seeking to be led by his Spirit, we won’t always succeed in bringing everyone with us, and we may find ourselves sharing the distress of Jesus that he refers to in today’s gospel reading, ‘how great is my distress till it is over’. At such times, we need to place our trust in the Lord, in the words of today’s psalm.

And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

The opening lines of the gospel reading capture something of the impatience of Jesus. ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!’ Jesus came to bring the fire of God’s love, a fire that conveys God’s warmth, but also burns away whatever is not of God. Jesus suffered because that fire of God’s love was burning so powerfully within him. It was because he was on fire with God’s love that he was crucified by those who found that fire too dangerous and challenging. Jesus refers to the suffering that awaits him using the image of a baptism he has still to receive, a baptism of fire, a baptism of suffering. That fire burning within him gave rise to divisions, even within families, as some people were drawn to it and others were repelled by it. There is a lovely prayer within our Catholic tradition which goes, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and kindle in me the fire of your love’. Jesus wants the fire of God’s love that he brought to the earth to burn within each of us. If that fire does burn within us, it will sometimes bring us suffering, just as it brought suffering to Jesus.

And/Or

(iii) Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Luke gives us an insight into the torment within the heart and soul of Jesus. Jesus says that he has come to bring fire to the earth and wishes that it were already blazing. This is probably a reference to the fire of the Holy Spirit; at the beginning of his second volume Luke describes the Holy Spirit coming down on the disciples in a form like tongues of fire. Yet, Jesus is aware that he cannot pour out the Holy Spirit until he has undergone his passion and death, what he calls a ‘baptism that he must still receive’. He is soon to be plunged into this fiery ordeal and he declares that his distress is great until it is over. Luke presents Jesus as desperately wanting to pass through this ordeal so that the fire of the Spirit can begin to blaze. We stand on the far side of Jesus’ baptism, his passion and death. Something of the fire of the Spirit has taken hold in our own lives. This fire of the Spirit was given to us at great cost, the cost of Jesus’ passion and death. There is an onus on us, therefore, to keep that fire of the Spirit burning in our hearts. We need to keep praying, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts, and kindle in us the fire of your love’.

 And/Or

(iv) Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Luke gives us an insight into the distress that Jesus experienced within himself in the course of his ministry. He speaks of bringing fire to the earth. The ‘fire’ is a reference to the fire of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit would come down on the disciples in the form of ‘tongues as of fire’ (Acts 2:3). However, before Jesus can pour out the Spirit in this way, he must first travel the way of the cross and undergo his passion and death. This is the ‘baptism’ that he refers to in the gospel reading. ‘There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress until it is over’. We all experience distress at having to face into an experience that will cost us a great deal. Jesus knew that distress to the greatest possible degree. Jesus goes on to suggest that his disciples will get caught up in his own distress. Jesus states that he has come not to bring ‘peace’ but ‘division’. Many of those who chose to follow in his way will find themselves at odds with others, even with family members. Following the Lord and walking in his way will often mean saying ‘no’ to what people want from us. Faithfulness can be costly. Yet, because of the Lord’s own faithfulness unto death, his Spirit has been poured into our hearts. The fire of that Spirit at work in our lives helps to keep us faithful and courageous in our following of the Lord.

 And/Or

 (v) Thursday, Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks in the language of metaphor. He uses two different metaphors or images. He firstly declares that he has come to bring fire to the earth. Earlier in Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist had announced that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The fire that Jesus came to bring to the earth is the fire of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that would come down on his disciples in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost. The language of fire for the Spirit suggests that the Spirit has a twofold role in our lives. Like fire, the Spirit brings warmth and light, the warmth and light of God’s love. Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans says that ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit’. Like fire, the Holy Spirit can also mould and purify. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives purifies us of sin so as to mould us more fully into the image and likeness of Jesus. Using a second metaphor, Jesus says that there is a painful and distressing baptism he must receive before he can bring this fire of the Spirit to the earth. Jesus is referring here to his forthcoming passion and death into which he is soon to be plunged. The love that God pours into our hearts through the Spirit is the self-emptying love revealed by Jesus on the cross. It is the love of the Servant who is prepared to die so that others may have life. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives will always inspire us and empower us to love in the same self-giving and self-emptying way that Jesus loved.

  Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: [email protected] or  [email protected]

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

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[anastpaul]

Thought for the Day – 16 January – The Memorial of Blessed Giuseppe Tovini OFS (1841-1897)

St Pope Paul VI and Blessed Giuseppe Tovini

Saints of Brescia

Excerpt from St Pope John Paul’s Homily

EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION ON THE OCCASION OF THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE SERVANT OF GOD PAUL VI AND THE BEATIFICATION OF GIUSEPPE TOVINI

HOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II Brescia Sunday, 20 September, 1998

With deep affection I greet you, city of Brescia, so rich in works of Christian inspiration;  I greet your priests, religious and the many lay people who in their various ecclesial and civil offices have distinguished themselves by their religious, social and cultural commitment.

2. “Peter, do you love me?”.   We can say that Paul VI’s life was a response to Christ’s question – a great proof of love for God, the Church and mankind.   He loved God as a gracious and caring Father and during the important moments of his life, especially those burdened with difficulties and suffering, he displayed a very strong sense of the divine fatherhood.

When, as Archbishop of Milan, he decided to hold a popular mission to instil new energy in the city’s Christian tradition, he chose as his basic theme – God is Father.   Then on 6 August, 20 years ago, as he neared the end of his earthly life at Castel Gandolfo, he wanted to recite the Our Father as his last prayer.

And what can be said of his passionate love for Christ?   His was an essentially Christocentric spirituality.   In the homily to mark the beginning of his Pontificate, he explained that he had chosen the name of Paul because the Apostle “loved Christ supremely, because he greatly wanted and strove to bring the Gospel of Christ to all nations, because he offered his life in Christ’s name” (30 June 1963, in Insegnamenti I, [1963], pp. 24-25).   On another occasion he added that it is impossible to leave Christ out of consideration, “if we want to know something certain, full, revealed about God, or rather, if we want to have a living, direct and authentic relationship with God”(General Audience, 18 December 1968; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 26 December 1968, p. 3).

3. To his love for God the Father and for Christ the Teacher, Paul VI joined an intense love for the Church, for which he spent all his physical, intellectual and spiritual energies, as the touching confession he made in Pensiero alla morte testifies:  “The Church … I could say that I have always loved her … and that I think I have lived for her and for nothing else” (cf. Pubblicazione dell’Istituto Paolo VI, Brescia 1988, pp. 28-29).

Flowing spontaneously from this love for Christ and for the Church was his pastoral passion for man, with an acute insight into the sufferings and expectations of the contemporary age.   Few have known, as he, to interpret the anxieties, desires, toils and aspirations of the men of our century.   He wished to walk at their side, to do this he made himself a pilgrim on their roads, meeting them where they lived and struggled to build a world of greater attention and respect for the dignity of every human being.

He wanted to be the servant of Church which evangelised the poor, called with every person of goodwill to build that “civilisation of love” in which not only the crumbs of economic and civil progress go to the poor, but where justice and solidarity should reign.

4. The roots of Pope Montini’s particular sensitivity to the great social questions of our century are sunk deep in his Brescian origins.   In his own family and then during the years of his youth in Brescia, he breathed that atmosphere, that fervour of activity which made Brescian Catholicism one of the significant landmarks of the Catholic presence in the social and political life of the country.   Addressing his fellow citizens at the beginning of his Pontificate, Paul VI expressed this debt of gratitude: “Brescia! The city which not only gave me birth but is such a part of the civil, spiritual and human tradition, teaching me as well the meaning of life in this world and always offering me a framework which, I think, will withstand future experiences ordained over the years by divine Providence” (cf. Address to a Pilgrimage from Milan and Brescia, 29 June 1963, in Insegnamenti I [1963], p. 647).

5. Bl Giuseppe Tovini was certainly a great witness of the Gospel incarnated in Italy’s social and economic history in the last century.   He is resplendent for his strong personality, his profound lay and family spirituality and for his generous efforts to improve society.   Between Tovini and Giovanni Battista Montini there is — as a matter of fact — a close, profound spiritual and mental bond.

In fact, the Pontiff himself wrote of Tovini:  “The impression he left on those I first knew and esteemed was so vivid and so real that I frequently heard comments and praise of his extraordinary personality and his many varied activities – astonished, I heard admiring expressions of his virtue and sorrowful regrets at his early death” (cf. Preface by Giovanni Battista Montini to the biography of Giuseppe Tovini by Fr Antonio Cistellini in 1953, p. I).

6. Fervent, honest, active in social and political life, Giuseppe Tovini proclaimed the Christian message, always in fidelity to the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium.   His constant concern was to defend the faith, convinced that — as he said at a congress — “without faith our children will never be rich, with faith they will never be poor”. He lived at a sensitive time in the history of Italy and the Church and it was clear to him, that one could not respond fully to God’s call, without being generously and selflessly involved in social problems.

His was a prophetic vision and he responded with apostolic daring to the needs of the times, which in the light of new forms of discrimination required of believers a more incisive leadership in temporal affairs.

