Piety; Reading 1, Second Samuel 7:1-5, 8-11, 16, Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29, Reading 2, Romans 16:25-27
Gospel, Luke 1:26-38; Pope Francis Christmas Eve Message; Inspirational Hymns - Gregorian Chants; Our Lady of Medjugorje Message; Feast Day of Nativity ; The History of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; History of Advent; Traditions of Advent; Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary; Acts of Reparation (Morning Offering, First Friday and First Saturday Devotions); Mystical City of God - Book 4 Chapter 3 The Journey to Bethlehem and Book 4 Chapter 4 the Birth of Jesus; Catholic Catechism - Part Four - The Christian Prayer - Section One - Prayer in the Christian Life - Chapter 4 The Lords of Prayer - Article 1 The Gospel as a Whole; RECHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
From our family to yours: On this most solemn and joyous celebration of this most holiest night of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May all of heaven grace you and your family with an abundance of blessings, today, this most holy Christmas, and throughout 2018. ~ Zarya Parx 2018
Consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ Zarya Parx 2017
JESUS I TRUST IN YOU (Year of Mercy). "Always Trust in Jesus, He the beacon of light amongst the darkest clouds" ~ Zarya Parx 2016
"Where There is a Will, With God, There is a Way", "There is always a ray of sunshine amongst the darkest Clouds, the name of that ray is Jesus" ~ Zarya Parx 2014
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, reason and free will, make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in Heaven. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and 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 the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Liturgical Cycle: A - Gospel of Matthew - 4th Sunday in Advent
Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I
offer You the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of
this day, for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, and
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.
Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I
offer You the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of
this day, for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, and
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.
Daily Rosary
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
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Inspirational Hymns
Illumination: Peaceful Gregorian Chants
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Our Lady of Medjugorje Monthly Messages
December 2, 2017 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
Dear children, I turn to you as your mother, the mother of the just, the mother of those who love and suffer, the mother of those who are holy. My children, you too can be holy - this depends on you. Those who are holy are those who immeasurably love the Heavenly Father, those who love Him above all. Therefore, my children, always strive to be better. If you strive to be good you can be holy even though you may not think so of yourselves. If you think that you are good, you are not humble, and arrogance distances you from holiness. In this peaceless world full of threats, your hands, apostles of my love, should be extended in prayer and mercy.
And to me, my children, give the gift of the rosary, the roses which I love so much. My roses are your prayers pronounced with the heart and not only recited with the lips. My roses are your acts of prayer, faith and love. When my Son was little, he said to me that my children would be numerous and that they would bring me many roses. I did not comprehend Him. Now I know that you are those children who are bringing me roses when, above all, you love my Son, when you pray with the heart, when you help the poorest.
Those are my roses. That is the faith which makes everything in life be done through love, not knowing arrogance, and always ready to forgive; never judging, always striving to understand one’s brother. Therefore, apostles of my love, pray for those who do not know how to love, for those who do not love you, for those who have done evil to you, for those who have not come to know the love of my Son. My children, I ask this of you because, remember, to pray means to love and to forgive.
Thank you. ~ Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of Medjugorje
November 25, 2017 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
“Dear children! In this time of grace, I call you to prayer. Pray and seek peace, little children. He who came here on earth to give you His peace, regardless of who you are and what you are – He, my Son, your Brother – through me is calling you to conversion, because without God you do not have a future or eternal life. Therefore, believe, pray, live in grace, and for the expectation of your personal meeting with Him. Thank you for having responded to my call.” ~ Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of Medjugorje
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis's Christmas Eve Angelus
(Vatican Radio)
Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
On this Sunday that immediately precedes Christmas, we hear the Gospel of the Annunciation (cfr. Lk 1,26-38).
In this Gospel passage, we can note a contrast between the promises of the Angel and the response of Mary. Such a contrast is manifested in the dimension and in the content of the two protagonists. The Angel says to Mary: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 30-33). It is a long revelation, which opens unheard prospectives. The Child that will be born of this humble girl from Nazareth will be called the Son of the Most High: it is not possible to conceive a higher dignity than this. And after Mary’s question, with which she requests explanations, the revelation of the Angel becomes even more detailed and surprising.
On the other hand, the response of Mary is a short phrase, that does not speak of glory or of privilege, but only of availability and of service: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to your word” (v. 38). Even the content is different. Mary is not exalted in the face of the prospective of becoming even the mother of the Messiah, but remains modest and expresses her adherence to the project of the Lord.
This contrast is significant. It makes us understand that Mary is truly humble and doesn’t seek to show off. She recognizes that she is small in the presence of God, and is content to be so. At the same time, she is aware that the realization of God’s project depends upon her response, and so she is called to adhere to it with her whole being.
In these circumstances, Mary is shown to have an attitude that corresponds perfectly to that of the Son of God when He comes into the world: He wills to become the Servant of the Lord, placing Himself at the service of humanity to fulfil the project of the Father. Mary says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord”; and the Son of God, entering into the world, says, “Behold, I come […] to do your will, O God” (Heb 10,7.9). The attitude of Mary fully reflects this declaration of the Son of God, who becomes Mary’s Son as well. So the Madonna is revealed as the perfect collaborator of God’s project; and in the Magnificat is able to proclaim that “God has lifted up the humble” (Lk 1,52), because with this, her humble and generous response, she has received a most high glory.
While we admire our Mother for her response to the call and mission of God, let us ask her to help each of us to welcome the project of God in our life with sincere humility and courageous generosity.
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
As we prayerfully await the birth of the Prince of Peace, let us invoke the gift of peace for the world, especially for those peoples who are suffering because of ongoing conflict. As we celebrate Holy Christmas, I especially renew my appeal so that persons who have been abducted – priests, religious men and women and lay persons – be released so they may return to their homes.
I wish to assure my prayers to the population of Mindanao Island in the Philippines, which has been struck by a storm that has caused numerous victims and much destruction. May the merciful Lord receive the souls of the dead and comfort those who are suffering for this disaster.
With affection, I greet all of you, believers from Rome and pilgrims from various nations, families, parish groups and associations.
In these hours that lead us to Christmas, I invite you to find a few moments to stop in silence and prayer before the crib, in order to truly worship the mystery of Christmas: that of Jesus who is coming to us with love, humility and tenderness.
In those moments remember also to pray for me. Thank you!
Have a good Sunday and a Happy Christmas!
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2017 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed - 11/26/2017
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Today's Word - piety [payh-i-tee]
Origin: 1275-1325; Middle English piete < Middle French < Latin pietās, equivalent to pi(us) + -etās, variant (after i) of -itās; see pious,
noun
1. reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations: a prayer full of piety.
2. the quality or state of being pious: saintly piety.
3. dutiful respect or regard for parents, homeland, etc.: filial piety.
4.a pious act, remark, belief, or the like: the pieties and sacrifices of an austere life.
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Today's Reading 1 - Second Samuel 7:1-5, 8-11, 16
1 Once the king had settled into his palace and Yahweh had granted him rest from all the enemies surrounding him,2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, 'Look, I am living in a cedar-wood palace, while the ark of God is under awnings.'
3 Nathan said to the king, 'Go and do whatever you have in mind, for Yahweh is with you.'
4 But that very night, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan:
5 'Go and tell my servant David, "Yahweh says this: Are you to build me a temple for me to live in?
8 This is what you must say to my servant David, "Yahweh Sabaoth says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel;
9 I have been with you wherever you went; I have got rid of all your enemies for you. I am going to make your fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth.
10 I am going to provide a place for my people Israel; I shall plant them there, and there they will live and never be disturbed again; nor will they be oppressed by the wicked any more, as they were in former times
11 ever since the time when I instituted judges to govern my people Israel; and I shall grant you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh furthermore tells you that he will make you a dynasty.
16 Your dynasty and your sovereignty will ever stand firm before me and your throne be for ever secure."
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Today's Psalms - Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
2 for you have said: love is built to last for ever, you have fixed your constancy firm in the heavens.3 'I have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:
4 I have made your dynasty firm for ever, built your throne stable age after age.
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh, your constancy in the gathering of your faithful.
27 So I shall make him my first-born, the highest of earthly kings.
29 I have established his dynasty for ever, his throne to be as lasting as the heavens.
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Today's Reading 2 - Romans 16:25-27
25 And now to him who can make you strong in accordance with the gospel that I preach and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, in accordance with that mystery which for endless ages was kept secret26 but now (as the prophets wrote) is revealed, as the eternal God commanded, to be made known to all the nations, so that they obey in faith:
27 to him, the only wise God, give glory through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 1: 26-38
Opening prayer
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
1. LECTIO
a) The text: Luke 1,26-38
26
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in
Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 He went in
and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favour! The Lord is with
you.' 29 She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what
this greeting could mean, 30 but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not
be afraid; you have won God's favour. 31 Look! You are to conceive in
your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. 32 He will be
great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his ancestor David; 33 he will rule over the House of
Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' 34 Mary said to the
angel, 'But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?'
35 The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child
will be holy and will be called Son of God. 36 And I tell you this
too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son,
and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, 37 for
nothing is impossible to God.' 38 Mary said, 'You see before you the
Lord's servant, let it happen to me as you have said.' And the angel
left her.
b) A moment of silence:
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
2. MEDITATIO
a) Some questions:
- In the sixth month: do my eyes see the angels whom God sends to visit me?
- Do not be afraid: do our worries arise from our fears and anxieties or do they come from our perception of some mystery hanging over us and involving us personally?
- Nothing is impossible to God: Generating is the work of God; accepting is the task of humanity. Do I make possible in my life the concept of a life that comes from the Spirit of God?
- Do not be afraid: do our worries arise from our fears and anxieties or do they come from our perception of some mystery hanging over us and involving us personally?
- Nothing is impossible to God: Generating is the work of God; accepting is the task of humanity. Do I make possible in my life the concept of a life that comes from the Spirit of God?
b) A key to the reading:
v. 26-27. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
In the sixth month: This is a precise moment for those who have read the previous page of the Gospel, the meeting of the angel Gabriel with Zachary in the temple. But for Mary, unbeknownst to her, this sixth month is her “today”. As it was for her so it is for us, there is a unique today, the time of invitation to enter into the project planned for us. But this today is not an isolated time, it is connected to the times of others, each unique and unrepeatable, a today to be set alongside the other todays until such time as the Word of God is fulfilled. The way of grace is very linear. The subject is God. The term of reference: a virgin. The intermediary: the angel Gabriel. Everything is named: the city is called Nazareth; the virgin: Mary; the man to whom she is betrothed: Joseph. Everything has a precise historical setting. The sixth month is that of Elisabeth’s pregnancy. The virgin is the betrothed bride. Joseph is of the House of David. God does not come haphazardly, he comes within the parameters already in existence, those human, drawn by people who have names.
In the sixth month: This is a precise moment for those who have read the previous page of the Gospel, the meeting of the angel Gabriel with Zachary in the temple. But for Mary, unbeknownst to her, this sixth month is her “today”. As it was for her so it is for us, there is a unique today, the time of invitation to enter into the project planned for us. But this today is not an isolated time, it is connected to the times of others, each unique and unrepeatable, a today to be set alongside the other todays until such time as the Word of God is fulfilled. The way of grace is very linear. The subject is God. The term of reference: a virgin. The intermediary: the angel Gabriel. Everything is named: the city is called Nazareth; the virgin: Mary; the man to whom she is betrothed: Joseph. Everything has a precise historical setting. The sixth month is that of Elisabeth’s pregnancy. The virgin is the betrothed bride. Joseph is of the House of David. God does not come haphazardly, he comes within the parameters already in existence, those human, drawn by people who have names.
v. 28. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you’.
The words of the Gospel, ‘He went in’, may be understood in two ways: he went into her house or he went into to her being. So, did Mary see the angel or not? She saw him and heard him. This is true since all that was said will be accomplished. With which eyes did she see him? The physical eyes or the spiritual ones? The mystery of a person’s encounter with God cannot be explained. It happens and that’s all. It is an encounter that leaves a sign, and herein lies the greatness of the event. She who is full of grace has only the eyes of the spirit, thus for her there is only one way of seeing, spiritually, that transparent look of the pure heart that can look upon God and not die.
The words of the Gospel, ‘He went in’, may be understood in two ways: he went into her house or he went into to her being. So, did Mary see the angel or not? She saw him and heard him. This is true since all that was said will be accomplished. With which eyes did she see him? The physical eyes or the spiritual ones? The mystery of a person’s encounter with God cannot be explained. It happens and that’s all. It is an encounter that leaves a sign, and herein lies the greatness of the event. She who is full of grace has only the eyes of the spirit, thus for her there is only one way of seeing, spiritually, that transparent look of the pure heart that can look upon God and not die.
v. 29. She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean.
Mary being disturbed is quite legitimate. The way she sees herself, even though she is full of grace, does not allow her to distance herself from others, and so she is not aware of being full of grace, for her it is natural to be what she is, faithful to doing good always and everywhere, faithful to that interior attraction that raises her on high.
Mary being disturbed is quite legitimate. The way she sees herself, even though she is full of grace, does not allow her to distance herself from others, and so she is not aware of being full of grace, for her it is natural to be what she is, faithful to doing good always and everywhere, faithful to that interior attraction that raises her on high.
v. 30. The angel said to her: “Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour.
Mary’s fear is the amazement of all little ones who are surprised at being the object of attention from someone important. And if this someone is God, how great then is that fear? So great that one feels one’s utter smallness and that one has everything from the free gift of love.
Mary’s fear is the amazement of all little ones who are surprised at being the object of attention from someone important. And if this someone is God, how great then is that fear? So great that one feels one’s utter smallness and that one has everything from the free gift of love.
v. 31. You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.
The divine plan is revealed: to conceive and bring to light and to name him. The Saviour is already there, in the words of the angel. How wonderful! Centuries and centuries of waiting are fulfilled in these two syllables: Jesus.
The divine plan is revealed: to conceive and bring to light and to name him. The Saviour is already there, in the words of the angel. How wonderful! Centuries and centuries of waiting are fulfilled in these two syllables: Jesus.
v. 32-33. He
will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
god will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over
the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.
When the Lord approaches a person to call that person to take participate in his thoughts of redemption, he does so completely. What remains still obscure is the manner of the human cooperation, because the person remains free to concretise the fulfilment of God’s thought. The point of departure is: an “unforeseen” son. The destination is: the Son of the Most High, who will sit on the throne of David and will reign forever. The means for accomplishing this is your person. Now it is up to you to become the protagonist.
When the Lord approaches a person to call that person to take participate in his thoughts of redemption, he does so completely. What remains still obscure is the manner of the human cooperation, because the person remains free to concretise the fulfilment of God’s thought. The point of departure is: an “unforeseen” son. The destination is: the Son of the Most High, who will sit on the throne of David and will reign forever. The means for accomplishing this is your person. Now it is up to you to become the protagonist.
v. 34. Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’
Mary asks of the angel the how of the fulfilment of the will of God. She does not doubt God, she knows that the Word pronounced by God is always possible. The how is what concerns her, what she is being called to be. She is certain that her desire and intention of not “knowing man” will continue, because God does not cancel the plans of his children, drawn up by their most authentic desires. She knows that her plan will fit into the plan just heard. But she does not know how it will happen. And so she simply asks to do exactly what has been asked of her.
Mary asks of the angel the how of the fulfilment of the will of God. She does not doubt God, she knows that the Word pronounced by God is always possible. The how is what concerns her, what she is being called to be. She is certain that her desire and intention of not “knowing man” will continue, because God does not cancel the plans of his children, drawn up by their most authentic desires. She knows that her plan will fit into the plan just heard. But she does not know how it will happen. And so she simply asks to do exactly what has been asked of her.
v. 35. The
angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come down upon you, and the
power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child
will be holy and will be called Son of God’.
The angel explains. Mary will simply have to accept, because it will be the Spirit who will descend in her, it will be the Most High who will overshadow her, and the Holy one will be born.
The angel explains. Mary will simply have to accept, because it will be the Spirit who will descend in her, it will be the Most High who will overshadow her, and the Holy one will be born.
vv. 36-37. And
I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has
conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth
month, for nothing is impossible to God.
The experience of Elizabeth told by the angel to Mary is nothing more than an occasion of connecting with history. Mary must have already known of Elizabeth, because both were preparing the way for the fulfilment of promise made to Israel: John the voice, Jesus the spouse. It is the same project.
