Wednesday 18 December 2013
Saturday 14 December 2013
The Great "O Antiphons"
The Advent season's golden period starts on December 17th. That's when we can begin praying, chanting or singing the great O antiphons.
Let us look at a bit of history about the origin of these great Antiphons. Or better still what are the Antiphons ?
Here is what I have collected from my google search :
An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" + φωνή "voice") in Christian music and ritual, is a responsory by a choir or congregation, usually in the form of aGregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work.
The Greater Advent or O Antiphons are antiphons used at daily prayer in the evenings of the last days of Advent in various liturgical Christian traditions. Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. In the Roman Catholic tradition, they are sung or recited at Vespers from December 17 to December 23.In the Church of England they have traditionally been used as antiphons to the Magnificat at Evening Prayer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiphon
The O Antiphons have been described as "a unique work of art and a special ornament of the pre-Christmas liturgy, filled with the Spirit of the Word of God". They "create a poetry that fills the liturgy with its splendor", and their composer shows "a magnificent command of the Bible's wealth of motifs". The antiphons are, in fact, a collage of Old Testament types of Christ. Their predominant theme is messianic, stressing the hope of the Savior's coming. Jesus is invoked by various titles, mainly taken from the prophet Isaiah. The sequence progresses historically, from the beginning, before creation, to the very gates of Bethlehem.
In their structure, each of the seven antiphons follows the same pattern, resembling a traditional liturgical prayer. Each O Antiphon begins with an invocation of the expected Messiah, followed by praise of him under one of his particular titles. Each ends with a petition for God's people, relevant to the title by which he is addressed, and the cry for him to "Come".
The seven titles attributed to Jesus in the antiphons are Wisdom (Sapientia in Latin), Ruler of the House of Israel (Adonai), Root of Jesse (Radix), Key of David (Clavis), Rising Dawn (Oriens), King of the Gentiles (Rex). and Emmanuel. In Latin the initials of the titles make an acrostic which, when read backwards. means: "Tomorrow I will be there" ("Ero cras"). To the medieval mind this was clearly a reference to the approaching Christmas vigil.
http://www.rc.net/wcc/antiphon.htm
In the Church's Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, also know as Vespers, always includes the great prayer of
Mary known as the Magnificat.
Each day, the Magnificat is preceded by a short verse or "antiphon" that links the prayer to the feast of
the day or the season of the year. In the last seven days of Advent
(December 17-24), the antiphons before the Magnificat are very
special. Each begins with the exclamation "O" and ends with a
plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes
increasingly urgent.
These moving "O Antiphons" were apparently composed in the
seventh or eighth century when monks put together texts from the Old Testament,
particularly from the prophet Isaiah, which looked forward to the coming
of our salvation. They form a rich, interlocking mosaic of scriptural images.
The great "O Antiphons" became very popular in the Middle Ages
when it became traditional to ring the great bells of the church each evening
as they were being sung.
Each of the O
Antiphons highlights a different title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each
one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. A particularly fascinating feature of the O Antiphons is that
the first letter of each invocation, when read backwards, forms an
acrostic in Latin: the first
letters of Sapientia, Adonai, Radix, Clavis, Oriens, Rex, andEmmanuel in reverse form the Latin
words: ERO CRAS. These
can be understood as the words of Christ, responding to his people's plea,
saying "Tomorrow I will be there."
Saying the O Antiphons as a family, whether during grace at meals,
in front of the manger scene, or in front of the Christmas tree, is a wonderful
Advent devotion. To make this devotion even more fruitful, read and
meditate together on the Scripture texts on which the antiphons are based.
December 17th:
O Sapientia (Is. 11:2-3; 28:29): "O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth."
O Sapientia (Is. 11:2-3; 28:29): "O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth."
December 18th:
O Adonai (Is. 11:4-5; 33:22): "O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power."
O Adonai (Is. 11:4-5; 33:22): "O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power."
December 19th:
O Radix Jesse (Is. 11:1, 10): "O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay."
O Radix Jesse (Is. 11:1, 10): "O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay."
December 20th:
O Clavis David (Is. 9:6; 22:22): "O key of David and scepter of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
O Clavis David (Is. 9:6; 22:22): "O key of David and scepter of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
December 21st:
O Oriens (Is. 9:1): "O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
O Oriens (Is. 9:1): "O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
December 22nd:
O Rex Gentium (Is. 2:4; 9:5): "O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay."
O Rex Gentium (Is. 2:4; 9:5): "O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay."
December 23rd:
O Emmanuel (Is. 7:14) : "O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Savior. O come and save us, Lord, our God."
O Emmanuel (Is. 7:14) : "O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Savior. O come and save us, Lord, our God."
Friday 6 December 2013
Alma Redemptoris Mater: (English Traslation)
This is one of four Marian antiphons, with following versicles and prayers, traditionally said or sung after night prayer, immediately before going to sleep. It is said from the beginning of Advent (from night before the fourth Sunday before Christmas) through February 1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Redemptoris_MaterO Loving Mother of our Redeemer
O loving Mother of our Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea,
Hasten to aid thy fallen people who strive to rise once more.
