In conspectu angelorum

Monday, 2 October 2017

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We would like to make, which which seems to Us particularly appropriate. We offer it to priests for their consideration. The Catholic Church teaches us that it is a fact-and a most consoling one that God, the Father of all, has commissioned a special angel to keep watch over each one of us who have received baptismal initiation. Let us then ask our guardian angels to be with us as we say our daily Office, helping us to recite it worthily, attentively and devoutly, that it may be acceptable to God, profitable to ourselves, and a source of spiritual edification to others. (Blessed Pope John XXIII, Sacrae Laudis, 6 January 1962)

The Whole Man at Worship
The Divine Office is a choral celebration engaging the whole man. It is, as Hélène Lubienska de Lenval explains, in her precious little book of the same title, The Whole Man at Worship. The body spends its breath in singing, standing, bowing, kneeling, turning. The intellect engages with the words of the psalms, antiphons, responsories, hymns, and prayers. The heart receives a secret impression of grace. The whole experience unites a

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I am represented before the Face of the Father

Monday, 2 October 2017

madonna-and-child-on-a-throne-front-side-fragment-1311-10Angels
Salvation history from Genesis to the Apocalypse is full of the angels. For the patriarchs of old, for the kings and prophets of Israel, the providence of God was personalized in angels sent to guide and watch over them.

An angel announced the advent of the Word and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit to the Virgin Mary, and in humble reverence waited for her “Yes” to carry it back to heaven (cf. Lk 1:26-38). An angel revealed to Saint Joseph his mysterious and fearful role in the plan of God, enlightened him in his dark night, guided him to safety in Egypt and then back again to Galilee (cf. Mt 1: 20-24, 2:13-22). Angels attended Jesus in the mysteries of his birth, life, suffering, and resurrection. Jesus defended the innocence of the little ones by saying to those tempted to despise them that “in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 18: 10).

When Peter was imprisoned by Herod, an angel appeared to him in the night and guided him

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My Friend

Sunday, 1 October 2017

Ange de la Ste Face.jpgI have a most extraordinary friend. We became attached one to the other more than 65 years ago. This friend of mine has every quality. He is loyal. Never has he left me alone.

He is intelligent, dazzlingly so. He has only to look at a thing, and he comprehends it through and through.

He is beautiful. There are no words describe the youthfulness of his countenance; he is fresh as the morning dew, and in his eyes, as in pools of crystal, one sees reflections of heaven.

He is strong. Nothing is too heavy for him. Nothing tires him. Nothing can resist his power.

He is lovable, always equal to himself, unchangeably peaceful and pacifying. And wherever he goes he leaves a trail of serenity and of joy.

He is grateful, grateful for the littlest words and gestures. And he remembers absolutely everything. It has happened, and often, I fear, that I have made him weep. Oh, yes, he weeps, but he pardons also, and very quickly. And he never holds a grudge.

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Thérèse: The Doctor of Merciful Love

Sunday, 1 October 2017

Confidence in Merciful Love
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Doctor of the Church, is one of several heralds of Divine Mercy sent to quicken and warm the Church of the 19th and 20th centuries with a message of confidence in the merciful love of God. Among the other heralds of Divine Mercy would be, of course, Saint Faustina (1905-1938), and Mother Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus (1901-1951).

Saint Thérèse spoke of the merciful love of God (l’Amour miséricordieux); Mother Yvonne-Aimée disseminated her miraculous little invocation of the merciful goodness (miséricordieuse bonté) of Jesus, the King of Love; and Saint Faustina, a contemporary of Mother Yvonne-Aimée, became the Apostle of Divine Mercy to the whole world.

On this Feast of Saint Thérèse, a secondary patroness of Silverstream Priory, I thought it fitting to post (again) my commentary on her Act of Oblation to Merciful Love.

June 9, 1895 was the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. In the Carmel of Lisieux in Normandy, France, twenty-two year old Sister Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte Face received

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Thérèse

Sunday, 1 October 2017

1001 Therese sacristan.jpgSome years ago, as a love offering for the feast of my dear Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, I translated Dom Eugène Vandeur’s doctrinal synthesis of Merciful Love, the Cross, and the Mass in her life. The original text appeared in 1925 as part of a commentary of the then new Propers for the Mass of the feast of Saint Thérèse.

The Cross Reveals Merciful Love
The greatest proof of love that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has given to His Father is His sacrifice on the cross. This sacrifice, the most freely given that ever was, — and from that derives the infinite merit of this oblation of a Man Who is God — was an act of filial and loving obedience. This act repaired the profanation of the absolute rights of God over His creation that was wrought by Adam and by his race. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was supreme adoration, fulness of thanksgiving, victorious supplication, and total expiation. The offering of this immolation

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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.

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