November 2006 Archives

From the homily of His Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew I at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Saint George in Istanbul:

Every celebration of the Divine Liturgy is a powerful and inspiring con-celebration of heaven and of history. Every Divine Liturgy is both an anamnesis of the past and an anticipation of the Kingdom. We are convinced that during this Divine Liturgy, we have once again been transferred spiritually in three directions: toward the kingdom of heaven where the angels celebrate; toward the celebration of the liturgy through the centuries; and toward the heavenly kingdom to come.

This overwhelming continuity with heaven as well as with history means that the Orthodox liturgy is the mystical experience and profound conviction that "Christ is and ever shall be in our midst!" For in Christ, there is a deep connection between past, present, and future. In this way, the liturgy is more than merely the recollection of Christ's words and acts. It is the realization of the very presence of Christ Himself, who has promised to be wherever two or three are gathered in His name.

At the same time, we recognize that the rule of prayer is the rule of faith (lex orandi lex credendi), that the doctrines of the Person of Christ and of the Holy Trinity have left an indelible mark on the liturgy, which comprises one of the undefined doctrines, "revealed to us in mystery," of which St. Basil the Great so eloquently spoke. This is why, in liturgy, we are reminded of the need to reach unity in faith as well as in prayer. Therefore, we kneel in humility and repentance before the living God and our Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious Name we bear and yet at the same time whose seamless garment we have divided. We confess in sorrow that we are not yet able to celebrate the holy sacraments in unity. And we pray that the day may come when this sacramental unity will be realized in its fullness.

And yet, Your Holiness and beloved brother in Christ, this con-celebration of heaven and earth, of history and time, brings us closer to each other today through the blessing of the presence, together with all the saints, of the predecessors of our Modesty, namely St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. We are honored to venerate the relics of these two spiritual giants after the solemn restoration of their sacred relics in this holy church two years ago when they were graciously returned to us by the venerable Pope John Paul II. Just as, at that time, during our Thronal Feast, we welcomed and placed their saintly relics on the Patriarchal Throne, chanting "Behold your throne!" So, today we gather in their living presence and eternal memory as we celebrate the Liturgy named in honor of St. John Chrysostom.

Thus our worship coincides with the same joyous worship in heaven and throughout history. Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom himself affirms: "Those in heaven and those on earth form a single festival, a shared thanksgiving, one choir" (PG 56.97). Heaven and earth offer one prayer, one feast, and one doxology. The Divine Liturgy is at once the heavenly kingdom and our home, "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev. 21.1), the ground and center where all things find their true meaning. The Liturgy teaches us to broaden our horizon and vision, to speak the language of love and communion, but also to learn that we must be with one another in spite of our differences and even divisions. In its spacious embrace, it includes the whole world, the communion of saints, and all of God's creation. The entire universe becomes "a cosmic liturgy", to recall the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor. This kind of Liturgy can never grow old or outdated.

The only appropriate response to this showering of divine benefits and compassionate mercy is gratitude (eucharistia). Indeed, thanksgiving and glory are the only fitting response of human beings to their Creator. For to Him belong all glory, honor, and worship: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

November 30
Saint Andrew, Apostle

Romans 10:9-18
Psalm 18:8, 9, 10, 11
Matthew 4:18-22

A Cross On the Threshold of Advent

The feast of Saint Andrew marks the threshold of Advent with the sign of the Cross. We are accustomed to thinking of the Cross in the context of Lent and Paschaltide. The advent of the Lord is, nonetheless, entirely illumined by the mystery of the Cross. An ancient responsory says, “This sign of the Cross shall be in heaven when the Lord comes to judge. Then shall the secrets of our hearts be made manifest” (Office of May 3rd, Invention of the Holy Cross). By showing us the Cross today, the liturgy points through Advent to Christ’s passion, resurrection, and second coming. The whole economy of salvation bears the imprint of the Cross.

Friend of God

The liturgy calls Saint Andrew “the good teacher and the friend of God” (Responsory). Saint Andrew is a good teacher because he preached the wisdom of God in the word of the Cross (cf. 1 Cor 1:18, 24). Saint Andrew is the friend of God because the wood of his cross bound him to Christ our God in an everlasting friendship, even as Christ himself was bound to the Father and made over to Him once and for all by the sacrifice of his Cross.

O Wonderful Cross!

The Apostle Andrew does not mislead us with the “artificial sweeteners” of so many religious teachers, nor does he fill our minds with a preaching “emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17). In the end, Saint Andrew preached the cross by embracing it, and by stretching His body over its four arms. The liturgy sings that “When Andrew saw the cross, he cried, saying, ‘How wonderful art thou, O cross! O cross, how loveable art thou! O cross, thy bright beams enlighten the darkness of the whole world! Welcome a follower of Jesus, that, as by thee He died to redeem me, so by thee also He may take me unto Himself” (Responsory).

A number of years ago, I composed music for a French Office hymn for the feast of Saint Andrew. It was a feastday gift for Reverend Father Abbot Dom André, O.Cist. The text spoke to me very powerfully. A melody for it came to me all at once, in a kind of stream of inspiration.

