Breviary, Micah 7:14-20, Psalms 103:1-12, Luke 15:1-32, St Agnes of Bohemia, Bohemia, Knights of the Cross with the Red Star Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 3:3 God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
Heed the Solemnity of Lent! This Lent instead of "Giving Up" something, why not "Give" by volunteering time to a worthy cause, or extending a simple act of kindness! This blog is an act of giving, simply "opening a door" to all to learn about God, the history and cultures of humanity, the geography of our biosphere, the catechism of the Catholic Church and more; its you choice of "free will" to walk through this blog with an open mind, to learn, to evaluate, to contemplate,. Start by familiarizing yourself with the Beatitudes, they are universal to all mankind, of which one is the gift of knowledge, utilize.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’(Matthew 25:34-40)
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Prayers for Today: Saturday in Lent
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Prayer For the Holy Election of Our New Pope
May the Lord preserve the sanctity of the enclave as they embark on electing our new Holy Father, give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
LET US PRAY:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, in Thy mercy look down upon Thy servant, (Our New Pope), whom Thou will appoint to preside over Thy Church, and grant we beseech Thee that both by word and example he may edify those who are under his charge; so that, with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a
hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly
Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you
repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His
great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for
not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of
my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and
fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to
surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength
for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing
and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My
children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am
especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be
light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank
you.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
February 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, love is bringing me to you - the love which I desire to
teach you also - real love; the love which my Son showed you when He
died on the Cross out of love for you; the love which is always ready to
forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How great is your love? My motherly
heart is sorrowful as it searches for love in
your hearts. You are not ready to submit your will to God's will out of
love. You cannot help me to have those who have not come to know God's
love to come to know it, because you do not have real love. Consecrate
your hearts to me and I will lead you. I will teach you to forgive, to
love your enemies and to live according to my Son. Do not be afraid for
yourselves. In afflictions my Son does not forget those who love. I will
be beside you. I will implore the Heavenly Father for the light of
eternal truth and love to illuminate you. Pray for your shepherds so
that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank
you."
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Today's Word: breviary bre·vi·ar·y [bree-vee-er-ee]
Origin: 1540–50; < Latin breviārium an abridgment. See brevi-, -ary
noun, plural bre·vi·ar·ies.
1. Roman Catholic Church . a book containing all the daily psalms, hymns, prayers, lessons, etc., necessary for reciting the office.
2. a book of daily prayers and readings in some other churches.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 103:1-12
1 [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;
2 bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.
3 He forgives all your offences, cures all your diseases,
4 he redeems your life from the abyss, crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
9 his indignation does not last for ever, nor his resentment remain for all time;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us as befits our offences.
11 As the height of heaven above earth, so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him.
12 As the distance of east from west, so far from us does he put our faults.
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Today's Epistle - Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
14 With shepherd's crook lead your
people to pasture, the flock that is your heritage, living confined in a
forest with meadow land all round. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old!
15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, grant us to see wonders!
18 What god can compare with you for pardoning guilt and for overlooking crime? He does not harbour anger for ever, since he delights in showing faithful love.
19 Once more have pity on us, tread down our faults; throw all our sins to the bottom of the sea.
20 Grant Jacob your faithfulness, and Abraham your faithful love, as you swore to our ancestors from the days of long ago.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 15: 1-32
The tax collectors and sinners,
however, were all crowding round to listen to him, and the Pharisees and
scribes complained saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them.' So he told them this parable:
'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
'When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch; so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men." So he left the place and went back to his father.
'While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him. Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found." And they began to celebrate.
'Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound." He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in; but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property -- he and his loose women -- you kill the calf we had been fattening."
'The father said, "My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found." '
Reflection
• Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel is
enclosed in the following information: “The tax collectors and sinners,
were all crowding round to listen to him, and the Pharisees and Scribes
complained saying: This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15,
1-3). Immediately Luke presents these three parables which are bound
together by the same theme: the lost sheep (Lk 15, 4-7), the lost
drachma (Lk 15, 8-10), the lost son (Lk 15, 11-32). This last parable
constitutes the theme of today’s Gospel.
• Luke 15, 11-13: The decision of the younger son. A man had two sons. The younger one asks for the part of the estate which will be his. The father divides everything between the two and both receive their part. To receive the inheritance is not any merit of ours. It is a gratuitous gift. The inheritance of the gifts of God is distributed among all human beings, whether Jewish or Pagans, whether Christians or non Christians . All receive something of the inheritance of the Father. But not all take care of it in the same way. In this same way, the younger son leaves and goes to a distant country and squandered his money on a life of debauchery, getting away from the Father. At the time of Luke, the elder one represented the communities which came from Judaism, and the youngest represented, the communities from Paganism. And today who is the youngest and who the less young?