The experience of Elizabeth told by the angel to Mary is nothing more than an occasion of connecting with history. Mary must have already known of Elizabeth, because both were preparing the way for the fulfilment of promise made to Israel: John the voice, Jesus the spouse. It is the same project.
v. 38. Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.
Mary’s reply is essential: Here I am. Her concentration on the Word pronounced to her is so great that she can only feel that she is a “servant”, a useful instrument in the concrete realisation of the will of the Father. Let it happen to me… this is nothing like a passive yes, it is a yes aware of the greatness of her involvement, a yes so deep that it brings forth the face of God in human features.
Mary’s reply is essential: Here I am. Her concentration on the Word pronounced to her is so great that she can only feel that she is a “servant”, a useful instrument in the concrete realisation of the will of the Father. Let it happen to me… this is nothing like a passive yes, it is a yes aware of the greatness of her involvement, a yes so deep that it brings forth the face of God in human features.
c) Reflection:
Ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum! Behold…
This word is essential and full of life. No words are better suited to
humankind than this being present, awake, holding one’s breath so as
not to lose anything of what the mystery is sharing of Himself. Let it happen…
God’s choice is worthy of acceptance, but requires the deep silence of
one’s whole being, let it happen to me… Mary knows that she is not the
protagonist, but the servant of the divine will; she belongs to the
group of servants that Jesus will call friends: a servant does not know
what his master does. But friends do know. Whatsoever I have heard from
my Father I have revealed to you. The shadow of the Spirit that covers
the tent of the presence on such a beautiful creature for her
availability, will whisper the mysterious secrets of the Eternal. And
the times that go on tracing new ways of grace will come to their peak
when the Son of God will see the light of an infinitely small space for
his power, the space of limitation and contingency. Mary, first cradle
of the ineffable Word, first embrace of the coming light, has no other
treasure than her humility; a hollow that receives the fullness,
smallness that is called infinite, limited love that demands the embrace
of the infinite.
3. ORATIO
1 Samuel 2,1-10:
My heart exults in Yahweh,
in my God is my strength lifted up,
my mouth derides my foes,
for I rejoice in your deliverance.
There is no Holy One like Yahweh,
no Rock like our God.
The bow of the mighty has been broken
but those who were tottering are now braced with strength.
Yahweh judges the ends of the earth,
he endows his king with power,
he raises up the strength of his Anointed.
in my God is my strength lifted up,
my mouth derides my foes,
for I rejoice in your deliverance.
There is no Holy One like Yahweh,
no Rock like our God.
The bow of the mighty has been broken
but those who were tottering are now braced with strength.
Yahweh judges the ends of the earth,
he endows his king with power,
he raises up the strength of his Anointed.
4. CONTEMPLATIO
Lord, let the gentle breeze of silence,
the breeze of grace, carry away all the voices and sounds that
gradually take my heart away from my own existence. May the luminous
trail of your passing by intoxicate with your perfume the air I usually
breathe so that I may seek no one but you. And when the ruminated
syllables of Scripture, together with the events that form the memory
of our encounter, will become the fibre of my flesh, the world will see
you again, will see your face in the physical features that I shall
give to you. The limits of my being will tell of the prodigies of your
power, unless I try uselessly to flee or avoid them, but I shall love
them as the precision of my human uniqueness. I shall then come to
think your words, speak your words, fulfil your words, because, by not
fleeing from myself, I shall have met you where you are: in the depths
of my limited being, in my inner self and in my essential silence,
where love given brings forth love gift and creates bridges of
communion.
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item from Litany Lane
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Feast Day: The Nativity of JesusFeast Day: December 25 The canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger.[1] Angels proclaim him a savior for all people, and shepherds come to adore him. In the Matthew account, astronomers follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the King of the Jews. King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The main religious celebration among members of the Catholic Church and other Christian groups is the Church service on Christmas Eve or on the morning of Christmas Day. During the forty days leading up to Christmas, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast, while the majority of Christian congregations (including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Mainline churches, and Baptists) begin observing the liturgical season of Advent four Sundays before Christmas. Both are seen as times of spiritual cleansing, recollection and renewal to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. New Testament narrativesAccounts of the Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear in two of the four Canonical Gospels: the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Luke's account takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's story takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph. The two other canonical gospels, the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John, begin their narratives of Jesus' life in his adulthood; both mention that he came from Galilee, and John mentions the name of Jesus' father, but neither John nor Mark gives any other details of his life prior to adulthood.The betrothal of Joseph and Mary, and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem appear in both Matthew and Luke. Many events in the Luke account are not in the Gospel of Matthew, - for example, the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem - and others appear only in Matthew, such as the Flight to Egypt. The Nativity accounts in the New Testament are generally considered to end with finding Jesus in the temple several years later, after the family has returned to Galilee. Gospel of Matthew
The
Nativity appears in chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel of Matthew, in
which Matthew places special emphasis on the origins of the names of
the child. Two specific passages, namely from 1:21–23, have theological
significance in that they refer to the names "Jesus" and "Emmanuel".
Following Joseph and Mary's betrothal in Matthew 1:18, Joseph is troubled in Matthew 1:19–20 because Mary is pregnant. However, in the first of Joseph's three dreams an angel assures him not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel's message to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 includes the origin of the name Jesus and has salvific implications when the angel instructs Joseph: "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". It is the only place in the New Testament where "saves his people" appears with "sins". Scholars have debated whether the quote in Matthew 1:22–23 is spoken by the angel or by Matthew. However, Matthew 1:23 does provide the basis for the use of the name Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel (from the Hebrew words: אֵל '’El, i.e.," God" and עִמָּנוּ i.e., Immānū, "with us") is related to Isaiah 7:14 and is one of almost a dozen cases in his Gospel where, while discussing Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecies, Matthew alludes to one of the prophets. In Matthew 2:1–2 the Star of Bethlehem reveals the birth of Jesus to a number (traditionally three) of Magi, (Greek μάγος', "astrologer"), commonly translated as "wise man", who travel to Jerusalem from an unspecified country "in the east". The Magi go to see Herod the Great and ask, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." Herod asks his advisers where the Messiah was to be born. They answer, "Bethlehem" , the birthplace of King David, and quote the prophet Micah(Matthew 2:4–6). Herod tells the Magi to go to Bethlehem and to report back to him when they have found the child. As the Magi travel to Bethlehem, the star "goes before" them and leads them to a house where they find and adore Jesus. They present Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (in Matthew 2:9-11). In a dream, the Magi receive a divine warning of Herod's intent to kill the baby Jesus, whom he sees as a rival. Consequently, the magi return to their own country without telling Herod where to find Jesus. An angel tells Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt. Meanwhile, Herod orders that all male children of Bethlehem under the age of two be killed, an event traditionally called the "Massacre of the Innocents". Herod's statement in Matthew 2:16–18, referring to boys two years or younger, suggests that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem a number of months after Jesus' birth. After Herod's death, Jesus' family returns from Egypt, but they are afraid to return to Bethlehem because Herod's son rules Judea. Instead they move to Galilee and settle in Nazareth, fulfilling, according to the author, a prophecy: "He will be called a Nazarene". Gospel of Luke
Luke draws parallels between the angelic visit (1:5–25) to Zechariah about the birth of John and the Annunciation to Mary (1:26–38) about the birth of Jesus, and between the Song of Zechariah (1:57–80) about John and the Song of Simeon (2:1–40) about Jesus. However, while Luke devotes only two verses (1:57–58) to the birth of John, the birth of Jesus is narrated in twenty verses (2:1–20). Luke relates the two births in the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth and states that Mary and Elizabeth are cousins. There is no mention of a family relationship between John and Jesus in the other Gospels, and the scholar Raymond E. Brown has described it as "of dubious historicity". Géza Vermes calls it "artificial and undoubtedly Luke's creation". In the Gospel of Luke, Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her the Holy Spirit would "come upon her" and "nothing will be impossible with God". She responds: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word". Later, Mary visits her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. John leaps in his mother's womb, recognizing the presence of Jesus, the Messiah. When Mary is due to give birth, she and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Joseph's ancestral town, Bethlehem, to register in the census of Quirinius (as in Luke 2:2). In Bethlehem, Mary gives birth to Jesus and, having found no place for themselves in the inn, places the newborn in a manger. An angel of the Lord visits the shepherds and brings them "good news of great joy": "to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." The angel tells them they will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. The angel is joined by a "heavenly host" who say "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. The shepherds hurry to the stable in Bethlehem where they find Jesus with Mary and Joseph. They repeat what the angel has told them, and then they return to their flocks. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem to be circumcised, before returning to their home in Nazareth. Place of birth
The Gospel of Luke states that Mary gave birth to Jesus and laid him in a manger “because there was no place for them in the inn", but does not say exactly where Jesus was born. The Greek word kataluma may be translated as either “inn” or “guestroom”, and some scholars have speculated that Joseph and Mary may have sought to stay with relatives, rather than in an inn, only to find the house full, whereupon they resorted to the shelter of a room with a manger. In the 2nd century, Justin Martyr stated that Jesus had been born in a cave outside the town, while the Protoevangelium of James described a legendary birth in a cave nearby. The Church of the Nativity inside the town, built by St. Helena, contains the cave-manger site traditionally venerated as the birthplace of Jesus, which may have originally been a site of the cult of the god Tammuz. In Contra Celsum 1.51, Origen, who from around 215 travelled throughout Palestine, wrote of the "manger of Jesus". References
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Today's Snippet I: Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
The Church of the Nativity
is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank. The church was
originally commissioned in 327 by Constantine and his mother Helena over
the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the
cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The Church of the
Nativity site's original basilica was completed in 339 and destroyed by
fire during the Samaritan Revolts in the 6th century. A new basilica was
built 565 by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the
architectural tone of the original.
The site of the Church of the Nativity has had numerous additions
since this second construction, including its prominent bell towers.
Due to its cultural and geographical history, the site holds a
prominent religious significance to those of both the Christian and
Muslim faiths.
The
site of the Church of the Nativity is a World Heritage Site, and was
the first to be listed under Palestine by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The site is also on UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.
History
First century holy site (c. 4–6 – 327 AD)
The
holy site, known as the Grotto, that the Church of the Nativity sits
atop, is today associated with the cave in which the birth of Jesus of
Nazareth is said to have occurred. In 135, Hadrian is said to have had
the Christian site above the Grotto converted into a worship place for
Adonis, the Greek god of beauty and desire. A father with the Church of
the Nativity, Jerome, noted before his death in 420 that the holy cave
was at one point consecrated by the heathen to the worship of Adonis,
and that a pleasant sacred grove was planted there in order to wipe out
the memory of Jesus.
Although some modern scholars dispute this argument and insist that
the cult of Adonis-Tammuz originated the shrine and that it was the
Christians who took it over, substituting the worship of Jesus,
the antiquity of the association of the site with the birth of Jesus is
attested by the Christian apologist Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165 ), who
noted in his Dialogue with Trypho that the Holy Family had taken refuge in a cave outside of town:
Joseph took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him.(chapter LXXVIII).
Additionally, the Greek philosopher Origen of Alexandria (185 - c. 254) wrote:
In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the rumor is in those places, and among foreigners of the Faith, that indeed Jesus was born in this cave who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians. (Contra Celsum, book I, chapter LI).
Fourth century basilica, (327 – c. 529/556)
The
first basilica on this site was begun by Saint Helena, the mother of
Emperor Constantine I. Under the supervision of Bishop Makarios of
Jerusalem, the construction started in 327 and was completed in 333.
Construction of this early church was carried out as part of a larger
project following the First Council of Nicaea during Constantine's
reign to build on the supposed sites of the life of Jesus. The design
of the basilica centered around three major architectural sections: (1)
an octagonal rotunda over the area believed to be where Jesus of
Nazareth was born; (2) a boxed atrium area of 148 by 92 feet (45 m
× 28 m); and (3) double-aisled forecourt of 95 by 93 feet (29 m
× 28 m). The structure was burnt down and destroyed in a revolt between
the Jews and the Samaritans in 529 or 556.
Sixth century basilica, (565)
The
current basilica was rebuilt in its present form in 565 by Byzantine
Emperor Justinian I. When the Persians under Chosroes II invaded in 614,
they did not destroy the structure. According to legend, their
commander Shahrbaraz was moved by the depiction inside the church of the
Three Magi wearing Persian clothing, and commanded that the building be
spared. The Crusaders made further repairs and additions to the
building during the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with permission and help
given by the Byzantine Emperor, and the first King of Jerusalem was
crowned in the church. Over the years, the compound has been expanded,
and today it covers approximately 12,000 square meters. The theft in
1847 of the silver star marking the spot where Christ was born, was one
of the direct causes for French involvement in the Crimean War against
Russia.
Eleventh and twelfth century additions and restoration, (c. 1050-1169)
Until 1131, the Church
of the Nativity was used as the primary coronation church for crusader
kings. During this time, extensive decoration by the crusaders and
various restorations of the basilica and grounds took place. This
decoration and restoration process took place until 1169.
Fourteenth century roof restoration, (1448–1480)
The roof of the Church of the Nativity lay in poor condition after the desecration that occurred in April 1244 at the hands of the Khwarezmian Turks In August 1448, the Duchy of Burgundy committed resources to the project, but it was not until 1480 that they were able to get the project underway in Bethlehem. Due to this worsening condition of the wooden Church roof, in 1480 an extensive roof reconstruction and renovation project took place on the Church of the Nativity. Multiple regions contributed supplies to have the Church roof repaired, with England supplying the lead, the Second Kingdom of Burgundy supplying the wood, and the Republic of Venice providing the labor.Nineteenth century damage, conflict, and administration (1834-1869)
By 1846, the Church of the Nativity and its surrounding site lay in disrepair. The Church's state had left the site vulnerable to looting. Much of the marble floors of the interior of the Church were looted in the early half of the 19th century, and many were transferred to use in other buildings around the region, including to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In that same year, the religiously significant silver star was stolen that had been displayed above the Grotto of the Nativity. In 1851, the Church of the Nativity was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. But near Christmas of 1852, Napoleon III sent his ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and forced the Ottomans to recognise France as the "sovereign authority" in the Holy Land, which the Latins had lost in the eighteenth century. The Sultan of Turkey replaced the silver star over the Grotto with a Latin inscription, but the Russian Empire disputed the change in "authority," citing two treaties—one from 1757 and the other from 1774 (the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca)—and deployed armies to the Danube area. As a result, the Ottomans issued firmans essentially reversing their earlier decision, renouncing the French treaty, and restoring the Greeks to the sovereign authority over the churches of the Holy Land for the time being. Since individual churches did not have a say in firmans, tensions arose at the local level. These, along with the theft of the silver star, helped to further fuel the debate between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire over the occupation of holy sites around the region. This theft is often cited by scholars as one of the catalysts of the Crimean War
Twenty-first century siege of the church, (2002)
In
April 2002, during the second Intifada, some 50 armed Palestinians
wanted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) locked themselves in the
church with some 200 monks and other Palestinians who arrived at the
site for different reasons, and were held as hostages by the gunmen.
Because of the historic value of the building the IDF did not break
into the building, but instead prevented the entry of food. The siege
lasted 39 days and some of the gunmen were shot by IDF snipers. After
lengthy negotiations it was agreed that the remaining gunmen would be
evacuated to Gaza, Spain and Italy.
The Siege is a Palestinian play developed and devised by The Freedom Theatre which recounts the story.2014 arson
Shortly after the 2014 visit to Israel of Pope Francis the cave beneath the church was set on fire by an unknown arsonist. The cave that was burnt had been visited by Pope Francis earlier that same day.Current administration
The church is administered jointly by Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic authorities. All three traditions maintain monastic communities on the site. As a result, however, there have been repeated brawls among monk trainees over quiet respect for others' prayers, hymns and even the division of floorspace for cleaning duties. The Palestinian police have been called to restore peace and order.Site architecture and layout
The structure of the site of the Church of the Nativity is a combination of two churches and a crypt beneath—the Grotto of the Nativity where tradition states that Jesus of Nazareth was born.Site layout and architectural expansion
- The main Basilica of the Nativity is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It is designed like a typical Roman basilica, with five aisles (formed by Corinthian columns) and an apse in the eastern end, where the sanctuary is. The church features golden mosaics covering the side walls, which are now largely decayed. The basilica is entered through a very low door, called the "Door of Humility." The original Roman style floor has since been covered over, but there is a trap door in the modern floor which opens up to reveal a portion of the original mosaic pavement from the Constantinian basilia. The church also features a large gilded iconostasis, and a complex array of lamps throughout the entire building. The wooden rafters were donated by King Edward IV of England. The same king also donated lead to cover the roof; however, this lead was later taken by the Ottoman Turks, who melted it down for ammunition to use in war against Venice. Stairways on either side of the Sanctuary lead down by winding stairs to the Grotto.