As I prayed over the day’s texts, it occurred to me that I might translate the text of this hymn. It is being sung in a number of French–speaking monasteries today. Accept it as a kind of meditatio, as way of repeating the Word in other words. This hymn has been for many a kind of gift; may it speak to your heart as compellingly as it first spoke to mine.

Where then is your dwelling,
O Lamb of God who invite us?
Could it already be the tenth hour
for the disciple who set out to seek you?
For who can know the day and hour
when you will turn to us and say:
Come and see!

The joy of meeting you
is a brightness that transfigures:
a flame in this world’s night
since your Pasch of dazzling light.
Shine, and overcome the darkness,
that we may hear the Spirit’s whisper:
Jesus is Lord!

Filled now with your presence,
God, our every dawn indwelling,
we announce to all who seek you
a burning joy, an incandescence.
You alone can tell us
how that cry first pierced the silence:
Blessèd those who believe!

Lord, how can we follow you
with the faith of those fishers of men?
In this night of catching nothing
we would believe that your hands are full.
Stand again on this our shore,
and cry to us once more:
Cast the net!

On the threshold of your dwelling
Your Cross will be our sign;
for each apostle will have his hour
just as you had yours.
Stay with us, God our Master,
to say in your disciples:
Hail, Cross of Life!

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

The Lord saw two brothers along the sea of Galilee,
Peter and Andrew, and he called to them:
Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men (Mt 4:18-19).

COLLECT

We humbly entreat your majesty, O Lord,
that the blessed apostle Andrew
may be as constant an intercessor for us in your presence
as he was outstanding in preaching and in ruling over your Church.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever.

Thirty–Fourth Wednesday of the Year II

Apocalypse 15:1–4
Psalm 97:1, 2–3ab, 7–8, 9 (R. Apocalypse 15:3b)
John 19:5b–27

The Heart in Pilgrimage

Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia. Where Peter is, there is the Church. It follows then that when Peter is in pilgrimage, the Church is in pilgrimage with him. Each of us is capable of making the pilgrimage of the heart. The psalmist says, “Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion” (Ps 83:5).

The Domus Mariae

This morning Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Sacred Mysteries in an open space adjacent to the Domus Mariae, the Holy House of Mary near Ephesus. The Gospel at the Holy Father’s Mass was from the nineteenth chapter of Saint John: “Woman, behold thy son. . . . Behold thy mother.”

Mother of Unity

In his homily the Holy Father recalled the place of the Mother of Jesus in economy of salvation, her unique place in the household of God. “The Virgin Mary,” he said, “the Mother of Christ and of the Church, is the Mother of that mystery of unity which Christ and the Church inseparably signify and build up, in the world and throughout history.” The Virgin Mary is the Mother of Unity. After the Ascension of her Son, the unity of the infant Church was the chief concern of her maternal heart. The Mother of Christ is entirely at the service of the unity of His Mystical Body in all its manifestations. Just as a family disintegrates in the absence of the mother, so too do the children of the Church splinter into factions when Mary, the Mother of the Whole Christ, is not at the heart of their experience.

Pope Benedict XVI will be celebrating Holy Mass today in a open place adjacent to the shrine of the Holy House of Mother Mary near Ephesus. Archbishop Marini's presentation suggests that the Mass will be that of the Commendatio Beatae Mariae Virginis, # 13 in the Collectio Missarum de Beata Maria Virgine. Here follows my own translation of the texts:

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

MR
The Lord is high above all nations;
and his glory above the heavens.
Who makes the Blessed Virgin to dwell in the Church,
the joyful mother of children (cf. Ps 112:4, 9).

COLLECT

Lord, Holy Father,
who decreed the salvation of the human race
in the Paschal Mystery,
grant that we whom Jesus Christ dying upon the cross
entrusted to his Virgin Mother
may be numbered among your adopted sons.
Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

I have never made a secret of it: Blessed Abbot Marmion has been for me a spiritual master, a father, and a friend from the time I was fifteen years old. I am thrilled to see a new edition of his spiritual letters.

Zaccheus Press is pleased to announce the release of Union with God: Letters of Spiritual Direction by Blessed Columba Marmion.

One of Mother Teresa's favorite books, Union with God is a collection of letters written by Blessed Columba Marmion to the many persons who sought his spiritual counsel -- with questions about prayer, faith, temptation, suffering, and the struggles of daily life. Marmion excelled in the art of letter-writing -- his advice was always simple and direct, yet profound. In his letters we see him bringing to bear his great depth of theological knowledge in a practical and human way.

Union with God: Letters of Spiritual Direction by Blessed Columba Marmion
ISBN 0-9725981-6-2
233 pages • $14.95 (paperback)

Read Father David L. Toups' Foreward to the new edition of Union with God:

Monday of the Thirty–Fourth Week of the Year II

Revelation 14:1–3, 4b–5
Psalm 23:1–2, 3–4ab, 5–6 (R. 6)
Luke 21:1–4

Prayer for the Holy Father

Thousands have taken to the streets in Turkey to protest the apostolic journey of the Holy Father to that country. Threats to his security are rising. Yesterday in his Angelus message the Holy Father asked for our prayers. This is what he said: “With confidence, I wish to follow in the footsteps of my venerated predecessors, Paul VI and John XXIII, and I invoke the heavenly protection of Blessed John XXIII, who for ten years was apostolic delegate in Turkey and felt great affection and esteem for that nation. I ask all of you to accompany me with prayer so that this pilgrimage may bring all the fruits willed by God.” It is crucial that we pray for the Holy Father, not only individually and privately, but also corporately and publicly during the coming days.

