Saint Claude’s Prayer to Jesus, the True Friend

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

sacrocuore.jpgI think it was in 1974 that a priest friend gave me a little book of the writings of Saint Claude La Colombière in French. The book was covered in a kind of onion–skin paper and had belonged originally to a Religious of the Cenacle. Saint Claude La Colombière became a dear friend. I count on his intercession. I turn to him when I feel my heart growing cold.

The Franciscan Saint John Wall (Joachim of Saint Anne), who was martyred for the crime of being a Catholic priest near Redhill, Corcester, England on August 22nd, 1679, knew Saint Claude. After having spent a night in spiritual conversation with him, the soon–to–be martyr said, “When I was in his presence I thought that I was dealing with Saint John returned to earth to rekindle that fire of love in the Heart of Christ.” Here is one of Saint Claude’s prayers, in the original French and in English translation.

Jésus, vous êtes le seul et le véritable ami.
Vous prenez part à mes maux, vous vous en chargez,
vous avez le secret de me les tourner

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A Chant Meditation on the Holy Father’s Lenten Message

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

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The Antiphon, O quantum in cruce, found in Laudes Vespertinae, the Cistercian collection for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, is the perfect meditation on the Holy Father’s Lenten Message. The melody is full of compunction and a tender, pleading love. In the past I have often had the schola sing it with a faux–bourdon (a CrocifissioneBagnacavallotrecento.jpgfourth below the melody), changing the si bémols (flats) to si naturals. The effect is extraordinary.

Here is an English translation of the Latin text:
O, how much upon the Cross
didst thy bowed head, O Christ,
thy hands flung wide,
thy open heart
breathe forth love.
Son of God who didst come to redeem the lost,
condemn not the redeemed
crying out to Thee from the valley of tears.
Good Iesu, hear thou our groaning,
and take not the measure of our crimes.
We implore thy wounded Heart,
O tender God.

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The Joy of All Our Days

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

A Feast in Europe

In all of Europe today is the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, co–patrons of Europe with Saint Benedict, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Birgitta of Sweden, and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

The Ascension of the Lord

The Gospel given us today is Saint Mark’s account of the Ascension of the Lord (Mk 16:15–20). This particular pericope is constructed like a triptych. The central panel is the radiant image of the ascended Lord Jesus, the King of Glory, seated at the right hand of the Father. “So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19).
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O Jesus, our redemption,
our love, and our desire,
God, Creator of all things,
become Man in the fullness of time.

What tender love, what pity
compelled you to bear our crimes,
to suffer a cruel death
that we, from death, might be saved?

You descended into death’s dark cavern,
and from it, brought forth captives

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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2007

Tuesday, 13 February 2007

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“They shall look on Him
whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37)
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37). This is the biblical theme that this year guides our Lenten reflection. Lent is a favourable time to learn to stay with Mary and John, the beloved disciple, close to Him who on the Cross, consummated for all mankind the sacrifice of His life (cf. Jn 19:25). With a more fervent participation let us direct our gaze, therefore, in this time of penance and prayer, at Christ crucified who, dying on Calvary, revealed fully for us the love of God. In the Encyclical Deus caritas est, I dwelt upon this theme of love, highlighting its two fundamental forms: agape and eros.
God’s love: agape and eros
The term agape, which appears many times in the New Testament, indicates the self-giving love of one who looks exclusively for the good of the other. The word eros, on the other hand, denotes the love of one who desires to possess what he or she lacks and yearns

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Reading the Signs

Tuesday, 13 February 2007

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of the Year I
Mark 8:14–21
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Unintelligence
My French Bible subtitles today’s passage from Saint Mark: “The Unintelligence of the Disciples.” This does not suggest that the disciples were feebleminded; it means, rather, that they were incapable of reading the signs given by Jesus. The word “intelligent” derives from legere, to read, and intus within or inside. The disciples witnessed the multiplication of the loaves in a desert place. They saw Our Lord feed four thousand men and, with their own hands, distributed the miraculous bread to the people. They counted seven baskets left over. And still, the meaning of the sign escaped them. They were unintelligent: incapable of reading inside the meaning of the event.
Except for One Bread Only
We saw yesterday that the Pharisees, blind to the meaning of the multiplication of the loaves, asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. He sighed from the depths of his heart and left them. Today, we see Our Lord in the boat with his disciples. Listen carefully to what Saint Mark says, following the Greek and Latin

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Support the monks of Silverstream Priory:

Situated amidst pasture land and forest in the eastern reaches of County Meath, Silverstream Priory was founded in 2012 at the invitation of the Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, and canonically erected as an autonomous monastery of diocesan right on 25 February 2017. The property belonged, from the early 15th century, to the Preston family, premier Viscounts of Ireland and Lords of Gormanston. In 1843 Thomas Preston (1817-1903), son of Jenico Preston, the 12th Viscount (1775-1860), built what today is Silverstream Priory.

Silverstream Priory is a providential realisation of the cherished project of Abbot Celestino Maria Colombo, O.S.B. (1874–1935), who, following the impetus given by Catherine–Mectilde de Bar in the 17th century, sought to establish a house of Benedictine monks committed to ceaseless prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of reparation. The community of Silverstream Priory holding to the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant, celebrate the Divine Office in its traditional Benedictine form and Holy Mass in the “Usus Antiquior” of the Roman Rite. Praying and working in the enclosure of the monastery, the monks of Silverstream keep at heart the sanctification of priests labouring in the vineyard of the Lord. They undertake various works compatible with their monastic vocation, notably the development of the land and gardens, hospitality to the clergy in need of a spiritual respite, scholarly work, and publishing.

Donations for Silverstream Priory

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