• Luke 15, 14-19: The disillusionment and the will to return to the Father’s home. The need to find some food makes the young man lose his freedom and he becomes a slave and takes care of the pigs. This was the condition of life of millions of slaves in the Roman Empire at the time of Luke. The situation in which he finds himself makes the young man remember how he was in his Father’s home. Finally, he prepares the words which he will say to his Father: “I no longer deserve to be called your son! Treat me as one of your hired men!” The hired man executes the orders, fulfils the law of servants. The younger son wants to fulfil the law as the Pharisees and the Scribes of the time of Jesus wanted (Lk 15, 1). The missionaries of the Pharisees accused the Pagans who were converted to the God of Abraham (Mt 23, 15). At the time of Luke, some Christians who came from Judaism, submitted themselves to the yoke of the Law (Ga 1, 6-10).
• Luke 15, 20-24: The joy of the Father when he meets his younger son again. The parable says that the younger son was still a long way off from the house, but the Father sees him, and runs to the boy, clasps him in his arms and kissed him. The impression given by Jesus is that the Father remained all the time at the window to see if his son would appear around the corner. According to our human way of thinking and feeling, the joy of the Father seems exaggerated. He does not even allow his son to finish his words, what he was saying. Nobody listens! The Father does not want his son to be his slave. He wants him to be his son! This is the great Good News which Jesus has brought to us! A new robe, new sandals, a ring on his finger, the calf, the feast! In the immense joy of the encounter, Jesus allows us to see how great the sadness of the Father is because of the loss of his son. God was very sad and the people now become aware of this, seeing the immense joy of the Father because of the encounter with his son! It is joy shared with all in the feast that he has prepared.
• Luke 15, 25-28b: The reaction of the older son. The older son returns from his work in the fields and finds that there is a feast in the house. He refuses to enter. He wants to know what is happening. When he is told the reason for the feast, he is very angry and does not want to go in. Closing up in himself, he thinks he has his own right. He does not like the feast and he does not understand the why of his Father’s joy. This is a sign that he did not have a great intimacy with the Father, in spite of the fact that they lived in the same House. In fact, if he would have had it, he would have remarked the sadness of the Father for the loss of his younger son and would have understood his joy when his son returned. Those who live very worried about the observance of the Law of God, run the risk of forgetting God himself! The young son, even being far away from home, seemed to know the Father better than the older son who lived with him. Because the younger one had the courage to go back home to his Father, while the older one no longer wants to enter the house of the Father. He is not aware that the Father without him, will lose his joy. Because he, the older son, is also son as much as the younger one!
• Luke 15, 28a-30: The attitude of the Father and the response of the older son. The Father goes out of the house, and begs the older son to enter into the house. But he answers: “All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property, he and his loose women, you kill the calf we had been fattening”. The older son also wants feast and joy, but only with his own friends. Not with his brother and much less with his Father, and he does not even call brother his own brother, but rather “this your son”, as if he were no longer his brother. And he, the older brother, speaks about prostitutes. It is his malice which makes him interpret the life of his younger brother in this way. How many times the older brother interprets badly the life of the younger brother. How many times, we Catholics interpret badly the life and the religion of others! The attitude of the Father is the contrary! He accepts the younger son, but does not want to lose the older son. Both of them form part of the family. One cannot exclude the other!
• Luke 15, 31-32: The final response of the Father. In the same way, like the Father who does not pay attention to the arguments of the younger son, in the same way he does not pay attention to those of the older son and he says: “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours, but it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found!” Is it that the older son was really aware that he was always with his Father and to find in his presence the reason for his joy? The expression of the Father: “All I have is yours!” includes also the younger son who has returned! The older brother does not have the right to make a distinction, and if he wants to be the son of the Father, he has to accept him as he is and not as he would like the Father to be! The parable does not say which was the final response of the older brother. It is up to the older son, whom we are, to give it!
• The one who experiences the gratuitous and surprising irruption of the love of God in his life becomes joyful and wishes to communicate this joy to others. The salvation action of God is a source of joy: “Rejoice with me!” (Lk 15, 6.9). And from this experience of God’s gratuitousness emerges the sense of feast and joy (Lk 15, 32). At the end of the parable, the Father asks to be happy and to celebrate, to feast. The joy is threatened by the older son, who does not want to enter. He thinks he has the right to joy only with his own friends and does not want to share the joy with all the members of the same human family. He represents those who consider themselves just and observant, and who think that they do not need any conversion.
Personal questions
• Which is the image of God that I have since my childhood? Has it changed during these past years? If it has changed, why?
• With which of the two sons do I identify myself: with the younger one or with the older one? Why?