Aided by the legal skills and rigorous professionalism that distinguished him, he promoted and directed many social organisations and also held political office in Cividate Camuno and Brescia in the desire to make Christian doctrine and morality present among the people.   He considered commitment to education a priority and prominent among his many initiatives, was his defence of schools and the freedom of teaching.

With humble means and great courage he laboured tirelessly to preserve for Brescian and Italian society what was most particularly its own, that is, its religious and moral heritage.

Tovini’s honesty and integrity were rooted in his deep, vital relationship with God, which he constantly nourished with the Eucharist, meditation and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.   From listening to God in daily prayer, he drew light and strength for the great social and political battles he had to wage to safeguard Christian values.   The Church of St Luke, with its beautiful image of the Immaculata and where his mortal remains now rest, is a witness to his piety.

On the threshold of the third millennium, Giuseppe Tovini, whom today we contemplate in heavenly glory, spurs us on.   I invite you in particular, dear lay faithful of Brescia and Italy, to look to this great social apostle, who was able to give hope to those without voice in the society of his time, so that his example will be an incentive and encouragement to everyone to work generously today and always to defend and to spread the truth and the demands of the Gospel.   May he protect you from heaven and sustain you by his intercession.

Dear Brescians, you have received a great religious and civil heritage – treasure it as an incomparable patrimony and bear active witness to it, with that ingenuity and integrity, that fidelity and perseverance which distinguished Paul VI and Giuseppe Tovini.

7. “I have fought the good fight…. The Lord stood by me” (2 Tm 4:7,17)   These words from the second reading of the Mass summarise the spiritual experience of the two figures we recall today with devout admiration.   We thank God for their witness – it is a precious gift, not only for Brescia but for Italy and for all humanity.   Their memory must not fade with the passing of time.   In different fields and with different responsibilities, they sowed so much good, they fought the good fight – the fight for Truth and the civilisation of Love.

May Mary, Mother of the Church, help us take up their legacy and follow in their footsteps so that we too will be allowed to answer Christ like the Apostle Peter: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (Jn 21:17). Amen!

Holy Mother Mary, Pray for Us!

St Pope Paul VI, Pray for Us!

Blessed Giuseppe Tovini, Pray for Us!

(via Thought for the Day - 16 January - The Memorial of Blessed Giuseppe Tovini OFS (1841-1897))

#thoughtforthedayjanuary16 #january16blgiuseppetovini #stpopepaulVIandblgiuseppetovini #stpopejohnpaulbeatificationhomily #catholic #mypic #mypics #saintsofbrescia #catholicism

[romancatholicreflections]

25th October >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 12:49-53 for Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’.

Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time  

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 12:49-53

How I wish it were blazing already!

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!    ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

Gospel (USA)

Luke 12:49-53

I have not come to establish peace but division.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Reflections (6)

(i) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In the course of his letters, Paul often speaks about his prayer. He tells us the content of his prayer, what he gives thanks to God for, what he petitions God for, the people that he prays for. We have a wonderful example of Paul’s prayer in today’s first reading, which is one of my favourite passages from Paul’s letters. Paul’s prayer in this passage is both a prayer of petition and a prayer of praise. In both of these prayers, Paul refers to the power of God or the power of the Spirit. He petitions God to give the members of the church in Ephesus the power through the Spirit for their hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in their hearts. He goes on to give praise to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine. Paul declares that through the power of God, the power of the Spirit, at work in our hearts, Christ comes to live in us and, when that happens, our hidden self, our true self, grows strong. There is a very beautiful, Trinitarian, vision of the Christian life contained in that prayer. God the Father sends the Holy Spirit into our lives so that Christ, his Son, can live in us, and, thereby our true self, our Christ-self, grows strong. It is through his Son, in particular his Son’s death, resurrection and ascension, that God the Father sends the Holy Spirit into our lives. In the gospel reading, Jesus makes reference to his role of sending us the Holy Spirit from the Father. ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’, he says, the fire of the Spirit, the fire of God’s love. Each day, we are called to open our hearts afresh to this gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to us from the Father through the Son, so that God’s Son may be formed in us and we become our true selves, in the words of that first reading, ‘filled with the utter fullness of God’.

And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

The opening lines of the gospel reading capture something of the impatience of Jesus. ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!’ Jesus came to bring the fire of God’s love, a fire that conveys God’s warmth, but also burns away whatever is not of God. Jesus suffered because that fire of God’s love was burning so powerfully within him. It was because he was on fire with God’s love that he was crucified by those who found that fire too dangerous and challenging. Jesus refers to the suffering that awaits him using the image of a baptism he has still to receive, a baptism of fire, a baptism of suffering. That fire burning within him gave rise to divisions, even within families, as some people were drawn to it and others were repelled by it. There is a lovely prayer within our Catholic tradition which goes, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and kindle in me the fire of your love’. Jesus wants the fire of God’s love that he brought to the earth to burn within each of us. If that fire does burn within us, it will sometimes bring us suffering, just as it brought suffering to Jesus.

And/Or

(iii) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Luke gives us an insight into the torment within the heart and soul of Jesus. Jesus says that he has come to bring fire to the earth and wishes that it were already blazing. This is probably a reference to the fire of the Holy Spirit; at the beginning of his second volume Luke describes the Holy Spirit coming down on the disciples in a form like tongues of fire. Yet, Jesus is aware that he cannot pour out the Holy Spirit until he has undergone his passion and death, what he calls a ‘baptism that he must still receive’. He is soon to be plunged into this fiery ordeal and he declares that his distress is great until it is over. Luke presents Jesus as desperately wanting to pass through this ordeal so that the fire of the Spirit can begin to blaze. We stand on the far side of Jesus’ baptism, his passion and death. Something of the fire of the Spirit has taken hold in our own lives. This fire of the Spirit was given to us at great cost, the cost of Jesus’ passion and death. There is an onus on us, therefore, to keep that fire of the Spirit burning in our hearts. We need to keep praying, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts, and kindle in us the fire of your love’.

And/Or

(iv) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading Luke gives us an insight into the distress that Jesus experienced within himself in the course of his ministry. He speaks of bringing fire to the earth. The ‘fire’ is a reference to the fire of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit would come down on the disciples in the form of ‘tongues as of fire’ (Acts 2:3). However, before Jesus can pour out the Spirit in this way, he must first travel the way of the cross and undergo his passion and death. This is the ‘baptism’ that he refers to in the gospel reading. ‘There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress until it is over’. We all experience distress at having to face into an experience that will cost us a great deal. Jesus knew that distress to the greatest possible degree. Jesus goes on to suggest that his disciples will get caught up in his own distress. Jesus states that he has come not to bring ‘peace’ but ‘division’. Many of those who chose to follow in his way will find themselves at odds with others, even with family members. Following the Lord and walking in his way will often mean saying ‘no’ to what people want from us. Faithfulness can be costly. Yet, because of the Lord’s own faithfulness unto death, his Spirit has been poured into our hearts. The fire of that Spirit at work in our lives helps to keep us faithful and courageous in our following of the Lord.

And/Or

(v) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

When Jesus says in this morning’s gospel reading that he has come to bring fire to the earth, he is referring to the fire of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist said that whereas he baptizes with water, Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This prophecy is fulfilled at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes down upon the disciples in the form of tongues of fire. Yet before Jesus can pour out the Spirit on his followers, he must first undergo what he refers to in the gospel reading as a baptism. This is a reference to his death, when he will be plunged into great suffering. He speaks of his distress until this baptism is over. The Spirit Jesus will pour out is the Spirit of his risen life, but before entering into glory he must first undergo the cross. Jesus had to go through his own baptism of fire for us to receive the fire of the Spirit. That realization helps us to appreciate the gift of the Holy Spirit all the more. The Holy Spirit that is poured into our hearts is not only the Spirit of the risen Lord but the Spirit of the crucified and risen Lord. In the first reading Saint Paul reminds us just what a wonderful gift the Holy Spirit is. He refers to the Holy Spirit there as God’s power working in us that can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. What we cannot do on our own, we can do in the power of the Spirit that has been given to us at such a cost by Jesus.

And/Or

(vi) Thursday, Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks in the language of metaphor. He uses two different metaphors or images. He firstly declares that he has come to bring fire to the earth. Earlier in Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist had announced that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The fire that Jesus came to bring to the earth is the fire of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that would come down on his disciples in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost. The language of fire for the Spirit suggests that the Spirit has a twofold role in our lives. Like fire, the Spirit brings warmth and light, the warmth and light of God’s love. Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans says that ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit’. Like fire, the Holy Spirit can also mould and purify. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives purifies us of sin so as to mould us more fully into the image and likeness of Jesus. Using a second metaphor, Jesus says that there is a painful and distressing baptism he must receive before he can bring this fire of the Spirit to the earth. Jesus is referring here to his forthcoming passion and death into which he is soon to be plunged. The love that God pours into our hearts through the Spirit is the self-emptying love revealed by Jesus on the cross. It is the love of the Servant who is prepared to die so that others may have life. The Holy Spirit at work in our lives will always inspire us and empower us to love in the same self-giving and self-emptying way that Jesus loved.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: [email protected] or  [email protected]

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[sexypinkon]

The Governor’s Attic

Geoffrey MacLean tracks down a hoard of valuable 19th-century Caribbean paintings in an English country house

By Geoffrey MacLean

George Francis Robert Harris, the third Lord Harris, arrived in Port of Spain in 1846. He was a popular and impartial administrator who rescued Trinidad’s economy after the crash of the sugar industry and the abolition of slavery. Under his administration a system of labour indentureship was formalised through immigration from India, China and Madeira, setting the stage for Trinidad’s present cultural diversity.

