St. Thomas Villanova, 'All the praises of the Virgin Mary may be summed up by saying that she is the Mother of God'

Advent, Monastic Office of Vigils,  
 
Saint Thomas Villanova OSA, Annunciation, sermon 3,2-3 from Lectern other translation. A Word in Season,Agustinian, 2001.

One little aside is moving; Gabriel says,“Hail , full of Grace, the Lord is with you, far more than with me".

OFFICE OF READINGS

 SECOND READING

From a sermon by St. Thomas of Villanova: Opera Om­nia Vol.5, PP 346-349.

You shall give God a robe of flesh.

     All the praises of the Virgin Mary may be summed up by saying that she is the Mother of God. For, what grace could be suitable for the Mother of God? What favor would God be unable to bestow on her? What blessing could her Son not but will for her?

     When the time was ripe to reveal the mystery that had (as the Apostle says) been hidden through the ages and was now to be shown forth in the final age, God summoned Gabriel. “Go”, he tells him, “to the Virgin Mary, carry the message beyond all messages: God will become man in her.”

     He enters [her room] and does homage on his knees. “Hail , full of Grace, the Lord is with you, “ far more than with me. Virgin, do you see and hear this great soldier of heaven? How he does homage to you? How he greets you? What then are your thoughts? Tell us: What. is your reply to him?  What thoughts run through your mind? He greets you: greet him in return?

     What blush colors your virginal cheek? What rosy hue? Why are you disturbed? ‘Why hesitant and afraid? This is an angel, not a man! He is from heaven, not from earth; he greets you humbly and does not seek to’ over. whelm you; he carries no sword! Why then, are you disturbed? Why frightened? His greetings bring joy, not fear!

     See how prudent the Virgin is: “She pondered what this greeting might mean.”  Virgin, why do you reflect before answering? This, after all, is an angel, not a serpent. Eve answered without thinking; the virgin ponders. Eve was quick to consent; Mar) reflects on what her answer should be.   How different this blessed woman from that first woman of our race!  See, the angel speaks at length; he has now said all he wanted; he has fully carried out his embassy - but the virgin has not yet spoken. How reserved she is! Learn from her all virgins, not to be too talkative. “How shall this take place since: do not know any man? I do not doubt the mystery; I only ask how will it be accomplished. 

 

     O virgin, how many virgins surrender the virginity to bear a child, and yet it is but a mortal man they bring to birth you have heard that you will give birth to God - and yet you hesitate! “How shall this take place”, angel of God?  However it takes place, you will be the Mother of God. I could tell you virgin, of a way prefigured in the law. You know the scriptures; you surely know, after all that a virgin was to give him birth. Are not the law and the prophets, then, to be fulfilled?

     Recall: the bush burned but was not consumed the flames roared through it but it remained intact. So you shall be robed with the sun, yet your virginity will not be lessened.  You shall give him a robe with a body and be yourself robed by God.  You shall set the crown of mortality upon him; he shall crown you with a diadem of glory. You are a virgin, yet fruitful; you shall be a mother, yet unsullied, and have the joys of motherhood no less than the virgin’s high estate.

 http://friarydiaries.tumblr.com/post/22650841541/may-8-two-augustinian-feasts

RESPONSORY

Receive, O Blessed Virgin Mary, the word the Lord has made known to you through the message of the Angel: you will conceive and give birth to a son, both God and man.

     - and you will be called blessed among women.

A Virgin, you will indeed bear a son; ever chaste and holy you will be the mother of our Savior.

     - and you will be called blessed among women.

DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL HERMIT: DAY #7 - SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA

diaryofanaccidentalhermit.blogspot.com - 717 × 538 - Search by image

is a man after my own heart. I would like to introduce him to the many people who even now in America are obsessed with recounting the supposed sins of the poor.

Jean Danielou, The Mystery of Advent, 'who is yet to come'

Monastic Office of Vigils

Third Week of Advent

Wednesday 18^th 2013

First Reading   Isaiah 46: 1-13

Second Reading  From the writngs of Cardinal Jean

Danielou, S.J. (Le Mystere de L’avent, 126-126-128)

Who is yet to come?

The mystery which we are now living in the world is the mystery of Christ’s gradual coming to every soul and every nation. Christ has indeed come, but he remains always the one who is yet to come. Come he has, but not completely. Thouh the expectation of Israel has been fulfilled, Israel is still waiting. We are for ever in the season of Advent, awaiting the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah has come, but he is not yet fully manifested either in our individual souls or in the human race as a whole. Just as Jesus was born according to the flesh in Bethle­hem of Judea, so he must be born according to the spirit in the soul of each one of us. The whole mystery of the spiritual life lies in the continual birth of Jesus within us. We must be always transforming ourselves into him, making our own the sentiments of his heart and the judgments of his mind. To be a Christian means to be gradually changed into Christ so as to be truly children of the Father.