• With which of the two sons do I identify myself: with the younger one or with the older one? Why?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Agnes of Bohemia
Feast Day: March 2
Patron Saint: Czech Republic
Attributes: none
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| St Agnes of Bohemia |
Agnes was the daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia,[3] making her a descendant of Saint Ludmila and Saint Wenceslaus, patron saints of Bohemia. Agnes' mother was Constance of Hungary, who was the sister of King Andrew II of Hungary, so Agnes was a first cousin to St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
When she was three years old, Agnes was entrusted to the care of another aunt, St. Hedwig of Andechs, the wife of Duke Henry I the Bearded of Silesia.[4] Hedwig placed her to be educated by a community of Cistercian nuns in a monastery which she herself had founded in Trzebnica.[5] Upon her return to Prague, Agnes was entrusted to a priory of Premonstratensian Canonesses to continue her education.
At the age of eight, Agnes was engaged to Henry, son of the Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. Henry was ten years old and had just been crowned as King of the Romans. According to custom, Agnes should have spent her childhood at her future husband's court, so they could develop a friendship, as well as learn the language and culture of her new country. Emperor Frederick, as King of Sicily, had his court in Palermo, while his son Henry, now the German king, was being brought up in Germany at the palace of Archbishop Engelbert in Cologne.
It was decided to send Agnes to the court of Duke Leopold VI of Babenberg. Leopold, however, wanted the young Henry to marry his own daughter, Margaret. Due to these political manoeuvrings, after being betrothed for six years, the wedding of Agnes to Henry was cancelled. Like other noble women of her time, Agnes was a valuable pawn in the marriage game. In 1226 her father Otakar went to war against the Babenbergs as a result of the broken engagement. Otakar then planned for her to marry Henry III of England, but this was vetoed by the Emperor, who himself was interested in marrying Agnes.
Foundress
Agnes refused to play any more part in a politically arranged marriage. She decided to devote her life to prayer and spiritual works, for which she sought the help of Pope Gregory IX. On land donated by her brother, King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, she founded the Hospital of St. Francis (ca. 1232-33)[6] and two friaries for the Franciscan friars, who had just come to Bohemia at her brother's invitation. Through them Agnes learned of Clare of Assisi and her Order of Poor Ladies, the monastic counterpart of the friars. She began a correspondence with the Lady Clare (with whom she corresponded for over two decades but never met in person), which led to Clare's sending five nuns from the monastery in Assisi to Prague to begin a new house of the Order. This was the first Poor Clare community north of the Alps.Agnes built a complex of monastery and friary attached to the hospital. There the Franciscan friars and the Poor Clare nuns who worked at the hospital resided.[4] This religious complex was one of the first Gothic buildings in Prague. In 1235 Agnes gave the property of the Teutonic Knights in Bohemia to the hospital. She herself became a member of the Franciscan Poor Clares in 1236.[7] As a nun, she cooked for and took care of the lepers and paupers personally, even after becoming the Abbess[8] of the Prague Clares the following year. As can be seen in their correspondence, Clare would write with deep maternal feelings toward Agnes, though they never met.[9]
A lay group working at the hospital was organized by Agnes in 1238 as a new military Order, dedicated primarily to nursing, known as the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, following the Rule of St. Augustine. That next year, Agnes handed over all authority over the hospital she had founded to these monastic Knights. They were recognized as an Order by Pope Gregory IX in 1252.
Agnes lived out her life in the enclosure, leading the monastery as abbess, until her death on 2 March 1282.
Legacy
The Monastery of the Holy Savior, renamed the Monastery of St. Agnes, (Czech: Klášter sv. Anežky) began to fall into decline after the Hussite Wars of the 15th century. The community was abolished in 1782. Restored in the 1960s, the monastery is now a branch of the National Gallery in Prague, featuring the medieval Central European and Bohemian collection.[10]Veneration
Agnes was beatified only in 1874. Pope John Paul II canonized Blessed Agnes a few days before the Velvet Revolution, a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the authoritarian Communist government. While she was known by her contemporaries because of her supposed visions and healing, such as her prophecy that King Wenceslaus would be victorious in his battle against the Austrians, her canonization was based on her practice of the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity to an extraordinary degree, and the Church's view is confirmed either through a miracle granted by God in answer to the saint's prayers or, as in this case, by the continuing devotion of the Christian faithful to a Saint's example across centuries.Though Agnes died in 1282, she was still venerated by Christians around the world more than 700 years later. She was honored in 2011, the 800th anniversary of her birth, as the Saint of the Overthrow of Communism,[11] with a year dedicated to her by Catholics in the Czech Republic.
References
- ^ Sarah Gallick (13 March 2007). The big book of women saints. HarperCollins. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-06-082512-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=sjWsJZlJPNsC&pg=PA76. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Agnes". Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Agnes. Brooklyn Museum. 2007. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/agnes_hildegarde_of_bingen_group.php. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
- ^ David Hugh Farmer (23 September 2004). The Oxford dictionary of saints. Oxford University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-19-860949-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=cRjn9aC8zhIC&pg=PT46. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
- ^ from The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm., © 1959 Franciscan Herald Press
- ^ Many sources have stated that Agnes was engaged to their son Boleslav, and that, after his premature death, she was returned to Prague at the age of six. Given the current accepted year of her birth as 1211, this is highly unlikely as the said duke seems to have died by 1208, which would be prior to her birth. The Vatican website giving her biography at the time of her canonization makes no mention of the young duke.