- The adjoining Church of St. Catherine, the Roman Catholic Church, was built in a more modern Gothic revival style, and has since been further modernized according to the liturgical trends which followed Vatican II. This is the church where the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrates Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Certain customs still observed in this Midnight Mass predate Vatican II, but must be maintained because the "status quo" (the customs, rights and duties of the various church authorities that have custody of the Holy Places) was legally fixed by a firman in 1852, under the Ottoman Empire, that is still in force to this day.
- The Bas-relief of the Tree of Jesse is a large work by well-known religious sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj which was recently incorporated into the Church of St. Catherine as a gift of Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to the Holy Land in 2009. Measuring in at 3.75 by 4 metres (12.3 by 13.1 ft), its corpus represents an olive tree figuring as the Tree of Jesse displaying Christ's lineage from Abraham through St. Joseph along with other biblical motifs. Situated along the passage used by pilgrims making their way to the Grotto of the Nativity, the bas relief also incorporates symbolism from the Old Testament. The upper portion is dominated by a crowned figure of Christ the King in an open armed pose blessing the Earth.
- The Grotto of the Nativity, an underground cave located beneath the basilica, enshrines the site where Jesus is said to have been born. The exact spot is marked beneath an altar by a 14-pointed silver star set into the marble floor and surrounded by silver lamps. This altar is denominationally neutral, although it features primarily Armenian Apostolic influences. Another altar in the Grotto, which is maintained by the Roman Catholics, marks the site where traditionally Mary laid the newborn Baby in the manger.
- Numerous Chapels are found in the compound as well, including the Chapel of Saint Joseph, commemorating the angel's appearance to Joseph, commanding him to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13); the Chapel of the Innocents, commemorating the children killed by Herod (Matthew 2:16–18); and the Chapel of Saint Jerome, where traditionally he translated the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate).
- Manger Square, a large paved courtyard in front of the Church, is the site where crowds gather on Christmas Eve to sing Christmas carols in anticipation of the midnight services.
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| Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity, UNESCO |
The basilica was placed on the 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund:
The present state of the church is worrying. Many roof timbers are rotting, and have not been replaced since the 19th century. The rainwater that seeps into the building not only accelerates the rotting of the wood and damages the structural integrity of the building, but also damages the 12th-century wall mosaics and paintings. The influx of water also means that there is an ever-present chance of an electrical fire. If another earthquake were to occur on the scale of the one of 1834, the result would most likely be catastrophic. ... It is hoped that the listing will encourage its preservation, including getting the three custodians of the church – the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church, and the Franciscan order – to work together, which has not happened for hundreds of years. The Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority would also have to work together to protect it.
In 2010, the Palestinian Authority announced that a multimillion-dollar restoration programme was imminent.
World Heritage Site
In
2012, the church complex became the first Palestinian site to be listed
as a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th
session on 29 June. It was approved by a secret vote of 13–6 in the
21-member committee, according to UNESCO spokeswoman Sue Williams, and
following an emergency candidacy procedure that by-passed the 18-month
process for most sites, despite the opposition of the United States and
Israel. The site was approved under criteria four and six. The decision
was a controversial one on both technical and political terms. It has
also been placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger as it is
suffering from damages due to water leaks.
References
- "Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
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Snippet II: History of Advent
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| Advent Preparing for Christ's birth |
With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches. During this time the faithful are admonished
- to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
- thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
- thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.
Symbolism
To attain this object the Church has arranged the Liturgy for this season. In the official prayer, the Breviary, she calls upon her ministers, in the Invitatory for Matins, to adore "the Lord the King that is to come", "the Lord already near", "Him Whose glory will be seen on the morrow". As Lessons for the first Nocturn she prescribes chapters from the prophet Isaias, who speaks in scathing terms of the ingratitude of the house of Israel, the chosen children who had forsaken and forgotten their Father; who tells of the Man of Sorrows stricken for the sins of His people; who describes accurately the passion and death of the coming Saviour and His final glory; who announces the gathering of the Gentiles to the Holy Hill. In the second Nocturn the Lessons on three Sundays are taken from the eighth homily of Pope St. Leo (440-461) on fasting and almsdeeds as a preparation for the advent of the Lord, and on one Sunday (the second) from St. Jerome's commentary on Isaiah 11:1, which text he interprets of the Blessed Virgin Mary as "the rod out of the root of Jesse". In the hymns of the season we find praise for the coming of Christ, the Creator of the universe, as Redeemer, combined with prayer to the coming judge of the world to protect us from the enemy. Similar ideas are expressed in the antiphons for the Magnificat on the last seven days before the Vigil of the Nativity. In them, the Church calls on the Divine Wisdom to teach us the way of prudence; on the Key of David to free us from bondage; on the Rising Sun to illuminate us sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, etc. In the Masses the intention of the Church is shown in the choice of the Epistles and Gospels. In the Epistle she exhorts the faithful that, since the Redeemer is nearer, they should cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; should walk honestly, as in the day, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ; she shows that the nations are called to praise the name of the Lord; she asks them to rejoice in the nearness of the Lord, so that the price of God, which surpasses all understanding, may keep their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus; she admonishes them not to pass judgment, for the Lord, when He comes, will manifest the secrets hidden in hearts. In the Gospels the Church speaks of the Lord coming in glory; of Him in, and through, Whom the prophecies are being fulfilled; of the Eternal walking in the midst of the Jews; of the voice in the desert, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord". The Church in her Liturgy takes us in spirit back to the time before the incarnation of the Son of God, as though it were really yet to take place. Cardinal Wiseman says:
We are not dryly exhorted to profit by that blessed event, but we are daily made to sigh with the Fathers of old, "Send down the dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One: let the earth be opened, and bud forth the Redeemer." The Collects on three of the four Sundays of that season begin with the words, "Lord, raise up thy power and come" — as though we feared our iniquities would prevent His being born.
Duration and ritual
On every day of Advent the Office and Mass of the Sunday or Feria must be said, or at least a Commemoration must be made of them, no matter what grade of feast occurs. In the Divine Office the Te Deum, the joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving, is omitted; in the Mass the Gloria in excelsis is not said. The Alleluia, however, is retained. During this time the solemnization of matrimony (Nuptial Mass and Benediction) cannot take place; which prohibition binds to the feast of Epiphany inclusively. The celebrant and sacred ministers use violet vestments. The deacon and subdeacon at Mass, in place of the dalmatics commonly used, wear folded chasubles. The subdeacon removes his during the reading of the Epistle, and the deacon exchanges his for another, or for a wider stole, worn over the left shoulder during the time between the singing of the Gospel and the Communion. An exception is made for the third Sunday (Gaudete Sunday), on which the vestments may be rose-coloured, or richer violet ones; the sacred ministers may on this Sunday wear dalmatics, which may also be used on the Vigil of the Nativity, even if it be the fourth Sunday of Advent. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) states that black was the colour to be used during Advent, but violet had already come into use for this season at the end of the thirteenth century. Binterim says that there was also a law that pictures should be covered during Advent. Flowers and relics of Saints are not to be placed on the altars during the Office and Masses of this time, except on the third Sunday; and the same prohibition and exception exist in regard to the use of the organ. The popular idea that the four weeks of Advent symbolize the four thousand years of darkness in which the world was enveloped before the coming of Christ finds no confirmation in the Liturgy.
Historical origin
It cannot be determined with any degree of certainty when the celebration of Advent was first introduced into the Church. The preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord was not held before the feast itself existed, and of this we find no evidence before the end of the fourth century, when, according to Duchesne [Christian Worship (London, 1904), 260], it was celebrated throughout the whole Church, by some on 25 December, by others on 6 January. Of such a preparation we read in the Acts of a synod held at Saragossa in 380, whose fourth canon prescribes that from the seventeenth of December to the feast of the Epiphany no one should be permitted to absent himself from church. We have two homilies of St. Maximus, Bishop of Turin (415-466), entitled "In Adventu Domini", but he makes no reference to a special time. The title may be the addition of a copyist. There are some homilies extant, most likely of St. Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (502-542), in which we find mention of a preparation before the birthday of Christ; still, to judge from the context, no general law on the matter seems then to have been in existence. A synod held (581) at Mâcon, in Gaul, by its ninth canon orders that from the eleventh of November to the Nativity the Sacrifice be offered according to the Lenten rite on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the week. The Gelasian Sacramentary notes five Sundays for the season; these five were reduced to four by Pope St. Gregory VII (1073-85). The collection of homilies of St. Gregory the Great (590-604) begins with a sermon for the second Sunday of Advent. In 650 Advent was celebrated in Spain with five Sundays. Several synods had made laws about fasting to be observed during this time, some beginning with the eleventh of November, others the fifteenth, and others as early as the autumnal equinox. Other synods forbade the celebration of matrimony. In the Greek Church we find no documents for the observance of Advent earlier than the eighth century. St. Theodore the Studite (d. 826), who speaks of the feasts and fasts commonly celebrated by the Greeks, makes no mention of this season. In the eighth century we find it observed not as a liturgical celebration, but as a time of fast and abstinence, from 15 November to the Nativity, which, according to Goar, was later reduced to seven days. But a council of the Ruthenians (1720) ordered the fast according to the old rule from the fifteenth of November. This is the rule with at least some of the Greeks. Similarly, the Ambrosian and the Mozarabic Riterites have no special liturgy for Advent, but only the fast.
References
- "Advent." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 2 Dec. 2012 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01165a.htm>.
- Miles, Clement A, Christmas customs and traditions, their history and significance, p. 112, ISBN 978-0-486-23354-3.
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Today's Snippet III: Tradition of the Advent Wreath
Advent Wreath as designed by Wichern
The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. The Advent Wreath is traditionally a Lutheran practice, albeit it has spread to many other Christian denominations.[1][2][3] It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles and often, a fifth, white candle in the center. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Many Advent wreaths include a fifth, Christ candle which is lit at Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.[4] The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services.
History
The ring or wheel of the Advent wreath of evergreens decorated with candles was a symbol in northern Europe long before the arrival of Christianity. The circle symbolized the eternal cycle of the seasons while the evergreens and lighted candles signified the persistence of life in the midst of winter. Some sources suggest the wreath—now reinterpreted as a Christian symbol—was in common use in the Middle Ages, others that it was established in Germany as a Christian custom only in the 16th century.Other evidence suggests that the Advent wreath was not invented until the 19th century. Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath. During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus, founded by Wichern in Hamburg, would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 19 small red and 4 large white candles. A small candle was lit successively every weekday during Advent. On Sundays, a large white candle was lit. The custom gained ground among Protestant churches in Germany and evolved into the smaller wreath with four or five candles known today. Roman Catholics in Germany began to adopt the custom in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it spread to North America.[5] Professor Haemig's research also indicates that the custom did not reach the United States until the 1930s, even among German Lutheran immigrants.
In Medieval times advent was a fast during which people's thoughts were directed to the expected second coming of Christ; but in modern times it has been seen as the lead up to Christmas, and in that context Advent Wreath serves as a reminder of the approach of the feast. More recently, some Eastern Orthodox families have adopted an Advent wreath with six candles symbolizing the longer Christmas fast in Orthodox tradition, which corresponds to Advent in Western Christianity.[6]
Forms of the Advent wreath
Advent wreath with purple and rose candles
In Catholic churches, the most popular colours for the Advent candles are violet and rose, corresponding with the colors of the liturgical vestments for the Sundays of Advent. In the Western church, Violet is the historic liturgical color for three of the four Sundays of Advent: Violet is the traditional color of penitential seasons. Rose is the color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word meaning "to rejoice"--also from the first line of the traditional entrance prayer (called the Introit) for the Mass of the third Sunday of Advent.[7] Rose-colored vestments are used on Gaudete Sunday, as a pause to the penitential spirit of Advent [8]
In Protestant churches it is more common to use four red candles (reflecting their traditional use in Christmas decorations) because rose vestments and decorations are not commonly used in Protestant churches. Blue is also a popular alternative color for both Advent vestments and Advent candles, especially in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. This is in keeping with the liturgical seasons; blue means hope and waiting, which aligns with the seasonal meaning of Advent. Other variations of the Advent wreath add a white candle in the center to symbolize Christmas, sometimes known as the "Christ candle." It can be lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. White is the traditional festal color in the Western church. Four red candles with one white one is probably the most common arrangement in Protestant churches in Britain.[9]
References
- Peter C. Bower. The Companion to the Book of Common Worship. Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Retrieved 2010-12-02. "It apparently emanated from the Lutheran tradition, but it has been appropriated by almost all other traditions."
- John Trigilio, Kenneth Brighenti. The Catholicism Answer Book: The 300 Most Frequently Asked Questions. Sourcebooks. Retrieved 2010-12-02. "Historically, the Advent wreath is a Lutheran custom dating back three hundred years ago."
- Carl Seaburg. Celebrating Christmas: An Anthology. Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association. Retrieved 2010-12-02. "The use of an Advent Wreath originated a few hundred years ago among Lutherans in Germany."
- Dennis Bratcher. The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope. Christian Research Institute. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-02. "Finally, the light that has come into the world is plainly visible as the Christ candle is lighted at Christmas, and worshippers rejoice over the fact that the hope and promise of long ago have been realized."
- "Johann Hinrich Wichern biography (in German)". Medienwerkstatt-online.de. 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- Orthodoxy Today. 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- "Catholic Encyclopedia: Advent". Newadvent.org. 1907-03-01. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- "What Color is Lent?". Adoremus.org. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- BBC News, "Christian celebration of Advent" (BBC Mobile, 16 November 2010, accessed December 19, 2010).
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Snippet IV: Devotion to The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
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| Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Scapular |
The Sacred Heart (also known as Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.
This devotion is predominantly used in the Catholic Church and among some high-church Anglicans and Lutherans. The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated: "the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus". The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is sometimes seen in the Eastern Catholic Churches, where it remains a point of controversy and is seen as an example of Liturgical Latinisation.
The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross and bleeding. Sometimes the image shown shining within the bosom of Christ with his wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of divine love.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart has been in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.
History of Devotion
Early devotion
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| Sacred Heart of Jesus Ibarrará, 1896 |
From the time of John the Evangelist and Paul of Tarsus there has always been in the Church something like devotion to the love of God, but there is nothing to indicate that, during the first ten centuries of Christianity, any worship was rendered to the wounded Heart of Jesus. It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that the first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart are found. It was in the fervent atmosphere of the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, in the world of Anselmian or Bernardine thought, that the devotion arose, although it is impossible to say positively what were its first texts or who were its first devotees. It was already well known to St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde, and the author of the Vitis mystica (previously ascribed to St. Bernard, now attributed to St. Bonaventure).
From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have developed in itself. It was everywhere practised by individuals and by different religious congregations, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carthusians, etc. It was, nevertheless, a private, individual devotion of the mystical order. Nothing of a general movement had been inaugurated, except for similarities found in the devotion to the Five Wounds by the Franciscans, in which the wound in Jesus's heart figured most prominently.
In the sixteenth century, the devotion passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism. It was established as a devotion with prayers already formulated and special exercises, found in the writings of Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, the Louis of Blois (Blosius; 1566), a Benedictine and Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut, John of Avila (d. 1569) and St. Francis de Sales, the latter belonging to the seventeenth century.
The historical record from that time shows an early bringing to light of the devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of Jesus. The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to the habit formed by the Jesuits of placing the image on their title-page of their books and the walls of their churches.
Nevertheless, the devotion remained an individual, or at least a private, devotion. Jean Eudes (1602–1680) made it public, gave it an Office, and established a feast for it. Père Eudes was the apostle of the Heart of Mary; but in his devotion to the Immaculate Heart there was a share for the Heart of Jesus. Little by little, the devotion to the Sacred Heart became a separate one, and on August 31, 1670, the first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in the Grand Seminary of Rennes. Coutances followed suit on October 20, a day with which the Eudist feast was from then on to be connected. The feast soon spread to other dioceses, and the devotion was likewise adopted in various religious communities. It gradually came into contact with the devotion begun at Paray, and resulting in a fusion of the two.
