Thanksgiving: A Papistical Approach

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

puritanportraitsmith.jpg
Being a Papist and not a Puritan, I have always felt somewhat ambiguous about the Thanksgiving holiday . . . not about the domestic observance of Thanksgiving, but about the attempt to interpret it liturgically. The Thanksgiving holiday originated in the sacramental void of Protestantism. When one silences the Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro of the Mass, one necessarily begins to look for something to put in its place. This, I think, is why it is so difficult to catholicize the American Thanksgiving holiday. It feels foreign to the Catholic ethos.
This year Thanksgiving squeezes out Pope Saint Clement I and Saint Columban. I suppose the best pastoral solution is to offer the Mass given in the Roman Missal under the title “In Thanksgiving to God.” That is something I am perfectly willing to do. The nuns I serve as chaplain are very keen on having proper readings. So be it. I choose my battles. But I will miss preaching on the magnificent page of The Apocalypse appointed in the Lectionary.
One of the nicer things about Thanksgiving is that it always occurs on a Thursday.

Continue reading...

Et Ecce Ostium Apertum in Caelo

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Thirty–Third Wednesday of the Year II
z_apoca1.jpgMemorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

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

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

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

Continue reading...

22 November, Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

cecilia-1.jpg
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
GR
I spoke of your testimonies before kings,
and I was not ashamed:
I meditated also on your commandments,
which I loved (Ps 118:46-47).

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

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
That the Church in every place
may sing psalms of thanksgiving at all times,
—like Saint Cecilia, the virgin and martyr—
to Christ, her Bridegroom and her Head,
to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. CHRIST, GRACIOUSLY HEAR US.

That our civil authorities
and all in the service of our country
may acknowledge the mercies of God
and seek the wisdom that comes from above,
to the Lord we

Continue reading...

Ecce, Sponsus Venit!

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

cecilia-3.jpgStrong, Serene, Majestic, Invincible

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

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

Her Heart Was Enkindled With Fire From Heaven

It is not surprising

Continue reading...

Pope Benedict XVI on the Vultus Christi: God With a Human Face

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

volto-si-9.jpg
In his address at the Pontifical Gregorian University on 3 November, the Holy Father identified the immediate object of the different branches of theological knowledge as God himself, revealed in Jesus Christ, God with a human face. I am grateful to Richard Chonak for calling my attention to the pontifical affirmation of the motif of this blog.
“I can tell you, dear Professors and students, that if the effort of study and teaching is to have any meaning in relation to God’s Kingdom, it must be sustained by the theological virtues. In fact, the immediate object of the different branches of theological knowledge is God himself, revealed in Jesus Christ, God with a human face.
Even when, as in Canon Law and in Church History, the immediate object is the People of God in its visible, historical dimension, the deeper analysis of the topic urges us once again to contemplation, in the faith, of the mystery of the Risen Christ. It is he, present in his Church, who leads her among the events of the time towards eschatological fullness, a goal to which we have set

Continue reading...

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

Latest Comments

Categories

Archives