- ^ “Saint Agnes of Prague”. Saints.SQPN.com. 12 May 2012. Web. {2012-9-20}. [1]
- ^ Donovan, Stephen. "St. Agnes of Bohemia." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 20 Sept. 2012 [2]
- ^ “Blessed Agnes of Bohemia”. New Catholic Dictionary. Saints.SQPN.com. 27 July 2012. Web. {2012-9-20}. [3]
- ^ Clare's Letters to Agnes: Texts and Sources. St. Bonaventure, New York: Franciscan Institute Publications. 2001. ISBN 978-1-57659-176-5.
- ^ http://www.ngprague.cz/en/4/sekce/convent-of-st-agnes-of-bohemia/
- ^ Czechs Dedicate Year to Saint Who Felled Communism
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Today's Snippet I: Bohemia
The Bohemian town of Karlovy Vary
Bohemia has an area of 52,065 km² and today is home to approximately 6 million of the Czech Republic's 10.3 million inhabitants. It is bordered by Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, the historical region of Moravia to the east, and Austria to the south. Bohemia's borders are marked with mountain ranges such as the Bohemian Forest, the Ore Mountains, and the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains), the highest within the Sudeten mountain range.
Etymology
In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, with various peoples including the Boii. The Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia (194 BC) and the Battle of Mutina (193 BC). After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps.[4]Roman authors refer to the area they invaded as Boihaemum, the earliest mention[4] being in Tacitus' Germania 28[5] (written at the end of the 1st century AD). The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *xaim- "home" (whence Gothic haims, German Heim, English home). This Boihaemum included parts of southern Bohemia as well as parts of Bavaria (whose name also seems to derive from the tribal name Boii) and Austria. The Czech name "Čechy" is derived from the name of the Slavic tribe of Czechs who settled in the area during the 6th or 7th century.
History
Ancient Bohemia
In the late 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe, after defeat at Roman hands, fled north across the Alps from northern Italy into an area called Boihaemum by the Romans, which included the southern part of present-day Bohemia.The western half was conquered and settled from the 1st century BC by Germanic (probably Suebic) peoples including the Marcomanni; the elite of some Boii then migrated west to modern Switzerland and southeastern Gaul. Those Boii that remained in the eastern part were eventually absorbed by the Marcomanni. Part of the Marcomanni, renamed the Bavarians (Baiuvarii), later migrated to the southwest. Although the leading tribes changed, there was a large degree of continuity in the actual population, and at no time was there a wholesale depopulation or change in ethnic stock.
After the Bavarian emigration, Bohemia was partially repopulated around the 6th century, as part of the territory often crossed during the Migration Period by Germanic and major Slavic tribes, precursors of today's Czechs, though the exact amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves. The first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia (c. 568 AD). Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samo's tribal confederation. His death marked the end of the old "Slavonic" confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia.
Other sources (Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii, Bavaria, 800–850) divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare (Bohemani) and Fraganeo. (The suffix -ani or -ni means "people of-"). The great tribes of Dudleb, Lemuz and Charvat are missing from this list, which shows a linguistic and cultural shift from Sarmatian in favor of Slavonic dialects, a common occurrence in nomadic immigrations. Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century.
The 9th century was crucial for the future of Bohemia. The manorial system sharply declined, as it did in Bavaria. The influence of the central Fraganeo-Czechs grew, as a result of the important cultic centre in their territory. They were Slavic-speaking and thus contributed to the transformation of diverse neighbouring populations into a new nation named and led by them with a united slavic ethnic consciousness.[6]
Přemysl dynasty
The Přemyslids secured their frontiers from the remnant Asian interlocurs, after the collapse of the Moravian state, by entering into a state of semi-vassalage to the Frankish rulers. This alliance was facilitated by Bohemia's conversion to Christianity, in the 9th century. Continuing close relations were developed with the East Frankish kingdom, which devolved from the Carolingian Empire, into East Francia, eventually becoming the Holy Roman Empire.
After a decisive victory of the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia over invading Magyars in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld, Boleslaus I of Bohemia was granted the March of Moravia by German emperor Otto the Great. Bohemia would remain a largely autonomous state under the Holy Roman Empire for several decades. The jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire was definitively reasserted when Jaromír of Bohemia was granted fief of the Kingdom of Bohemia by Emperor King Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire, with the promise that he hold it as a vassal once he re-occupied Prague with a German army in 1004, ending the rule of Boleslaw I of Poland.