Between 1848 and 1854, when Harris left Trinidad, there were marked improvements in virtually all aspects of life in Trinidad: the economy, education, government administration, public utilities. Lord Harris’s marriage in 1850 to a Trinidadian, Sarah Cummins, at Trinity Cathedral in Port of Spain, provided an unprecedented social spectacle, and endeared the Governor further to the population.

Two years after Lord Harris’s arrival, Michel Cazabon, Trinidad’s great 19th-century artist, returned to Port of Spain from Paris, intent on making his living by painting. Though from very different social backgrounds, Harris and Cazabon had much in common and became close friends. Both had been educated in England and both had lived in France, Harris in the south for his health, Cazabon in Paris as an art student.

During Harris’s term of office, Cazabon prepared two volumes of lithographic prints, Views of Trinidad 1851 and Album of Trinidad 1857. They depicted many scenes of historic interest and natural beauty: The Governor’s Residence, St Ann’s; The Cottage, Mount Tanana; The Reservoir at Maraval; Caledonia and Craig Islands; Maracas Waterfall.

Caledonia and Craig Islands by Cazabon

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The lithographs and sketches prepared by the artist for The Illustrated London News showed Cazabon’s constant attendance on the Governor to record official functions and social excursions. Harris is seen straddling the root of a huge tree in the hunting party in Cedar Point, Mount Tamana, the artist seated with his sketch pad behind him. The wedding party on its way to the honeymoon cottage on Craig Island, as seen in Caledonia and Craig Islands, is that of Lord Harris and his new bride, daughter of George Cummins, the Archdeacon of Trinidad.

After the publication of my book on Cazabon in 1986 (Cazabon: An Illustrated Biography; Aquarela Galleries, Trinidad), I was still fascinated by the relationship between Lord Harris and Cazabon. I felt that the Governor would not have left the colony without taking with him mementos in the form of paintings by his friend, which would form an important record of Trinidad’s history. Initial enquiries proved fruitless – there are several Lord Harrises in Britain, and no indication which of them might be descended from Trinidad’s Governor. But I discussed the possibilities with another Cazabon enthusiast, Brian Tonkinson, who was able to trace the Harris family to Belmont, near Faversham in Kent.

Belmont House, deep in the English countryside, is as far removed from the hustle and bustle of Port of Spain as one can imagine. This stately home is owned by the present Lord Harris, the sixth in succession, a successful and charming farmer. At that time, the house was looked after by the Lodge-keeper, Mr Hacking, who, when asked about the possibility of paintings by Cazabon, remembered some sketches in an album in the library relating to Trinidad – and several oil paintings stored in the attic, believed also to date from that period.

Early in 1991 I visited Belmont. Since our first contact, the estate had become the responsibility of a Trust under the chairmanship of Lord Harris. As the art collection was described and catalogued, its historic importance became clear. The “album in the library” contained a series of watercolours by Michel Cazabon, about 35 of the most important visual references to 19th-century Trinidad in existence. The oil paintings in the attic also turned out to be fine examples of Cazabon’s art.

Sunrise near Port of Spain by Cazabon

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Among the watercolours there were images of creole women, views of the Port of Spain docks, the districts of Corbeaux Town and Carenage, sea views from Gasparee island and of Craig and Caledonia Islands, the island ferry, and studies taken at sunrise and sunset, the most charming of which was as contemporary as the scene today — a young boy flying a kite on the Port of Spain Savannah at sunset, and a spectacular panorama of the Savannah from Cotton Hill. These glimpses from a different era underlined the long and important tradition of the Savannah as the social and recreational centre of Trinidad’s capital.

Boy with Kite, Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain by Cazabon

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The oil paintings were just as interesting, and showed how important Cazabon had been in recording the life and status of the Governor. Several were on a scale not seen before in Cazabon’s work: one of them, the largest I have seen by Cazabon, shows a view of Port of Spain from Laventille Hill, with the Governor in a top-hat surveying the city with his guide. Two other paintings were of the Lodge on Mount Tamana where the Governor and his party stayed on their hunting expeditions, an exterior view showing the simple thatched building and an interior with some of the day’s catch of wild birds and quenk, the wild pigs that roam Trinidad’s forests.

The Wedding of Lord Harris at Trinity Church, Port of Spain (sepia watercolour 1850, 290 x 380 mm) ............................................................................................................................

Trinity Cathedral, where the Governor married his Trinidad bride, was beautifully rendered in two sepia watercolour sketches. My favourite was a dramatic view of the Northern Range from Tamana, looking over a thickly forested central plain, the foreground punctuated by a brightly plumed bird in flight, watched by its mate resting on the branch of a nearby tree.

View from Carenage, Port of Spain by Cazabon

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Although the prime exhibit at Belmont is a collection of clocks, the passion of the fifth Lord Harris, the Trust has used the new Cazabons to formalise a display of Trinidad’s great painter. After restoration, mounted and framed, the paintings look magnificent.

Cazabon’s renderings are not romantic. He did not glamourise life or landscape. In recording the unvarnished truth, he left us a clear picture of Trinidad at a vital stage of development. Today’s society was just being formed; the effects of slavery and its collapse were being felt in a bankrupt economy and a new social order. The population was volatile, wary of officialdom, and eager to demonstrate both against injustice (Harris faced rioters in person as they objected to the shaving of the heads of civil offenders) and for proper public utilities, especially a regular water supply.

Yet it can be seen how much Governor Harris enjoyed Trinidad: its natural beauty, its wildlife, its handsome people and its architecture. His friendship with Cazabon was remarkable, given the two men’s different social and ethnic backgrounds. Cazabon attended many of the events in the Governor’s life not just as a recorder of history but as a participant: his renderings of the Governor’s marriage in Trinity Cathedral are extraordinary in the way they capture the excitement of the crowd and the sense of occasion.

At Belmont, the paintings, all dating from 1850 to 1854, now hang where the third Lord Harris originally placed them: in the Blue Bedroom, the Blue Dressing Room and the South Bedroom. Any student of Trinidad’s social or artistic history, indeed anyone with a nostalgia for the Caribbean’s past, should see them.

The guidebook states: “Here, and in the next two rooms, is displayed the unique collection of watercolours of Trinidad by Michel Jean Cazabon (1813-1888), an artist of French ‘free coloured’ origin born in Trinidad. He was educated in England at St Edmund’s, Ware (a Catholic school), and trained as an artist in France. He exhibited at the Louvre every year from 1842 until 1847, and returned to Trinidad in 1848. The paintings at Belmont were commissioned by the third Lord Harris while he was Governor of Trinidad in the middle of the 19th century.”

© MEP Publishers |

The Governor's Attic | Caribbean Beat Magazine

#Sexypink/Caribbean Beat Magazine archives #Sexypink/Michel Jean Cazabon #Sexypink/Governor Harris/History/Art History of Trinidad and Tobago

[naturecoaster]

Sharing Hope during COVID-19 Social Distancing

With COVID-19 and America's attempt to “flatten the curve” through social distancing, churches, temples, and houses of worship have been forced to find ways of communicating God’s message to the church, without the building or the congregation in attendance. It is imperative that we practice social distancing to allow our available medical care resources to keep up with the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday is April 12 and Americans are on stay-at-home orders. My church has been providing the weekly service via live streaming on Facebook, which has allowed me to stay connected with my church family even though I haven’t actually hugged anyone in weeks.

How Crosspoint Church has chosen to Connect Virtually

Lead Pastor of Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill, Paul Castelli, summed things up nicely, “Even though our world has changed, the power of God has not changed. The truth of Scripture has not changed. The hope of Jesus has not changed. Our mission as a church has not changed. Let us not give in to fear. Rather, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” This mobile church, which has been meeting in Hernando County’s Challenger K-8 school for years and was poised to begin its church building on a 13-acre campus in Spring Hill this year has been forced to communicate with its members virtually. Paul told me that it was very important to the staff at Crosspoint that messages of hope went out to the community. A sermon series entitled “Hope” was begun March 13 as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the U.S. to attention.

Lead Pastor Paul Castelli of Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill changed their Easter series to a Hope series when the COVID-19 pandemic began infringing on Florida's Nature Coast resident's lives. Image courtesy of Crosspoint Church. Hope became the Message to fill a need “This was not the sermon series we had planned but it was evident that this message was important to get out, so we buckled down and made it happen,” Paul explained. “The staff was all in to do whatever we needed to communicate God’s message of hope to the people of Hernando County and beyond.” The Crosspoint Production/Media/and Worship team worked hard to bring a Message of Hope every week. Additionally, Crosspoint has sent emails to help its members with exercise, community resources and children’s activities multiple times a week since Florida’s Stay-at-Home order was enacted.

By reaching out virtually, Crosspoint Church has been able to continue its mission to lead people on a life-changing journey to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Image by Omar Medina Films from Pixabay “Initially following Governor DeSantis’ order to stay home in mid-March and gather in groups of less than 50, we recorded a live service to share with our audience on Sunday morning. Two people reached out to say that they accepted Christ during one of those video services,” Paul shared. “It is so rewarding to know God works through modern technology.” The Church’s Prayer and Care team have reached out to several of Crosspoint’s elderly and widowed to check on any essential needs and to pray with them. The Children’s ministry and Middle School ministry teams have found new ways to reach out to students at home.