Thou who brought forth thy holy Creator, all creation wond'ring,
Yet remainest ever Virgin, taking from Gabriel's lips
that joyful "Hail!": be merciful to us sinners.
Up through the day before Christmas Eve:
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
From Christmas Eve on:
V. Thou gavest birth without loss of thy virginity:
R. Intercede for us, O holy Mother of God.
Let us pray. O God, Who by the fruitful virginity of blessed Mary hast offered unto the human race the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech thee, that we may know the effects of her intercession, through whom we have deserved to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Amen.
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Be conquered by Jesus and Feel the Shame of our Limitations!
I am just overwhelmed by reading this text of Pope Francis' homily . Jesus, my Lord, give me the grace of shame of my limitaions.Help me to be conquered by You. Yes, help me to be humble before You O my God, and before my brethren.
“Is Christ the centre of my life? Do I really put Christ at the centre of my life?”
A woman kisses Pope Francis' hand as he arrives to celebrate a private Mass at the Church of the Gesu in Rome July 31 http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2472/pope_francis_homily_on_the_feast_of_st_ignatius_of_loyola.aspx#.Up56jtIW34s
The text of Pope Francis' homily at the Gesù for the
Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola:
In this Eucharist in which we celebrate our Father Ignatius of Loyola, in light of the Readings we have heard, I would like to propose three simple thoughts guided by three expressions: to put Christ and the Church in the centre; to allow ourselves to be conquered by Him in order to serve; to feel the shame of our limitations and our sins, in order to be humble before Him and before the brothers.
1. The emblem of us Jesuits is a monogram, the acronym of “Jesus, the Saviour of Mankind” (IHS). Every one of you can tell me: we know that very well! But this crest continually reminds us of a reality that we must never forget: the centrality of Christ for each one of us and for the whole Company, the Company that Saint Ignatius wanted to name “of Jesus” to indicate the point of reference. Moreover, even at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises he places our Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator and Saviour (Spiritual Exercises, 6) in front of us. And this leads all of us Jesuits, and the whole Company, to be “decentred,” to have “Christ more and more” before us, the “Deus semper maior”[God is always greater than human attempts to understand], the “intimior intimo meo”[“God is more intimate to me than I am to myself.”], that leads us continually outside ourselves, that brings us to a certain kenosis, a “going beyond our own loves, desires, and interests” (Sp. Ex., 189). Isn’t it obvious, the question for us? For all of us? “Is Christ the centre of my life? Do I really put Christ at the centre of my life?” Because there is always the temptation to want to put ourselves in the centre. And when a Jesuit puts himself and not Christ in the centre, he goes astray. In the first Reading, Moses forcefully calls upon the people to love the Lord, to walk in His ways, “because He is your life” (cf. Deut. 30, 16-20). Christ is our life! The centrality of Christ corresponds also to the centrality of the Church: they are two flames that cannot be separated: I cannot follow Christ except in and with the Church. And even in this case we Jesuits and the whole Company, are not at the centre, we are, so to speak, “displaced”, we are at the service of Christ and of the Church, the Bride of Christ our Lord, who is our Holy Mother Hierarchical Church (cf. Sp. Ex. 353).To be men routed and grounded in the Church: that is what Jesus desires of us. There cannot be parallel or isolated paths for us. Yes, paths of searching, creative paths, yes, this is important: to go to the peripheries, so many peripherie s. This takes creativity, but always in community, in the Church, with this membership that give us the courage to go forward. To serve Christ is to love this concrete Church, and to serve her with generosity and with the spirit of obedience.
2. What is the way to live this double centrality? Let us look at the experience of Saint Paul, which was also the experience of Saint Ignatius. The Apostle, in the Second Reading that we heard, writes: I press on towards the perfection of Christ, “because I have indeed been conquered by Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:12). For Paul it came along the road to Damascus, for Ignatius in his house at Loyola, but the fundamental point is the same: to allow oneself to be conquered by Christ. I seek Jesus, I serve Jesus, because He sought me first, because I was conquered by Him: and this is the heart of our experience. But He is first, always. In Spanish there is a word that is very graphic, that explains this well: He “primerea” first ahead of us, “El nos primerea”. He is always first. When we arrive, He has already arrived and is expecting us. And here I want to recall the meditation on the Kingdom in the Second Week. Christ our Lord, the eternal King, calls each one of us, saying to us: “He who wants to come with Me must work with Me, because following Me in suffering, he will follow after Me likewise in glory” (Sp. Ex. 95): Being conquered by Christ in order to offer to this King our whole person and all our hard work (cf. Sp. Ex. 96); to say to the Lord that he would do anything for His greater service and praise, to imitate Him in bearing even injury, contempt, poverty (Sp. Ex. 98). But I think of our brother in Syria in this moment. To allow ourselves to be conquered by Christ means to be always directed towards what is in front of me, toward the goal of Christ (cf. Phil. 3:14), and to ask oneself with truth and sincerity: “What have I done for Christ? What am doing for Christ? What must I do for Christ?” (cf. Sp. Ex. 53).