The Sights and Sounds of Heaven

In the First Reading, Saint John continues to gaze into the mysteries of heaven. He sees the Lamb and, all around the Lamb, those who bear “His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” (Ap 14:1). Not only does Saint John see the sights of heaven, he also hears the sounds of heaven: “And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters” (Ap 14:2). He hears the “new song” that is sung before the throne of God by the choir of the elect.

John the Virgin Disciple of the Lord

To John, the virgin disciple of the Lord and the virgin son by adoption of the Virgin Mother, it is given to understand the beauty of chastity. The chaste are those “who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Ap 14:4). The companions of the Lamb are distinguished by the radiance of their purity: a purity preserved by a special gift of grace, or a purity recovered by a gift of repentance.

I offered Holy Mass in thanksgiving for my twenty years of priesthood today, gathering with family and friends in the little church of the Monastery of the Glorious Cross in Branford, Connecticut. Apart from the readings and the homily, Mass was sung in Latin from the 2002 Missale Romanum. . . all part of the hermeneutic of continuity. At the Offertory, my mother and father presented the gifts of bread and wine.

The nuns of the monastery were present, of course, together with Mother Véronique, their Prioress General from France. The Apostles of the Sacred Heart, good friends that they are, were also there.

My brother Terence (The Dog Trainer) with his wife Sandy and the two children Michael Colin (3 years) and Mary Elizabeth (1 year) drove down from New Hampshire. Terence and Michael came to church while little Mary stayed at home with Sandy who is expecting another little gift of God. Michael Colin seemed to appreciate the golden thurible with bells on it! Michael and Kerry Guidone were there with recently baptized Michael Mario who slept blissfully through the whole Mass.

Father John F. Ringley together with Ann Marie and Victoria were there to lead the singing — all out of the Graduale Romanum! They sang the complete Propers, Ordinary IX, Cum jubilo (a little tribute to Our Lady), and the splendid and rarely sung Credo VI.

So many other dear friends from near and far came to be with me today. Barbara and Katie, ever faithful friends, drove down from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I am very grateful to God and to each one. After Mass we gathered in the monastery meeting hall for cranberry nut bread and sherry. Later on in the day, my sister Donna and her husband Wayne together with Sean and Lauren, my "senior" nephew and niece, joined us. Some of us shared an exquisite dinner at New Haven's most delightful Italian restaurant: Skappo.

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Last Sunday in Ordinary Time B

John 18: 33-37
Apocalypse 1:5-8
Daniel 7:13-14

November 26, 2006
Mass in Thanksgiving For My Twenty Years of Priesthood

Worthy is the Lamb

As we crossed the threshold into the Sacred Mysteries today, we sang of a breathtaking vision. John, the Beloved Disciple, in solitude on the island of Patmos, lifted his eyes to heaven’s open door. And what did he see? He saw the throne of God, and “the Lamb, standing as though it had been slain” (Ap 5:6). John’s eyes were opened, and so too were his ears. “Then, I looked,” he says, “and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and blessing’” (Ap 5:11-12).

A Glimpse and Foretaste of Heaven

In a word, John was given a glimpse and foretaste of the heavenly liturgy. And then he heard “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, ‘To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said. ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and adored” (Ap 5:13–14).

Heaven in the Heart and the Heart in Heaven

The priest, every priest, is a poor man, “a man of unclean lips dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Is 6:5) at the service of this glorious mystery. When the priest, whoever he is and wherever he may be, enters the sanctuary for Holy Mass, the angels enter with him, myriads of myriads of angels and thousands of thousands. Heaven descends to rest upon the altar and, from the altar, the whole Church — that is all who gathered about it — are assumed into heaven. Holy Mass is just this: an hour in heaven. The priest and, with him, anyone who partakes of the Holy Mysteries, believing, hoping, loving, desiring, and adoring, leaves church with heaven in his heart and with his heart in heaven.

In 1925 Pope Pius XI decreed that the Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus first carried out by Pope Leo XIII on 11 June 1899 should be renewed yearly on the Feast of Christ the King. The text of the Consecration follows together with the commentary on it given by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
on the Feast of Christ the King

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race,
look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar.
We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be,
but, to be more surely united with Thee,
behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today
to Thy most Sacred Heart.

Introit

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and divinity
and wisdom and strength and honour;
to Him be glory and empire
forever and ever (Ap 5:12, 1:6).
V. O God, give your justice to the King,
and to the King's Son your justice (Ps 71:1).

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God,
whose will it is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the King of the universe,
mercifully grant that all creation
liberated from servitude for the service of your majesty,
may together praise you unceasingly.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

I have some personal reasons for being very fond of Saint Théophane Vénard. Many years ago when I was serving as Master of Novices, I had in my care a Vietnamese novice who had taken the name of Marie–Théophane. While in France to preach a retreat I had the opportunity to stop at the Missions Étrangères de Paris. I asked if it might be possible to obtain a first–class relic of Saint Théophane for my young confrère. The kind priest who welcomed me was a retired missionary. He radiated a gentle, sturdy holiness. He explained that no relics were available. "But," he said, "we do have here in this glass case the soutane worn by Saint Théophane when he was beheaded." With that, he unlocked the case, pulled scissors out of his pocket and cut off a generous piece of the black soutane. "Take this to your petit frère vietnamien," he said. I was astonished. And tears came to my eyes. You can imagine Frère Marie–Théophane's joy when he received the precious relic.