The first to use the title of "King of Bohemia" were the Přemyslid dukes Vratislav II (1085) and Vladislav II (1158), but their heirs would return to the title of duke. The title of king became hereditary under Ottokar I (1198). His grandson Ottokar II (king from 1253–1278) conquered a short-lived empire which contained modern Austria and Slovenia. The mid-13th century saw the beginning of substantial German immigration as the court sought to replace losses from the brief Mongol invasion of Europe in 1241. Germans settled primarily along the northern, western, and southern borders of Bohemia, although many lived in towns throughout the kingdom.
Luxembourg dynasty
The House of Luxembourg accepted the invitation to the Bohemian throne with the marriage to the Premsylid heiress, Elizabeth and the crowning subsequent of John I of Bohemia in 1310. His son, Charles IV became King of Bohemia in 1346. He founded Charles University in Prague, central Europe's first university, two years later. His reign brought Bohemia to its peak both politically and in total area, resulting in his being the first King of Bohemia to also be elected as Holy Roman Emperor. Under his rule the Bohemian crown controlled such diverse lands as Moravia, Silesia, Upper Lusatia and Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, an area around Nuremberg called New Bohemia, Luxembourg, and several small towns scattered around Germany.Hussite Bohemia
During the ecumenical Council of Constance in 1415, Jan Hus, the rector of Charles University and a prominent reformer and religious thinker, was sentenced to be burnt at the stake as a heretic. The verdict was passed despite the fact that Hus was granted formal protection by Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg prior to the journey. Hus was invited to attend the council to defend himself and the Czech positions in the religious court, but with the emperor's approval, he was executed on 6 July 1415. The execution of Hus, as well as five consecutive papal crusades against followers of Hus, forced the Bohemians to defend themselves. Their defense and rebellion against Roman Catholics became known as the Hussite Wars.The uprising against imperial forces was led by a former mercenary, Jan Žižka of Trocnov. As the leader of the Hussite armies, he used innovative tactics and weapons, such as howitzers, pistols, and fortified wagons, which were revolutionary for the time, and established Žižka as a great general who never lost a battle.
After Žižka's death, Prokop the Great took over the command for the army, and under his lead the Hussites were victorious for another ten years, to the sheer terror of Europe. The Hussite cause gradually splintered into two main factions, the moderate Utraquists and the more fanatic Taborites. The Utraquists began to lay the groundwork for an agreement with the Catholic Church and found the more radical views of the Taborites distasteful. Additionally, with general war weariness and yearning for order, the Utraquists were able to eventually defeat the Taborites in the Battle of Lipany in 1434. Sigismund said after the battle that "only the Bohemians could defeat the Bohemians."
Despite an apparent victory for the Catholics, the Bohemian Utraquists were still strong enough to negotiate freedom of religion in 1436. This happened in the so-called Basel Compacts, declaring peace and freedom between Catholics and Utraquists. It would only last for a short period of time, as Pope Pius II declared the Basel Compacts to be invalid in 1462.
In 1458, George of Podebrady was elected to ascend to the Bohemian throne. He is remembered for his attempt to set up a pan-European "Christian League", which would form all the states of Europe into a community based on religion. In the process of negotiating, he appointed Leo of Rozmital to tour the European courts and to conduct the talks. However, the negotiations were not completed, because George's position was substantially damaged over time by his deteriorating relationship with the Pope.
Habsburg Monarchy
Bohemia enjoyed religious freedom between 1436 and 1620, and became one of the most liberal countries of the Christian world during that period. In 1609, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II who made Prague again the capital of the Empire at the time, himself a Roman Catholic, was moved by the Bohemian nobility to publish Maiestas Rudolphina, which confirmed the older Confessio Bohemica of 1575.
After Emperor Ferdinand II began oppressing the rights of Protestants in Bohemia, the resulting Bohemian Revolt led to outbreak of the Thirty Years' War in 1618. Elector Frederick V of the Electorate of the Palatinate, a Protestant, was elected by the Bohemian nobility to replace Ferdinand on the Bohemian throne, and was known as the Winter King. Frederick's wife, the popular Elizabeth Stuart and subsequently Elizabeth of Bohemia, known as the Winter Queen or Queen of Hearts, was the daughter of King James I of England. However, after Frederick's defeat in the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, 27 Bohemian estates leaders together with Jan Jesenius, rector of the Charles University of Prague were executed on the Prague's Old Town Square on 21 June 1621 and the rest were exiled from the country; their lands were then given to Catholic loyalists (mostly of Bavarian and Saxon origin), this ended the pro-reformation movement in Bohemia and also ended the role of Prague as ruling city of the Holy Roman Empire.
Until the so-called "renewed constitution" of 1627, the German language was established as a second official language in the Czech lands. The Czech language remained the first language in the kingdom. Both German and Latin were widely spoken among the ruling classes, although German became increasingly dominant, while Czech was spoken in much of the countryside.
The formal independence of Bohemia was further jeopardized when the Bohemian Diet approved administrative reform in 1749. It included the indivisibility of the Habsburg Empire and the centralization of rule; this essentially meant the merging of the Royal Bohemian Chancellery with the Austrian Chancellery.