Visions of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
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| St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Giaquinto 1765 |
The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Visitandine Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), who claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. There is nothing to indicate that she had known the devotion prior to the revelations, or at least that she had paid any attention to it. The revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are especially remarkable:
- On December 27, probably 1673, the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary reported that Jesus permitted her, as he had formerly allowed St. Gertrude, to rest her head upon his heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of his love, telling her that he desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of his goodness, and that he had chosen her for this work.
- In probably June or July, 1674, Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart, also claiming that, when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour.
- During the octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, probably on June 16, the vision known as the "great apparition" reportedly took place, where Jesus said, "Behold the Heart that has so loved men ... instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude ...", and asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult her confessor Father Claude de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray. Solemn homage was asked on the part of the king, and the mission of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus.
A few days after the "great apparition", Margaret Mary reported everything she saw to Father de la Colombière, and he, acknowledging the vision as an action of the Spirit of God, consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart and directed her to write an account of the apparition. He also made use of every available opportunity to circulate this account, discreetly, through France and England. Upon his death on February 15, 1682, there was found in his journal of spiritual retreats a copy in his own handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account and an "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which the devotion was well explained, was published at Lyons in 1684. The little book was widely read, especially at Paray. Margaret Mary reported feeling "dreadful confusion" over the book's contents, but resolved to make the best of it, approving of the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion. Outside of the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly the Capuchins, Margaret Mary's two brothers, and some Jesuits. The Jesuit Father Croiset wrote a book called The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a book which Jesus is said to have told Margaret to tell Fr. Croiset to write, and Fr. Joseph de Gallifet, also a Jesuit, promoted the devotion.
Papal Approvals
The Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart was a nun from Sisters of the Good Shepherd Congregation who requested, in the name of Christ Himself, to Pope Leo XIII that he consecrate the entire World to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The death of Margaret Mary Alacoque on October 17, 1690, did not dampen the zeal of those interested; on the contrary, a short account of her life published by Father Croiset in 1691, as an appendix to his book "De la Dévotion au Sacré Cœur", served only to increase it. In spite of all sorts of obstacles, and of the slowness of the Holy See, which in 1693 imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart and, in 1697, granted the feast to the Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to all, with special Mass and Office. The devotion spread, particularly in religious communities. The Marseilles plague, 1720, furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious communities. Other cities of the South followed the example of Marseilles, and thus the devotion became a popular one. In 1726 it was deemed advisable once more to importune Rome for a feast with a Mass and Office of its own, but, in 1729, Rome again refused. However, in 1765, it finally yielded and that same year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi-officially by the episcopate of France. On all sides it was asked for and obtained, and finally, in 1856, at the urgent entreaties of the French bishops, Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the Roman Catholic Church under the rite of double major. In 1889 it was raised by the Roman Catholic Church to the double rite of first class.
After the letters of Mother Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899) requesting, in the name of Christ Himself, to Pope Leo XIII consecrate the entire World to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Father commissions a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. This investigation was positive. And so in the encyclical letter Annum Sacrum (on May 25, 1899) this same pope decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on June 11, 1899. In this encyclical letter the Pope attached Later Pope Leo XIII encouraged the entire Roman Catholic episcopate to promote the devotion of the Nine First Fridays and he established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart. Leo XIII also composed the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart and included it in Annum Sacrum.
Pope Pius X decreed that the consecration of the human race, performed by Pope Leo XIII be renewed each year. Pope Pius XI in his encyclical letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (on May 8, 1928) affirmed the Church's position with respect to Saint Margaret Mary's visions of Jesus Christ by stating that Jesus had "manifested Himself" to Saint Margaret and had "promised her that all those who rendered this honor to His Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces." The encyclical refers to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Margaret several times[2] and reaffirmed the importance of consecration and reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Finally, Venerable Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius IX's institution of the Feast, instructed the entire Roman Catholic Church at length on the devotion to the Sacred Heart in his encyclical letter Haurietis aquas (on May 15, 1956). On May 15, 2006, also Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, on the 50th Anniversary of the encyclical Haurietis Aquas, about the Sacred Heart, by Pope Pius XII. In his letter to Father Kolvenbach, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Worship and Devotion
The Roman Catholic acts of consecration, reparation and devotion were introduced when the feast of the Sacred Heart was declared. In his Papal Bull Auctorem Fidei, Pope Pius VI praised devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, by order of Leo XIII, in his encyclical Annum Sacrum (May 25, 1899), as well as on June 11, he consecrated every human to the Sacred Heart. The idea of this act, which Leo XIII called "the great act" of his pontificate, had been proposed to him by a religious woman of the Good Shepherd from Oporto (Portugal) who said that she had supernaturally received it from Jesus. Since c. 1850, groups, congregations, and States have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart. In 1873, by petition of president Gabriel García Moreno, Ecuador was the first country in the world to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, fulfilling God's petition to Saint Margaret Mary over two hundred years later.
Peter Coudrin of France founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on December 24, 1800. A religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, the order is best known for its missionary work in Hawaii. Mother Clelia Merloni from Forlì (Italy) founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Viareggio, Italy, May 30, 1894. Worship of the Sacred Heart mainly consists of several hymns, the Salutation of the Sacred Heart, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. It is common in Roman Catholic services and occasionally is to be found in Anglican services. The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.
The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic ceremony in which a priest or head of a household consecrates the members of the household to the Sacred Heart. A blessed image of the Sacred Heart, either a statue or a picture, is then "enthroned" in the home to serve as a constant reminder to those who dwell in the house of their consecration to the Sacred Heart. The practice of the Enthronement is based upon Pope Pius XII's declaration that devotion to the Sacred of Jesus is "the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations..."
Alliance with the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological and spiritual links in Catholic devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the 17th century by Saint Jean Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. The devotions, and the associated prayers, continued into the 20th century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima which stated that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary.
Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis Aquas, Pope Pius XII encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart. In his Angelus address on September 15, 1985 Pope John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.
The Miraculous Medal
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| The Miraculous Medal |
The Sacred Heart has also been involved in (and been depicted) in saintly apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 and appears on the Miraculous Medal.
On the Miraculous Medal, the Sacred Heart is crowned with thorns. The Immaculate Heart of Mary also appears on the medal, next to the Sacred Heart, but is pierced by a sword, rather than being crowned with thorns. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified.
Religious imagery depicting the Sacred Heart is frequently featured in Roman Catholic, and sometimes Anglican and Lutheran homes. Sometimes images display beneath them a list of family members, indicating that the entire family is entrusted to the protection of Jesus in the Sacred Heart, from whom blessings on the home and the family members are sought. The prayer "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee" is often used. One particular image has been used as part of a set, along with an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her Immaculate Heart, expressing her love for the human race and for her Son, Jesus Christ. The mirror images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts.
The Scapular of the Sacred Heart and the Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are worn by Roman Catholics.
In Eastern Catholicism
Devotion to the Sacred Heart may be found in some Eastern Catholic Churches, but is a contentious issue. Those who favour purity of rite are opposed to the devotion, while those who are in favour of the devotion cite it as a point of commonality with their Latin Catholic brethren.
Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus Christ, in his appearances to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, promised these blessings to those who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart. This tabular form of promises was not made by Saint Margaret Mary or her contemporaries. It first appeared at 1863. In 1882, an American businessman spread the tabular form of the promises profusely throughout the world, the twelve promises appearing in 238 languages. In 1890, Cardinal Adolph Perraud deplored this circulation of the promises in the tabular form which were different from the words and even from the meaning of the expressions used by St. Margaret Mary, and wanted the promises to be published in the full, authentic texts as found in the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
- I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will give peace in their families.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
- I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
- I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
- I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
- I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
- Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
- In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
The last promise has given rise to the pious Roman Catholic practice of making an effort to attend Mass and receive Communion on the first Friday of each month.
Great efficacy of converting people has been attached to the use of the image of the Sacred Heart.
"Even at the hour of death, incredulous, indifferent, hardened souls have been converted by simply showing them a picture of the Sacred Heart, which sufficed to restore these sinners to the life of hope and love, in a word, to touch the most hardened. It would, indeed, be a great misfortune to any apostolic man to neglect so powerful a means of conversion, and in proof of this I will mention a single fact which will need no comment. A religious of the Company of Jesus had been requested by the Blessed Margaret Mary to make a careful engraving of the Sacred Heart. Being often hindered by other occupations, there was much delay in preparing this plate. ' This good father,' writes the saint, 'is so much occupied by Mon- signor d'Autun in the conversion of heretics, that he has neither time nor leisure to give to the work so ardently desired by the Heart of our Divine Master. You cannot imagine, my much-loved mother, how greatly this delay afflicts and pains me. I must avow confidently to you my belief that it is the cause of his converting so few infidels in this town. I seem constantly to hear these words : ' That if this good father had acquitted himself at once of his promise to the Sacred Heart, Jesus would have changed and converted the hearts of these infidels, on account of the joy He would have felt at seeing Himself honoured in the picture He so much wishes for. As, however, he prefers other work, even though to the glory of God, to that of giving Him this satisfaction, He will harden the hearts of these infidels, and the labours of this mission will not be crowned with much fruit.'
Scapular of the Sacred Heart
The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also involve the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. It is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular that can be traced back to Saint Margaret Marie Alacoque who herself made and distributed badges similar to it. In 1872 Pope Pius IX granted an indulgence for the badge and the actual scapular was approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. It bears the representation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side, and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of Mercy on the other side. Prayer, Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.
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Snippet V: Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
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| Immaculate heart of Mary Scapular |
The Immaculate Heart of Mary (also known as The Sacred Heart of Mary) is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all persons. The consideration of Mary's interior life and the beauties of her soul, without any thought of her physical heart, does not constitute the traditional devotion; still less does it consist in the consideration of the heart of Mary merely as a part of her pure body. In 1855 the Mass of the Most Pure Heart formally became a part of Catholic practice. The two elements are essential to the devotion, just as, according to Roman Catholic theology, soul and body are necessary to the constitution of man.
Eastern Catholic Churches occasionally utilize the image, devotion, and theology associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, this is a cause of some controversy, some seeing it as a form of liturgical instillation. The Roman Catholic view is based on Mariology, as exemplified by Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae which builds on the total Marian devotion pioneered by Louis de Montfort.
Traditionally, the heart is pierced with seven wounds or swords, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary. Consequently, seven Hail Marys are said daily in honor of the devotion. Also, roses or another type of flower may be wrapped around the heart
Veneration and devotion
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| Immaculate Heart Mary, Seven Dolors |
Veneration of the Heart of Mary is analogous to worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is, however, necessary to indicate a few differences in this analogy, the better to explain the character of Roman Catholic devotion to the Heart of Mary. Some of these differences are very marked, whereas others are barely perceptible. The Devotion to the Heart of Jesus is especially directed to the "Divine Heart" as overflowing with love for humanity, presented as "despised and outraged". In the devotion to the Mary, on the other hand, the attraction is the love of this Heart for Jesus and for God. Its love for humans is not overlooked, but it is not so much in evidence nor so dominant.
A second difference is the nature of the devotion itself. In devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Roman Catholic venerates in a sense of love responding to love. In devotion to the Heart of Mary, study and imitation hold as important a place as love. Love is more the result than the object of the devotion, the object being rather to love God and Jesus better by uniting one's self to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues. It would also seem that, although in the devotion to the Heart of Mary the heart has an essential part as symbol and sensible object, it does not stand out as prominently as in the devotion to the Heart of Jesus; devotion focuses rather on the thing symbolized, the love, virtues, and sentiments of Mary's interior life.
The Immaculate Heart has also been involved in (and been depicted) in saintly Marian apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 and appears on the Miraculous Medal. On the Miraculous Medal, the Immaculate Heart is pierced by a sword. The Sacred Heart of Jesus also appears on the medal, next to the Immaculate Heart, but is crowned with thorns, rather than being pierced by a sword. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified.
Our Lady of Fatima asked that, in reparation for sins committed against her Immaculate Heart, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months the Catholic:
- Go to Confession (within 8 days before or after the first Saturday)
- Receive Holy Communion
- Recite five decades of the Rosary
- Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary
She promised that, whoever would ever do this, would be given at the hour of his death, the graces necessary for salvation.
History of devotion
The history of the devotion to the Heart of Mary is connected on many points with that to the Heart of Jesus. The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The gospels recount the prophecy delivered to her at Jesus' presentation at the temple: that her heart would be pierced with a sword. This image (the pierced heart) is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart. The St. John's Gospel further invited attention to Mary's heart with its depiction of Mary at the foot of the cross at Jesus' crucifixion. St. Augustine said of this that Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the cross; "she cooperated through charity in the work of our redemption".
Statue depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary as described by Sister Lucia of Fátima.
Another Scriptural passage to help in bringing out the devotion was the twice-repeated saying of Saint Luke, that Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart, that there she might ponder over them and live by them. A few of Mary's sayings, also recorded in the Gospel, particularly the Magnificat (the words Mary is reported to have said to describe the experience of being pregnant with Jesus), disclose new features in Marian psychology. Some of the Church Fathers also throw light upon the psychology of Mary, for instance, Saint Ambrose, when in his commentary on The Gospel of Luke he holds Mary up as the ideal of virginity, and Saint Ephrem, when he poetically sings of the coming of the Magi and the welcome accorded them by the humble mother. Some passages from other books in the Bible are interpreted as referring to Mary, in whom they personify wisdom and her gentle charms. Such are the texts in which wisdom is presented as the mother of lofty love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope. In the New Testament Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the angel who announced that she would become pregnant with Jesus, although she was still a virgin; the Magnificat is an expression of her humility. In answering the woman of the people, who in order to exalt the son proclaimed the mother blessed, Jesus himself said: "Blessed rather are they that hear the word of God and keep it." The Church Fathers understood this as an invitation to seek in Mary that which had so endeared her to God and caused her to be selected as the mother of Jesus, and found in these words a new reason for praising Mary. St. Leo said that through faith and love she conceived her son spiritually, even before receiving him into her womb, and St. Augustine tells us that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in her heart than in having conceived him in the flesh.
It is only in the twelfth, or towards the end of the eleventh century, that slight indications of a regular devotion are perceived in a sermon by St. Bernard (De duodecim stellis), from which an extract has been taken by the Church and used in the Offices of the Compassion and of the Seven Dolours. Stronger evidences are discernible in the pious meditations on the Ave Maria and the Salve Regina, usually attributed either to St. Anselm of Lucca (d. 1080) or St. Bernard; and also in the large book "De laudibus B. Mariae Virginis" (Douai, 1625) by Richard de Saint-Laurent, Penitentiary of Rouen in the thirteenth century. In St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d. 1301) the devotion had two earnest adherents. A little earlier it had been included by St. Thomas Becket in the devotion to the joys and sorrows of Mary, by Blessed Hermann (d.1245), one of the first spiritual children of Saint Dominic, in his other devotions to Mary, and somewhat later it appeared in St. Bridget's "Book of Revelations". Johannes Tauler (d. 1361) beholds in Mary the model of a mystical soul, just as St. Ambrose perceived in her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that the Church has borrowed the lessons of the second nocturn for the feast of the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his "Theotimus."
During this same period one finds occasional mention of devotional practices to the Heart of Mary, e.g., in the "Antidotarium" of Nicolas du Saussay (d. 1488), in Julius II, and in the "Pharetra" of Lanspergius. In the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, ascetic authors dwelt upon this devotion at greater length. It was, however, reserved to Saint Jean Eudes (d. 1681) to propagate the devotion, to make it public, and to have a feast celebrated in honor of the Heart of Mary, first at Autun in 1648 and afterwards in a number of French dioceses. He established several religious societies interested in upholding and promoting the devotion, of which his large book on the Coeur Admirable (Admirable Heart), published in 1681, resembles a summary. Jean Eudes' efforts to secure the approval of an office and feast failed at Rome, but, notwithstanding this disappointment, the devotion to the Heart of Mary progressed. In 1699 Father Pinamonti (d. 1703) published in Italian a short work on the Holy Heart of Mary, and in 1725, Joseph de Gallifet combined the cause of the Heart of Mary with that of the Heart of Jesus in order to obtain Rome's approbation of the two devotions and the institution of the two feasts. In 1729, his project was defeated, and in 1765, the two causes were separated, to assure the success of the principal one.
Alliance with the Sacred Heart
The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological and spiritual links in Catholic devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the 17th century by Saint Jean Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. The devotions, and the associated prayers, continued into the 20th century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima which stated that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary.
Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis Aquas, Pope Pius XII encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart. In his Angelus address on September 15, 1985 Pope John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.
Feast days
Fatima Statue of Pope Pius XII, who consecrated Russia and the World: Just as a few years ago We consecrated the entire human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, so today We consecrate and in a most special manner We entrust all the peoples of Russia to this Immaculate Heart...
In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence, granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for some of the churches in his diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession, thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing condition when a twofold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to the devotion. The two factors of this movement were, first of all, the revelation of the "miraculous medal" in 1830 and all the prodigies that followed, and then the establishment at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless alleged graces. On 21 July 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing them upon the Universal Church.
During the third apparition at Fátima, Portugal on 13 July 1917, the Virgin Mary allegedly said that "God wishes to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart" in order to save souls from going into the fires of hell and to bring about world peace, and also asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Pope Pius XII, in his Apostolic Letter of 7 July 1952, Sacro Vergente consecrated Russia to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
On 25 March 1984, Pope John Paul II fulfilled this request again, when he made the solemn act of consecration of the world, and implicitly Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary of Fatima brought to Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican for the momentous occasion. Sister Lucia, OCD, then the only surviving visionary of Fatima, confirmed that the request of Mary for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was accepted by Heaven and therefore, was fulfilled. Again on 8 October 2000, Pope John Paul II made an act of entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the new millennium.
Roman Catholic feast days
Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 to be celebrated on 22 August, coinciding with the traditional octave day of the Assumption. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the day, Saturday, immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This means in practice that it is now held on the day before the third Sunday after Pentecost.
At the same time as he closely associated the celebrations of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Queenship of Mary from 31 May to 22 August, bringing it into association with the feast of her Assumption.
Those who use the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal or an earlier one (but not more than 17 years before 1962) observe the day established by Pius XII.
References:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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Today's Snippet VI: Acts of Reparation
(Morning offering First Friday and First Saturday Devotions)
In the Roman Catholic tradition, an Act of Reparation is a prayer or devotion with the intent to repair the "sins of others", e.g. for the repair of the sin of blasphemy, the sufferings of Jesus Christ or as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary.[1] These prayers do not usually involve a petition for a living or deceased beneficiary, but aim to repair sins.
In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor Pope Pius XI defined reparation as follows:
The creature's love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation.[2]
Pope John Paul II referred to reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".[3]
Theological basis and history
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2157 states:
- The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior's grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father.
"All that we do without offering it to God is wasted," Saint John Mary Vianney preached. According to Catholic theology, the worth of an action in the eyes of God is found in the intention, i.e. what takes place in the heart of each person, on whether the person lives based on the love for God (the greatest commandment) or love for self. Thus, Catholic spirituality encourages the practice of fixing one's intention towards loving God at the very beginning of the day, through the morning offering. Catholic authors also encourage repeating this offering throughout the day, especially at the start of one's professional work which takes a large part of each day.
The morning offering is an essential part of the theology of sanctification of work, or the use of work, secular or otherwise, as a means of arriving at personal sanctity. The other element in this theology is the actual work done with spirit of excellence in consonance with the intention of offering something "worthy" to the sanctity, majesty and the goodness of the Father God.
"All that we do without offering it to God is wasted." - Saint John Mary Vianney
This theology is also supported by private revelation to some saints. For example, Sister Josefa Menéndez (1890-1923) reported that she heard Jesus Christ tell her: "When you awake, enter at once into My Heart, and when you are in it, offer My Father all your actions united to the pulsations of My Heart . . . If [a person is] engaged in work of no value in itself, if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I Myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly profit souls . . . more, perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world. You will be able to save many souls that way."
Saint Mechtilde (1241-1298), a popular saint during the time of Dante and who was mentioned in his Divine Comedy, also had visions of Jesus Christ and transmitted the following words of Jesus: "When you awake in the morning, let your first act be to salute My Heart, and to offer Me your own . . . Whoever shall breathe a sigh toward Me from the bottom of his heart when he awakes in the morning and shall ask Me to work all his works in him throughout the day, will draw Me to him . . . For never does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration toward Me without drawing Me nearer to him than I was before." It is also said that the morning offering helps "refresh and recharge" the soul, preparing the soul to face each day with the help of God himself.[1]
The morning offering has been an old practice in the Church but it started to spread largely through the Apostleship of Prayer, started by Fr. Francis X. Gautrelet, S.J, and specially through the book written by another Jesuit, Reverend Henry Ramière, S.J., who in 1861, adapted the Apostleship of Prayer for parishes and various Catholic institutions, and made it known by his book "The Apostleship of Prayer", which has been translated into many languages.
Duty of Reparation and Devotion
In the encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor Pope Pius XI called acts of reparation a duty for Roman Catholics:We are holden to the duty of reparation and expiation by a certain more valid title of justice and of love, of justice indeed, in order that the offense offered to God by our sins may be expiatedThe pontiff further emphasized, "Moreover this duty of expiation is laid upon the whole race of men"
Prayers of Reparation
A number of prayers as an Act of Reparation to the Virgin Mary appear in the Raccolta Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of December 15 1854, and published in 1898 by the Holy See). The Raccolta includes a number of diverse prayers for reparation.[4]
- The Rosary of the Holy Wounds (which does not include the usual rosary mysteries) focuses on specific redemptive aspects of Christ's suffering in Calvary, with emphasis on the souls in purgatory.[5]
- A well known Act of Reparation to Jesus Christ and for the reparation of blasphemy is The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer) first introduced by Sister Marie of St Peter in 1844. This devotion (started by Sister Marie and then promoted by the Venerable Leo Dupont) was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.[6]
- A frequently offered Act of Reparation to The Holy Trinity is based on the messages of Our Lady of Fatima and is usually called the Angel Prayer.[7][8]
Morning Offering Devotion
John Paul II: Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful."
In Roman Catholicism, the Morning Offering is a prayer said by an individual at the start of the day in order to consecrate the day to Jesus Christ. It serves the purpose of preparing the Catholic to focus completely on Christ and give to him all that he or she does during the day. There are several different forms of Offering.
Pope John Paul II said that the Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful."
The Morning offering is meant to be prayed first thing in the morning, upon waking up. Throughout the day, a Christian offers up everything – joys and successes, difficulties and sacrifices, to Jesus, uniting them to His sufferings and merits so that one’s works gain the merit they can never have apart from Him.
The Morning Offering is suggested to be renewed many times throughout the day with simple short prayers (called "aspirations"), e.g. "I will serve!"; "I offer my work unto you."
A specific Morning offering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was composed by Fr. François-Xavier Gautrelet in 1844. It reflects the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and is also an Acts of reparation for sins:
- O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
- I offer you my prayers, works, joys, sufferings of this day,
- in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.
- I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart;
- the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians;
- I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all members of the Apostleship of Prayer,
- and in particular for those recommended by the Holy Father this month.
- Amen.
First Friday Devotions
The First Friday Devotions are a set of Catholic devotions to especially recognize the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and through it offer reparations for sins. In the visions of Christ reported by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, several promises were made to those people that practiced the First Fridays Devotions, one of which included final perseverance.[1]
According to the words of Christ through His apparitions to St. Margaret Mary, there are several promises to those that practice the First Friday Devotions:
"In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour."[2]
The devotion consists of several practices that are performed on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months. On these days, a person is to attend Holy Mass and receive communion.[3] If the need arises in order to receive communion in a state of grace, a person should also make use of the Sacrament of Penance before attending Mass. In many Catholic communities the practice of the Holy Hour of meditation during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the First Fridays is encouraged. [4]
First Friday - Communion of Reparation
Receiving Holy Communion as part of First Friday Devotions is a Catholic devotion to offer reparations for sins through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the visions of Christ reported by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, several promises were made to those people that practiced the First Fridays Devotions, one of which included final perseverance.[9]
The devotion consists of several practices that are performed on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months. On these days, a person is to attend Holy Mass and receive communion.[10] In many Catholic communities the practice of the Holy Hour of meditation during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the First Fridays is encouraged. [11]
First Friday Promises
- I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will establish peace in their houses.
- I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
- I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
- I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
- Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
- I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
- I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
- I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.[5]
First Saturday Devotions
The First Saturdays Devotion (or Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary) is a Catholic practice which, according to the visionaries, has been requested by the Virgin Mary in several visitations, notably Our Lady of Fátima and the subsequent Pontevedra apparitions. This devotion, and the marian apparitions, have been officially embraced by the Roman Catholic Church.The devotion fits on the Catholic tradition to venerate the Virgin Mary particularly on Saturdays, which originated in the scriptural account that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, her heart was to be pierced with a sword, as prophesied during the presentation of Jesus in the temple; such sword was the bitter sorrow during the Crucifixion of Jesus (which Catholic devotees understand as the union of the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus -- see Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Apparitions). Such sorrow is particularly bitterly endured on Holy Saturday after Jesus was placed on the Sepulcher (before the Resurrection on Easter). Devotees of Fátima believe that the First Saturdays help to console the sorrows of God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary for the sins against Her Immaculate Heart.
The Act of First Saturday Reparation
When Lúcia Santos experienced the Pontevedra apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she heard her promise to grant great graces, especially at the hour of death, in particular the salvation of the soul, for the believer who for Five Consecutive First Saturdays of Month (5 Saturdays in 5 months) receives Holy Communion and practices the following exercises as an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven:- Sacramental confession
- To receive Holy Communion
- A 5 Decades Rosary is recited
The activities of the Five First Saturdays devotions are different from similar devotions on other days in that all should be done with the specific intention in the heart of making reparation to the Blessed Mother for blasphemies against her, her name and her holy initiatives.
Sister Lúcia, the only Fátima visionary to survive into adulthood reported that the Blessed Mother came to her in her convent at Pontevedra, Spain with the following statement:
- Look, my daughter, at my Heart encircled by these thorns with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making reparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the beads, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity
Roman Catholic tradition include specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Sacrament. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary and Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ also existFatima prayer to the Holy Trinity
This prayer is based on the 20th century apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, and is attributed to an angel who appeared to the visionaries. It is sometimes called the Angel Prayer. The apparitions of Fatima have been approved by the Holy Catholic Church, thus deemed worthy of belief.In Catholic tradition, Saint Michael is the prince of the church of Jesus Christ and also the defender of Israel. Having revealed the Chaplet of Saint Michael to a Portuguese nun in the 18th Century, Saint Michael is often associated with being the angel that prepared the children shepherds for the visit of the Blessed Mother of God in Fatima, and thus to him it is attributed the prayer.
Words of the prayer:
- O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary and Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity also exist.These prayers are recited with the intent to repair the sins of others, e.g. when the name of Jesus Christ is taken in vain, for the repair of the sin of blasphemy or the insults against and sufferings of Jesus in Calvary. Pope John Paul II referred to reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
Specific Roman Catholic organizations with this purpose exist. For instance, the Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded by Msgr. Pierre Louis Parisis in 1847 and the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was founded in 1851 by the Venerable Leo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours". In 1950, the Venerable Abbot Hildebrand Gregori formed the organization "Prayerful Sodality" which in 1977 became the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face.
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion
Sister Marie of St Peter with the Golden Arrow. The three rings symbolize the Holy Trinity
On March 16, 1844 Jesus reportedly told Sr. Marie:
"Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God , in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy."
Sister Mary stated that Jesus told her that the two sins which offend him the most grievously are blasphemy and the profanation of Sunday. He called this prayer the "Golden Arrow", saying that those who would recite it would pierce Him delightfully, and also heal those other wounds inflicted on Him by the malice of sinners. Sr. Mary of St. Peter saw, "streaming from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, delightfully wounded by this 'Golden Arrow,' torrents of graces for the conversion of sinners.[2][1][3]
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer)
This prayer is part of the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and appears in the book “The Golden Arrow”, the autobiography of Sr. Marie of St Peter. In her book she wrote that in her visions Jesus told her that an act of sacrilege or blasphemy is like a "poisoned arrow", hence the name “Golden Arrow” for this reparatory prayer. [1] Words of the prayer:[2][1]- May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable,
- most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God
- be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored
- and glorified in Heaven, on earth,
- and under the earth,
- by all the creatures of God,
- and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
- in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
- Amen.
Rosary of the Holy Wounds
Venerable Marie Martha Chambon.
She reported that Jesus Christ appeared to her asked her to unite her sufferings with His as an Act of Reparation for the sins of the world. It also has special applicability to the souls in purgatory.[6][7]
Prayer of reparation for insults and blasphemies
Words of the prayer:[8]- O Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, Son of the living God, behold, we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation; we would make amends for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy holy name, for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, for all the irreverence shown toward Thine immaculate Virgin Mother, for all the calumnies and slanders spoken against Thy spouse, the holy Catholic and Roman Church. O Jesus, who hast said: "If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you", we pray and beseech Thee for all our brethren who are in danger of sin; shield them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith; save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss; to all of them give light and knowledge of the truth, courage and strength for the conflict with evil, perseverance in faith and active charity! For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus, in Thy name, unto God the Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Spirit world without end. Amen
Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary
Roman Catholic tradition and Mariology include specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for insults and blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin Mary. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ and Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity also exist.m Some such prayers are provided in the Raccolta Roman Catholic prayer book, first published in association with the Roman Catholic Congregation of Indulgences in 1807.The Raccolta is a book, published from 1807 to 1950, that listed Roman Catholic prayers and other acts of piety, reparation, such as novenas, for which specific indulgences were granted by Popes. The Raccolta (literally meaning "collection" in Italian) is an abbreviation of its full title: Raccolta delle orazioni e pie opere per le quali sono sono concedute dai Sommi Pontefici le SS. Indulgenze ("Collection of Prayers and Good Works for Which the Popes Have Granted Holy Indulgences"). The text was in Italian, with the prayers themselves given in Latin. By his bull Indulgentiarum Doctrina of 1 January 1967, Pope Paul VI ordered a revision of the collection of indulgenced prayers and works "with a view to attaching indulgences only to the most important prayers and works of piety, charity and penance". In 1968 it was replaced by the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, listing fewer specific prayers but including new general grants that apply to a wide range of prayerful actions.
The Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, which is in Latin, differs from the Italian-language Raccolta in listing "only the most important prayers and works of piety, charity and penance". On the other hand, it includes new general grants of partial indulgences that apply to a wide range of prayerful actions, and it indicates that the prayers that it does list as deserving veneration on account of divine inspiration or antiquity or as being in widespread use are only examples of those to which the first these general grants applies: "Raising the mind to God with humble trust while performing one's duties and bearing life's difficulties, and adding, at least mentally, some pious invocation". In this way, the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, in spite of its smaller size, classifies as indulgenced an immensely greater number of prayers than were treated as such in the Raccolta.
Reparation for insults to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Words of the Prayer from Raccolta:- O blessed Virgin, Mother of God, look down in mercy from Heaven, where thou art enthroned as Queen, upon me, a miserable sinner, thine unworthy servant. Although I know full well my own unworthiness, yet in order to atone for the offenses that are done to thee by impious and blasphemous tongues, from the depths of my heart I praise and extol thee as the purest, the fairest, the holiest creature of all God's handiwork. I bless thy holy name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race. I bless the Eternal Father who chose thee in an especial way for His daughter; I bless the Word Incarnate who took upon Himself our nature in thy bosom and so made thee His Mother; I bless the Holy Spirit who took thee as His bride. All honor, praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity who predestined thee and loved thee so exceedingly from all eternity as to exalt thee above all creatures to the most sublime heights. O Virgin, holy and merciful, obtain for all who offend thee the grace of repentance, and graciously accept this poor act of homage from me thy servant, obtaining likewise for me from thy Divine Son the pardon and remission of all my sins. Amen.
Reparation for blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary
Words of the Prayer from Raccolta:
- Most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, turn thine eyes in pity upon us, miserable sinners; we are sore afflicted by the many evils that surround us in this life, but especially do we feel our hearts break within us upon hearing the dreadful insults and blasphemies uttered against thee, O Virgin Immaculate. O how these impious sayings offend the infinite Majesty of God and of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ! How they provoke His indignation and give us cause to fear the terrible effects of His vengeance! Would that the sacrifice of our lives might avail to put an end to such outrages and blasphemies; were it so, how gladly we should make it, for we desire, O most holy Mother, to love thee and to honor thee with all our hearts, since this is the will of God. And just because we love thee, we will do all that is in our power to make thee honored and loved by all men. In the meantime do thou, our merciful Mother, the supreme comforter of the afflicted, accept this our act of reparation which we offer thee for ourselves and for all our families, as well as for all who impiously blaspheme thee, not knowing what they say. Do thou obtain for them from Almighty God the grace of conversion, and thus render more manifest and more glorious thy kindness, thy power and thy great mercy. May they join with us in proclaiming thee blessed among women, the Immaculate Virgin and most compassionate Mother of God.