The second thing that moves me is Théophane's utter fidelity to the Divine Office, even in the most trying conditions. Any priest who has difficulty being faithful to the Liturgy of the Hours should invoke Saint Théophane Vénard. Right up until his martyrdom, even while imprisoned in a bamboo cage, he prayed his breviary, the only book that remained in his possession.

The third and last thing I want to mention is that in 1860, the year before his death, with his bishop's permission, Saint Théophane offered himself to God as a victim for the Church in Tonkin. He offered himself by the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consecrating himself to her according to the formula of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort. That, it seems to me, is the perfection of the eucharistic and priestly life: total identification with Christ, the immolated Lamb. It is not fashionable in some circles to speak of "victimhood." It makes the learned and the clever sniff and grimace. Tant pis! One who approaches the altar day after day "in spirit and in truth" will, if he surrenders to the Mystery and allows himself to be formed by the Blessed Virgin, realize in his own flesh not only the priesthood of Christ, but also His victimhood. This mystical identification with Christ Priest and Victim is the secret of all sacerdotal fecundity.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face (1873–1897)
Saint Théophane Vénard (1829–1861)

It is true that the Lord chooses the little ones to confound the strong of this world. I do not rely on my own strengths, but on the strength of Him who, on the Cross, conquered the powers of hell.
(Saint Théophane Vénard quoted by Saint Thérèse)

Speaking to French pilgrims on the day after the canonization of the Martyrs of Vietnam, Pope John Paul II said, "Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was on intimate terms with Saint Théophane Vénard whose picture never left her as she suffered the pangs of death."

Thérèse wrote, "I like Théophane Vénard even more than Saint Aloysius Gonzaga because the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was extraordinary and Théophane Vénard's was quite ordinary. . . . My soul is like his. He is the one who has best lived my way of spiritual childhood." The young Carmelite pinned a picture of Théophane Vénard to her bed curtains, together with one of the Blessed Virgin and photos of her little siblings who had died.

Thérèse had read the young martyr's biography and his correspondence. She composed a poem in his honour and, at the end of her life, expressed the deepest sentiments of her soul by copying out passages from Théophane's letters. "Théophane is a little saint," she wrote. "As a parting souvenir I have copied for you certain passages of the last letters he wrote to his parents; these are my thoughts. My soul resembles his."

On 6 September 1867, twenty–four days before her death, Thérèse was presented with a relic of Théophane Vénard. She caressed it and asked to hold it close that she might kiss it. It was the life and death of Théophane that inspired Thérèse to say that after her death she would return to work on earth until the end of the world.

The 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum presents a Proper Mass for the memorial of the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam. Whereas on the feasts of other groups of martyrs, the Mass is ordinarily taken from the Common of Several Martyrs, today's saints are honoured with a Mass specially composed for them.

The Entrance Antiphon is a remarkable new composition juxtaposing two Pauline texts:

Far be it from us to glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To us who are being saved
the word of the Cross is, in fact,
the power of God (cf. Gal 6:14; cf. 1 Cor 1:18).

The Collect uses a unique form of address, Deus, omnis paternitatis fons et origo. The motif of the Cross, already present in the Entrance Antiphon, recurs in the Collect. Saint Théophane Vénard and others were condemned to death after refusing to trample the Cross.

O God, wellspring and origin of all fatherhood,
who made the blessed martyrs Andrew and his companions
faithful to the cross of your Son
even to the shedding of their blood;
by their intercession, grant that,
while spreading your love among our brethren,
we may be able both to be called your children
and to be what we are called.

The Prayer Over the Offerings asks for the grace of fidelity to God inter adversa vitae nostrae. It further asks that we may present our very selves to God as a sacrificial offering (hostia), an acceptable victim.

Receive, holy Father, the gifts we offer
as we venerate the memory of the holy martyrs,
so that in the midst of the adversities of this life
we may be worthy of being found faithful to you
and present our very selves as a victim acceptable to you.

Votive Mass In Thanksgiving to God

1 Kings 8:55-61
Psalm 144: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
John 15:9-17

“Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven” (1 K 8:22); and said, “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise” (1 K 8:56). Solomon standing in prayer before the altar is a figure of Christ, the King of Peace, the Eternal High Priest who, according to the Letter to the Hebrews, “is able to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). Solomon stands before the altar with his hands spread toward heaven; he is already the image of every priest of the New Covenant who, configured to Christ, adopts that very same posture at the moment of the Great Thanksgiving that is the Mass.

The royal priestly prayer of Solomon is brought to perfection in the prayer of Christ; the prayer of Christ is perpetuated and actualized in the Eucharistic action, the Thanksgiving of the Church. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19), He said; and so she does. “Was ever another command so obeyed? For century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country and among every race on earth, this action has been done, in every conceivable human circumstance, for every conceivable human need from infancy and before it to extreme old age and after it . . . week by week and month by month, on a hundred thousand successive Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly” (Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Eucharist, p. 744).

