Today is the feast day of the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Known in Italian as Santa Maria Maggiore, it is one of the four major basilicas (along with St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul-outside-the-Walls). I had the privilege of visiting this marvelous place in September. It is a beautiful church home to many important relics including the icon of the Madonna known as the Salus Populii Romani, the remnants of the manger at Bethlehem, and the body of St. Pope Pius V.
The title Our Lady of the Snows comes from a legend concerning a Roman nobleman and his wife who wished to bequeath their possessions to the Virgin Mary. They prayed for some sign as to where they should put their treasures. The next day, the fifth of August, snow was found at the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome, where the Basilica was eventually built.
View of the Nave
Altar in front of the reliquary holding the remains of the Crib of Bethlehem
In my time praying [parts of] the Divine Office, I have found it spiritually rewarding in many ways, not least of which has been my sharpened sensitivity to the liturgical year. The Little Chapter for Daytime Prayer during Ordinary Time - "Owe no man anything but to love one another. He who loves his neighbor hath fulfilled the Law" - has often leaped to mind at opportune moments of frustration or anger. Certainly it expresses well the theological implications of Ordinary Time; that of the continued work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Similarly, I have become quite attached to the antiphons in honor of Our Lady that close the recitation of Night Prayer. The Salve Regina is predominant throughout most of the year and is probably the best known. The Regina Caeli is used during Easter, the Ave Regina Caelorum during Lent and pre-Lent, and the Alma Redemptoris Mater from the beginning of Advent until today. Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (once known as Candlemas), which commemorates the 40th day since Christmas and marks the end of the portion of the liturgical year that deals with the mysteries of God's incarnation and self-revelation. We have come to the pre-Lenten season that is traditionally called Septuagesima which is Latin for seventieth as it is approximately seventy days til Easter. In the older form of the Roman Rite, the Alleluia is suppressed and purple vestments are worn in preparation for the beginning of Lent in a few weeks. Since I do not often attend a traditional parish, I will not notice these changes during Sunday Mass, but, since the Office has changed the antiphon to the Ave Regina Caelorum I will be reminded each evening that the joy of Christmas has transitioned toward the sorrows of Lent. So, then, for one last time this liturgical year, the Alma Redemptoris Mater:
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed - popularly known as All Souls Day - is just around the corner. I thought I'd post this beautiful peace of music for the occasion. It is the Offertorium from Antonin Dvorák's Requiem. I enjoy much of Dvorák's work, especially his famed Symphony from the New World. In any event, this piece is glorious, and the rest of the Requiem is recommended for your listening pleasure as well.
Lent is the sneakiest liturgical season. Unlike Advent, which is conveniently sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Lent moves around and is always a bit difficult to pin down. In the older, traditional Church calendar, Lent was preceded by Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima - three Sundays prior to Ash Wednesday that featured purple vestments and the suppression of the Alleluia, but were not quite Lenten in character. This period of preparation for Lent no longer exists as Ordinary Time now runs right into Ash Wednesday. I can't say I totally disagree with its suppression either - having a period of preparation for what is ostensibly a period or preparation seems a bit duplicitous.
In any event, I took some time last week to prepare my Lenten discipline. I went to the bookstore at the National Shrine and purchased a slim volume of the Divine Office published by Angelus Press - which is the publisher for the Society of St. Pius X, an irregular Catholic community devoted to the traditional Latin mass, which has not yet been formally reconciled with the Pope (though they're not in schism either). In any event, the book is not polemical, but instead rather forthrightly presents the traditional Divine Office (the daily prayer of the Church) as a way to grow in prayer as a layperson.
The volume includes, in Latin and in English. the prayers and Psalms for Lauds (early morning), Prime (morning), Sext (daytime), Vespers (evening), and Compline (night) for Sunday; and Prime, Sext, and Compline for every other day of the week. I am a creature of habit, and I know that if I can make a habit of setting aside time at least in the morning and the evening for Prime and Compline (which take about 15 minutes to pray), that I will actually succeed in having a more prayerful Lent. As a bonus, the book is printed and bound rather beautifully (as all liturgical books should be), which makes time with it more special.
I saw a subtitle of some article that read "The Catholic Church will face challenges as society changes, and more balk
at its authoritarian stance." When will people realize that the Church's doctrines are not public policy that can be changed on the whim of a bureaucrat at the slightest pressure of public opinion? The Church is authoritarian in its teaching of the truth, because it proclaims Christ - the way, the truth, and the life - as King. Christ's Kingdom is not of this world, but it is in this world - in the hearts of all those who allow Him to be their Sovereign Lord.