. Similarly in regard to humankind as a whole, Jesus has not yet fully come. He has come to some peoples, but not to all. In some parts of the human race Jesus is still unborn. The mystical Christ is not yet complete; he is still imperfect, lacking mem­bers. Therefore the Church's missionary prayer is for the com­ing of Christ to the whole world, so that his body may attain its full stature.

Now what is true of the preparation for the coming of Christ in the flesh is also true of the spiritual preparation for his com­ing to our souls, and the preparation for his spiritual coming in his entire mystical body, for God's plan is an integral whole. And just as Mary played an important and altogether special role in the physical birth of Jesus, since she gave him the flesh in which he was born (here we touch the heart of the mystery of the Virgin), so Mary continues to play an important role in the preparation of each subsequent coming of Jesus. She is always

present wherever he is to come.

This applies in the first place to the souls of each one of us. We may truly say that Mary has a special part to play in our spiritual lives, because it is she who prepares for the coming of Jesus in us and who gradually forms him in our souls. But as well as her relationship to individuals, Mary also has a part to play in the coming of Christ to the peoples whom he has not yet reached. Here we touch upon the missionary aspect of the mystery of Mary. The mystery of our Lady is that she was there before Jesus was. She was in Israel before him. In her, if one may so express it, there was already a secret presence of Jesus in Israel before his actual birth, since she was already perfectly united with him and there was no part of her life that was not wholly his. She was present, then, during the time before the in­carnation, and so, since she is a figure of the Church, of human­kind redeemed by Christ, it seems as if in some way the Church must have existed before even Jesus was born. We can see, then, the part our Lady is to play among pagan peoples: the Church has not come to them, Jesus has not yet come to them, yet the Church is there, because Mary is there.

          Responsory Lk 1:45-46; Ps 66:16

Blessed are you who have believed that the Lord's promises to you would be fulfilled. And Mary said: + My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.

V. Come, and listen, and I will tell what great things God has done in me. + My soul proclaims, ..

Monday 16 December 2013 Williamof Saint Thierry reflects on ... The Holy Spirit penetrates and transforms our hearts, and restore in us the image of the Son.

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

JOHN THE BAPTIST  December 16 Symbols: Shell The shell with three water drops is a symbol of baptism generally, and particularly of the baptism of Christ. The three droplets remind us of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — into which Christians are baptized. The shell alone may also be used as a symbol for pilgrimage, and is often used as an emblem for saints known for their travels or whose shrines have become destinations for pilgrims. Recommended Readings: Matthew 3:1-12

Monastic Office of Vigils,
FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah
30:18-26
SECOND READING

From a discourse On the Contemplation of God by William of Saint Thierry, abbot
(Nn. 9-11; SC 61, 90-96)
He loved us first

---

Second Reading
A discourse "On the Contemplation of God" by William of Saint-Thierry

He loved us first

Truly you alone are the Lord. Your dominion is our salvation, for to serve you is nothing else but to be saved by you!

  O Lord, salvation is your gift and your blessing is upon your people; what else is your salvation but receiving from you the gift of loving you or being loved by you?

  That, Lord, is why you willed that the Son at your right hand, the man whom you made strong for yourself, should be called Jesus, that is to say, Saviour, for he will save his people from their sins, and there is no other in whom there is salvation. He taught us to love him by first loving us, even to death on the cross. By loving us and holding us so dear, he stirred us to love him who had first loved us to the end.

  And this is clearly the reason: you first loved us so that we might love you – not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you created us to be, except by loving you.

  In many ways and on various occasions you spoke to our fathers through the prophets. Now in these last days you have spoken to us in the Son, your Word; by him the heavens were established and all their powers came to be by the breath of his mouth.

  For you to speak thus in your Son was to bring out in the light of day how much and in what way you loved us, for you did not spare your own Son but delivered him up for us all. He also loved us and gave himself up for us.

  This, Lord, is your Word to us, this is your all-powerful message: while all things were in midnight silence (that is, were in the depths of error), he came from his royal throne, the stern conqueror of error and the gentle apostle of love.

  Everything he did and everything he said on earth, even enduring the insults, the spitting, the buffetting – the cross and the grave – all of this was actually you speaking to us in your Son, appealing to us by your love and stirring up our love for you.

  You know that this disposition could not be forced on men’s hearts, my God, since you created them; it must rather be elicited. And this, for the further reason that there is no freedom where there is compulsion, and where freedom is lacking, so too is righteousness.

  You wanted us to love you, then, we who could not with justice have been saved had we not loved you, nor could we have loved you except by your gift. So, Lord, as the apostle of your love tells us, and as we have already said, you first loved us: you are first to love all those who love you.

  Thus we hold you dear by the affection you have implanted in us. You are the one supremely good and ultimate goodness. Your love is your goodness, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son! From the beginning of creation it was he who hovered over the waters – that is, over the wavering minds of men – offering himself to all, drawing all things to himself. By his inspiration and holy breath, by keeping us from harm and providing for our needs, he unites God to us and us to God.  

iBreviary translation.
Alternative; Monastic Lectionary for the Divine Office Edited by Friends of Ashworth 1981.