This is the Great Thanksgiving of the Church, one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This is the Great Thanksgiving of Jerusalem and of Antioch, of Rome, Alexandria, and Constantinople. This is the Great Thanksgiving woven into the history and culture of the Western World. This is the Great Thanksgiving that inspired men to raise altars to God and build cathedrals and churches to house them.

Being a Papist and not a Puritan, I have always felt somewhat ambiguous about the Thanksgiving holiday . . . not about the domestic observance of Thanksgiving, but about the attempt to interpret it liturgically. The Thanksgiving holiday originated in the sacramental void of Protestantism. When one silences the Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro of the Mass, one necessarily begins to look for something to put in its place. This, I think, is why it is so difficult to catholicize the American Thanksgiving holiday. It feels foreign to the Catholic ethos.

This year Thanksgiving squeezes out Pope Saint Clement I and Saint Columban. I suppose the best pastoral solution is to offer the Mass given in the Roman Missal under the title "In Thanksgiving to God." That is something I am perfectly willing to do. The nuns I serve as chaplain are very keen on having proper readings. So be it. I choose my battles. But I will miss preaching on the magnificent page of The Apocalypse appointed in the Lectionary.

One of the nicer things about Thanksgiving is that it always occurs on a Thursday. This does open the door to the Cenacle and to the mystery of the Eucharist. It does rather call for a catechesis on Holy Mass as the Great Sacrifice of Thanksgiving offered from the rising of the sun to its setting. So inspired, I will take a thoroughly papistical approach to this Protestant holiday.

I do cherish the Thanksgiving dinner lovingly prepared by Mom and the blessing pronounced by Dad. I do enjoy being with my family. It's like having a big Italian Catholic Sunday Dinner on Thursday. But I'll never be a Puritan.

Thirty–Third Wednesday of the Year II
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

Revelation 4:1–11
Psalm 150:1–2, 3–4, 5–6 (Rev 4:8b)
Luke 19:11–28

Heaven’s Open Door

Saint John says, “I, John, looked, and behold, in heaven, an open door” (Ap 4:1). The image of the open door in heaven is a fascinating one. Everyone, after all, is curious about what lies beyond the door of heaven. Everyone wants to catch a glimpse of what goes on in paradise. Countless saints and mystics, beginning with Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, have been allowed to look through heaven’s open door.

Sine Fine Dicentes

John hears a trumpet–like voice inviting him to come up, and in the twinkling of an eye, finds himself in the Spirit standing before the very throne of God and the whole heavenly court. All around the throne of God he sees fantastic creatures “full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing” (Ap 4:8). It is this one phrase that makes today’s First Reading so suitable for the feast of Saint Cecilia: “they never cease to sing” (Ap 4:8). It is this phrase that the Church enshrines in the Preface of the Mass where she describes the hosts of heaven as sine fine dicentes, ceaselessly singing.

The Vicar of Hodnet and His Hymn

And what are the hosts of heaven singing? “Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come” (Ap 4:8). In 1826, a clergyman of the Church of England named Reginald Heber, the Vicar of Hodnet in Shropshire, wrote a hymn inspired by this text for Trinity Sunday. Another Anglican clergyman composed the tune for it. With the expansion of the British Empire the hymn spread to every corner of the English–speaking world. Heber himself died as bishop of Calcutta in 1826.

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

GR
I spoke of your testimonies before kings,
and I was not ashamed:
I meditated also on your commandments,
which I loved (Ps 118:46-47).

COLLECT

O God, who gladden us
with the yearly festival of blessed Cecilia,
grant, we beseech you,
that the things devoutly passed on concerning your handmaid,
may give us an example to imitate,
and that the wonders of Christ your Son in his servants
may be recounted.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Strong, Serene, Majestic, Invincible

When in 1867 Abbot Prosper Guéranger set about opening a Benedictine monastery for women at Solesmes, he placed the whole enterprise under the protection of Saint Cecilia. Jenny Bruyère, the young woman who would become the first abbess of Sainte-Cécile, had taken the name of Cécile at the time of her confirmation; as a Benedictine her whole life would unfold under the patronage of the Roman virgin martyr.

Abbot Guéranger recognized in Saint Cecilia, “an embodiment of the Roman Church of the first centuries, strong, serene, majestic, invincible.” This fascination with Saint Cecilia was communicated to anyone who came within under the spiritual influence of Solesmes. When the young Suzanne Wrotnowska was received as a Benedictine Oblate of the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de la Source in Paris, a monastery of the Solesmes Congregation, Saint Cecilia was among the saints held up for her imitation and veneration. Later, writing her meditations on the liturgy, she would offer her daughters memorable commentaries on the Mass and Office of Saint Cecilia.

Her Heart Was Enkindled With Fire From Heaven

It is not surprising that Benedictines should feel a certain affinity with Saint Cecilia. One of the responsories for her Office aptly illustrates the monastic life: “The glorious maiden carried the Gospel of Christ always in her breast, and meditated therein day and night, talking with God and praying. V. She spread forth her hands and prayed unto the Lord, and her heart was enkindled with fire from heaven. R. Talking with God and praying.”