Society can and will change, to the benefit of some and the detriment of others, but Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The truth will continue to be proclaimed, both in and out of season. The Church's sacred duty is to the truth of Christ, Her Spouse and King.
One of my favorite songs of the season is the German carol "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" which is often translated into English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." The second verse, roughly translated into English without poetic license reads:
The rosebud that I mean, of which Isaiah told is Mary, the pure, who brought us the floweret. At God’s immortal word, she has borne a child remaining a pure maid.
Thinking about this song the other day, I thought it particularly appropriate to link the image of the rose described in the lyrics to the feast we celebrate today, that of Our Lady of Guadalupe. To remind you of the story, I turn to the infallible Wikipedia for its narrative of the events:
Two accounts published in the 1640s, one in Spanish and the other in Nahuatl, tell how, during a walk from his home village to Mexico City early on the morning of December 9, 1531 (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Spanish Empire), the peasant Juan Diego saw a vision of a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, surrounded by light, on the slopes of the Hill of Tepeyac. Speaking in the local language, Nahuatl, the Lady asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor, and from her words Juan Diego recognized her as the Virgin Mary. Diego told his story to the Spanish Archbishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, who instructed him to return and ask the Lady for a miraculous sign to prove her claim. The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. It was winter and very late in the season for any flowers to bloom, but on the hilltop (which was usually barren), Diego found Castillian roses, and the Virgin herself arranged them in his tilma, or peasant cloak. When Juan Diego opened the cloak before Zumárraga on December 12, the flowers fell to the floor, and in their place was the Virgin of Guadalupe, miraculously imprinted on the fabric.
Roses were instrumental in the miraculous apparition that occurred in 1531. Our Lady has long been addressed by the title of Rosa Mystica or Mystical Rose in the liturgical life of the Church. Dante added his ideas when he described the highest heaven in his Paradiso as a magnificent rose (of which the Virgin Mary had the highest place). This rose was the closest any created creature could come to the presence of God himself.
Now, I am no mystic or philosopher, but I can suspect some reasons as to the rose being such an important symbol throughout history. There is a pious legend that says that all of the roses in Eden had no thorns. The roses we know are very beautiful flowers that are blemished with thorns, just as humanity is blemished with sin. So, the rose, in a way, points to our spiritual journey toward God's presence, where all of our blemishes will be taken away, and we will stand before God's throne as the unique beautiful creatures that we are.
We can be comforted by this thought when we consider God's hand in the "pruning" process. Last week for the mass of the Immaculate Conception, we heard in the Gospel that "nothing shall be impossible for God." If God can be born of a virgin, if that virgin can be created as an unblemished rose, if that virgin can appear to a Mexican peasant to confirm God's presence among his people, what reason have we to doubt the power of God in our own lives? No matter how down we get, or how far away from God we are, nothing shall be impossible for God, if we but let him prune us of our thorns.
Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation for all Catholics. It is on this day that we recall the conception of Mary without sin in the womb of her mother, Anne. God, in his mercy and providence, preserved Mary from all stain of sin from the moment of her conception onward, so that she would become a sanctified vessel for bearing Our Lord.
Our Lady, under the title of her Immaculate Conception has been invoked as patroness of the United States since 1792, when John Carroll, the first bishop of Baltimore (and the first Catholic bishop in the United States), asked her special protection for the nation. Pope Pius IX formalized this act in 1847. It is to her, especially on this memorial of her conception, that we Americans should ask for her intercession before God's throne for the sake of our nation.
Since Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is our patroness, we have honored her in this country with the building of a spectacular church in our nation's capital. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. is truly an architectural monument of great beauty. It is the largest Catholic church in the United States, the eighth largest religious structure in the world, and the tallest building in the District of Columbia. Construction began in 1920 and was completed in 1959, though interior decoration continues to this day, with the main dome's mosaics yet to be completed as planned.
I have had the great privilege of visiting this splendid basilica during the course of a high school trip to Washington to take part in the March for Life. It is truly an awe-inspiring and beautiful place. The architecture is a curious - but successful - mix of Byzantine and Romanesque motifs. One gets the feeling that the architects took the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice, and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and melted them together. Marian symbols and quotations abound, and the crypt is lined with chapels devoted to Our Lady under her many titles. The crypt also displays several other pieces of interest, most interestingly the papal tiara of Pope Paul VI.