3. And I come to the final point. In the Gospel, Jesus says to us: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it . . . If anyone is ashamed of me . . .” (Lk 9:23). And so on. The shame of the Jesuit. The invitation that Jesus makes is for us to never be ashamed of Him, but to always follow Him with total dedication, trusting Him and entrusting ourselves to Him. But looking at Jesus, as Saint Ignatius teaches us in the First Week, above all looking at Christ crucified, we have that very human and noble feeling that is the shame of not reaching the highest point; we look at the wisdom of Christ and at our ignorance; at His omnipotence and our weakness; at His justice and our iniquity; at His goodness and our wickedness (cf. Sp. Ex. 59). Ask for the grace of shame; the shame that comes from the constant dialogue of mercy with Him; the shame that makes us blush before Jesus Christ; the shame that puts us in tune with the heart of Christ who is made sin for me; the shame that harmonises our heart in tears and accompanies us in the daily following of “my Lord”. And this always brings us, as individuals and as a Company, to humility, to living this great virtue. Humility that makes us understand, each day, that it is not for us to build the Kingdom of God, but it is always the grace of God working within us; humility that pushes us to put our whole being not at the service of ourselves and our own ideas, but at the service of Christ and of the Church, like clay pots, fragile, inadequate, insufficient, but having within them an immense treasure that we carry and that we communicate (2 Cor. 4:7). It is always pleasant for me to think of the sunset of the Jesuit, when a Jesuit finishes his life, when the sun goes down. And two icons of the sunset of the Jesuit always come to me: one classical, that of Saint Francis Xavier, looking at China. Art has painted this sunset so many times, this ‘end’ of Xavier. Even in literature, in that beautiful peace by Pemàn. At the end, having nothing, but in the sight of the Lord; it does me good to thing about this. The other sunset, the other icon that comes to me as an example, is that of Padre Arrupe in the last interview in the refugee camp, when he told us – something he himself said – “I say this as if it were my swan song: pray.” Prayer, the union with Jesus. And, after having said this, he caught the plane, and arrived at Rome with the stroke that was the beginning of so long and so exemplary a sunset. Two sunsets, two icons that all of us would do well to look at, and to go back to these two. And to ask for the grace that our sunset will be like theirs.
Dear brothers, let us turn again to Our Lady, to her who bore Christ in her womb and accompanied the first steps of the Church. May she help us to always put Christ and His Church at the centre of our lives and of our ministry. May she, who was the first and most perfect disciple of her Son help us to allow ourselves to be conquered by Christ in order to follow Him and to serve Him in every situation. May she that answered the announcement of the Angel with the most profound humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38), make us feel the shame for our inadequacy before the treasure that has been entrusted to us, in order to live the virtue of humility before God. May our journey be accompanied by the paternal intercession of Saint Ignatius and of all the Jesuit saints, who continue to teach us to do all things “ad majorem Dei gloriam.”
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/07/31/pope_francis_celebrates_mass:_a_jesuit_perspective_/en1-715795
of the Vatican Radio website
“Is Christ the centre of my life? Do I really put Christ at the centre of my life?”
A woman kisses Pope Francis' hand as he arrives to celebrate a private Mass at the Church of the Gesu in Rome July 31 http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2472/pope_francis_homily_on_the_feast_of_st_ignatius_of_loyola.aspx#.Up56jtIW34s
The text of Pope Francis' homily at the Gesù for the
Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola:
In this Eucharist in which we celebrate our Father Ignatius of Loyola, in light of the Readings we have heard, I would like to propose three simple thoughts guided by three expressions: to put Christ and the Church in the centre; to allow ourselves to be conquered by Him in order to serve; to feel the shame of our limitations and our sins, in order to be humble before Him and before the brothers.
1. The emblem of us Jesuits is a monogram, the acronym of “Jesus, the Saviour of Mankind” (IHS). Every one of you can tell me: we know that very well! But this crest continually reminds us of a reality that we must never forget: the centrality of Christ for each one of us and for the whole Company, the Company that Saint Ignatius wanted to name “of Jesus” to indicate the point of reference. Moreover, even at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises he places our Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator and Saviour (Spiritual Exercises, 6) in front of us. And this leads all of us Jesuits, and the whole Company, to be “decentred,” to have “Christ more and more” before us, the “Deus semper maior”[God is always greater than human attempts to understand], the “intimior intimo meo”[“God is more intimate to me than I am to myself.”], that leads us continually outside ourselves, that brings us to a certain kenosis, a “going beyond our own loves, desires, and interests” (Sp. Ex., 189). Isn’t it obvious, the question for us? For all of us? “Is Christ the centre of my life? Do I really put Christ at the centre of my life?” Because there is always the temptation to want to put ourselves in the centre. And when a Jesuit puts himself and not Christ in the centre, he goes astray. In the first Reading, Moses forcefully calls upon the people to love the Lord, to walk in His ways, “because He is your life” (cf. Deut. 30, 16-20). Christ is our life! The centrality of Christ corresponds also to the centrality of the Church: they are two flames that cannot be separated: I cannot follow Christ except in and with the Church. And even in this case we Jesuits and the whole Company, are not at the centre, we are, so to speak, “displaced”, we are at the service of Christ and of the Church, the Bride of Christ our Lord, who is our Holy Mother Hierarchical Church (cf. Sp. Ex. 353).To be men routed and grounded in the Church: that is what Jesus desires of us. There cannot be parallel or isolated paths for us. Yes, paths of searching, creative paths, yes, this is important: to go to the peripheries, so many peripherie s. This takes creativity, but always in community, in the Church, with this membership that give us the courage to go forward. To serve Christ is to love this concrete Church, and to serve her with generosity and with the spirit of obedience.