- Recite Hail Mary three times.
Acts of Reparation Mentioned in Apparitions
The need for reparation has been mentioned in some Marian apparitions. The messages of Our Lady of Akita, which were formally approved by the Holy See in 1988 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) include the following statement attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Roman Catholic theology asserts that it was by voluntary submission that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for man's disobedience and sin and that his death made reparation for the sins and offenses of the world. Catholicism professes that by adding their prayers, labours, and trials to the redemption won by Christ's death, Christians can attempt to make reparation to God for their own offenses and those of others. Protestant Christians believe that the prize is already won by Christ for those who believe, wholly apart from their merit, or lack thereof, and that obedience and service to Christ is an outflowing of the new life that he purchased for them in his death on the cross.
The theological doctrine of reparation is the foundation of the numerous confraternities and pious associations which have been founded, especially in modern times, to make reparation to God for the sins of men. The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded 28 June, 1847, in the Church of St. Martin de La Noue at St. Dizier in France by Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres. With a similar object, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established at Tours, about 1851, through the piety of M. Dupont, the "holy man of Tours". In 1883 an association was formed in Rome to offer reparation to God on behalf of all nations. The idea of reparation is an essential element in the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and acts of reparation were once common public devotions in Roman Catholic churches. One of the ends for which the Eucharist is offered is for reparation. A pious widow of Paris conceived the idea of promoting this object in 1862. By the authority of Pope Leo XIII the erection of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation was sanctioned in 1886.
- "Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."
Organizations for Reparation
Specific Catholic organizations (including Pontifical Congregations) whose focus is reparation have been formed:[13][14]- The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded by Msgr. Pierre Louis Parisis in 1847.
- The Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was founded in 1851 by the Venerable Leo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours".
- In 1886 Pope Leo XIII authorized the formation of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation in Rome.
- In 1950, the Venerable Abbot Hildebrand Gregori formed the organization "Prayerful Sodality" which in 1977 became the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face.
Theological issues
From a theological view, reparation is closely connected with those of atonement and satisfaction, and thus belonging to some of the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith. Christian theology teaches that man is a creature who has fallen into original sin from an original state of grace in which he was created, and that through the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ, he has been redeemed and restored again in a certain degree to the original condition.Roman Catholic theology asserts that it was by voluntary submission that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for man's disobedience and sin and that his death made reparation for the sins and offenses of the world. Catholicism professes that by adding their prayers, labours, and trials to the redemption won by Christ's death, Christians can attempt to make reparation to God for their own offenses and those of others. Protestant Christians believe that the prize is already won by Christ for those who believe, wholly apart from their merit, or lack thereof, and that obedience and service to Christ is an outflowing of the new life that he purchased for them in his death on the cross.
The theological doctrine of reparation is the foundation of the numerous confraternities and pious associations which have been founded, especially in modern times, to make reparation to God for the sins of men. The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded 28 June, 1847, in the Church of St. Martin de La Noue at St. Dizier in France by Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres. With a similar object, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established at Tours, about 1851, through the piety of M. Dupont, the "holy man of Tours". In 1883 an association was formed in Rome to offer reparation to God on behalf of all nations. The idea of reparation is an essential element in the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and acts of reparation were once common public devotions in Roman Catholic churches. One of the ends for which the Eucharist is offered is for reparation. A pious widow of Paris conceived the idea of promoting this object in 1862. By the authority of Pope Leo XIII the erection of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation was sanctioned in 1886.
References
- ^ Acts of Reparation http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/qt/Reparation_HN.htm
- ^ Miserentissimus Redemptor Encyclical of Pope Pius XI [1]
- ^ Vatican archives http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20001021_riparatrici_en.html
- ^ Joseph P. Christopher et al., 2003 The Raccolta, St Athanasius Press ISBN 978-0-9706526-6-9
- ^ Michael Freze, 1993, Voices, Visions, and Apparitions, OSV Publishing ISBN 0-87973-454-X
- ^ Dorothy Scallan. The Holy Man of Tours. (1990) ISBN 0-89555-390-2
- ^ Our Lady of Fatima http://www.fatima.org/
- ^ Story of Fatima http://www.salvemariaregina.info/SalveMariaRegina/SMR-104.html
- ^ Peter Stravinskas, 1998, OSV's Catholic Encyclopedia, OSV Press ISBN 0-87973-669-0 page 428
- ^ Roman Catholic worship: Trent to today by James F. White 2003 ISBN 0-8146-6194-7 page 35
- ^ Meditations on the Sacred Heart by Joseph McDonnell 2008 ISBN 1-4086-8658-9 page 118
- ^ Lucia Santos, Memoir 1, pp. 45-48, and Memoir 2, p. 82 and 93, in Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, entire text online.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
- ^ Byzantine Catholic Church in America - Hildebrand Gregori a Step Closer to Canonization
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FEATURED BOOK
THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD
Mystical City of God, the miracle of His omnipotence and the abyss of His grace the divine history and life of the Virgin Mother of God our Queen and our Lady, most holy Mary expiatrix of the fault of eve and mediatrix of grace. Manifested to Sister Mary of Jesus, Prioress of the convent of the Immaculate Conception in Agreda, Spain. For new enlightenment of the world, for rejoicing of the Catholic Church, and encouragement of men. Completed in 1665.
THE DIVINE HISTORY AND LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD
Venerable Mary of Agreda
Translated from the Spanish by Reverend George J. Blatter
1914, So. Chicago, Ill., The Theopolitan; Hammond, Ind., W.B. Conkey Co., US..
IMPRIMATUR: +H.J. Alerding Bishop of Fort Wayne
Translation from the Original Authorized Spanish Edition by Fiscar Marison (George J. Blatter). Begun on the Feast of the Assumption 1902, completed 1912.
This work is published for the greater Glory of Jesus Christ through His most Holy Mother Mary and for the sanctification of the Church and her members.
Book 4, Chapter 3
THE
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM
It had been decreed by the immutable
will of Providence that the Onlybegotten of the Father should be born
in the town of Bethlehem (Mich. 5, 2), and accordingly it had been
foretold by the Saints and Prophets of foregone ages (Jerem. 10, 9);
for the decrees of the absolute will of God are infallible, and since
nothing can resist them (Esther 13, 9), sooner would heaven and earth
pass away than that they fail of accomplishment (Matth. 24, 35). The
fulfillment of this immutable decree the Lord secured by means of an
edict of Caesar Augustus for the whole Roman empire, ordering the
registration or enumeration of all the world, as saint Luke says
(Luke 2, 1). The Roman empire at that time embraced the greater part
of what was then known of the earth and therefore they called
themselves masters of the world, ignoring all the other nations. The
object of this census was to make all the inhabitants acknowledge
themselves as vassals of the emperor, and to pay a certain tax to
their temporal lord; for this registration every one was to go to his
native city in order to be inscribed. This edict was also proclaimed
in Nazareth and came to the hearing of saint Joseph while he was on
some errand. He returned to his house in sorrowful consternation and
informed his heavenly Spouse of the news which had spread about
concerning the edict. The most prudent Virgin answered: “Let
not this edict of our temporal ruler cause thee any concern, my
master and spouse, for all that happens to us is ordained by the Lord
and King of heaven and earth; and in all events his Providence will
assist and direct us (Eccli. 22, 28). Let us resign ourselves into
his hands and we shall not be disappointed.”
Most holy Mary was capable of being entrusted with
all the mysteries of her most holy Son and She knew of the prophecies
and their fulfillment; hence, also, that the Onlybegotten of the
Father and her own was to be born in Bethlehem, a Stranger and an
Unknown. But She said nothing of this to saint Joseph; for without
being commissioned by the Lord She would reveal none of his secrets.
All that She was not commanded to reveal She concealed with admirable
prudence, notwithstanding her desire of consoling her most faithful
and holy spouse. She wished to entrust Herself to his direction and
arrangement without acting the part of those who are wise in their
own conceit, as Wisdom warns us (Prov. 3, 7). They therefore
conferred with each other about the course to be pursued; for already
the pregnancy of the heavenly Lady was far advanced and her
parturition was approaching. Saint Joseph said: “Queen of
heaven and earth and my Mistress, if Thou hast no order to the
contrary from the Almighty, it seems to me necessary that I go alone.
Yet, although this order refers only to the heads of families, I dare
not leave Thee without assistance, nor could I live without Thee, nor
would I have a moment’s peace away from Thee; for my heart
could not come to any rest without seeing Thee.
They at the same time resolved upon
the day of their departure, and Joseph diligently searched in the
town of Nazareth for some beast of burden to bear the Mistress of the
world. He could not easily find one because so many people were going
to different towns in order to fulfill the requirements of the edict
of the emperor. But after much anxious inquiry saint Joseph found an
unpretentious little beast which, if we can call such creatures
fortunate, was the most fortunate of all the irrational animals;
since it was privileged not only to bear the Queen of all creation
and the blessed fruit of her womb, the King of kings and the Lord of
lords, but afterwards to be present at his Birth (Jsaias 1, 3); and
since it gave to its Creator the homage denied to Him by men, as I
shall relate (No. 485). They provided the articles for the journey,
which would last five days. The outfit of the heavenly travelers was
the same as that which they had provided for their previous journey
to the house of Zacharias on their visit to Elisabeth. They carried
with them bread, fruit and some fishes, which ordinarily composed
their nourishment. As the most prudent Virgin was enlightened
regarding their protracted absence, She made use of prudent
concealment in taking along the linens and clothes necessary for her
heavenly delivery, for She wished to dispose all things according to
the exalted intents of the Lord and in preparation for the events
which She expected. Their house they left in charge of some neighbor
until they should return.
The most pure Mary and the glorious
saint Joseph departed from Nazareth for Bethlehem alone, poor and
humble in the eyes of the world. None of the mortals thought more of
them than what was warranted by their poverty and humility. But O the
wonderful sacraments of the Most High, hidden to the proud, and
unpenetrated by the wisdom of the flesh! They did not walk alone,
poor or despised, but prosperous, rich and in magnificence. They were
most worthy of the immense love of the eternal Father and most
estimable in his eyes. They carried with them the Treasure of heaven,
the Deity itself. The whole court of the celestial ministers
venerated them. All the inanimate beings recognized the living and
true Ark of the Testament (Josue 3, 16) more readily than the waters
of the Jordan recognized its type and shadow, when they courteously
laid open and free the path for its passage and for those that
followed it. They were accompanied by the ten thousand angels, which
as mentioned (No. 450), were appointed by God himself as the servants
of her Majesty during that whole journey. These heavenly squadrons
marched along as their retinue in human forms visible to the heavenly
Lady, more refulgent than so many suns. She herself walked in their
midst better guarded and defended than the bed of Solomon, surrounded
by the sixty valiant ones of Israel, girded with their swords (Cant.
3, 7). Besides these ten thousand angels there were many others, who
descended from heaven as messengers of the eternal Father to his
Onlybegotten made man in his most holy Mother, and who ascended from
earth as their ambassadors with messages and treaties from them to
the heavenly Father.
With these
wonderful favors and delights, however, the Lord joined some
hardships and inconveniences which the divine Mother encountered on
the way. For the concourse of people in the taverns, occasioned by
the imperial edict, was very disagreeable and annoying to the modest
and retiring Virgin–Mother and her spouse. On account
of their poverty and timid retirement they were treated with less
hospitality and consideration than others, especially the well–to–do;
for the world judges and usually confers its favors according to
outward appearance and according to personal influence. Our holy
pilgrims were obliged repeatedly to listen to sharp reprimands in the
taverns, at which they arrived tired out by their journey, and in
some of them they were refused admittance as worthless and despicable
people. Several times they assigned to the Mistress of heaven and
earth some corner of the hallway; while at others She did not fare
even so well, being obliged to retire with her husband to places
still more humble and unbecoming in the estimation of the world. But
in whatever places She tarried, how contemptible soever it might be
considered, the courtiers of heaven established their court around
their supreme King and sovereign Queen. Immediately they surrounded
and enclosed them like an impenetrable wall, securing the bridal
chamber of Solomon against the terrors of the night. Her most
faithful spouse Joseph, seeing the Mistress of heaven so well guarded
by the angelic hosts, betook himself to rest and sleep; for to this
She urged him on account of the hardships of travel. She, however,
continued her celestial colloquies with the ten thousand angels of
her retinue.
Thus variously and wonderfully assisted, our
travelers arrived at the town of Bethlehem at four o’clock of
the fifth day, a Saturday. As it was at the time of the winter
solstice, the sun was already sinking and the night was falling. They
entered the town, and wandered through many streets in search of a
lodging–house or inn for staying over night. They knocked at
the doors of their acquaintances and nearer family relations; but
they were admitted nowhere and in many places they met with harsh
words and insults. The most modest Queen followed her spouse through
the crowds of people, while he went from house to house and from door
to door. Although She knew that the hearts and the houses of men were
to be closed to them, and although to expose her state at her age to
the public gaze was more painful to her modesty than to their failure
to procure a night–lodging, She nevertheless wished to obey
saint Joseph and suffer this indignity and unmerited shame. While
wandering through the streets they passed the office of the public
registry and they inscribed their names and paid the fiscal tribute
in order to comply with the edict and not be obliged to return. They
continued their search, betaking themselves to other houses. But
having already applied at more than fifty different places, they
found themselves rejected and sent away from them all. The heavenly
spirits were filled with astonishment at these exalted mysteries of
the Most High, which manifested the patience and meekness of his
Virgin Mother and the unfeeling hardness of men. At the same time
they blessed the Almighty in his works and hidden sacraments, since
from that day on He began to exalt and honor poverty and humility
among men.
It was nine o’clock at night when the most
faithful Joseph, full of bitter and heartrending sorrow, returned to
his most prudent Spouse and said: “My sweetest Lady, my heart
is broken with sorrow at the thought of not only not being able to
shelter Thee as Thou deservest and as I desire, but in not being able
to offer Thee even any kind of protection from the weather, or a
place of rest, a thing rarely or never denied to the most poor and
despised in the world. No doubt heaven, in thus allowing the hearts
of men to be so unmoved as to refuse us a night–lodging
conceals some mystery. I now remember, Lady, that outside the city
walls there is a cave, which serves as a shelter for shepherds and
their flocks. Let us seek it out; perhaps it is unoccupied, and we
may there expect some assistance from heaven, since we receive none
from men on earth.” The most prudent Virgin answered: “My
spouse and my master, let not thy kindest heart be afflicted because
the ardent wishes which the love of thy Lord excites in thee cannot
be fulfilled. Since I bear Him in my womb, let us, I beseech thee,
give thanks for having disposed events in this way. The place of
which thou speakest shall be most satisfactory to me. Let thy tears
of sorrow be turned into tears of joy, and let us lovingly embrace
poverty, which is the inestimable and precious treasure of my most
holy Son. He came from heaven in order to seek it, let us then afford
Him an occasion to practice it in the joy of our souls; certainly I
cannot be better delighted than to see thee procure it for me. Let us
go gladly wherever the Lord shall guide us.” The holy angels
accompanied the heavenly pair, brilliantly lighting up the way, and
when they arrived at the city gate they saw that the cave was
forsaken and unoccupied. Full of heavenly consolation, they thanked
the Lord for this favor, and then happened what I shall relate in the
following chapter.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN
The Virgin Mary
speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain
My dearest daughter, if thou art of a
meek and docile heart, these mysteries which thou hast written about
and hast understood, will stir within thee sweet sentiments of love
and affection toward the Author of such great wonders. I wish that,
bearing them in mind, thou from this day on embrace with new and
great esteem the contempt and neglect of the world. And tell me,
dearest, if, in exchange for this forgetfulness and scorn of the
world, God look upon thee with eyes of sweetest love, why shouldst
thou not buy so cheaply what is worth an infinite price? What can the
world give thee, even when it esteems thee and exalts thee most ? And
what dost thou lose, if thou despise it? Is its favor not all vanity
and deceit (Ps. 4, 3)? Is it not all a fleeting and momentary shadow,
which eludes the grasp of those that haste after it? Hence, if thou
hadst all worldly advantage in thy possession, what great feat would
it be to despise it as of no value? Consider how little thou dost in
rejecting all of it for the love of God, for mine and that of the
holy angels. And if the world does not neglect thee as much as thou
shouldst desire, do thou on thy own behalf despise it, in order to
remain free and unhampered to enjoy to the full extent the highest
Good with the plenitude of his most delightful love and
companionship.