The photo shows the high altar and the sanctuary decorated for Christmas. The mosaic in the apse (i.e. the background of the photo) is a particularly stern depiction of Jesus in majesty.
Today is the solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday of the liturgical year. This feast is an agreeable time to meditate on what it means to be the subjects of the king of the universe, Jesus Christ. In some sense, especially to us emancipated moderns, the notion of Christ as a king is a bit of an inconvenient truth, if I may use that overwrought phrase. We can deal with Christ the Good Man, Christ the Mystic, Christ the Liberator, Christ the Nonviolent, Christ the Fill in the Blank. And, to some extent, Christ was all of these things. Yet, he is and will always be a king. And we tend to cringe at that. Kings mean authority, law, and obedience - words that are not particularly well-liked in our culture of libertinism.
Christ, however, gives us a perfect model for all three. He is perfect authority himself. He is the Word of the Father made flesh and given authority over all things. He is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and perfectly merciful and just. Imagine if an earthly king possessed each of these characteristics! His kingdom would be overflowing with people. Christ is also the perfect lawgiver, the new Moses, who has seen God face to face. His law is true and extends over the whole world. It is neither an oppressive nor an easy law, but truth is never either of these things. And, finally, Christ is obedient. Obedience requires humility, of which Jesus is the paramount example. The qualities I have described above are true qualities of Our Lord, and they speak to his majesty and power. Yet, he also possessed the even stronger power to humble himself of these qualities and become a man, and suffer, and die as a finite man in a historical world - just like the rest of us. This is a king that I can follow.
As members of Christ's Body, we are each called through the virtue of our baptism to be loyal subjects to our King. Each day we are given the opportunity to respect and obey His authority and law, so that we might someday be called home to reign with him in his everlasting kingdom.
As I hinted before, these are inconvenient pills for us prideful moderns to swallow. We prefer lawlessness. We like to set ourselves up as our own kings in our own lives. As I read in a recent New York Times article concerning the recent troubles at Penn State, the reason we were so outraged with the persons in power there is that we are all "convinced of our own interior wonderfulness." We get so absorbed in how awesome we all are, fed by a culture that is hesitant to reprimand anyone, that we lose sight of the fact that each of us is a sinful person, capable of falling - and falling hard. Once we reject the idea that we are God's gift to mankind, we can get back on track following God's true gift to mankind - Himself.
Today is the feast of Blessed Charles of Austria, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary. In our current age, when most politicians are barely decent, let alone saintly, we need the prayers of Blessed Charles ever more urgently. Charles is recognized by the Church as having been a lone voice for peace during World War I, as well as a personally holy man. His marriage to his wife Zita was exemplary of Christian matrimony, and his sense of duty to God and his subjects is worth imitating. In my estimation, it is a shame that the Allies pushed Charles off the throne after the war. A man of his moral character would have been a good bastion against the increased radicalism in Europe in the interwar period. But, alas, the Twentieth Century saw Christian monarchs as unfashionable, and deposed them without pity.
In any event, let us pray unceasingly through the intercession of Blessed Charles for the strengthening of the moral fiber of all of our leaders of authority, both civil and religious.
Photo: The blessed Emperor greets one of his subjects
Today is my name-day. Once upon a time, the feast day of the saint after whom one was named was celebrated much as we celebrate birthdays today. Today is the feast day of St. Matthew, the repentant tax collector who wrote one of the four canonical gospels. St. Matthew is often portrayed with an angel, the symbol of his gospel (the others are: an eagle for John, a winged ox for Luke, and a winged lion for Mark). The painting is by Caravaggio, who did a series of paintings on St. Matthew's life as portrayed in the gospels.
Just some other facts about this Evangelist: tradition says he was martyred spreading Christianity to Ethiopia, the name "Matthew" means "Gift of Yahweh", Matthew's gospel was addressed to the Jews and written in Hebrew.
Also, Matthew's feast day has excellent personal timing as tomorrow is my birthday. St. Matthew, pray for us!
Last night at Bible study, we were discussing the sufferings of Christ on the Cross, and his endurance of all human suffering in that hour of his death. This was sort of a happy coincidence, since yesterday was the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, when the cross itself is celebrated as the instrument through which God chose to grant us his salvation. It is perhaps fitting, then, that the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows follows the feast of the Cross, and is celebrated today.