2. What is the way to live this double centrality? Let us look at the experience of Saint Paul, which was also the experience of Saint Ignatius. The Apostle, in the Second Reading that we heard, writes: I press on towards the perfection of Christ, “because I have indeed been conquered by Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:12). For Paul it came along the road to Damascus, for Ignatius in his house at Loyola, but the fundamental point is the same: to allow oneself to be conquered by Christ. I seek Jesus, I serve Jesus, because He sought me first, because I was conquered by Him: and this is the heart of our experience. But He is first, always. In Spanish there is a word that is very graphic, that explains this well: He “primerea” first ahead of us, “El nos primerea”. He is always first. When we arrive, He has already arrived and is expecting us. And here I want to recall the meditation on the Kingdom in the Second Week. Christ our Lord, the eternal King, calls each one of us, saying to us: “He who wants to come with Me must work with Me, because following Me in suffering, he will follow after Me likewise in glory” (Sp. Ex. 95): Being conquered by Christ in order to offer to this King our whole person and all our hard work (cf. Sp. Ex. 96); to say to the Lord that he would do anything for His greater service and praise, to imitate Him in bearing even injury, contempt, poverty (Sp. Ex. 98). But I think of our brother in Syria in this moment. To allow ourselves to be conquered by Christ means to be always directed towards what is in front of me, toward the goal of Christ (cf. Phil. 3:14), and to ask oneself with truth and sincerity: “What have I done for Christ? What am doing for Christ? What must I do for Christ?” (cf. Sp. Ex. 53).
3. And I come to the final point. In the Gospel, Jesus says to us: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it . . . If anyone is ashamed of me . . .” (Lk 9:23). And so on. The shame of the Jesuit. The invitation that Jesus makes is for us to never be ashamed of Him, but to always follow Him with total dedication, trusting Him and entrusting ourselves to Him. But looking at Jesus, as Saint Ignatius teaches us in the First Week, above all looking at Christ crucified, we have that very human and noble feeling that is the shame of not reaching the highest point; we look at the wisdom of Christ and at our ignorance; at His omnipotence and our weakness; at His justice and our iniquity; at His goodness and our wickedness (cf. Sp. Ex. 59). Ask for the grace of shame; the shame that comes from the constant dialogue of mercy with Him; the shame that makes us blush before Jesus Christ; the shame that puts us in tune with the heart of Christ who is made sin for me; the shame that harmonises our heart in tears and accompanies us in the daily following of “my Lord”. And this always brings us, as individuals and as a Company, to humility, to living this great virtue. Humility that makes us understand, each day, that it is not for us to build the Kingdom of God, but it is always the grace of God working within us; humility that pushes us to put our whole being not at the service of ourselves and our own ideas, but at the service of Christ and of the Church, like clay pots, fragile, inadequate, insufficient, but having within them an immense treasure that we carry and that we communicate (2 Cor. 4:7). It is always pleasant for me to think of the sunset of the Jesuit, when a Jesuit finishes his life, when the sun goes down. And two icons of the sunset of the Jesuit always come to me: one classical, that of Saint Francis Xavier, looking at China. Art has painted this sunset so many times, this ‘end’ of Xavier. Even in literature, in that beautiful peace by Pemàn. At the end, having nothing, but in the sight of the Lord; it does me good to thing about this. The other sunset, the other icon that comes to me as an example, is that of Padre Arrupe in the last interview in the refugee camp, when he told us – something he himself said – “I say this as if it were my swan song: pray.” Prayer, the union with Jesus. And, after having said this, he caught the plane, and arrived at Rome with the stroke that was the beginning of so long and so exemplary a sunset. Two sunsets, two icons that all of us would do well to look at, and to go back to these two. And to ask for the grace that our sunset will be like theirs.
Dear brothers, let us turn again to Our Lady, to her who bore Christ in her womb and accompanied the first steps of the Church. May she help us to always put Christ and His Church at the centre of our lives and of our ministry. May she, who was the first and most perfect disciple of her Son help us to allow ourselves to be conquered by Christ in order to follow Him and to serve Him in every situation. May she that answered the announcement of the Angel with the most profound humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38), make us feel the shame for our inadequacy before the treasure that has been entrusted to us, in order to live the virtue of humility before God. May our journey be accompanied by the paternal intercession of Saint Ignatius and of all the Jesuit saints, who continue to teach us to do all things “ad majorem Dei gloriam.”
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/07/31/pope_francis_celebrates_mass:_a_jesuit_perspective_/en1-715795
of the Vatican Radio website
Monday 25 November 2013
Mary, Our dear Mother, do not turn your face away from us!
Pope Francis and the statue of Our Lady of Fatima
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/10/14/in-front-of-fatima-statue-pope-francis-entrusts-the-world-to-mary/
Mary, Mary, dear Mother
Do not turn away from us,
Do not abandon us O Mother,
We are your children.