My most holy Son is such a faithful
Lover of souls that He hast set me as the teacher and living example
of the love of humility and true contempt of worldly vanity and
pride. He ordained also for his own glory as well as for my sake that
I, his Servant and Mother, should be left without shelter and be
turned away by mortals, in order that afterwards his beloved souls
might be so much the more readily induced to offer Him a welcome,
thus obliging Him, by an artifice of love, to come and remain with
them. He also sought destitution and poverty, not because He had any
need of them for bringing the practice of virtues to the highest
perfection, but in order to teach mortals the shortest and surest way
for reaching the heights of divine love and union with God.
Thou knowest well, my dearest, that thou hast been
incessantly instructed and exhorted by divine enlightenment to forget
the terrestrial and visible and gird thyself with foritude (Prov. 31,
17), to raise thyself to the imitation of me, copying in thyself,
according to thy capacity, the works and virtues manifested to thee
in my life. This is the very first purpose of the knowledge which
thou receivest in writing this history thou hast in me a perfect
model, and by it thou canst arrange the converse and conduct of thy
life in the same manner as I arranged mine in imitation of my
sweetest Son. The dread with which this command to imitate me has
inspired thee as a being above thy strength, thou must moderate and
thou must encourage thyself by the words of my most holy Son in the
Gospel of saint Matthew: “Be ye perfect as my heavenly Father
is perfect” (Matth. 5, 8). This command of the Most High
imposed upon his holy Church is not impossible of fulfillment, and,
if his faithful children on their part dispose themselves properly,
He will deny to none of them the grace of attaining this resemblance
to the heavenly Father. All this my most holy Son has merited for
them. But the degrading forgetfulness and neglect of men hinder them
from maturing within themselves the fruits of his Redemption.
Of thee particularly I expect this
perfection, and I invite thee to it by the sweet law of love which
accompanies my instruction. Ponder and scrutinize, by the divine
light, the obligation under which I place thee, and labor to
correspond with it like a faithful and anxious child. Let no
difficulty or hardship disturb thee, nor deter thee from any virtuous
exercise, no matter how hard it may be. Nor be content with striving
after the love of God and salvation of thyself alone; if thou wouldst
be perfect in imitating me and fulfilling all that the Gospel
teaches, thou must work for the salvation of other souls and the
exaltation of the holy name of my Son, making thyself an instrument
in his powerful hands for the accomplishment of mighty works to
advance his pleasure and glory.
Book 4, Chapter 4
CHRIST
OUR SAVIOR IS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY IN BETHLEHEM, JUDA
The palace which the supreme King of
kings and the Lord of lords had chosen for entertaining his eternal
and incarnate Son in this world was a most poor and insignificant hut
or cave, to which most holy Mary and Joseph betook themselves after
they had been denied all hospitality and the most ordinary kindness
by their fellow–men, as I have described in the foregoing
chapter. This place was held in such contempt that though the town of
Bethlehem was full of strangers in want of night–shelter, none
would demean or degrade himself so as to make use of it for a
lodging; for there was none who deemed it suitable or desirable for
such a purpose, except the Teachers of humility and poverty, Christ
our Savior and his purest Mother. On this account the wisdom of the
eternal Father had reserved it for Them consecrating it in all its
bareness, loneliness and poverty as the first temple of light
(Malachy 4, 2, Ps. 111, 4) and as the house of the true Sun of
justice, which was to arise for the upright of heart from the
resplendent Aurora Mary, turning the night of sin into the daylight
of grace.
Most holy Mary and saint Joseph
entered the lodging thus provided for them and by the effulgence of
the ten thousand angels of their guard they could easily ascertain
its poverty and loneliness, which they esteemed as favors and
welcomed with tears of consolation and joy. Without delay the two
holy travelers fell on their knees and praised the Lord, giving Him
thanks for his benefit, which they knew had been provided by his
wisdom for his own hidden designs. Of this mystery the heavenly
Princess Mary had a better insight; for as soon as She sanctified the
interior of the cave by her sacred footsteps She felt a fullness of
joy which entirely elevated and vivified Her. She besought the Lord
to bless with a liberal hand all the inhabitants of the neighboring
city, because by rejecting Her they had given occasion to the vast
favors, which She awaited in this neglected cavern. It was formed
entirely of the bare and coarse rocks, without any natural beauty or
artificial adornment; a place intended merely for the shelter of
animals; yet the eternal Father had selected it for the shelter and
dwelling–place of his own Son.
The angelic spirits, who like a
celestial militia guarded their Queen and Mistress, formed themselves
into cohorts in the manner of court guards in a royal palace. They
showed themselves in their visible forms also to saint Joseph; for on
this occasion it was befitting that he should enjoy such a favor, on
the one hand in order to assuage his sorrow by allowing him to behold
this poor lodging thus beautified and adorned by their celestial
presence, and on the other, in order to enliven and encourage him for
the events which the Lord intended to bring about during that night,
and in this forsaken place. The great Queen and Empress, who was
already informed of the mystery to be transacted here, set about
cleaning with her own hands the cave, which was so soon to serve as a
royal throne and sacred mercy–seat; for neither did She want to
miss this occasion for exercising her humility, nor would She deprive
her onlybegotten Son of the worship and reverence implied by this
preparation and cleansing of his temple.
Saint Joseph,
mindful of the majesty of his heavenly Spouse (which, it seemed to
him, She was forgetting in her ardent longing for humiliation),
besought Her not to deprive Him of this work, which he considered as
his alone; and he hastened to set about cleaning the floor and the
corners of the cave, although the humble Queen continued to assist
him therein. As the angels were then present in visible forms, they
were (according to our mode of speaking) abashed at such eagerness
for humiliation, and they speedily emulated with each other to join
in this work; or rather, in order to say it more succinctly, in the
shortest time possible they had cleansed and set in order that cave,
filling it with holy fragrance. Saint Joseph started a fire with the
material which he had brought for that purpose. As it was very cold,
they sat at the fire in order to get warm. They partook of the food
which they had brought, and they ate this,
their frugal supper, with incomparable joy of their souls. The Queen
of heaven was so absorbed and taken up with the thought of the
impending mystery of her divine delivery, that She would not have
partaken of food if She had not been urged thereto by obedience to
her spouse.
After their supper
they gave thanks to the Lord as was their custom. Having spent a
short time in this prayer and conferring about the mysteries of the
incarnate Word, the most prudent Virgin felt the approach of the most
blessed Birth. She requested her spouse saint Joseph to betake
himself to rest and sleep as the night was already far advanced. The
man of God yielded to the request of his Spouse and urged Her to do
the same; and for this purpose he arranged and prepared a sort of
couch with the articles of wear in their possession, making use of a
crib or manger, that had been left by the shepherds
for their animals. Leaving most holy Mary in the portion of the cave
thus furnished, saint Joseph retired to a corner of the entrance,
where he began to pray. He was immediately visited by the divine
Spirit and felt a most sweet and extraordinary influence, by which he
was wrapt and elevated into an ecstasy. In it was shown him all that
passed during that night in this blessed cave; for he did not return
to consciousness until his heavenly Spouse called him. Such was the
sleep which saint Joseph enjoyed in that night, more exalted and
blessed than that of Adam in paradise (Gen. 21, 2).
The Queen of all creatures was called
from her resting–place by a loud voice of the Most High, which
strongly and sweetly raised Her above all created things and caused
Her to feel new effects of divine power; for this was one of the most
singular and admirable ecstasies of her most holy life. Immediately
also She was filled with new enlightenment and divine influences,
such as I have described in other places, until She reached the clear
vision of the Divinity. The veil fell and She saw intuitively the
Godhead itself in such glory and plenitude of insight, as all the
capacity of men and angels could not describe or fully understand.
All the knowledge of the Divinity and humanity of her most holy Son,
which She had ever received in former visions was renewed and,
moreover, other secrets of the inexhaustible archives of the bosom of
God were revealed to Her. I have not ideas or words sufficient and
adequate for expressing what I have been allowed to see of these
sacraments by the divine light; and their abundance and multiplicity
convince me of the poverty and want of proper expression in created
language.
The Most High
announced to his Virgin Mother, that the time of his coming into the
world had arrived and what would be the manner in which this was now
to be fulfilled and executed. The most prudent Lady perceived in this
vision the purpose and exalted scope of these wonderful mysteries and
sacraments, as well in so far as related to the Lord himself as also
in so far as they concerned creatures, for whose benefit they had
been primarily decreed. She prostrated Herself before the throne of
his Divinity and gave Him glory, magnificence, thanks and praise for
Herself and for all creatures, such as was befitting the ineffable
mercy and condescension of his divine love. At the same time She
asked of the divine Majesty new light and grace in order to be able
worthily to undertake the service and worship and the rearing up of
the Word made flesh, whom She was to bear in Her arms and nourish
with her virginal milk. This petition the heavenly Mother brought
forward with the profoundest humility, as one who understood the
greatness of this new sacrament. She held Herself unworthy of the
office of rearing up and conversing as a Mother with a God incarnate
of which even the highest seraphim are incapable. Prudently and
humbly did the Mother of wisdom ponder and weigh this matter. And
because She humbled Herself to the dust and acknowledged her
nothingness in the presence of the Almighty, therefore his Majesty
raised Her up and confirmed anew upon Her the title of Mother
of God. He commanded Her to exercise
this office and ministry of a legitimate and true Mother of Himself;
that She should treat Him as the Son of the eternal Father and at the
same time the Son of her womb. All this could be easily entrusted to
such a Mother, in whom was contained an excellence that words cannot
express.
The most holy Mary remained in this
ecstasy and beatific vision for over an hour immediately preceding
her divine delivery. At the moment when She issued from it and
regained the use of her senses She felt and saw that the body of the
infant God began to move in her virginal womb; how, releasing and
freeing Himself from the place which in the course of nature He had
occupied for nine months, He now prepared to issue forth from that
sacred bridal chamber. This movement not only did not cause any pain
or hardship, as happens with the other daughters of Adam and Eve in
their childbirths; but filled Her with incomparable joy and delight,
causing in her soul and in her virginal body such exalted and divine
effects that they exceed all thoughts of men. Her body became so
spiritualized with the beauty of heaven that She seemed no more a
human and earthly creature. Her countenance emitted rays of light,
like a sun incarnadined, and shone in indescribable earnestness and
majesty, all inflamed with fervent love. She was kneeling in the
manger, her eyes raised to heaven, her hands joined and folded at her
breast, her soul wrapped in the Divinity and She herself was entirely
deified. In this position, and at the end of the heavenly rapture,
the most exalted Lady gave to the world the Onlybegotten of the
Father and her own, our Savior Jesus, true God and man, at the hour
of midnight, on a Sunday, in the year of the creation of the world
five thousand one hundred and ninety–nine (5199), which is the
date given in the Roman Church, and which date has been manifested to
me as the true and certain one.
At the end of the beatific rapture
and vision of the Mother ever Virgin, which I have described above,
was born the Sun of Justice, the Onlybegotten of the eternal Father
and of Mary most pure, beautiful, refulgent and immaculate, leaving
Her untouched in her virginal integrity and purity and making Her
more godlike and forever sacred; for He did not divide, but
penetrated the virginal chamber as the rays of the sun penetrate the
crystal shrine, lighting it up in prismatic beauty.
The infant God therefore was brought
forth from the virginal chamber unencumbered by any corporeal
material substance foreign to Himself. But He came forth glorious and
transfigured for the divine infinite wisdom decreed and ordained that
the glory of his most holy soul should in his Birth overflow and
communicate itself to his body, participating in the gifts of glory
in the same way as happened afterwards in his Transfiguration on
mount Tabor in the presence of the Apostles (Matth. 17, 2). This
miracle was not necessary in order to penetrate the virginal
enclosure and to leave unimpaired the virginal integrity; for without
this Transfiguration God could have brought this about by other
miracles. Thus say the holy doctors, who see no other miracle in this
Birth than that the Child was born without impairing the virginity of
the Mother. It was the will of God that the most b1essed Virgin
should look upon the body of her Son, the God–man, for this
first time in a glorified state for two reasons. The one was in order
that by this divine vision the most prudent Mother should conceive
the highest reverence for the Majesty of Him whom She was to treat as
her Son, the true God–man. Although She was already informed of
his two–fold nature, the Lord nevertheless ordained that by
ocular demonstration She be filled with new graces, corresponding to
the greatness of her most holy Son, which was thus manifested to Her
in a visible manner. The second reason was to reward by this wonder
the fidelity and holiness of the divine Mother; for her most pure and
chaste eyes, that had turned away from all earthly things for love of
her most holy Son, were to see Him at his very Birth in this glory
and thus be rejoiced and rewarded for her loyalty and beautiful love.
The sacred
evangelist Luke tells us that the Mother Virgin, having brought forth
her firstbegotten Son, wrapped Him in swathing clothes and placed Him
in a manger. He does not say that She received Him in her arms from
her virginal womb; for this did not pertain to the purpose of his
narrative. But the two sovereign princes, saint Michael and saint
Gabriel, were the assistants of the Virgin on this occasion. They
stood by at proper distance in human corporeal forms at the moment
when the incarnate Word, penetrating the virginal chamber by divine
power, issued forth to the light, and they received Him in their
hands with ineffable reverence. In the same manner as a priest
exhibits the sacred host to the people for adoration, so these two
celestial ministers presented to the divine Mother her glorious and
refulgent Son. All this happened in a short space of time. In the
same moment in which the holy angels thus presented the divine Child
to his Mother, both Son and Mother looked upon each other, and in
this look, She wounded with love the sweet Infant and was at the same
time exalted and transformed in Him. From the arms of the holy
princes the Prince of all the heavens spoke to his holy Mother:
“Mother, become like unto Me, since on this day, for the human
existence, which thou hast today given Me, I will give thee another
more exalted existence in grace, assimilating thy existence as a mere
creature to the likeness of Me, who am God and Man.” The most
prudent Mother answered : “Trahe me post Te, curremus in odorem
unguentorum tuorum” (Cant. 1, 3). Raise me, elevate me, Lord,
and I will run after Thee in the odor of thy ointments. In the same
way many of the hidden mysteries of the Canticles were fulfilled; and
other sayings which passed between the infant God and the Virgin
Mother had been recorded in that book of songs, as for instance: “My
Beloved to me, and I to Him, and his desire is toward me”
(Cant. 2, 16). “Behold thou art
beautiful, my friend, and thy eyes are dove’s eyes. Behold, my
beloved, for thou art beautiful”; and many other sacramental
words which to mention would unduly prolong this chapter.
The words, which most holy Mary heard from the
mouth of her most holy Son, served to make Her understand at the same
time the interior acts of his holiest soul united with the Divinity;
in order that by imitating them She might become like unto Him. This
was one of the greatest blessings, which the most faithful and
fortunate Mother received at the hands of her Son, the true God and
man, not only because it was continued from that day on through all
her life, but because it furnished Her the means of copying his own
divine life as faithfully as was possible to a mere creature. At the
same time the heavenly Lady perceived and felt the presence of the
most holy Trinity, and She heard the voice of the eternal Father
saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am greatly pleased
and delighted” (Matth. 17, 5). The most prudent Mother made
entirely god–like in the overflow of so many sacraments,
answered: “Eternal Father and exalted God, Lord and Creator of
the universe, give me anew thy permission and benediction to receive
in my arms the Desired of nations (Agg. 2, 8); and teach me to
fulfill as thy unworthy Mother and lowly slave, thy holy will.”
Immediately She heard a voice, which said: “Receive thy
Onlybegotten Son, imitate Him and rear Him; and remember, that thou
must sacrifice Him when I shall demand it of thee.” The divine
Mother answered: “Behold the creature of thy hands, adorn me
with thy grace so that thy Son and my God receive me for his slave;
and if Thou wilt come to my aid with thy Omnipotence, I shall be
faithful in his service; and do Thou count it no presumption in thy
insignificant creature, that she bear in her arms and nourish at her
breast her own Lord and Creator.”