At the end of the 18th century, the Czech National Revival movement, in cooperation with part of the Bohemian aristocracy, started a campaign for restoration of the kingdom's historic rights, whereby the Czech language was to replace German as the language of administration. The enlightened absolutism of Joseph II and Leopold II, who introduced minor language concessions, showed promise for the Czech movement, but many of these reforms were later rescinded. During the Revolution of 1848, many Czech nationalists called for autonomy for Bohemia from Habsburg Austria, but the revolutionaries were defeated. The old Bohemian Diet, one of the last remnants of the independence, was dissolved, although the Czech language experienced a rebirth as romantic nationalism developed among the Czechs.
In 1861, a new elected Bohemian Diet was established. The renewal of the old Bohemian Crown (Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia, and Duchy of Silesia) became the official political program of both Czech liberal politicians and the majority of Bohemian aristocracy ("state rights program"), while parties representing the German minority and small part of the aristocracy proclaimed their loyalty to the centralistic Constitution (so-called "Verfassungstreue"). After the defeat of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, Hungarian politicians achieved the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, ostensibly creating equality between the Austrian and Hungarian halves of the empire. An attempt by the Czechs to create a tripartite monarchy (Austria-Hungary-Bohemia) failed in 1871. However, the "state rights program" remained the official platform of all Czech political parties (except for social democrats) until 1918.
Twentieth century
Following the Munich Agreement in 1938, the border regions of Bohemia historically inhabited predominantly by ethnic Germans (the Sudetenland) were annexed to Nazi Germany; this was the only time in Bohemian history that its territory was politically divided. The remnants of Bohemia and Moravia were then annexed by Germany in 1939, while the Slovak lands became the separate Slovak Republic, a puppet state of Nazi Germany. From 1939 to 1945 Bohemia, (without the Sudetenland), together with Moravia formed the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Reichsprotektorat Böhmen und Mähren). Any open opposition to German occupation was brutally suppressed by the Nazi authorities and many Czech patriots were executed as a result. After World War II ended in 1945, the vast majority of remaining Germans were expelled by force by the order of the re-established Czechoslovak central government, based on the Potsdam Agreement, and their property was confiscated by the Czech authorities. This severely depopulated the area and from this moment on locales were only referred to in their Czech equivalents regardless of their previous demographic makeup. In 1946, per the Potsdam Agreement, and under the stipulation that it be placed "under Polish administration" the post war Communist Party backed by the Soviet Union re-established Czechoslovakia. The Party won the most votes in free elections but not a simple majority. Klement Gottwald, the communist leader, became Prime Minister of a coalition government. In February 1948 the non-communist members of the government resigned in protest against arbitrary measures by the communists and their Soviet protectors in many of the state's institutions. Gottwald and the communists responded with a coup d'état and installed a pro-Soviet authoritarian state.
Beginning in 1949, Bohemia ceased to be an administrative unit of Czechoslovakia, as the country was divided into administrative regions. Between 1949 and 1989 Czechoslovakia (from 1960 officially called Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic) became a Soviet satellite even though there was not a Soviet army present until 1968 (interestingly enough, surrounding countries including Eastern Austria were occupied by the Red Army) when Czechoslovak Communist Party started to reform and democratize itself. This "Prague Spring" process was stopped abruptly by an invasion of 'brotherly' armies of Warsaw Pact in August 1968. "Temporary stationing" of Soviet army following the invasion ended in 1991. In 1989, Agnes of Bohemia became the first saint from a Central European country to be canonized by Pope John Paul II before the "Velvet Revolution" later that year. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 (the "Velvet Divorce"), the territory of Bohemia became part of the new Czech Republic.
The Czech constitution from 1992 refers to the "citizens of the Czech Republic in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia" and proclaims continuity with the statehood of the Bohemian Crown. Bohemia is not currently an administrative unit of the Czech Republic. Instead, it is divided into the Prague, Central Bohemia, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, and Hradec Králové Regions, as well as parts of the Pardubice, Vysočina, South Bohemian and South Moravian Regions.
References
- ^ There is no distinction in the Czech language between adjectives referring to Bohemia and to the Czech Republic; i.e. český means both Bohemian and Czech.
- ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05
- ^ "Bohemia". Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ a b Collis, John. The Celts: Origins, Myth and Inventions. Tempus Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7524-2913-2
- ^ http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/tacitus/tac.ger.shtml#28
- ^ Petr Charvát: "Zrod Českého státu" [Origin of the Bohemian State], March 2007, ISBN 80-7021-845-2, in Czech
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Today's Snippet II: Knights of the Cross with the Red Star
The Knights of the Cross with the Red Star or Military Order of the Crusaders of the Red Star[1] (Czech: Křižovnický řád rytířů s červenou hvězdou; German: Kreuzherren mit dem Roten Stern; Latin: Ordo
Militaris Crucigerorum cum Rubea Stella, Canonici Regulares
Sanctissimae Crucis a stella rubea, Crucigeri cum rubea stella,
Crucigeri stellati, Stelliferi) is a religious Order originating from Bohemia,
devoted mainly to offering medical care. Its members use the
postnominal initials of O.M.C.R.S. Throughout its history it was
accustomed to the use of arms, a custom which was confirmed in 1292 by
an ambassador of Pope Nicholas IV. The grand master is still invested with a sword at his induction into office, and the congregation has been recognized as a military order by Popes Clement X and Innocent XII, as well as by several Holy Roman Emperors.