Image by James Chan from Pixabay Crosspoint’s Easter Service times are Sunday, April 12 at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. To watch on Facebook, click here  To watch on Crosspoint’s website, click here “Our hope is to be able to gather together on our church campus at Challenger as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we believe we can continue to learn and grow as a church by worshipping together in our homes with friends and family.” Video and Electronic Tools help Churches connect with their communities in times of Crisis Crosspoint is only one of many houses of worship that have turned to video and electronic means to continue communicating their message of hope during a confusing and challenging time to live. Crosspoint Church is a nondenominational Christian church.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay Below are several other denominations in Florida’s Nature Coast that are offering worship services outside of their building’s walls. Having grown up in a time when Jim and Tammy Fay Baker made television preaching a debacle through their excesses, I find I am enjoying receiving a message of hope in my living room. I sure do miss the hugs, though.

Nature Coast Houses of Worship now offering Online Messages

Easter is a special time for most Christians to get out to church. Most of us have vivid memories of dressing up and going to worship services with our family on this holy day.

Image by Luna Lee from Pixabay Below is a list of random Houses of Worship throughout Florida’s Nature Coast that are offering online streaming services and even study curriculum. Crystal River United Methodist Church Crystal River United Methodist Church began streaming its services via Facebook Live each Sunday at 10:30 am. For Easter Services members and guests are invited to gather in their vehicles at the north end of the campus for Easter Services through “Drive-In Worship.” The service will begin at 10:30 so come a little early to get parked and ready for worship. The church address is 4801 N Citrus Ave. Crystal River, FL 34428. Temple Beth David Spring Hill Temple Beth David in Spring Hill offers regular streaming of its services and you can connect with them by clicking here. Friday nights (Erev Shabbat) at 7:30pmSaturday mornings (Shabbat Morning) at 10:00amHavdalah Service (Saturday Evening) at 8:00pm Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church offers traditional services with live streaming on YouTube at 10:30 am Sunday St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in New Port Richey is offering virtual services for each traditional Catholic celebration of the steps that led to Christ's resurrection. Here is their schedule with links. Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be live-streamed on Facebook at 7:00 pm.The Passion of Our Lord will be live-streamed on Facebook at 3:00 pm on Good Friday.The Easter Vigil will be live-streamed on Facebook at 8:00 pm on Holy Saturday. No confessions on Holy Saturday.Easter Sunday Mass will be live-streamed on Facebook at 10:30 am on Easter Sunday. Everything with the exception of the Vigil will be available on their website shortly after the live stream. Confessions will be heard every either from your vehicle under the portico or by Mary’s Grotto on Saturdays from 2:30 to 3:30 with the exception of Holy Saturday.  Please check the website frequently as things sometimes change day to day.

Get your worship on with the church of your choice by connecting with one of their live-streaming services. Image by Gracini Studios from Pixabay First Baptist Church of Inverness You are invited to tune into the live streaming of Sunday Worship Service on the FBC Inverness Facebook page at 10:30 am. In addition, First Baptist Church of Inverness will be live streaming special times of songs, activities, discipleship, devotions, and updates on weeknights at 6:00 pm on Facebook. The videos will also be posted on this website under Sermons and on our YouTube channel. Additionally, you can tune in to WYKE Spectrum/Comcast Channel 16 and Digital Channel 47 to watch Sunday Morning Worship Service at 10:30 am. Gateway Bible Church in Spring Hill Gateway Bible Church has canceled services, groups, and gatherings until April 30, but offers video sermons  each Sunday, and messages from Pastor Slayden on their website. Fellowship Community Wesleyan Church of Spring Hill Fellowship Community Church is offering Sunrise Service online at 7:30 am and a regular service time of 9 am on Easter Sunday, both being virtual. This church offers weekly podcasts that can be listened to online here or subscribed to via iTunes or GooglePlay. There is more information on their website. LifeChurch in Wesley Chapel LifeChurch in Wesley Chapel offers livestream services Saturday evenings at 6pm, Sunday mornings at 11 am, Sunday afternoon in Spanish at 1 pm. Their website explains, “In order to honor their request (stay-at-home order) and demonstrate wisdom on our part, we will move our weekend worship gatherings from on campus to online. We have said now for years, we are one house with many rooms. But now we will be one house with many living rooms, family rooms, and dining rooms. But we will remain one house.”  Their YouTube channel contains short video messages of hope, as well as past worship services in English and Espanol. There are Good Friday services in English (6 pm) and Spanish (8 pm) Communion will be celebrated at each service, with suggestion to stock bread and grape juice to join in at home. I find it invaluable to get outside and appreciate nature while in quarantine. Still, I miss the weekly ritual of worship and my church family. These video services have helped me bridge the gap without contributing to spreading COVID-19. Accessing Hope during COVID-19 Social Distancing I have found it invaluable to be able go outside and appreciate creation and its goodness during this time, but I also miss the weekly ritual of worship. Having my local pastor come into my living room and deliver a guided message helps me retain my faith and increases my trust in my God. No matter what spiritual path you have chosen, the gift of corporate worship in the United States is a big one. It is a good time to replace the fear-based media messages with those of hope and these online services can provide that gift. The need to stay a safe distance from one another to stop the spread of COVID-19 is prudent and having churches follow those guidelines is imperative to our getting through the madness as quickly as possible with the least number of casualties.

Image by René Schindler from Pixabay Now go online and get some hope. Author's Note: This is not nearly a complete round-up of what is available to help us get through this time of challenge spiritually. We have left out denominations and churches throughout the region only because we need YOU to add your house of worship and a link to its offerings to the comments below! Read the full article

[stjohncapistrano67]

A modern Traditional Catholic image of the Crucifixion of Our Lord.

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic spiritual teachings #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic modern art #the passion of jesus devotion #the passion of our lord jesus chirst #jesus's passion #traditional catholic images of our lord's passion #our lord jesus

[pope-francis-quotes]

8th May >> (@ZenitEnglish By Virginia Forrester) #Pope Francis #PopeFrancis General Audience: Pope Looks Back on Visit to Bulgaria, North Macedonia (Full Text) ‘I was guided in Bulgaria by the lively memory of Saint John XXIII.’.

This morning’s General Audience was held at 9:10 in St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and from all over the world.

In his address in Italian, the Pope focused his meditation on his Apostolic Journey to Bulgaria and North Macedonia, which ended yesterday evening (Biblical passage: From the Gospel according to Luke 12:22.30-32).

After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father expressed special greetings to groups of faithful present.

The General Audience ended with the singing of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

* * *

The Holy Father’s Catechesis

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

I returned yesterday evening from a three-day Apostolic Journey, which took me to Bulgaria and North Macedonia. I thank God for enabling me to make these visits, and I renew my gratitude to the Civil Authorities of these two countries, which received me with great courtesy and availability. My most cordial “thank you” goes to the Bishops and to the respective Ecclesial Communities for the warmth and devotion with which they accompanied my pilgrimage.

I was guided in Bulgaria by the lively memory of Saint John XXIII, who was sent to that country in 1925 as Visitor and then as Apostolic Delegate. Animated by his example of pastoral benevolence and charity, I met that people — called to be a bridge between Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, — with the motto “Pacem in Terris,” I invited all to walk on the way of fraternity and on this way I had, in particular, the joy of taking a step forward in the meeting with Patriarch Neofit of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Members of the Holy Synod. In fact, as Christians, our vocation and mission are to be sign and instrument of unity, and we can be so, with the help of the Holy Spirit putting first what unites us to what has divided or still divides us.

Present-day Bulgaria is one of the lands evangelized by Saints Cyril and Methodius, whom Saint John Paul II placed next to Saint Benedict as Patrons of Europe. At Sofia, in the majestic Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky, I paused in prayer before the sacred image of the two Holy Brothers. Of Greek origin, they were able to use their culture with creativity, to transmit the Christian message to the Slav people. They invented a new alphabet with which they translated the Bible and liturgical texts into the Slavic language. Also today, there is need of passionate and creative evangelizers, so that the Gospel can reach all those that still don’t know it and be able to water again the lands where the ancient Christian roots are parched. With this horizon, I celebrated the Eucharist twice with the Catholic community in Bulgaria and encouraged it to be hopeful and generative. I thank those people of God again, who showed me so much faith and so much affection.

The last act of the journey in Bulgaria was carried out together with the representatives of the different religions: we invoked from God the gift of peace, while a group of children carried lighted torches, symbol of faith and hope.

In North Macedonia, I was accompanied by the strong spiritual presence of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was born in Skopje in 1910 and received, in her parish there, the Sacraments of Christian Initiation and learned to love Jesus. In this woman, minute but full of strength thanks to the Holy Spirit’s action in her, we see the image of the Church in that country and in other peripheries of the world: a small community that, with the grace of Christ, becomes a welcoming home where many are restored for their life. At Mother Teresa’s Memorial, I prayed, in the presence of other religious leaders and of a large group of poor, and I blessed the first stone of a Shrine dedicated to her. North Macedonia is a country that has been independent since 1991. The Holy See has sought to support its path from the beginning. I wished to encourage especially, with my journey, its traditional capacity to host different ethnic and religious groups, as well as its commitment in welcoming and helping a great number of migrants and refugees during the critical period of 2015 and 2016.