After this interchange of Words, so full of
mysteries, the divine Child suspended the miracle of his
transfiguration, or rather He inaugurated the other miracle, that of
suspending the effects of glory in his most holy body, confining them
solely to his soul; and He now assumed the appearance of one capable
of suffering. In this form the most pure Mother now saw Him and,
still remaining in a kneeling position and adoring Him with profound
humility and reverence, She received him in her arms from the hands
of the holy angels. And when She saw Him in her arms, She spoke to
Him and said: “My sweetest Love and light of my eyes and being
of my soul, Thou hast arrived in good hour into this world as the Sun
of justice (Malach. 4, 2), in order to disperse the darkness of sin
and death! True God of the true God, save thy servants and let all
flesh see him, who shall draw upon it salvation (Is. 9, 2). Receive
me thy servant as thy slave and supply my deficiency, in order that I
may properly serve Thee. Make me, my Son, such as Thou desirest me to
be in thy service.” Then the most prudent Mother turned toward
the eternal Father to offer up to Him his Onlybegotten, saying:
“Exalted Creator of all the Universe, here is the altar and the
sacrifice acceptable in thy eyes (Malachy 3, 4). From this hour on, O
Lord, look upon the human race with mercy and inasmuch as we have
deserved thy anger, it is now time that Thou be appeased in thy Son
and mine. Let thy justice now come to rest, and let thy mercy be
exalted; for on this account the Word has clothed itself in the
semblance of sinful flesh (Rom. 8, 3), and became a Brother of
mortals and sinners (Philip 2, 7). In this title I recognize them as
brothers and I intercede for them from my inmost soul. Thou, Lord,
hast made me the Mother of thy Onlybegotten without my merit, since
this dignity is above all merit of a creature; but I partly owe to
men the occasion of this incomparable good fortune since it is on
their account that I am the Mother of the Word made man and Redeemer
of them all. I will not deny them my love, or remit my care and
watchfulness for their salvation. Receive, eternal God, my wishes and
petitions for that which is according to thy pleasure and good will.”
The Mother of mercy turned also toward all mortals
and addressed them, saying: “Be consoled ye afflicted and
rejoice ye disconsolate, be raised up ye fallen, come to rest ye
uneasy. Let the just be gladdened and the saints be rejoiced; let the
heavenly spirits break out in new jubilee, let the Prophets and
Patriarchs of limbo draw new hope, and let all the generations praise
and magnify the Lord, who renews his wonders. Come, come ye poor;
approach ye little ones, without fear, for in my arms I bear the Lion
made a lamb, the Almighty, become weak, the Invincible subdued. Come
to draw
life, hasten to obtain salvation,
approach to gain eternal rest, since I have all this for all, and it
will be given to you freely and communicated to you without envy. Do
not be slow and heavy of heart, ye sons of men; and Thou, O sweetest
joy of my soul, give me permission to receive from Thee that kiss
desired by all creatures. Therewith the most blessed Mother applied
her most chaste and heavenly lips in order to receive the loving
caresses of the divine Child, who on his part, as her true Son, had
desired them from Her.
Holding Him in Her arms She thus served as the
altar and the sanctuary, where the ten thousand angels adored in
visible human forms their Creator incarnate. And as the most blessed
Trinity assisted in an especial manner at the birth of the Word,
heaven was as it were emptied of its inhabitants, for the whole
heavenly court had betaken itself to that blessed cave of Bethlehem
and was adoring the Creator in his garb and habit of a pilgrim (Phil.
2, 7). And in their concert of praise the holy angels intoned the new
canticle: “Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis” (Luke 2, 14). In sweetest and sonorous
harmony they repeated it, transfixed in wonder at the new miracles
then being fulfilled and at the unspeakable prudence, grace, humility
and beauty of that tender Maiden of fifteen years, who had become the
worthy Trustee and Minister of such vast and magnificent sacraments.
It was now time to call saint Joseph, the faithful
spouse of the most discreet and attentive Lady. As I have said above
he was wrapped in ecstasy, in which he was informed by divine
revelation of all the mysteries of this sacred Birth during this
night. But it was becoming that he should see, and, before all other
mortals, should in his corporeal faculties and senses be present and
experience, adore and reverence the Word made flesh; for he of all
others had been chosen to act as the faithful warden of this great
sacrament. At the desire of his heavenly Spouse he issued from his
ecstasy and, on being restored to consciousness, the first sight of
his eyes was the divine Child in the arms of the Virgin Mother
reclining against her sacred countenance and breast. There he adored
Him in profoundest humility and in tears of joy. He kissed his feet
in great joy and admiration, which no doubt would have taken away and
destroyed life in him, if divine power had not preserved it; and he
certainly would have lost all the use of his senses, if the occasion
had permitted. When saint Joseph had begun to adore the Child, the
most prudent Mother asked leave of her Son to arise (for until then
She had remained on her knees) and, while saint Joseph handed Her the
wrappings and swaddling–clothes, which She had brought, She
clothed Him with incomparable reverence, devotion and tenderness.
Having thus swathed and clothed Him, his Mother, with heavenly
wisdom, laid Him in the crib, as related by saint Luke (Luke 2, 7).
For this purpose She had arranged some straw and hay upon a stone in
order to prepare for the God–Man his first resting–place
upon earth next to that which He had found in her arms. According to
divine ordainment an ox from the neighboring fields ran up in great
haste and, entering the cave, joined the beast of burden brought by
the Queen. The blessed Mother commanded them, with what show of
reverence was possible to them to acknowledge and adore their
Creator. The humble animals obeyed their Mistress and prostrated
themselves before the Child, warming Him with their breath and
rendering Him the service refused by men. And thus the God made man
was placed between two animals, wrapped in swaddling–clothes
and wonderfully fulfilling the prophecy, that “the ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel hath not
known me, and my people hath not understood.” (Is. 13.)
WORDS OF THE QUEEN
The Virgin Mary
speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain
My daughter, if men would keep their
heart disengaged and if they would rightly and worthily consider this
great sacrament of the kindness of the Most high towards men, it
would be a powerful means of conducting them in the pathway of life
and subjecting them to the love of their Creator and Redeemer. For as
men are capable of reasoning, if they would only make use of their
freedom to treat this sacrament with the reverence due to its
greatness, who would be so hardened as not to be moved to tenderness
at the sight of their God become man, humiliated in poverty,
despised, unknown, entering the world in a cave, lying in a manger
surrounded by brute animals, protected only by a poverty–stricken
Mother, and cast off by the foolish arrogance of the world? Who will
dare to love the vanity and pride, which was openly abhorred and
condemned by the Creator of heaven and earth in his conduct? No one
can despise the humility, poverty and indigence, which the Lord loved
and chose for Himself as the very means of teaching the way of
eternal life. Few there are, who stop to consider this truth and
example: and on account of this vile ingratitude only the few will
reap the fruit of these great sacraments.
But if the
condescension of my most holy Son was so great as to bestow so
liberally upon thee his light and knowledge concerning these vast
blessings, ponder well how much thou art bound to co–operate
with this light. In order that thou mayest correspond to this
obligation, I remind and exhort thee to forget all that is of earth
and lose it out of thy sight; that thou seek nothing, or engage
thyself with nothing except what can help thee to withdraw and detach
thee from the world and its inhabitants so
that, with a heart freed from all terrestrial affection, thou dispose
thyself to celebrate in it the mysteries of the poverty, humility and
divine love of the incarnate God. Learn from my example the
reverence, fear and respect, with which thou must treat Him,
remembering how I acted, when I held Him in my arms; follow my
example, whenever thou receivest Him in thy heart in the venerable
sacrament of the holy Eucharist, wherein is contained the same
God–Man, who was born of my womb. In this holy Sacrament thou
receivest Him and possessest Him just as really, and He remains in
thee just as actually, as I possessed Him and conversed with Him,
although in another manner.
I desire that thou
go even to extremes in this holy reverence and fear; and I wish that
thou take notice and be convinced, that in entering into thy heart in
the holy Sacrament, thy God exhorts thee in the same words, which
thou hast recorded as spoken to me: become like unto Me. His coming
down from heaven onto the earth, his being born in humility and
poverty, his living and dying in it, giving such rare example of the
contempt of the world and its deceits; the knowledge, which thou hast
received concerning his conduct and which thou hast penetrated so
deeply by divine intelligence: all these things should be for thee
like living voices, which thou must heed and inscribe into the
interior of thy heart. These privileges have all been granted to thee
in order that thou discreetly use the common blessings to their
fullest extent, and in order that thou mayest understand, how
thankful thou must be to my most holy Son and
Lord, and how thou shouldst strive to make as great a return for his
goodness, as if He had come from heaven to redeem thee alone and as
if He had instituted all his wonders and doctrines in the holy Church
for none else than thee (Gal. 7, 12).
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Catholic Catechism
PART FOUR - CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO - THE LORD'S PRAYER
ARTICLE 1 - "THE SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE GOSPEL"
2761 The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel."7 "Since the Lord . . . after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is said first, as the foundation of further desires."8
I. AT THE CENTER OF THE SCRIPTURES
2762 After showing how the psalms are the principal food of Christian prayer and flow together in the petitions of the Our Father, St. Augustine concludes:
II. THE LORD'S PRAYER
2765 The traditional expression "the Lord's Prayer" - oratio Dominica - means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:13 he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.
2766 But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically.14 As in every vocal prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer; at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us "spirit and life."15 Even more, the proof and possibility of our filial prayer is that the Father "sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'"16 Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the Father, "he who searches the hearts of men," who "knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."17 The prayer to Our Father is inserted into the mysterious mission of the Son and of the Spirit.
III. THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
2767 This indivisible gift of the Lord's words and of the Holy Spirit who gives life to them in the hearts of believers has been received and lived by the Church from the beginning. The first communities prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day,18 in place of the "Eighteen Benedictions" customary in Jewish piety.
2768 According to the apostolic tradition, the Lord's Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer:
2769 In Baptism and Confirmation, the handing on (traditio) of the Lord's Prayer signifies new birth into the divine life. Since Christian prayer is our speaking to God with the very word of God, those who are "born anew". . . through the living and abiding word of God"20 learn to invoke their Father by the one Word he always hears. They can henceforth do so, for the seal of the Holy Spirit's anointing is indelibly placed on their hearts, ears, lips, indeed their whole filial being. This is why most of the patristic commentaries on the Our Father are addressed to catechumens and neophytes. When the Church prays the Lord's Prayer, it is always the people made up of the "new-born" who pray and obtain mercy.21
2770 In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord's Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord's Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates.
2771 In the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of "the end-time," the time of salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord's return. The petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen.
2772 From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope that sustains each of the seven petitions, which express the groanings of the present age, this time of patience and expectation during which "it does not yet appear what we shall be."22 The Eucharist and the Lord's Prayer look eagerly for the Lord's return, "until he comes."23
IN BRIEF
2773 In response to his disciples' request "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk 11:1), Jesus entrusts them with the fundamental Christian prayer, the Our Father.
2774 "The Lord's Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel,"24 the "most perfect of prayers."25 It is at the center of the Scriptures.
2775 It is called "the Lord's Prayer" because it comes to us from the Lord Jesus, the master and model of our prayer.
2776 The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of the major hours of the Divine Office and of the sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it reveals the eschatological character of its petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26).
7 Tertullian, De orat. 1:PL 1,1155.
8 Tertullian, De orat. 10:PL 1,1165; cf. Lk 11:9.
9 St. Augustine, Ep. 130,12,22:PL 33,503.
10 Cf. Lk 24:44.
11 Cf. Mt 5-7.
12 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,83,9.
13 Cf. Jn 17:7.
14 Cf. Mt 6:7; 1 Kings 18:26-29.
15 Jn 6:63.
16 Gal 4:6.
17 Rom 8:27.
18 Cf. Didache 8,3:SCh 248,174.
19 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Mt. 19,4:PG 57,278.
20 1 Pet 1:23.
21 Cf. 1 Pet 2:1-10.
22 1 Jn 3:2; cf. Col 3:4.
23 1 Cor 11:26.
24 Tertullian, De orat. 1:PL 1,1251-1255.
25 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,83,9.
2761 The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel."7 "Since the Lord . . . after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is said first, as the foundation of further desires."8
I. AT THE CENTER OF THE SCRIPTURES
2762 After showing how the psalms are the principal food of Christian prayer and flow together in the petitions of the Our Father, St. Augustine concludes:
- Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord's Prayer.9
- The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers. . . . In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.12
II. THE LORD'S PRAYER
2765 The traditional expression "the Lord's Prayer" - oratio Dominica - means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:13 he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.
2766 But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically.14 As in every vocal prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer; at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us "spirit and life."15 Even more, the proof and possibility of our filial prayer is that the Father "sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'"16 Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the Father, "he who searches the hearts of men," who "knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."17 The prayer to Our Father is inserted into the mysterious mission of the Son and of the Spirit.
III. THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
2767 This indivisible gift of the Lord's words and of the Holy Spirit who gives life to them in the hearts of believers has been received and lived by the Church from the beginning. The first communities prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day,18 in place of the "Eighteen Benedictions" customary in Jewish piety.
2768 According to the apostolic tradition, the Lord's Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer:
- [The Lord] teaches us to make prayer in common for all our brethren. For he did not say "my Father" who art in heaven, but "our" Father, offering petitions for the common body.19
2769 In Baptism and Confirmation, the handing on (traditio) of the Lord's Prayer signifies new birth into the divine life. Since Christian prayer is our speaking to God with the very word of God, those who are "born anew". . . through the living and abiding word of God"20 learn to invoke their Father by the one Word he always hears. They can henceforth do so, for the seal of the Holy Spirit's anointing is indelibly placed on their hearts, ears, lips, indeed their whole filial being. This is why most of the patristic commentaries on the Our Father are addressed to catechumens and neophytes. When the Church prays the Lord's Prayer, it is always the people made up of the "new-born" who pray and obtain mercy.21
2770 In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord's Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord's Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates.
2771 In the Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of "the end-time," the time of salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord's return. The petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen.
2772 From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope that sustains each of the seven petitions, which express the groanings of the present age, this time of patience and expectation during which "it does not yet appear what we shall be."22 The Eucharist and the Lord's Prayer look eagerly for the Lord's return, "until he comes."23
IN BRIEF
2773 In response to his disciples' request "Lord, teach us to pray" (Lk 11:1), Jesus entrusts them with the fundamental Christian prayer, the Our Father.
2774 "The Lord's Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel,"24 the "most perfect of prayers."25 It is at the center of the Scriptures.
2775 It is called "the Lord's Prayer" because it comes to us from the Lord Jesus, the master and model of our prayer.
2776 The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of the major hours of the Divine Office and of the sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it reveals the eschatological character of its petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26).
7 Tertullian, De orat. 1:PL 1,1155.
8 Tertullian, De orat. 10:PL 1,1165; cf. Lk 11:9.
9 St. Augustine, Ep. 130,12,22:PL 33,503.
10 Cf. Lk 24:44.
11 Cf. Mt 5-7.
12 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,83,9.
13 Cf. Jn 17:7.
14 Cf. Mt 6:7; 1 Kings 18:26-29.
15 Jn 6:63.
16 Gal 4:6.
17 Rom 8:27.
18 Cf. Didache 8,3:SCh 248,174.
19 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Mt. 19,4:PG 57,278.
20 1 Pet 1:23.
21 Cf. 1 Pet 2:1-10.
22 1 Jn 3:2; cf. Col 3:4.
23 1 Cor 11:26.
24 Tertullian, De orat. 1:PL 1,1251-1255.
25 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,83,9.
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View more Inspirational Designs at Litany Lane.
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RE-CHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
To all tween, teens and young adults, A Message from Jesus: "Through you I will flow powerful conversion graces to draw other young souls from darkness. My plan for young men and women is immense. Truly, the renewal will leap forward with the assistance of these individuals. Am I calling you? Yes. I am calling you. You feel the stirring in your soul as you read these words. I am with you. I will never leave you. Join My band of young apostles and I will give you joy and peace that you have never known. All courage, all strength will be yours. Together, we will reclaim this world for the Father. I will bless your families and all of your relationships. I will lead you to your place in the Kingdom. Only you can complete the tasks I have set out for you. Do not reject Me. I am your Jesus. I love you...Read this book, upload to your phones/ipads.computers and read a few pages everyday...and then Pay It Forward...
Reference
- Recharge: Directions For Our Times. Heaven Speaks to Young Adults. recharge.cc.
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