Origin
There is some discussion as to the real beginnings of this Order. Some authorities, among others the Bollandists, tracing it back to Palestine, where the first members were supposed to have borne arms against the Saracens.
On the other hand, however, is the contemporary custom of establishing a
religious community at the time of the foundation of a hospital, as
well as the fact that in no document is there any trace of the
Palestinian Crusaders having gone to Bohemia. Moreover, in a parchment Breviary of the Order, dated 1356, the account of foundation contains no allusion to such a lineage.
The Order, as a distinct entity, can trace its origin to 1233 in a fraternity of Franciscan tertiaries attached to a hospital at Prague under a community of Poor Clares, established by St. Agnes of Bohemia,
making it the only male religious Order founded by a woman and the only
Bohemian-founded Order. It was inspired by the nursing military Orders,
such as the Knights Hospitaller.[2] In 1235 the hospital was richly endowed by Agnes, then still Queen of Bohemia, with property formerly belonging to the Teutonic Knights, a gift confirmed by Pope Gregory IX (18 May 1236), who stipulated that the revenues should be divided with the Poor Clare monastery.
After three years, during which the head of the Order had gone to Rome as the accredited representative of Agnes, now abbess of the monastery, and the Knights had been formally constituted as an Order under the Rule of St. Augustine by Pope Gregory in 1238, Agnes resigned all jurisdiction over the hospital and its possessions into the hands of the Holy See
the next year. Twelve days later the pope formally assigned these to
the recently confirmed Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, who were
to hold them forever in fief to the Holy See, on condition of the yearly
payment of a nominal sum.
Development
Another hospital was built for the Order at the Charles Bridge by Agnes, which was taken as the motherhouse, and to the title of the Order was added in latere (pede) pontis (Pragenis) ("at the foot of the Prague Bridge"). She also petitioned the Holy See for some mark to distinguish these knights from other military Orders, with whom they bore in common the red Crusader Cross.
To this was added by Bishop Nicholas of Prague, on the authorization of
the pope, a red six-pointed star (10 October 1250), probably from the
arms of the first Master General, Albrecht von Sternberg.
The Order, which by 1253 had extensive possessions in Bohemia, soon spread to neighbouring lands. The Wrocław
house in particular was the centre of many other foundations. It is
Bohemia, in an especial manner, to which the knights have rendered
incalculable services. Their success in hospital work is evidenced by
the rapidity with which their houses multiplied, and the frequent
testimony borne to it in documents of kings and emperors.
Within two decades after their foundation the care of souls had
become as important as their hospital work, so quickly had the majority
of lay brothers
been replaced by priests. Numerous churches were entrusted to them in
all parts of Bohemia, particularly in the western parts, where they
formed a bulwark for Roman Catholic dogma against the spread of the teachings of Jan Hus in that region. In the Hussite Wars, the Taborites killed the pastor of St. Stephen's at Prague, and the Hussites
destroyed the motherhouse. This brought the Order almost to the point
of dissolution, but it recovered sufficiently to offer strenuous
resistance to the advance of the teachings of the Protestant Reformation .
In the war with Sweden the members of the Order justified their claim to the title of knights during the siege of Cheb,
fighting side by side with the townspeople, and sharing with them their
last crust. Their hospital at Prague was also the first refuge of other
Orders who came to work for souls in Bohemia, among them the Jesuits (1555) and Capuchins (1599).
For almost a hundred and fifty years the Archbishop of Prague
held the post of Grand Master and were supported almost entirely by the
revenues of the Order. Only on the restoration of the possessions of
the archdiocese
at the end of the 17th century was the Grand Master again elected from
among the members, and a general reform instituted. George Ignatius
Paspichal (1694–99), the first Grand Master under the new regime, showed
great zeal for the restoration of the primitive ideals, especially that
of charity. Even to the present day the Prague monastery supports
twelve pensioners and distributes the so-called "hospital portion" to
forty poor people.
Many knights have won enviable reputations in the world of learning,
among others Mikuláš Kozař of Kozařov (died 1592), a celebrated
mathematician and astronomer; Jan František Beckovský (1658–1725), who established at Prague an herbarium which is still in existence.