I never tire of looking at the statue of Saint Cecilia which lies over the tomb in her church in Rome’s Trastevere. Cecilia is lying on her side, looking almost as if she had been flung there. Her lovely face is hidden and her head is covered with the veil of virgins. The slash of the cruel blade across her neck is visible.

Even in death Cecilia declares her Catholic faith: the finger of one hand is extended, signifying her faith in the one true God. With three fingers of the other hand she confesses the Most Holy Trinity. Her knees are drawn up, making her look like a sleeping child. Her dress falls in graceful folds about her body. The whole composition is marked by purity and grace.

In 1599, when Pope Clement VIII disinterred Saint Cecilia’s body, it was found to be incorrupt. The Pontiff engaged Stefano Maderno to carve Cecilia just as she was discovered. The artist inscribed his testimony on the statue’s base: “Behold the body of the most holy virgin Cecilia whom I myself saw lying incorrupt in her tomb. I have in this marble expressed for thee the same saint in the very same posture of body.”

Maderno was only twenty–three when he carved his Saint Cecilia; though he lived be forty, Saint Cecilia is his masterpiece. Reposing in death, Cecilia illustrates the truth of the psalmist’s words: “God gives to His beloved in slumber” (Ps 127:2).

Maderno’s Saint Cecilia reminds me also of the young Thérèse Martin who lingered before it while on pilgrimage to Rome with her father in 1887. Later on, Thérèse was inspired to write this prayer:

Cecilia, lend to me thy melody most sweet:
How many souls would I convert to Jesus now.
I fain would die, like thee, to win them to His feet;
For him give all my tears, my blood. Oh, help me thou!
Pray for me that I gain, on this our pilgrim way
Perfect abandonment that sweetest fruit of love.
Saint of my heart! Oh, soon, bring me to endless day;
Obtain that I may fly, with thee, to heaven above!

April 28, 1893

In his address at the Pontifical Gregorian University on 3 November, the Holy Father identified the immediate object of the different branches of theological knowledge as God himself, revealed in Jesus Christ, God with a human face. I am grateful to Richard Chonak for calling my attention to the pontifical affirmation of the motif of this blog.

"I can tell you, dear Professors and students, that if the effort of study and teaching is to have any meaning in relation to God's Kingdom, it must be sustained by the theological virtues. In fact, the immediate object of the different branches of theological knowledge is God himself, revealed in Jesus Christ, God with a human face.

Even when, as in Canon Law and in Church History, the immediate object is the People of God in its visible, historical dimension, the deeper analysis of the topic urges us once again to contemplation, in the faith, of the mystery of the Risen Christ. It is he, present in his Church, who leads her among the events of the time towards eschatological fullness, a goal to which we have set out sustained by hope.

However, knowing God is not enough. For a true encounter with him one must also love him. Knowledge must become love."

Forty–two years ago today, on 21 November 1964, Pope Paul VI solemnly declared the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church.

Pope John Paul II recalled this moment in a General Audience on 17 September 1997:

The title "Mother of the Church" thus reflects the deep conviction of the Christian faithful, who see in Mary not only the mother of the person of Christ, but also of the faithful. She who is recognized as mother of salvation, life and grace, mother of the saved and mother of the living, is rightly proclaimed Mother of the Church.

Pope Paul VI would have liked the Second Vatican Council itself to have proclaimed "Mary Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole People of God, of the faithful and their Pastors". He did so himself in his speech at the end of the Council’s third session (21 November 1964), also asking that "henceforth the Blessed Virgin be honoured and invoked with this title by all the Christian people" ( AAS 1964, 37).

From the Holy Father's Angelus Message, 19 November 2006

On the occasion of the liturgical memorial of the Presentation of Mary Most Holy in the Temple, we celebrate "pro Orantibus" Day, dedicated to remembering cloistered religious communities. It is a particularly appropriate occasion to thank the Lord for the gift of so many persons who, in monasteries and hermitages, are totally dedicated to God in prayer, silence and hiddenness.

Some wonder about the meaning and value of their presence in our time, in which many urgent situations of poverty and need must be addressed. Why "shut oneself" forever behind the walls of a monastery and deprive others of the contribution of one's talents and experiences? What efficacy can prayer have to resolve the numerous concrete problems that continue to afflict humanity?

In fact, also today numerous persons often surprise friends and acquaintances when they abandon professional careers, often promising careers, to embrace the austere rule of a cloistered monastery. What leads them to take such a committed step if not their having understood, as the Gospel teaches, that the Kingdom of heaven is "a treasure" for which it is worth abandoning everything (cf. Matthew 13:44)?

These brothers and sisters silently witness that in the midst of daily vicissitudes, at times extremely convulsive, God is the only support that never falters, the unbreakable rock of fidelity and love. "Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda" [Everything passes, God is unchanging], wrote the great spiritual teacher Teresa of Avila in her famous text. And, given the widespread need that many experience to leave the daily routine of the great urban agglomerations in search of appropriate spaces for silence and meditation, monasteries of contemplative life appear as "oases" in which man, a pilgrim on earth, can go to the sources of the Spirit and slake his thirst along the way.
These places, apparently useless, are, on the contrary, indispensable, like the green "lungs" of a city: They are beneficial for all, including for those who do not visit them or perhaps do not know that they exist.