Consider the point of view of Christ's mother during his ordeal. Mary was powerless to protect her son, resigned to see him tortured and brutally killed, yet she was there, showing her maternal love, at the foot of the cross. In that moment of his death, she truly was a Lady of Sorrows - sorrow for both her son's immediate death and sorrow for the sins that placed the pain upon him. In that hour, the prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And your own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts will be revealed" (Luke 2:35).
So, at the foot of the cross, Mary suffered in relation to her son. Her soul was pierced with a sword of suffering. Perhaps the figurative sword was the pain of seeing the effects of sin, since she was so detached from it (often, we cannot even begin to grasp the profoundly damaging effects of sin). In any event, Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows gives us a phenomenal icon of hope, even in suffering. Though her heart was pierced with a sword of pain, Our Lady never fell into despair - for despair is the very opposite of Christian hope.
I think despair is more prevalent today than in other times. With all of our advancement in technology and knowledge, I think we are tempted to despair that all of it is for nothing - that the world is meaningless and our lives are just as meaningless. Despair kills charity and removes joy. But, even should we suffer the piercing swords of despair, doubt or suffering, we need only remember Our Lady of Sorrows, and her eventual transformation to Our Lady of Joy through the saving power of her Son.
* * *
The painting is one of the most moving I've ever seen of the Madonna and her Child. It was painted by the French artist Adolphe Bourguereau and is entitled "Our Lady of Sorrows."
This post is one of those hodge-podgey assemblages full of things that your author doesn't have the patience to sort into nice and tidy categories (much as he would like). Today just seemed like a good day to throw together some wisdom from the Church Fathers (when isn't there a good time for that) and some even more enlightening wisdom from G.K. Chesterton (always a good time for that!).
Today is the feast day of St. Justin Martyr, an 2nd Century early Christian convert from Palestine who lived from 103 until his martyrdom by beheading in 165. Justin Martyr is notable to us today both for his devout faith that he clung to even to death, and his apologetical works that he authored. His First and Second Apologies offer numerous insights into the early doctrine and worship of the Church; insights and descriptions that align with the ritual and beliefs of the Church today. Most notable (in my opinion) is his description of the Eucharist in his day:
And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, This do in remembrance of Me, this is My body; and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, This is My blood; and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn. - First Apology, LXVI
That seems to put to bed the myth of the Catholic "invention" of transubstantiation during the Middle Ages (as Luther and his companions unwisely maintained). You will also note, patient reader, that Justin slips in a mention of the sacramental view of baptism "the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration" - a view that was tossed out by many of the more radical Protestant sects who claim baptism as a mere symbol. Additionally, this passage and the one immediately following, describe a liturgical church, focused on orderly worship and weekly reception of the Eucharist. This "proto-mass" described by Justin Martyr was the "source and summit of the Church's life" (Lumen Gentium, 11) just as it is for Catholics today. It is certainly comforting to know that our ancestors and forefathers in faith worshiped in the 2nd Century much as we do in the 21st Century.
To switch gears a bit, I thought I'd add a tidbit on martyrdom from the famed Catholic apologist and sometimes funny man, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). Chesterton struggled in his path toward Catholicism (and Christianity in general) to understand why the Church upheld martyrs as the greatest of the saints, but cast suicides as the worst of the sinners:
About the same time I read a solemn flippancy by some free thinker: he said that a suicide was only the same as a martyr. The open fallacy of this helped to clear the question. Obviously a suicide is the opposite of a martyr. A martyr is a man who cares so much for something outside him, that he forgets his own personal life. A suicide is a man who cares so little for anything outside him, that he wants to see the last of everything. One wants something to begin: the other wants everything to end. In other words, the martyr is noble, exactly because he confesses this ultimate link with life; he sets his heart outside himself: he dies that something may live. The suicide is ignoble because he has not this link with being: he is a mere destroyer; spiritually, he destroys the universe. - G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Chapter 5. Sam Torode Book Arts. Nashville, TN. 2009.
Good things to keep in mind, especially in these confusing times of suicide-bombers acting like martyrs. The two are diametrically and forcefully opposed.
Today (May 31st) is the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. We hear it recorded by St. Luke in this way:
39 And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. 40 And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth.
41 And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed are you that have believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to you by the Lord. (Luke 1:39-45)
Compare this greeting and subsequent salutation with the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in the hill-country of Obededom.