It is a young country from the institutional point of view; a small country in need of opening itself to wide horizons without losing its own roots. Significant, therefore, was the fact that the meeting with young people happened there. They were boys and girls from different Christian Confessions and also from other religions, all united by the desire to build something beautiful in life. I exhorted them to dream big and to get involved, as young Agnes — the future Mother Teresa — listening to God’s voice who speaks in prayer and in the flesh of needy brothers.

In addition to the testimonies of young people, in Skopje, I listened to those of priests and of consecrated persons, men, and women who have given their life to Christ. For them, sooner or later, comes the temptation to say: “Lord, what is this small gift of mine in face of the problems of the Church and of the world?” Therefore, I reminded them that a little leaven can make the whole dough grow, and a little perfume — pure and concentrated — can permeate with a lovely scent the whole environment. It’s the mystery of Jesus-Eucharist, seed of new life for the whole of humanity. The Holy Mass celebrated in the Square of Skopje, renewed once again in the periphery of today’s Europe, the miracle of God, who with a few loaves and fish, broken and shared, satiates the hunger of the multitudes.

We entrust to His inexhaustible Providence the present and future of the peoples I visited on this trip.

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

In Italian

Proclaimed Blessed last Saturday in Mexico City was Maria de la Concepcion Cabrera, mother of a family, who witnessed the salvific value of Christ’s Cross, inspiring the foundation of various religious and lay institutions. We thank God for this, His courageous witness!

A warm welcome goes to the Italian-speaking pilgrims.

I’m happy to receive the Capitulars of the Capuchin Tertiaries; the new Priests of the Legionaries of Christ, with their relatives; the docents and students of the Pontifical Athenaeum “Regina Apostolorum” of Rome, on the 25th anniversary of its foundation.

I greet the parish groups; the school institutes, in particular, the “Leonardo da Vinci” Lyceum of Pescara and the Highlands Institute of Rome; the “Bell of Peace” delegation of Vigo di Fassa and that of Cisco Italia, and of the Meter Association, committed against the exploitation of children.

A special thought goes to young people, the elderly, the sick and newlyweds.

Observed today is the Prayer to Our Lady of Pompeii. We are in spiritual union with all those in that Marian Shrine, as elsewhere, who will come together at midday to recite with faith the Prayer to Our Lady, so that She may turn her gaze on the world and intercede for the whole Church and for all those suffering in body and in spirit.

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

8th MAY 2019 15:10GENERAL AUDIENCE

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Worship from Home: April 14, Good Friday

[Image description: detail from a wooden image of Jesus on the cross. The Beloved Disciple kisses one of Jesus’s chest wounds.]  

This series aims to provide folks who can’t make it to church for any variety of reasons with prayers, songs, and sermons. My hope is that these posts will help you worship from home, knowing that others are using the same content and thus, though we may be miles and miles apart, we worship together. See this post for more information.

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus’s journey to and death on the cross. This is generally a day of fasting and penance. Traditionally, 3pm is considered the time of Jesus’s last breaths, so you might choose to worship then; 12pm and 7pm are also common times for Good Friday services.

Let us worship together. 

Option One for Good Friday: Stations of the Cross

On Good Friday, many choose to go through the stations of the cross -- a way of tracing the journey of Jesus from his arrest to his crucifixion and burial. 

-- A traditional stations of the cross in textual form (with images) that includes only scripture/prayers and no commentary (so it’s shorter) can be found here.

-- A traditional stations of the cross in textual form with images and longer prayers (so it’s longer) can be found here.

-- A traditional 22 minute stations as a video with images can be found here. 

-- For an LGBT-specific type of stations, see this link to the powerful paintings that belong to a series called The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision by Douglas Blanchard and Kittredge Cherry.

I am not including them directly in the post because they need content warnings: violent homophobia, both religious and from police; partial nudity; scars and injury and blood; knives and other weapons; death. Please proceed with caution; select a different way to celebrate Good Friday if you need to. 

Meditate on each image. Pray -- feel close to Jesus in his pain, feel close to those who go through such pain of oppression and hate and systemic power. What was Jesus feeling in each step of his journey? Would you have rushed to help him? or fled like most of his male disciples? watched in pain like the women who loved him? helped cause his suffering, or helped carry his cross?

One image from the Gay Vision series is below; content warning for hateful homophobic religious language. [Image description: the character who represents Jesus in modern times stands with his back to us, his hands in handcuffs behind his back and his shirt torn. He stands before a crowd of angry people with signs bearing homophobic messages such as “God hates __” while officers hold some aggressive men back.]

A song option to go with your stations: “Crown of Thorns” by Danielle Rose, video with lyrics

Option Two For Good Friday: The Passion Service

Gathering

Prepare your mind to worship the God who took on human form, who lived and laughed and wept and loved among us...and who took up a cross and trudged to his death for our sakes -- for your sake. 

Music options, if you like:

A repetitive Taize, “Stay with Me”; video with lyrics or A contemporary piece with no lyrics African American spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord”, link to lyrics

Call to Worship

Scripture said the servant would be exalted and lifted high. We never thought that he would be lifted high onto a cross. Scripture also said that upon him is the punishment that made us whole. But how can we become whole when the anointed one is being brought so low? It is getting darker. The night is upon us. We are here with our Savior. Let us accompany him this night into the darkness.

(source)

You might also read this poem prayer about Good Friday

Confession

Call to Confession: Why are we here tonight? We come to remind ourselves how much God loves us – even to the point of giving the Son. Let us come humbly before our Savior confessing our sins and getting out of our own way.

Prayer of Confession: Oh Lord, on this darkest of nights we sit with your disciples who abandoned you. We denied you three times, sat in the darkness afraid to show our faces much less do your will. We are frozen from living much less doing your righteousness and justice. As we listen to your story told again we hear once more how costly it was to you for us to be able to say “in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.” Help us in our unbelief – our inaction.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness: Hear anew what it means.  Hear anew how much our Lord loves all of us.  Hear with deeper understanding what it cost this man so that I can declare to you that in Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Now go forth and live.

(source)

Song option: “Every time I think about Jesus,” traditional (my fave), link to lyrics

Readings

A powerful video that goes through a dramatic reading of the passion scriptures, if you prefer to listen (it also has text). 4 minutes.

Another option, one that is dear to my heart because it’s what my Catholic church growing up did, is to hear the Passion of Our Lord sung by various people, as a sort of drama. If you choose this option, there often is no sermon afterwards, so you can “skip” the sermon. This video of the sung Gospel is 24 minutes.

If you prefer to read without audio, links to the day’s readings are below. (See here for the Catholic readings if you favor those)

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Psalm 22 (note that Jesus cries out the first line of this psalm, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” from the cross to describe his suffering)

John 18:1 - 19:42

Sermon

Many services do not include a sermon on Good Friday, but there are still many available. 

Option One: a video of a sermon with captions on the Betrayal of Jesus

This is actually a sermon from Maundy Thursday but it is very timely, as it was just recorded yesterday (April 13, 2017) and brings current events into it. 

“There are thousands upon thousands of pains, all discrete points on the constellation of human pain. And one of them is betrayal. The shock of betrayal can leave us gasping for air...”

Option Two: “The Blues Moan in the Gospel Shout,” text only 

“Good Friday reminds us that we have a blues-note gospel. That Christ’s death and resurrection may have saved us from sin and death, but we still sin and we still die. As we kneel at the foot of the cross, mourning our sin and the evil that we witness around us, we are forced to reckon with these facts – facts we would much rather forget.”

Option Three: “Let Your Idols Fall,” text only

“The idolatry of faith is when we begin to use the story and beliefs of God to judge and separate others. ...The idolatry of God means that we have set ideas of exactly what God is and can do. If I were to use an everyday word for the idolatry of God I suppose it would be expectation.”

Benediction

Jesus, Never can human words express, never can human heart imagine, the incredible gift of love you offered with your blood. We set out now into a world where crowns of thorns are set by cruel hands onto the brows of too many people -- for loving “wrong,” for thinking “wrong,” for being “wrong.” We pray that our hands will never shove thorns onto another’s head. We pray that our hands instead will lift those thorns and wipe slick brows.

You walk with us always, O Jesus. Today, as we remember your journey to the cross, We will return the favor. We will walk with you --  not only in silent contemplation but out in the world into which you call us.

We will carry your cross. We will suffer with your people, serve your people, love your people. 

Amen.

Closing hymn: “Jesus Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom” (the words of the man crucified beside Jesus) 

[Image description: from paintings of the Stations of the Cross in Lodwar Cathederal, Kenya; Jesus is taken down from the cross by his mother Mary and by the Beloved Disciple. All have deep brown skin. Mary lowers his shoulders to the ground, while the Disciple, his face heavy with grief, appears to be holding one of Jesus’s hands as well as one leg.] 