Dear brothers and sisters: Let us thank the Lord, who in his providence, has willed that there be cloistered communities, masculine and feminine. May they not lack our spiritual and also material support so that they will be able to fulfill their mission of keeping alive in the Church the ardent expectation of Christ's return. Let us invoke, for this reason, the intercession of Mary, whom, in the memorial of the Presentation in the Temple, we will contemplate as mother and model of the Church, who unites in herself both vocations: to virginity and to marriage, to the contemplative and to the active life.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Mother Clelia Merloni (1861–1930), the foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart. Mother Clelia’s life was marked by the betrayal of her confidence, by financial ruin, calumny, plotting, and the loss of her good name. In 1911 the Holy See removed Mother Clelia from the office of superior of the institute she had founded. She accepted the humiliation with quiet courage, never losing her confidence in the Heart of Jesus.

In 1916, after an agonizing struggle, she requested and obtained a dispensation from her vows, preferring to withdraw from her community rather than be an obstacle to its growth. In 1928, two years before her death, she was readmitted into the congregation she had founded and welcomed back at the house in Rome. She spent the time that remained in solitary prayer, in reparation, adoration, and silence. As a very young woman she had desired the cloistered life; in the end it was given her, not in a monastery, but in a simple “upper room” on the Via Germano Sommeiller in Rome. There Mother Clelia became a flame of love burning itself out for the love of Christ, the mystery of his Sacred Heart, the Eucharist, the priesthood, and the institute to which she gave birth. Mother Clelia died on Friday, November 21, 1930. The cause for her canonization was opened in 1989.

Mother Clelia is close to those who suffer rejection and apparent failure. She understands the plight of those who are misunderstood and judged. She has a maternal sympathy for those who make false starts in life and for those who, in spite of obstacles and hardships, persevere in searching for the will of God. She is a faithful friend of priests. Pray to her.

For some years now, from the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on November 21st until that of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, I have prayed my rosary while dwelling on five mysteries of the first part of Our Lady's life. These five mysteries of the Blessed Virgin are:

— the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne;
— the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
— the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple;
— the Betrothal of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Joseph;
— the Annunciation of the Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There is a particular sweetness in dwelling on these mysteries of Maria Bambina, the Infant Mary, the Child Mary. They distill graces of purity, of childlike simplicity, and of littleness.

All five mysteries are commemorated in the Sacred Liturgy. The liturgical books are rich in texts to nourish the meditation of each one. It is enough to take an antiphon, a verse, a single phrase, and to hold it in the heart while telling one's beads.

The Rosary corresponds to the meditatio and the oratio of monastic prayer; it begins necessarily in lectio divina, the hearing of the Word and then, gently, almost imperceptibly, draws the soul into contemplatio.

The Rosary is, I am convinced, the surest and easiest school of contemplative prayer. The Rosary decapitates pride, the single greatest obstacle to union with God. The repetition of the Aves, like a stream of pure water, cleanses the heart.

Go to Be an Offering and a Fragrant Incense

Today’s feast is Eastern in origin, Eastern in sensibility. To taste its mystery one has to hear and meditate the poetry with which the Byzantine tradition celebrates it. In one of the texts prescribed for Great Vespers, the Church sings: “When Anne, which means grace, was graced with the pure and ever-virgin Mary, she presented her into the temple of God. She called maidens to carry candles and walk before her as she said: ‘O child, go to be an offering and a fragrant incense for the One who sent you to me. Enter into the veiled places and learn the mysteries of God. Prepare yourself to be a delightful dwelling-place for Jesus who will give great mercy to the world.’”

The First Presentation

The presentation of Mary in the Temple prefigures the presentation of Mary in the Temple of the heavenly Jerusalem, the mystery of her Assumption. In the first presentation, the child Mary, fulfilling the psalmist’s prophecy, is “led to the king with her maiden companions” (Ps 44:15). Sacred legend recounts that the child Mary entered the courtyard of the Temple dancing for joy, continued into the Holy Place, climbed the fifteen steps of the staircase leading to the Holy of Holies and, to the amazement of Zechariah and the other priests, penetrated beyond the veil. No one dared to stop her. All were overcome with a holy fear. Even the Angels looked on with astonishment.

The Second Presentation

In the second presentation, that of her Assumption, Mary enters heaven itself escorted by angels. She penetrates beyond the veil to take her place with Christ “in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord” (Heb 8:2). Mary’s second presentation in the Temple fulfills what was foreshadowed in the first. Mary is the mother of “the hope set before us” (Heb 6:18). She is given us as “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters in even within the veil, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedech” (Heb 6:19-20).

On November 21, 543 the Church of the Mother of God near the Temple in Jerusalem was solemnly dedicated. This association of the Mother of God with the Temple gave rise to the tradition of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s presentation in the Temple as a child.