We need you Mother.
If you disown us
Where shall we go?
There is no other place nor space
In this whole world, where we can turn for refuge
Except in your Immaculate Heart!
Remember dear Mother,
Never was it known that anyone
Who fled to your protection
Was left unaided..
We fly to thy Patronage, O Holy Mother of God
Despise not us in our necessities
But deliver us always from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary!
Turn then O most Gracious Advocate
Thine eyes of Mercy toward us
And after this our exile
Show unto us the Fruit of thy womb Jesus
O Clement, O loving O sweet Virgin Mary
Wednesday 20 November 2013
Julian of Norwich on Prayer
 |
| In this icon of Julian of Norwich, she is shown at her window that opened to the street where she listens to those who come with their problems. |
Julian of Norwich on Prayer
“The Goodness of God is the highest prayer, and it cometh
down to the lowest part of our
need”
Pray inwardly, even if
you do not enjoy it.
It does good, though you feel nothing.
Yes, even though you think you are doing nothing.
Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance.
It is laying hold of His willingness.
This is our Lord's will, ... that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large.
For if we do not trust as much as we pray,
we fail in full worship to our Lord in our prayer;
and also we hinder and hurt ourselves.
The reason is that we do not know truly
that our Lord is the ground from which our prayer springeth;
nor do we know that it is given us by his grace and his love.
If we knew this, it would make us trust
to have of our Lord's gifts all that we desire.
For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with sincerity,
without mercy and grace being given to him first.
It does good, though you feel nothing.
Yes, even though you think you are doing nothing.
Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance.
It is laying hold of His willingness.
This is our Lord's will, ... that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large.
For if we do not trust as much as we pray,
we fail in full worship to our Lord in our prayer;
and also we hinder and hurt ourselves.
The reason is that we do not know truly
that our Lord is the ground from which our prayer springeth;
nor do we know that it is given us by his grace and his love.
If we knew this, it would make us trust
to have of our Lord's gifts all that we desire.
For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with sincerity,
without mercy and grace being given to him first.
Monday 18 November 2013
All Shall be Well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
"Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind". So wrote the illustrious woman writer Virginia Woolf in her "A Room of One's Own', the landmark book of the twentieth century feminist thought. It explores the history of women writers in literature, especially of English Literature. But I feel sad to note that Woolf never discovered Julian of Norwich , supposed to be the first ever woman writer in English language.
How come she missed out Julian of Norwich (ca. 1342-ca.1416)? The anchoress, enclosed within the confines of a a solitary cell, a room of her own, in which she was anchored , but not cut-off from the world! Yes, she had a Room (cell) of her own!! There she spent years meditating on the Revelations ("Showings") that she had during a near death experience, which she had when she was in her early thirties. She wrote about it in her 'short' and 'long texts'! And these texts reveal her spirituality , which is full of confidence and hope in God, "who loves and delights in us". Her optimism and positive outlook springs from her ability to see beyond her sufferings and pain. Even in the midst of excruciating pain she was able to fix her eyes on the Crucified Saviour. And that gave her the strength. This gazing on the Wounded Healer reassured her that despite pain and struggle, everything is going to be all right, "all shall be well."
http://www.julianofnorwich.org/centre.shtmlThe great poet T.S. Eliot, a contemporary and friend of Virginia Woolf, could draw much from this most optimistic mystic of the Middle Ages. Thrice does Eliot quote from Julian of Norwich in his 'Little Gidding'. Like a refrain, the same quote is repeated. In the III rd section the refrain is repeated twice:
History may be servitude,History may be freedom.
See, now they vanish,
The faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them,
To become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern.
Sin is Behovely, but
All shall be well, and
All manner of thing shall be well.
...............
We cannot revive old factions
We cannot restore old policies
Or follow an antique drum.
These men, and those who opposed them
And those whom they opposed
Accept the constitution of silence
And are folded in a single party.
Whatever we inherit from the fortunate
We have taken from the defeated
What they had to leave us - a symbol:
A symbol perfected in death.
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
By the purification of the motive
In the ground of our beseeching.
Again, in the last section , he concludes the whole poem with this refrain:
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
'Little Gidding' is Eliot's poem about fire - the fire of purification and purgation. We need to go through this fire - sufferings and sacrifices to attain Salvation. In Section IV , Eliot speaks of the Pentacostal fire:
http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1343-1398,_Julian._of_Norwich,_Revelations_Of_Divine_Love,_EN.pdf
The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terrorJulian of Norwich has much to say about all that. So let me conclude this conversation here, and let me get immersed in Dame Julian's Revelations. Shall be back.
Of which the tongues declare
The one dischage from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre-
To be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.
He said not: Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be afflicted; but He said: Thou shalt not be overcome. God willeth that we take heed to these words, and that we be ever strong in sure trust, in weal and woe. For He loveth and enjoyeth us, and so willeth He that we love and enjoy Him and mightily trust in Him; and all shall be well.From the 16th Revelation of the "Showings of Divine Love' by Lady Julian of Norwich - CHAPTER LXVIII. The whole book is available in pdf format in the link below:
http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1343-1398,_Julian._of_Norwich,_Revelations_Of_Divine_Love,_EN.pdf
Monday 11 November 2013
Novena to the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii
O Saint Catherine of Siena, my
Protectress and Teacher, who from heaven assist your devotees as they recite
Mary’s Rosary, come to my aid in this moment and deign to recite along with me
the Novena to the Queen of the Rosary who has established the throne of her
graces in the Valley of Pompeii, that through your intercession I may obtain
the grace I desire. Amen.