#good friday #stations of the cross #worship from home #online church #holy week #avery speaking #long post #church online

[pamphletstoinspire]

Ash Wednesday

Lent (the word “Lent” comes from the Old English “lencten,” meaning “springtime) lasts from Ash Wednesday to the Vespers of Holy Saturday — forty days + six Sundays which don't count as “Lent” liturgically. The Latin name for Lent, Quadragesima, means forty and refers to the forty days Christ spent in the desert which is the origin of the Season.The last two weeks of Lent are known as “Passiontide,” made up of Passion Week and Holy Week. The last three days of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — are known as the “Sacred Triduum.”

The focus of this Season is the Cross and penance, penance, penance as we imitate Christ's forty days of fasting, like Moses and Elias before Him, and await the triumph of Easter. We fast (see below), abstain, mortify the flesh, give alms, and think more of charitable works. Awakening each morning with the thought, “How might I make amends for my sins? How can I serve God in a reparative way? How can I serve others today?” is the attitude to have.

We meditate on “The Four Last Things”: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, and we also practice mortifications by “giving up something” that would be a sacrifice to do without. The sacrifice could be anything from desserts to television to the marital embrace, and it can entail, too, taking on something unpleasant that we'd normally avoid, for example, going out of one's way to do another's chores, performing “random acts of kindness,” etc. A practice that might help some, especially small children, to think sacrificially is to make use of “Sacrifice Beads” in the same way that St. Thérèse of Lisieux did as a child.

Because of the focus on penance and reparation, it is traditional to make sure we go to Confession at least once during this Season to fulfill the precept of the Church that we go to Confession at least once a year, and receive the Eucharist at least once a year during Eastertide. A beautiful old custom associated with Lenten Confession is to, before going to see the priest, bow before each member of your household and to any you've sinned against, and say, “In the Name of Christ, forgive me if I've offended you.” One responds with “God will forgive you.” Done with an extensive examination of conscience and a sincere heart, this practice can be quite healing (also note that confessing sins to a priest is a Sacrament which remits mortal and venial sins; confessing sins to those you've offended is a sacramental which, like all sacramentals one piously takes advantage of, remits venial sins. Both are quite good for the soul!)

In addition to mortification and charity, seeing and living Lent as a forty day spiritual retreat is a good thing to do. Spiritual reading should be engaged in (over and above one's regular Lectio Divina). Maria von Trapp recommended “the Book of Jeremias and the works of Saints, such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross; The Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales; The Story of a Soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux; The Spiritual Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila; the Soul of the Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard; the books of Abbot Marmion, and similar works.”

As to prayer, praying the beautiful Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) is a traditional practice. It is most traditional to pray all of these each day of Lent, but if time is an issue, you can pray them all on just the Fridays of Lent, or, because there are seven of them, and seven Fridays in Lent, you might want to consider praying one on each Friday. These Psalms, which include the Psalms “Miserére” and “De Profundis,” are perfect expressions of contrition and prayers for mercy. So apt are these Psalms at expressing contrition that, as he lay dying in A.D. 430, St. Augustine asked that a monk write them in large letters near his bed so he could easily read them.

Another great prayer for this season is that of St. Ephraem, Doctor of the Church (d. 373). This prayer is often prayed with a prostration after each stanza:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power, and idle talk;

But grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.

In the East, this prayer is prayed liturgically during Lent and is followed by “O God, cleanse me a sinner” prayed twelve times, with a bow following each, and one last prostration.

Also, on all Fridays during Lent, one may gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, by reciting the En ego, O bone et dulcissime Iesu (Prayer Before a Crucifix) before an image of Christ crucified.

Food in Lent

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rule for the universal Church during Lent is abstain on all Fridays (inside or outside of Lent) and to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Some traditional Catholics might follow the older pattern of fasting and abstinence during this time, which for the universal Church required:

Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: fasting and total abstinence. This means 3 meatless meals — with the two smaller meals not equaling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: fasting and partial abstinence from meat. This means three meals — with the two smaller meals not equaling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principle meal. On those days of fasting and abstinence, meatless soup is traditional. Sundays, of course, are always free of fasting and abstinence; even in the heart of Lent, Sundays are about the glorious Resurrection. This pattern of fasting and abstinence ends after the Vigil Mass of Holy Saturday.

As to special Lenten foods, vegetables, seafood's, salads, pastas, and beans mark the Season, in addition to the meatless soups. The fasting of this time once even precluded the eating of eggs and fats, so the chewy pretzel became the bread and symbol of the times. They'd always been a Christian food, ever since Roman times, their very shape being the creation of monks. The three holes represent the Holy Trinity, and the twists of the dough represent the arms of someone praying. In fact, the word “pretzel” is a German word deriving ultimately from the Latin “bracellae,” meaning “little arms” (the Vatican has the oldest known representation of a pretzel, found on a 5th c. manuscript). Below is a recipe for the large, soft, chewy pretzels that go so well with beer. 

BY ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Ash Wednesday : Death

By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death.–Rom. v. 12.

1. If for some wrongdoing a man is deprived of some benefit once given to him, that he should lack that benefit is the punishment of his sin.

Now in man's first creation he was divinely endowed with this advantage that, so long as his mind remained subject to God, the lower powers of his soul were subjected to the reason and the body was subjected to the soul.

But because by sin man's mind moved away from its subjection to God, it followed that the lower parts of his mind ceased to be wholly subjected to the reason. From this there followed such a rebellion of the bodily inclination against the reason, that the body was no longer wholly subject to the soul.

Whence followed death and all the bodily defects. For life and wholeness of body are bound up with this, that the body is wholly subject to the soul, as a thing which can be made perfect is subject to that which makes it perfect. So it comes about that, conversely, there are such things as death, sickness and every other bodily defect, for such misfortunes are bound up with an incomplete subjection of body to soul.

2. The rational soul is of its nature immortal, and therefore death is not natural to man in so far as man has a soul. It is natural to his body, for the body, since it is formed of things contrary to each other in nature, is necessarily liable to corruption, and it is in this respect that death is natural to man.

But God who fashioned man is all powerful. And hence, by an advantage conferred on the first man, He took away that necessity of dying which was bound up with the matter of which man was made. This advantage was however withdrawn through the sin of our first parents.

Death is then natural, if we consider the matter of which man is made and it is a penalty, inasmuch as it happens through the loss of the privilege whereby man was preserved from dying.

3. Sin–original sin and actual sin–is taken away by Christ, that is to say, by Him who is also the remover of all bodily defects. He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. viii. II).

But, according to the order appointed by a wisdom that is divine, it is at the time which best suits that Christ takes away both the one and the other, i.e., both sin and bodily defects.

Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ's sufferings. It is then only right that Christ's liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it. 

BY ABBOT GUERANGER ASH WEDNESDAY Yesterday the world was busy in its pleasures, and the very children of God were taking a joyous farewell to mirth: but this morning, all is changed. The solemn announcement, spoken of by the prophet, has been proclaimed in Sion: the solemn fast of Lent, the season of expiation, the approach of the great anniversaries of our Redemption. Let us then rouse ourselves, and prepare for the spiritual combat.

But in this battling of the spirit against the flesh we need good armor. Our Holy Mother the Church knows how much we need it; and therefore does She summon us to enter into the house of God, that She may arm us for the holy contest. What this armor is we know from St. Paul, who thus describes it: “Have your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice. And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things, taking the shield of Faith. Take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6: 14-17). The very Prince of the Apostles, too, addresses these solemn words to us: “Christ having suffered in the flesh, be ye also armed with the same thought” (1 Peter 4: 1). We are entering today upon a long campaign of the warfare spoken of by the Apostles: forty days of battle, forty days of penance. We shall not turn cowards, if our souls can but be impressed with the conviction, that the battle and the penance must be gone through. Let us listen to the eloquence of the solemn rite which opens our Lent. Let us go whither our Mother leads us, that is, to the scene of the fall.

The enemies we have to fight with, are of two kinds: internal and external. The first are our passions; the second are the devils. Both were brought on us by pride, and man's pride began when he refused to obey his God. God forgave him his sin, but He punished him. The punishment was death, and this was the form of the divine sentence: “For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Gen. 3: 19). Oh that we had remembered this! The recollection of what we are and what we are to be, would have checked that haughty rebellion, which has so often led us to break the law of God. And if, for the time to come, we would persevere in loyalty to Him, we must humble ourselves, accept the sentence, and look on this present life as a path to the grave. The path may be long or short; but to the tomb it must lead us. Remembering this, we shall see all things in their true light. We shall love that God, Who has deigned to set His Heart on us, notwithstanding our being creatures of death: we shall hate, with deepest contrition, the insolence and ingratitude, wherewith we have spent so many of our few days of life, that is, in sinning against our Heavenly Father: and we shall be not only willing, but eager, to go through these days of penance, which He so mercifully gives us for making reparation to His offended justice.