In the 1910s, besides the motherhouse at Prague, there were about 26
incorporated parishes, and 85 professed members, several of whom are
engaged in gymnasia and the University of Prague. There were benefices at Hradiště (now part of Znojmo), Vienna (where the Order has been established since the 13th century and still remains in possession of the Kreuzherren Palais[3]), Cheb, Most and other towns, especially in western Bohemia. The Castle of Dobřichovice, near Prague, served as the summer residence of the Grand Master.
After the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948, the suppression of all Catholic religious orders (including the Knights) began. During the secret police-backed
“Akce K” (Action K), all men´s monasteries were closed, property was
confiscated and members of the religious Orders were confined. They were
tried in kangaroo courts, and, in 1950, 5 of 53 Knights were sentenced to multiple years in prison (36 years altogether).[4] In 1990, after the Velvet Revolution, the Order's headquarters moved back into the monastery next to Prague's Charles Bridge.
References
- ^ Michael Walsh (2003), Warriors of the Lord: The Military Orders of Christendom (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 0-8028-2109-X.), 194.
- ^ "The influence of the Order: Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star". Blessed Gérard Tonque and his "everlasting brotherhood": The Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- ^ Article on the Kreuzherren Palais in Vienna
- ^ Pronásledování římskokatolické církve v Československu 1948 – 1960: Mužské řeholní řády a kongregace
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Knights of the Cross". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 3:3
CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
III. God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the
Promises
702
From the beginning until "the fullness of time," Gal 4:4 The joint
mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work.
God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed
but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation.
So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches
there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets,"
wants to tell us about Christ.2 Cor 3:14
By "prophets" the faith of the Church here understands all
whom the Holy Spirit inspired in the composition of the sacred books, both of
the Old and the New Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law
(the five first books or Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and
prophetic books) and finally the Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in
particular the Psalms).Lk 24:44
In creation
703
The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every
creature:Pss 33:6 It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation,
for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son.... Power over life
pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father
through the Son.Byzantine
liturgy, Sundays of the second mode, Troparion of Morning Prayer
704
"God fashioned man with his own hands [that is, the Son and the Holy
Spirit] and impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way
that even what was visible might bear the divine form."St. Irenaeus,
Dem ap. 11: SCh 62, 48-49
The Spirit
of the promise
705
Disfigured by sin and death, man remains "in the image of God," in
the image of the Son, but is deprived "of the glory of
God,"Rom 3:23 of his "likeness." the promise made to Abraham
inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of which the Son
himself will assume that "image"Jn 1:14 and restore it in the
Father's "likeness" by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is
"the giver of life."
706
Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of
faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit.Gen 18:1-15 In Abraham's progeny all
the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ
himself,Gen 12:3 in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather
into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."Cf. In 11:52 God
commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and "the
promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it." Eph 1:13-14
In
Theophanies and the Law
707
Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the
patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the
missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that
God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which
the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.
708
This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law.Ex 19 God
gave the letter of the Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people
towards Christ.Gal 3:24 But the Law's powerlessness to save man deprived of
the divine "likeness," along with the growing awareness of sin that
it imparts,Rom 3:20 enkindles a desire for the Holy Spirit. the lamentations
of the Psalms bear witness to this.
In the
Kingdom and the Exile
709
The Law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the
hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth.
"If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."Ex 19:5-6 But after David, Israel
gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. the
Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David,2 Sam 7 would be
the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according to the
Spirit.
710
The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is
the Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact the
mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the beginning of a promised
restoration, but according to the Spirit. the People of God had to suffer this
purification.Lk 24:26 In God's plan, the Exile already stands in the shadow
of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the Exile is one of
the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.
Expectation
of the Messiah and his Spirit
711
"Behold, I am doing a new thing."Isa 43:19 Two prophetic lines were
to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing
to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the
people of the poor, who await in hope the "consolation of Israel" and
"the redemption of Jerusalem."Zeph 2:3 We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning
himself. We limit ourselves here to those in which the relationship of the
Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.
712
The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of
Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," Jn 12:41
speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11: Isa 11:1-2
There shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of
his roots.
and the Spirit of the LORD
shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and
understanding,
the spirit of counsel and
might,
the spirit of knowledge and
the fear of the LORD.
713
The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant
songs."Isa 42:1-9 These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and
show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an
outsider, but by embracing our "form as slave."Phil 2:7 Taking our
death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
714
This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his
own the following passage from Isaiah:Isa 61:1-2
The Spirit of the LORD God is
upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the
afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim
the year of the LORD'S favor.
715
The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are
oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the
promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity."Ezek 11:19 St. Peter
will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost.Acts
2:17-21
According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will
renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile
the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and
God will dwell there with men in peace.
716
The People of the "poor"Zeph 2:3 - those who, humble and meek, rely
solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but
of the Messiah - are in the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's
hidden mission during the time of the promises that prepare for Christ's
coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit,
which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready
"a people prepared for the Lord."Lk 1:17
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