9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? 10 And he would not have the ark of the Lord brought in to himself into the city of David: but he caused it to be carried into the house of Obededom the Gethite. 11 And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.
12 And it was told King David, that the Lord had blessed Obededom, and all that he had, because of the ark of God. So David went, and brought away the ark of God out of the house of Obededom into the city of David with joy. And there were with David seven choirs, and calves for victims. 13 And when they that carried the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed and ox and a ram: 14 And David danced with all his might before the Lord: and David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 And David and all the louse of Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet. (2 Samuel 6:9-15)
St. Luke, in his description of the Mother of God visiting her cousin Elizabeth, makes allusion to the Ark of the Covenant being brought to the city of David in the Old Testament. This connection reinforces the position of Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant - Jesus Christ himself. Consider the connections:
The salutation: Elizabeth says, "And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" David says, "How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?"
The setting: Mary goes to visit Elizabeth "In the hill country of Judah." The house of Obededom was located in the hills of Judah
The duration of the visit: Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months (Luke 1:56). "And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite three months."
The reaction: "For behold, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." "And David danced with all his might before the Lord."
These connections reinforce the continuity and fulfillment exhibited by the New Testament in relation to the Old Testament. Mary bore Christ in a similar way that the Israelites bore the Ark of the Covenant. Both Christ and the contents of the Ark were manifestations of God's covenant with his people. The contents of the Ark prefigured Christ:
The stone tablets of the Law, the written word of God - Jesus is the final Word of God made flesh (John 1)
Manna from the wilderness - Jesus, the Eternal Bread from Heaven - the Eucharist (John 6)
The Rod of Aaron, symbol of the priesthood - Jesus, the Eternal High Priest (Letter to the Hebrews)
The devotion and honor that the Israelites gave to the Ark of the Covenant is continued in the devotion and honor that Catholics give to Mary, the Mother of God. Both bore the means of God's relationship with humanity. Mary, of course, being the perfection and fulfillment of the ark, and Jesus being the perfection and fulfillment of the Law.
A Happy Easter to All! Below is the text of the Exultet, a solemn hymn sung during the Easter Vigil by a deacon before the lighting of the Paschal candle before the Liturgy of the Word (which on this, the most sacred of nights, consists of nine readings and eight Psalms). Pictured above is the ceremony known as Holy Fire which occurs during the Easter Vigil held at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (where Christ's tomb is located). One lit candle is brought to the sanctuary, and the congregation gathers and lights their own candles until the room is full.
Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph! Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness. Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lighting of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.
(Therefore, dearest friends, standing in the awesome glory of this holy light, invoke with me, I ask you, the mercy of God almighty, that he who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites, may pour into me his light unshadowed, that I may sing this candle’s perfect praises.)
(V/: The Lord be with you.
R/: And with your spirit.)
V/: Lift up your hearts.
R/: We lift them up to the Lord.
V/: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R/: It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart, and with devoted service of our voice, to acclaim our God invisible, the almighty Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his Only Begotten. Who for our sake paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father, and pouring out his own dear Blood wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness. These then are the feasts of Passover, in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb, whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers.
This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea. This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin. This is the night that even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, lending them to grace, and joining them to his holy ones. This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death, and rose victorious from the underworld. Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed.
O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld!
This is the night of which it is written: The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness. The sanctifying power of this night dispels all wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty. On this, your night of grace, O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands, an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy Church.
But now we know the praises of this pillar, which glowing fire ignites for God’s honour, a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light, for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.
O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human. Therefore, O Lord, we pray you that this candle, hallowed to the honour of your name, may persevere undimmed, to overcome the darkness of this night. Receive it as a pleasing fragrance, and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.
May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star: the one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who coming back from death’s domain has shed his peaceful light on humanity and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen
I hope everyone's Holy Week is progressing well. The Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called Spy Wednesday - the name refers to Judas Iscariot going to the high priests and setting in motion the events of Christ's passion which will begin in earnest tomorrow evening when we leave the season of Lent and enter into the Triduum (Latin: the three great days).
Judas is an intriguing figure in the New Testament, and like it or not, most of humanity has something in common with him. Legends and pious tradition claim that Judas was a Levite, a scholar, and one of the most educated of Christ's Twelve Apostles. Christ evidently saw promise in him, as He called Judas into the first generation of priestly ministry as an Apostle. Yet, Judas betrayed his Lord for thirty measly pieces of silver.