This was the motive the Church had in enriching Her liturgy with the solemn rite, at which we are to assist today. When centuries ago She decreed the anticipation of the Lenten fast by the last four days of Quinquagesima week, She instituted this impressive ceremony of signing the foreheads of Her children with ashes, while saying to them those awful words, wherewith God sentenced us to death: “Remember man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” But the making use of ashes as a symbol of humiliation and penance, is of a much earlier date than the institution to which we allude. We find frequent mention of it in the Old Testament. Job, though a Gentile, sprinkled his flesh with ashes, that thus humbled, he might propitiate the Divine mercy (Job 16: 16): and this was 2,000 years before the coming of the Savior. The royal prophet tells us of himself, that he mingled ashes with his bread, because of the Divine anger and indignation (Ps. 101: 10, 11). Many such examples are to be met with in the sacred Scriptures; but so obvious is the analogy between the sinner who thus signifies his grief, and the object whereby he signifies it, that we read such instances without surprise. When fallen man would humble himself before the Divine justice, which has sentenced his body to return to dust, how could he more aptly express his contrite acceptance of the sentence, than by sprinkling himself, or his food, with ashes, which is the dust of wood consumed by fire? This earnest acknowledgment of his being himself but dust and ashes, is an act of humility, and humility ever gives him confidence in that God, Who resists the proud and pardons the humble.

It is probable that, when this ceremony of the Wednesday after Quinquagesima was first instituted, it was not intended for all the faithful, but only for such as had committed any of those crimes for which the Church inflicted a public penance. Before the Mass of the day began, they presented themselves at the church, where the people were all assembled. The priests received the confession of their sins, and then clothed them in sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on their heads. After this ceremony, the clergy and the faithful prostrated, and recited aloud the Seven Penitential Psalms. A procession, in which the penitents walked barefoot, then followed; and on its return, the bishop addressed these words to the penitents: “Behold, we drive you from the doors of the church by reason of your sins and crimes, as Adam, the first man, was driven out of paradise because of his transgression.” The clergy then sang several responsories, taken from the Book of Genesis, in which mention was made of the sentence pronounced by God when He condemned man to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, for that the earth was cursed on account of sin. The doors were then shut, and the penitents were not to pass the threshold until Holy Thursday, when they were to come and receive absolution.

Dating from the 11th century, the discipline of public penance began to fall into disuse, and the holy rite of putting ashes on the heads of all the faithful indiscriminately became so general that, at length, it was considered as forming an essential part of the Roman Liturgy. Formerly, it was the practice to approach bare-footed to receive this solemn memento of our nothingness; and in the 12th century, even the Pope himself, when passing from the church of St. Anastasia to that of St. Sabina, at which the station was held, went the whole distance bare-footed, as also did the Cardinals who accompanied him. The Church no longer requires this exterior penance; but She is as anxious as ever that the holy ceremony, at which we are about to assist, should produce in us the sentiments She intended to convey by it, when She first instituted it.

As we have just mentioned, the station in Rome is at St. Sabina, on the Aventine Hill. It is under the patronage of this holy Martyr that we open the penitential season of Lent. The liturgy begins with the Blessing of the Ashes, which are to be put on our foreheads. These ashes are made from the palms, which were blessed the previous Palm Sunday. The blessing they are now to receive in this their new form, is given in order that they may be made more worthy of that mystery of contrition and humility which they are intended to symbolize.

When the priest puts the holy emblem of penance upon you, accept in a spirit of submission, the sentence of death, which God Himself pronounces against you: “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” Humble yourself, and remember what it was (pride) that brought the punishment of death upon us: man wished to be as a god, and preferred his own will to that of his Sovereign Master.

Reflect, too, on that long list of sins, which you have added to the sin of your first parents, and adore the mercy of your God, Who asks only one death for all these your transgressions.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites” (Matt. 6: 16). In the Gospel of the Mass, we learn that our Redeemer would not have us receive the announcement of the great fast as one of sadness and melancholy. The Christian who understands what a dangerous thing it is to be a debtor to Divine justice, welcomes the season of Lent with joy; it consoles him. He knows that if he be faithful in observing what the Church prescribes, his debt will be less heavy upon him. These penances, these satisfactions (which the indulgence of the Church has rendered so easy), being offered to God united with those of our Savior Himself, and being rendered fruitful by that holy fellowship which blends into one common propitiatory sacrifice the good works of all the members of the Church militant, will purify our souls, and make them worthy to partake in the grand Easter joy. Let us not, then, be sad because we are to fast; let us be sad only because we have sinned and made fasting a necessity. In this same Gospel, our Redeemer gives us a second counsel, which the Church will often bring before us during the whole course of Lent: it is that of joining almsdeeds with our fasting. He bids us to lay up treasures in Heaven. For this we need intercessors; let us seek them amidst the poor.

Every day during Lent, Sundays and feasts excepted, the priest before dismissing the faithful, adds after the Postcommunion a special prayer, which is preceded by these words of admonition: “Let us pray. Bow down your heads to God.” On this day he continues: “Mercifully look down upon us, O Lord, bowing down before Thy Divine Majesty, that they who have been refreshed with Thy Divine Mysteries, may always be supported by Thy heavenly aid. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen.” (9)

BY REV. JAMES LUKE MEAGHER, 1883 The fast of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts till Easter Sunday. During this time there are forty-six days, but as we do not fast on the six Sundays falling in this time, the fast lasts for forty days. For that reason it is called the forty days of Lent. In the Latin language of the Church it is called the Quadragesima, that is, forty. St. Peter, the first Pope, instituted the forty days of Lent. During the forty-six days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, we are to spend the time in fasting and in penance for our sins, building up the temple of the Lord within our hearts, after having come forth from the Babylon of this world by the rites and the services of the Septuagesima season. And as of old we read that the Jews, after having been delivered from their captivity in Babylon, spent forty-six years in building their temple in place of the grand edifice raised by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians, thus must we rebuild the temple of the Holy Ghost, built by God at the moment of our baptism, but destroyed by the sins of the past year. Again in the Old Testament the tenth part of all the substance of the Jews was given to the Lord (Exod. xxli. 29). Thus we must give him the tenth part of our time while on this earth. For forty days we fast, but taking out the Sundays of Lent, when there is no fast, it leaves thirty-six days, nearly the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. According to Pope Gregory from the first Sunday of Lent to Easter, there are six weeks, making forty-two days, and when we take from Lent the six Sundays during which we do not fast, we have left thirty-six days, about the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year.

The forty days of fasting comes down to us from the Old Testament, for we read that Moses fasted forty days on the mount (Exod. xxiv. et xxxiv. 28). We are told that Elias fasted for forty days (III. Kings xix. 8), and again we see that our Lord fasted forty days in the desert (Math. iv.; Luke ix). We are to follow the example of these great men of the old law. But in order to make up the full fast of forty days of Moses, of Elias and of our Lord, Pope Gregory commanded the fast of Lent to begin on Ash Wednesday before the first Sunday of the Lenten season.

Christ began his fast of forty days after his baptism in the Jordan, on Epiphany, the twelfth of January, when he went forth into the desert. But we do not begin the Lent after Epiphany, because there are other feasts and seasons in which to celebrate the mysteries of the childhood of our Lord before we come to his fasting, and because during these forty days of Lent we celebrate the forty years of the Jews in the desert, who, when their wanderings were ended, they celebrated their Easter, while we hold ours after the days of Lent are finished. Again, during Lent, we celebrate the passion of our Lord, and as after His passion came His resurrection, thus we celebrate the glories of His resurrection at Easter.

During the services of Lent we read so often the words: “Humble your heads before the Lord,” and “let us bend our knees,” because it is the time when we should humble ourselves before God and bend our knees in prayers. After the words, “Let us bend our knees,” comes the word, “Arise.” These words are never said on Sunday, but only on week days, for Sunday is dedicated to the resurrection of our Lord. Pope Gregory says: “Who bends the knee on Sunday denies God to have risen.” We bend our knees and prostrate ourselves to the earth in prayer, to show the weakness of our bodies, which are made of earth; to show the weakness of our minds and imagination, which we cannot control; to show our shame for sin, for we cannot lift our eyes to heaven; to follow the example of our Lord, who came down from heaven and prostrated himself on the ground in the garden when in prayer (Matt. xxvi. 39); to show that we were driven from Paradise and that we are prone towards earthly things; to show that we follow the example of our father in the faith, Abraham, who, falling upon the earth, adored the Lord (Gen. xviii. 2). This was the custom from the beginning of the Christian Church, as Origen says: “The holy prophets when they were surrounded with trials fell upon their faces, that their sins might be purged by the affliction of their bodies.” Thus following the words of St. Paul: “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephes. iii. 14),” we prostrate ourselves and bend our knees in prayer. From Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday the Preface of Lent is said every day, unless there comes a feast with a Preface of its own. That custom was in vogue as far back as the twelfth century.

At other times of the year, the clergy say the Office of Vespers after noon, but an ancient Council allowed Vespers to be commenced after Mass. This is when the Office is said altogether by the clergy in the choir. The same may be done by each clergyman when reciting privately his Office. This cannot be done on the Sundays of Lent, as they are not fasting days. The “Go, the dismissal is at hand,” is not said, but in its place, “Let us bless the Lord,” for, from the earliest times the clergy and the people remained in the church to sing the Vesper Office and to pray during this time of fasting and of penance.

We begin the fast of Lent on Wednesday, for the most ancient traditions of the Church tell us that while our Lord was born on Sunday, he was baptized on Tuesday, and began his fast in the desert on Wednesday. Again, Solomon began the building of his great temple on Wednesday, and we are to prepare our bodies by fasting, to become the temples of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle says, “Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I. Cor. iii. 16)?” To begin well the Lent, one of the old Councils directed all the people with the clergy to come to the church on Ash Wednesday to assist at the Mass and the Vesper Offices and to give help to the poor, then they were allowed to go and break their fast.