V. O God, come to my aid.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
I. O Immaculate Virgin and Queen of the Holy Rosary, in these times of dead faith and triumphant impiety you have desired to establish your throne of Queen and Mother in the ancient land of Pompeii, the resting place of deceased pagans. From this place in which idols and demons were worshipped, you today, as the Mother of divine grace, shower the treasures of heavenly mercy far and wide. O Mary, from this throne upon which you graciously reign, turn upon me as well your benign eyes, and have mercy on me who am so greatly in need of your help. Show yourself to me, just as you have shown yourself to so many others, as the true Mother of mercy: while I with all my heart greet you, and invoke you as my Sovereign and Queen of the Holy Rosary.
Hail, Holy Queen
II. Prostrate before your throne, O great and glorious Lady, my soul venerates you amidst the groans and sighs which afflict it beyond measure. In this state of anguish and affliction in which I find myself, I confidently lift up my eyes to you, who have deigned to choose the land of poor and abandoned peasants as your dwelling-place. And there, before the city and amphitheatre where there reign silence and ruin, you, the Queen of Victories, have raised your powerful voice to call from every part of Italy and the Catholic world your devoted sons and daughters, to build a Temple to you. May you now be moved to pity for this soul of mine that lies here humiliated in the mud. Have mercy on me, O my Lady, have mercy on me who am overwhelmingly covered in misery and humiliation. You, who are the extermination of demons, defend me from these enemies besieging me. You, who are the Help of Christians, deliver me from these tribulations which wretchedly oppress me. You, who are our Life, triumph over death which threatens my soul in these dangers to which it is exposed; grant to me peace, serenity, love and health. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
III. The knowledge that so many have been helped by you, solely because they turned to you with faith, gives me new strength and courage to call upon you in my needs. You once promised St. Dominic that those wishing graces shall receive them through your Rosary. Now I, your Rosary in my hands, dare to remind you, O Mother, of your holy promises. Indeed, you yourself work endless miracles in our times in order to call your children to honour you in the Temple of Pompeii. You therefore long to wipe away our tears, you yearn to relieve our pain! Then I, with my heart bared and with burning faith, call upon you and invoke you: My Mother!… Dear Mother!… Beautiful Mother!… Most Sweet Mother, come to my aid!
Mother and Queen of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii, delay no longer in stretching your powerful hand out to me, to save me: for you see, delay would be my ruin.
Hail, Holy Queen
IV. And to whom else might I go, if not to you who are the Solace of the wretched, the Comforter of the forsaken, the Consolation of the afflicted? I confess to you, my soul is miserable: weighed down by enormous faults, it deserves to burn in hell, unworthy of receiving graces! But are you not the Hope of those who despair, the Mother of Jesus the only mediator between God and humanity, our powerful Advocate by the throne of the Almighty, the Refuge of sinners? Then, only say a word on my behalf to your Son, and He shall hear you. Ask of him, O Mother, this grace which I am so greatly in need of. (Here express the grace you desire.) You alone can obtain it for me: you who are my only hope, my consolation, my sweetness, my whole life. So I hope. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
V. O Virgin and Queen of the Holy Rosary, you who are the Daughter of our Heavenly Father, the Mother of the divine Son, the Bride of the Holy Spirit; you who can obtain everything from the Blessed Trinity: I beseech you, seek this grace so necessary for me, provided that it be not an obstacle to my eternal salvation. (Here repeat the grace you desire.) I ask this of you through your Immaculate Conception, your divine Maternity, your joys, your sorrows, your triumphs. I ask it of you through the Heart of your loving Jesus, through those nine months you bore him in your womb, through the hardships of his life, his bitter passion, his death on the cross, his most holy Name and his most precious Blood. Finally, I ask it of you through your sweetest Heart: in your glorious Name, O Mary, who are the Star of the sea, Our Powerful Lady, the Sea of sorrow, the Gate of Heaven and the Mother of every grace. In you I place my trust and my every hope; save me, I pray. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
V. Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us
R. That we may become worthy of Christ’s promises.
Prayer - O God, by his life, death and resurrection your Only Begotten Son obtained for us the fruits of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech you, that by venerating these mysteries of Virgin Mary’s Holy Rosary, we imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
PRAYERS TO ST. DOMINIC AND TO ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA TO OBTAIN GRACES FROM THE BLESSED VIRGIN OF POMPEII
O holy priest of God and glorious Patriarch, Saint Dominic, who were the friend, the beloved son and the confidant of our heavenly Queen, and who worked many miracles through the power of the Holy Rosary; and you, Saint Catherine of Siena, the leading daughter of this Order of the Rosary and a powerful mediator by the throne of Mary and the Heart of Jesus, with whom you exchanged hearts: O my dear holy Saints, consider my needs and pity the state I find myself in. On earth you possessed a heart open to all the miseries of others, and a hand powerful enough to take care of them. And now, in Heaven, neither your charity nor you power has been lessened.