If anything, Spy Wednesday should be a day where we reflect how our actions have betrayed God. Each time we sin and disobey God, we are like Judas setting into motion the painful drama of the death of our Lord. Jesus bore all of our betrayals on the cross. He was our paschal sacrifice, substituting himself in atonement for our transgressions. Since his sacrifice was once and for all, we can take hope in the fact that Christ has born all of our evils before. We need only repent and accuse ourselves in humility in order to be free of their weight on our soul. And what a relief repentance is!
This past Monday I went to confession for the first time in a very long time. I was practically sweating bullets waiting outside of the makeshift confessional set up in the sacristy. While in the process of confessing, however, it felt at times like my sins were trying to escape as I was saying them - that in truly acknowledging what I have done and what I have failed to do - I was cleansing my soul of a disease. I was admitting my betrayals of Christ; and Christ, through the ministry of the priest, was restoring me to himself. At the absolution (the point during confession when the priest, through the power of Christ and his Body, the Church, absolves penitents of their sins), I felt such a rush of relief flood over me. As I left the church that day, I felt a bit like skipping.
Our betrayals of Jesus can be forgiven, and in that forgiveness we are able to be restored by the grace of God to his family. We need only admit that we've done something wrong. This can be a very difficult thing to come to terms with. Perhaps we are like Judas - we are too smart for God, we know that our way is best and that our personal convictions our never wrong. Of course, the Biblical record tells us where this, the deadly sin of pride, gets people: expelled from Eden, drowned in a Flood, forbidden entry to the Promised Land, exiled to Babylon, etc. If we can admit we are wrong, we can admit that we are fallen. If we can admit we are fallen, we can seek to better ourselves and receive the sanctifying grace available to us through the cross of Christ.
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" - Matthew 21:6
Palm Sunday is always bittersweet. We echo the joy of the crowds in Jerusalem, who welcomed Christ as the Messiah, yet we know - like Christ knew - that it would end with another procession, a long arduous procession toward agonizing death. Of course, as Christians, we know that his death is what gives us hope for life. The obedient self-sacrifice of Calvary is the eternal gate for the salvation of mankind. Through the great salvific act of Jesus Christ, the cross - an instrument of torture - became a sign of triumphant joy.
That of course, will all be reflected upon in due time. Worth noting at present is the entry of Christ and the prophecies and allusions his passage into Jerusalem recalls. In the verse at the top of this post, we read that the crowd is shouting to Jesus as the "Son of David." We recall from the prophecies read during Advent that the Messiah was to be born of the House of David in Bethlehem, the city of David. We must recall the the Old Testament was not abolished or ignored by Christ, it was fulfilled by Christ. So, we can conclude (and indeed, Catholic thought agrees) that King David was a type of Christ and that Christ would in turn be a perfection of King David.
David, of course, was King of Israel when it was at the height of its power. From his lowly origins as a shepherd, he was chosen by God to lead the nation, and was eventually victorious over the forces of Goliath and the Philistines. He brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (and his son Solomon built the temple for it). His authority was far reaching and he entered into a covenant with God who promised that he would "Establish your throne forever." David was also the author of many, if not all, of the Psalms; the words of which point to the future Messiah to save the world.
Christ fulfills the role of David in many ways. Jesus, known as the good shepherd, came to defeat the forces of sin through a battle (the pain of his Passion), and establish the eternal kingdom of God. David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem is fulfilled by Jesus, the law of the new covenant, entering Jerusalem in victory. And, we should not forget the universal kingship of Christ whose laws are just.
As the redemption of Christ is a universal gift for all, we must avail ourselves of it. The first step is Baptism, which incorporates us into Christ's Body with great joy - akin to the rejoicing of the crowds in Jerusalem. But, though we are members of the Church by virtue of the waters of baptism, we must continue to grow and learn to carry our crosses, even through the hardest times, for we know that at the end there is life. Carrying our crosses and living united to Christ is guided by the law of God fulfilled by Jesus, the King of All, Good Shepherd, and Son of the Living God.
Today is the feast day of St. Vincent Ferrer, a 15th Century Dominican who ministered in Spain. The structure at left is the marvelous Neo-Gothic church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City. The church was designed by famed church architect Bertram Goodhue and was built in 1918. It bears a striking resemblance to the architect's work on the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, which can be seen here.
The attached priory serves as the headquarters of the Eastern Province of the Dominican Order in the United States. An interesting fact is that Andy Warhol would often attend mass at St. Vincent Ferrer, though he was never Catholic. Proof, I suppose, that beautiful architecture can transcend religious divisions.