The name Ash Wednesday comes from the ceremony of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy and the people on this day. Let us understand the meaning of this rite. When man sinned by eating in the garden the forbidden fruit, God drove him from Paradise with the words: “For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).” Before his sin, Adam was not to die, but to be carried into heaven after a certain time of trial here upon this earth. But he sinned, and by that sin he brought upon himself and us, his children, death. Our bodies, then, are to return to the dust from which God made them, to which they are condemned by the sin of Adam. What wisdom the Church shows us when she invites us by these ceremonies to bring before our minds the dust and the corruption of the grave by putting ashes on our heads. We see the great men of old doing penance in sackcloth and ashes. Job did penance in dust and ashes (Job ii. 12). By the mouth of His prophet the Lord commanded the Jews “in the house of the dust sprinkle yourselves with dust (Mich. i. 10).” Abraham said, “I will speak to the Lord, for I am dust and ashes (Gen xviii. 27).” Joshua and all the ancients of Israel fell on their faces before the Lord and put dust upon their heads (Joshua vii. 6). When the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines, the soldier came to tell the sad story with his head covered with dust (I Kings iv. 12).

When Job's three friends came and found him in such affliction, “they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven (Job ii. 12).” “The sorrows of the daughters of Israel are seen in the dust upon their heads (Lam. ii. 10).” Daniel said his prayers to the Lord his God in fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Dan. ix. 3). Our Lord tells us that if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the miracles seen in Judea, that they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes (Matt. xi. 21; Luke x. 13). When the great city will be destroyed, its people will cry out with grief, putting dust upon their heads (Apoc. xviii. 19). From these parts of the Bible, the reader will see that dust and ashes were used by the people of old as a sign of deep sorrow for sin, and that when they fasted they covered their heads with ashes. From them the Church copied these ceremonies which have come down to us. And on this day, when we begin our fast, we put ashes on our heads with the words, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).”

In the beginning of the Church the ceremony of putting the ashes on the heads of the people was only for those who were guilty of sin, and who were to spend the season of Lent in public penance. Before Mass they came to the church, confessed their sins, and received from the hands of the clergy the ashes on their heads. Then the clergy and all the people prostrated themselves upon the earth and there recited the seven penitential psalms. Rising, they formed into a procession with the penitents walking barefooted. When they came back the penitents were sent out of the church by the bishop, saying : “We drive you from the bosom of the Church on account of your sins and for your crimes, as Adam, the first man was driven from Paradise because of his sin.” While the clergy were singing those parts of Genesis, where we read that God condemned our first parents to be driven from the garden and condemned to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, the porters fastened the doors of the church on the penitents, who were not allowed to enter the temple of the Lord again till they finished their penance and came to be absolved on Holy Thursday (Gueranger, Le Temps de la Septuagesima, p. 242). After the eleventh century public penance began to be laid aside, but the custom of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy became more and more common, till at length it became part of the Latin Rite. Formerly they used to come up to the altar railing in their bare feet to receive the ashes, and that solemn notice of their death and of the nothingness of man. In the twelfth century the Pope and all his court came to the Church of St. Sabina, in Rome, walking all the way in his bare feet, from whence the title of the Mass said on Ash Wednesday is the Station at St. Sabina. 

#ash wednesday

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Was Mary Free from Labor Pangs?

In the wake of the first (human) sin of Adam and Eve, God spoke directly to our original parents and indirectly to all mankind concerning some of the far-reaching consequences of that sin: physical death and disorder would be the lot of all mankind until the end of time. Indeed, in some sense, all of creation was changed for the worse as a result of this cataclysmic sin. But for our purpose, we want to focus on Genesis 3:16 and one particular effect of original sin:

To the woman [the Lord God] said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.”

Scripture teaches that as a result of original sin, God would “greatly multiply” the pangs of labor not only for Eve, but for all women. Many Fathers of the Church and theologians down through the centuries deemed it fitting that Mary alone would be exempt from such pains as a sign of her unique holiness. Thus, Mary’s freedom from the pains of labor is one of many reasons for belief in the Immaculate Conception of our Lady.

The Church has taught this as well on the level of the Ordinary Magisterium, but not with the same degree of authority with which it has taught Mary remained an “intact” virgin in giving birth to Jesus. However, we should note the fact that it has been taught on the level of the Ordinary Magisterium and that it was taught by many fathers of the Church. This is significant.

Although there is certainly no argument from necessity here, and this teaching is a matter of legitimate debate in the Church today, I argue it to be most fitting as a sign of hope for the entire body of Christ. All can see in this unique gift to Mary a sign of the ultimate deliverance from all bodily pain and suffering that awaits the Church through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Mary we see the fullness of the grace of Easter incarnated in a real human person. Analogous to God preserving the Mother of God in virginal integrity in giving birth to our Lord, Mary demonstrates in a more profound way both the truth of the Immaculate Conception and the saving power of Christ in preserving her from this effect of original sin.

Moreover, when we consider Mary in one of her many titles demonstrating her sinlessness—“the beginning of the new creation”—how fitting indeed is it that the “new creation” would be inaugurated without the pains of childbirth—one of the principle effects of sin in the first creation.

But more to the point, what evidence do we have for this belief? We can examine it from two sources: Scripture, and the teaching of the Catholic Church as it is communicated to the faithful through both Magisterial teaching and in the Liturgy.

Sacred Scripture

Isaiah 66

In a chapter laden with references to the coming of the New Covenant, or “the new heavens and the new earth” as we see in Isaiah 66:22—a text referenced in Revelation 21:1—we find this startling prophecy:

Listen, an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, rendering recompense to his enemies! Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she was delivered of a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?

Not only do we find many of the Fathers of the Church referencing this text as referring to the miraculous birthing of Christ, but we find it difficult to apply it in its fullest sense to anything else.

Luke 2:7

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Some critics will say the fact that Mary “brought forth” Jesus would mean she experienced labor pains. Not necessarily. The teaching that claims Mary was freed from labor pains would agree Mary brought forth Jesus, but miraculously aided by God. There would be no reason not to use the language of Mary having brought forth Jesus.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas (who references St. Jerome), Mary being depicted as “wrapping” and then “laying” Christ in a manger is an indicator that she did not endure the normal pains of labor. Even in our day, doctors or nurses would do this kind of work. In the first century, it would be a mid-wife. Yet the Bible seems to indicate Mary did this by herself.

Magisterial Teaching

Though this teaching has never been the object of a formal definition of the Church and therefore is not infallible, the Catechism of the Council of Trent gives perhaps the clearest example of the general understanding of the Church through centuries past:

But as the Conception itself transcends the order of nature, so also the birth of our Lord . . . just as the rays of the sun penetrate without breaking or injuring in the least the solid substance of glass, so after a like but more exalted manner did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother’s womb without injury to her maternal virginity.

From Eve we are born children of wrath; from Mary we have received Jesus Christ. . . . To Eve it was said: In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children. Mary was exempt from this law, for preserving her virginal integrity inviolate she brought forth Jesus . . . without experiencing, as we have already said, any sense of pain.

It seems fitting: Eve’s sin is causally linked to labor pain. The New Eve was uniquely free from the sin of Eve and did not experience that pain. Indeed, I argue it would seem contrary to our sense of Jesus and Mary as the “New Adam” and the “New Eve.” And—as I said above—it would not seem right to inaugurate this great and glorious covenant by experiencing pains that were the result of failure in the Old.

Pope Alexander III (1169)

[Mary] indeed conceived without shame, gave birth without pain, and went hence without corruption, according to the word of the angel, or rather (the word) of God through the angel, so that she should be proved to be full, not merely half filled, with grace and (so that) God her Son should faithfully fulfill the ancient commandment that he had formerly given, namely, to treat one’s father and mother with honor.

The Liturgical Tradition

The Church at prayer, both East and West, reveals a common understanding of Mary having been freed from labor pains. In the Mass of “Mary at the Foot of the Cross II,” celebrated in the Latin Rite before the 1969 reform of the liturgy, the Church prayed:

In your divine wisdom, you planned the redemption of the human race, and decreed that the new Eve should stand by the cross of the new Adam: as she became his mother by the power of the Holy Spirit, so, by a new gift of your love, she was to be a partner in his passion, and she who had given him birth without the pains of childbirth was to endure the greatest of pains in bringing forth to new life the family of your Church.

And also in the Byzantine liturgy, from the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ and from the Synaxis of the Theotokos, Tone 2:

Behold! The Image of the Father and his unchangeable eternity has taken the form of a servant. Without suffering he has come forth to us from an all-pure Virgin, and yet he has remained unchanged. He is true God as he was before, and he has taken on himself what he had not been, becoming man out of his love for all. Therefore, let us raise our voices in hymns, singing: O God, born of the Virgin, have mercy on us.

The liturgy of the Church has always been an exemplary tool of catechetics and moral certitude theologically as well as the primary instrument of our spiritual nourishment in Christ. Thus, the fact that the Church asks its children to affirm Mary’s freedom from the pangs of labor in liturgical prayer at Mass is a testimony as to the authority of this teaching of the Church.

For more on this, check out my book, “Behold Your Mother: A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines”

#Catholic Answers #CAMO #Tim Staples #Virgin Mary #Marian Dogmas #Behold Your Mother