On my behalf then, pray to our Mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son, for I have great faith that through you I shall obtain the grace I ardently desire. Amen.
Three Glory be to the Father.
V. O God, come to my aid.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
I. O Immaculate Virgin and Queen of the Holy Rosary, in these times of dead faith and triumphant impiety you have desired to establish your throne of Queen and Mother in the ancient land of Pompeii, the resting place of deceased pagans. From this place in which idols and demons were worshipped, you today, as the Mother of divine grace, shower the treasures of heavenly mercy far and wide. O Mary, from this throne upon which you graciously reign, turn upon me as well your benign eyes, and have mercy on me who am so greatly in need of your help. Show yourself to me, just as you have shown yourself to so many others, as the true Mother of mercy: while I with all my heart greet you, and invoke you as my Sovereign and Queen of the Holy Rosary.
Hail, Holy Queen
II. Prostrate before your throne, O great and glorious Lady, my soul venerates you amidst the groans and sighs which afflict it beyond measure. In this state of anguish and affliction in which I find myself, I confidently lift up my eyes to you, who have deigned to choose the land of poor and abandoned peasants as your dwelling-place. And there, before the city and amphitheatre where there reign silence and ruin, you, the Queen of Victories, have raised your powerful voice to call from every part of Italy and the Catholic world your devoted sons and daughters, to build a Temple to you. May you now be moved to pity for this soul of mine that lies here humiliated in the mud. Have mercy on me, O my Lady, have mercy on me who am overwhelmingly covered in misery and humiliation. You, who are the extermination of demons, defend me from these enemies besieging me. You, who are the Help of Christians, deliver me from these tribulations which wretchedly oppress me. You, who are our Life, triumph over death which threatens my soul in these dangers to which it is exposed; grant to me peace, serenity, love and health. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
III. The knowledge that so many have been helped by you, solely because they turned to you with faith, gives me new strength and courage to call upon you in my needs. You once promised St. Dominic that those wishing graces shall receive them through your Rosary. Now I, your Rosary in my hands, dare to remind you, O Mother, of your holy promises. Indeed, you yourself work endless miracles in our times in order to call your children to honour you in the Temple of Pompeii. You therefore long to wipe away our tears, you yearn to relieve our pain! Then I, with my heart bared and with burning faith, call upon you and invoke you: My Mother!… Dear Mother!… Beautiful Mother!… Most Sweet Mother, come to my aid!
Mother and Queen of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii, delay no longer in stretching your powerful hand out to me, to save me: for you see, delay would be my ruin.
Hail, Holy Queen
IV. And to whom else might I go, if not to you who are the Solace of the wretched, the Comforter of the forsaken, the Consolation of the afflicted? I confess to you, my soul is miserable: weighed down by enormous faults, it deserves to burn in hell, unworthy of receiving graces! But are you not the Hope of those who despair, the Mother of Jesus the only mediator between God and humanity, our powerful Advocate by the throne of the Almighty, the Refuge of sinners? Then, only say a word on my behalf to your Son, and He shall hear you. Ask of him, O Mother, this grace which I am so greatly in need of. (Here express the grace you desire.) You alone can obtain it for me: you who are my only hope, my consolation, my sweetness, my whole life. So I hope. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
V. O Virgin and Queen of the Holy Rosary, you who are the Daughter of our Heavenly Father, the Mother of the divine Son, the Bride of the Holy Spirit; you who can obtain everything from the Blessed Trinity: I beseech you, seek this grace so necessary for me, provided that it be not an obstacle to my eternal salvation. (Here repeat the grace you desire.) I ask this of you through your Immaculate Conception, your divine Maternity, your joys, your sorrows, your triumphs. I ask it of you through the Heart of your loving Jesus, through those nine months you bore him in your womb, through the hardships of his life, his bitter passion, his death on the cross, his most holy Name and his most precious Blood. Finally, I ask it of you through your sweetest Heart: in your glorious Name, O Mary, who are the Star of the sea, Our Powerful Lady, the Sea of sorrow, the Gate of Heaven and the Mother of every grace. In you I place my trust and my every hope; save me, I pray. Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
V. Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us
R. That we may become worthy of Christ’s promises.
Prayer - O God, by his life, death and resurrection your Only Begotten Son obtained for us the fruits of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech you, that by venerating these mysteries of Virgin Mary’s Holy Rosary, we imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
PRAYERS TO ST. DOMINIC AND TO ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA TO OBTAIN GRACES FROM THE BLESSED VIRGIN OF POMPEII
O holy priest of God and glorious Patriarch, Saint Dominic, who were the friend, the beloved son and the confidant of our heavenly Queen, and who worked many miracles through the power of the Holy Rosary; and you, Saint Catherine of Siena, the leading daughter of this Order of the Rosary and a powerful mediator by the throne of Mary and the Heart of Jesus, with whom you exchanged hearts: O my dear holy Saints, consider my needs and pity the state I find myself in. On earth you possessed a heart open to all the miseries of others, and a hand powerful enough to take care of them. And now, in Heaven, neither your charity nor you power has been lessened.