The new Temple, the all-holy Virgin, is shaped and formed in the old Temple. She who is destined to be the living Temple of the Word dwells in the Temple of the Old Dispensation. She hears the chanting of the psalms, the prophets, and the Law. She smells the incense and the burnt offerings. She observes the faithful of Israel streaming towards Zion, filling the Temple, seeking the face of the Lord. Priest, altar, and oblation are not unfamiliar to the Virgin who will take her place at the foot of the Cross and, gazing upon her Son, recognize in Him the Eternal priest, the Altar of the New Covenant, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

In the seventeenth century, the age of France's "mystical invasion," the mystery of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple captivated the hearts of Monsieur Olier and of others on fire with zeal for the holiness of the priesthood, for the beauty of the consecrated life, and for the worthy praise of God. The French School of spirituality gravitated to the feast of November 21st as to the pure expression of the desire to be offered to God, to belong to God, and to abide in God’s house.

Under the influence of the French Sulpicians, many congregations founded in the nineteenth century after the horrors of the French revolution chose the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary as their foundation day, the day of religious profession, and of the renewal of vows.

The proper liturgical texts of today’s feast lead us with the Holy Child Mary into the mystery of the temple. “The daughter of the King is clothed with splendour; she is led to the king with her maiden companions” (Ps 44:14-15). Mary lifts her eyes to the splendours of the Temple and discovers the beauty of belonging to God alone in the splendour of holiness. Even today, she draws others after her. “Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words. . . . So will the King desire your beauty” (Ps 44:11-12).

In her beauty and innocence the Child Mary stands before us to tell us that we, like her, are called to be lovely in the sight of God. We are the object of His desire. The Father would have us abide in the Temple of the Mystical Body of His Son, listening to His Word and singing His praises in the sweetness of the Holy Spirit.

I borrowed the logo from my brother Terence's dog training business for this entry because I don't have a photo of Dulcie (named for a Barbara Pym character). Dulcie, my parents' 8 year old American Pit Bull Terrier spent the past four days with me while my folks were in Baltimore. She is the gentlest, sweetest dog I have ever known. Dulcie greets me with an affectionate lick as soon as I wake up. She sits quietly under my desk while I work at the computer and rests at my side while I say my prayers. While I am at the monastery celebrating Holy Mass she waits patiently for me in the car. Dulcie also expresses joy (or some comparable doggy emotion) with a great glorious howl of glee. More priests should have dogs. They keep one human and grounded. N.B. Santa Croce in Gerusalemme has two dogs: Morris and . . . Bernardo, of course.

Thirty–Third Sunday of the Year B

Daniel 12:1–13
Psalm 15:5, 8–11 (R. v.1)
Hebrews 10:11–14, 18
Mark 13:24–32

Michael, the Great Prince

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book” (Dan 12:1). The prophet Daniel reveals the role of Saint Michael the Archangel in the great final conflict of history. Saint Michael is the guardian angel and champion of the Jewish people and of the Church of Christ.

Spiritual Combat

The Apocalypse of Saint John also describes Saint Michael’s glorious defeat of the powers of darkness: “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven” (Ap 12:7). The Church, with Saint Michael as her defender, is at war. Saint Paul tells us that the Church is locked in combat, contending “not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Pope Leo XIII and Saint Michael

At the end of the nineteenth century, Pope Leo XIII had a vision while assisting at Holy Mass: it concerned a great diabolical assault upon the Church. A priest in attendance related that the Pope began to look upwards; his face grew pale. Visibly shaken he withdrew to his private office, and a short time later, having called for the Secretary of the Congregation of Rites, he handed him a document. The document contained Pope Leo’s prayer to Saint Michael. The Pontiff ordered that the prayer be disseminated to the Catholic bishops of the whole world for recitation after every Low Mass.

Thirty–Third Sunday of the Year B

Daniel 12:1–13
Psalm 15:5, 8–11 (R. v.1)
Hebrews 10:11–14, 18
Mark 13:24–32

Know That He Is Near

Next Sunday will be the last of this liturgical year, the end of another year of grace. In the hourglass of the liturgy, the sand of time has nearly run out. In two weeks time, Mother Church will turn it over, and the cycle of holy time will begin again. Already, on this next-to-the-last Sunday of the Church year, we find ourselves in a mysterious climate of “already” and “not yet.” The Word of God today draws us out of ourselves into a kind of expectant tension. “Know that He is near, at the very gates” (Mk 13:29). We are magnetized by the promises of Christ. Today’s Mass lifts us out of ourselves and projects us into the certainty of the glorious advent of the Son of Man.

Ever In My Sight

In the Responsorial Psalm, we heard the verse: “I keep the Lord ever in my sight” (Ps 15:8). This is the voice of the Church speaking of Christ; it is the voice of the Bride speaking of her Bridegroom. “I keep the Lord ever in my sight” (Ps 15:8). How does the Church keep the Lord ever in her sight? By means of the sacred liturgy. “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24). Today’s Postcommunion refers specifically to “these things your Son has commanded us do in remembrance of Him.”

The Grand Plan of Salvation

The liturgy is the means by which we, wide-eyed and full of wonder, are present to the whole mystery of Christ: present to His Passion and His Death, present to His descent into hell, present to His Resurrection and to His glorious Ascension, present to His enthronement at the right hand of the Father, present to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in violent winds and tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. This is the marvelous plan of the Father, designed and willed from all eternity, an economy of mercy and of love, a grand plan conceived in the inscrutable depths of eternal wisdom! The liturgy is the Father offering us Christ, and Christ offering us to the Father in the Holy Spirit.