On this day in the Roman Catholic calendar, we commemorate the episode called the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to bear God's Son. This is one of my very favorite stories of the Bible because it brings all of God's plan together in a summary. The entirety of our salvation through the Church established by Christ hinged on Mary's obedience to the Lord's will.
Gabriel greets Mary
Gabriel, a messenger from God, visits Mary and declares her goodness with the words "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." From this we can understand that God is searching for us, he is seeking reunion with his children and comes to us in a variety of ways; for Mary it was through the words of an angel, for us it is through Christ, the living Word of God. The angel's greeting also stands as the ends of the Christian faith - to be full of grace in the presence of the Lord. Catholic dogma affirms Mary's lifelong sinlessness as a special grace conferred on her by the power of God. The result of this grace is that Mary is the highest example of purely human Christian life. She was full of grace her entire life, and literally was with the Lord when he was on earth. However, we can imitate her virtues and her care for her Son as we strive to live virtuously and tend to our relationship with Jesus. God is seeking us, and we seek the ultimate union with Him.
Mary's doubt
The story continues as Luke records, "But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be." Mary was troubled by Gabriel's greeting. So often we are troubled and astounded by the ways God speaks to us. Other times we hear him, but are worried about his demands.
Gabriel announces God's plan to Mary
Gabriel reassures Mary saying, "Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." Here is the real crux of the entire story - the entire story from Genesis to Revelation. God, who has affirmed the goodness and potential of humanity through the words of Gabriel, announces his plan for the salvation of humanity by a lowly Galilean virgin. The eternal Word has become finite Flesh who will "be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." All of this, God, the highest, the King of all, will be born into a suffering world by a lowly girl. This mystery of the Incarnation, of God taking flesh, is the one most central to all of Christianity. That God is willing to become a mortal and humble himself showcases the love he has for creation and his desire to reunite us to himself.
Mary's reply
Mary, after understanding what was to become of her replied to Gabriel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Mary, understanding her role in the plan of God's salvation, agrees to Gabriel's message. This was not a case of what would Jesus do, this was a case of the much more important question what would God have me do. Mary was not motivated by her selfish plans for her own life, but rather she was prompted by grace to enjoin her actions to the plan that God had for her - another instance of the humility that all are called to.
Summary
So, from this two paragraph story of the Annunciation, a scant twelve verses of the Gospel of St. Luke, we have discovered the over-arching themes of God's plan for us. 1. We are called to be holy and to become 'full of grace.' 2. We cannot do this alone, and we have doubts. 3. God has sent himself to us to reunite us through his life, death and resurrection. 4. We are called to answer the call of God with joy and to align ourselves with the plan of grace that he has for each of our lives. This in effect means having a life of prayer and an understanding of the discipline needed to follow Christ so that we can answer that call effectively.
A summary of this summary can be found in the Angelus prayer which was traditionally prayed in the morning, at noon, and during the evening. It is said by the Pope and those gathered at St. Peter's Square at noon. It recounts the mystery of the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary and the subsequent conception of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. The text of the Angelus is below, along with a video of the prayer being chanted in Latin.
Latin Version
V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.
V. Ecce Ancilla Domini.
R. Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum.
Ave Maria...
V. Et Verbum caro factum est.
R. Et habitavit in nobis.
Ave Maria...
V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus: Gratiam tuam quæsumus, Domine,
mentibus nostris infunde;
ut qui, angelo nuntiante,
Christi Filii tui Incarnationem cognovimus,
per passionem eius et crucem,
ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
English Version
V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the power of Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to your Word.
Hail Mary...
V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary...
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Your 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.
This monumental event which is so central to our salvation is celebrated as a Solemnity, so that the ordinary directive against eating meat is lifted whenever this feast falls on a Lenten Friday. So, enjoy a steak today for Jesus, guilt-free!
Today is my name-day. Once upon a time, the feast day of the saint after whom one was named was celebrated much as we celebrate birthdays today. Today is the feast day of St. Matthew, the repentant tax collector who wrote one of the four canonical gospels. St. Matthew is often portrayed with an angel, the symbol of his gospel (the others are: an eagle for John, a winged ox for Luke, and a winged lion for Mark). The painting is by Caravaggio, who did a series of paintings on St. Matthew's life as portrayed in the gospels.
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" - Matthew 21:6