On my behalf then, pray to our Mother of the Rosary and to her Divine Son, for I have great faith that through you I shall obtain the grace I ardently desire. Amen.
Three Glory be to the Father.
The
Novena consists of 15 decades of the Rosary each day for twenty-seven days in
petition; then immediately 15 decades each day for twenty-seven days in
thanksgiving, whether or not the request has been granted. This is a 54 days
novena.
Saturday 26 October 2013
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Lesson# 4 Prefiguring & Typology
Copyright 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/mary-consoles-eve
I understand from my self- study that the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And much of what we find in New Testament has already been prefigured in the Old Testament. The method by which such Biblical interpretation is made is termed "typology"! The initial one - one found in OT is called the "type" and the fulfillment is called the "antitype". It could be a person, thing or event; often it is Messianic, and related to the idea of salvation.
Let me take Mary as the fulfillment of the types in OT. Basically, as I understand it, there are three types of Mary prefigured in OT. 1. Eve 2. Ark of the Covenant and 3. The Queen Mother. Today I will limit my study to the typology of Eve.
The traditional Eve-Mary typology consists of death through Eve, Life through Mary, Mary's Obedience unties the knot of Eve's disobedience etc.
Mary, untier of knots is the name both of a Marian devotion and a Baroque painting representing that devotion. WikipediaBut a greater one than that is the fact that Eve is the mother of all living and our mother in the order of nature, and Mary the mother of all living and our Mother in order of Grace.
St.Irenaeus declared, " What the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith."
Genesis 3:15, the proto-evangelium is the Christological text because it prophetically foreshadows Christ, the Redeemer. And the promise is about a new team of Man and Woman, a Mother and a Son!
And thus Eve becomes the type and Mary becomes the antitype, the fulfillment of the promise.
That's all for today.
Monday 21 October 2013
Protoevangelium and the Fullness of Time
My Self study Lesson #3 Protoevangelium and the Fullness of Time
http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/MyCatholicFaith/mcfc027.htm
I am quite a slow learner. But still, I think I have managed to comprehend ( slightly, perhaps!) certain mysteries which the Church teaches.
First of all I understand that "Proto-evangelium"(First Gospel) is a term applied to Genesis 3:15 -the promise of a Redeemer after the Fall.It is the first reference to the idea of a Messiah - Christ, Redeemer - in the Scripture. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."
"chaire Kecharitomene" - Rejoice Full of Grace....
Now let me come to "the fullness of time" , ie. the time when this
Word , the promise of Almighty God "happens". From Eternity, the Timeless Word enters into the time of this world. Pope John Paul II has explained this in his 'Redomptoris Mater'. I'll better quote:
(Latin: Mother of the Redeemer)
Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II
http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/MyCatholicFaith/mcfc027.htmI am quite a slow learner. But still, I think I have managed to comprehend ( slightly, perhaps!) certain mysteries which the Church teaches.
First of all I understand that "Proto-evangelium"(First Gospel) is a term applied to Genesis 3:15 -the promise of a Redeemer after the Fall.It is the first reference to the idea of a Messiah - Christ, Redeemer - in the Scripture. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."
"chaire Kecharitomene" - Rejoice Full of Grace....
Now let me come to "the fullness of time" , ie. the time when this
Word , the promise of Almighty God "happens". From Eternity, the Timeless Word enters into the time of this world. Pope John Paul II has explained this in his 'Redomptoris Mater'. I'll better quote:
This "fullness" indicates the moment fixed from all eternity when the Father sent his Son "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). It denotes the blessed moment when the Word that "was with God...became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn. 1:1, 14), and made himself our brother. It marks the moment when the Holy Spirit, who had already infused the fullness of grace into Mary of Nazareth, formed in her virginal womb the human nature of Christ. This "fullness" marks the moment when, with the entrance of the eternal into time, time itself is redeemed, and being filled with the mystery of Christ becomes definitively "salvation time." Finally, this "fullness" designates the hidden beginning of the Church's journey. In the liturgy the Church salutes Mary of Nazareth as the Church's own beginning, for in the event of the Immaculate Conception the Church sees projected, and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of Easter. And above all, in the Incarnation she encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly joined: he who is the Church's Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church's condition as spouse and mother.
As the Second Vatican Council says, "she is already prophetically foreshadowed in that promise made to our first parents after their fall into sin"-according to the Book of Genesis (cf. 3:15). "Likewise she is the Virgin who is to conceive and bear a son, whose name will be called Emmanuel"- according to the words of Isaiah (cf. 7:14). In this way the Old Testament prepares that "fullness of time" when God "sent forth his Son, born of woman...so that we might receive adoption as sons." The coming into the world of the Son of God is an event recorded in the first chapters of the Gospels according to Luke and Matthew.Redemptoris Mater
(Latin: Mother of the Redeemer)
Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II
Redemptoris Mater (Latin: Mother of the Redeemer) is the title of a Mariological encyclical by Pope John Paul II, delivered on March 25, 1987 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
This encyclical is subtitled On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church and deals with a number of issues in Mariology. It is a somewhat detailed encyclical with three main parts, as well as an introductory section and a conclusions section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemptoris_Mater
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