Note:The Greek Fathers conceived of salvation as the restoration of the integrity in which the human race was originally created. This is the work of the Holy Trinity in ans through the incarnation. Williamof Saint Thierry reflects on this work of salvation. It is because of his love for us that God sent his Son. Our Lord showed how much he loved us by his passion and death to inspire us to love him in return. The Holy Spirit penetrates and transforms our hearts, and restore in us the image of the Son. 

Responsory

My love for you will never leave you, and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken. Your sons will all be taught by the Lord; the prosperity of your sons will be great.

I, the Lord your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. Your sons will all be taught by the Lord; the prosperity of your sons will be great.

---

Let us pray.

In your love, Father, listen to our prayer:

  may your Son at his coming

  dispel by his grace the darkness of our hearts.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

---

Karl Rahner SJ. Second Week of Advent Year II, Sunday

Monastic Office of Vigils, 

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT Year II

SUNDAY

First Reading    Isaiah 22:8-23

Responsory   Rv 3:7.8

This is the message of the holy and true one, who holds the key of David: + Behold I have put before you an open door which no one is able to close.

V. You have kept my word and have not denied my name. + Behold I have ...

Second Reading

From the writings of Karl Rahner, S.J. (Everyday Faith, 11-13)

The Son of Man is to judge

What was really meant and actually happened by the coming, the "advent," of the redeemer is best gathered from that completion of his coming which we rather misleadingly call the "second coming." For in reality it is the fulfillment of his one coming which is still in progress at the present time. From the picture of the ful­fillment we are to gather what in reality is already happening in the depth of our life and our reality, though unobtrusively and quietly and therefore in a way which in our sinful blindness we may overlook. God has started on his way. He is already there, hidden, and the revelation of his being is at hand.

Now when it is manifest that he has come, we shall see him as the Son of Man. As one of us. As one who has lived our life among us, just as it is, short, bitter, mysterious. It is as the Son of Man that God will then question us about our life. In that judgment we shall not be able to say that he, the eternal in his infinite harmony, cannot after all enter into our life with sympathetic understanding of its fragility and unsolved enigmas. He not merely entered into it by sympathetic understanding, he literally lived it. He himself be­came flesh. Not the remote God but the Son of Man will be the judgment or the justification of our lives. The man who is God will be our judgment. Because he is man, he knows just how it is with human beings. Yet he, the eternal, remote God, is as closely concerned about us as only a man can be who loves what is human and hates inhumanity in man from his own experience.

Is it more blessed or more dangerous to be judged by a man and not solely by a God who was not himself involved in the history he is judging? Who can say? At all events the gospel tells us the fact. The Son of Man is to judge. If, however, the man who is God is to be our judgment, and if in his coming he traveled as we do from the womb of his Mother to the bosom of the earth, then the face of the Son of Man, in which we shall one day read our judgment, already mysteriously gazes at us from every human face, because all are his brothers and sisters: the pure face of the child, the careworn faces of our so-called opponents and enemies.

One day we shall have to "raise our heads" and look into the face of him who comes as Son of Man, for he is after all the God of eternity. And from his countenance all will look at us: all those around us through whom we were good or guilty. A voice will come from that mouth: What you did - or did not - do to the least of my brethren. That voice from that face will not die away and will fill our eternity from end to end. Shall we be able to raise our heads with the confidence of the forgiven and the living to­ward that face of the Son of Man?

Responsory     Jer 33:15; Is 16:5

I will raise up for David a righteous branch; he will do what is just and right on the earth, + and they shall call him: The Lord, our justice.

V. A throne shall be established in mercy, and on it shall sit one who judges justly and seeks what is right. +And they shall ...

St. Cyril of Jerusalem First Week of Advent. Friday

Chronicle:  

Back to the Monastic Office of Vigils after being away.
On the Fist Sunday of Advent, I had the joy of a visit to Mt. St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea.
The celebration of the Community Mass with the pupils of the college guest and the public congregation was an impressive jubilation of word and music and prayer.
I visited the cemetery, remembering of the friends, 'Light in Heaven to their souls'.

 Church Fathers
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310110.htm

First Week of Advent. Friday

 

Isaiah 19: 16-25

Second Reading:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Cat x, 19-20).

You are called a Christian.

19. Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bearswitness from heaven of His Son: the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove: the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary: the Virgin Mother of God bears witness: the blessed place of the manger bears witness.Egypt bears witness, which received the Lord while yet young in the body : Symeonbears witness, who received Him in his arms, and said, Now, Lord, let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people. Luke 2:29-30 Anna also, the prophetess, a most devout widow, of austere life, bears witness of Him. John the Baptist bearswitness, the greatest among the Prophets, and leader of the New Covenant, who in a manner united both Covenants in Himself, the Old and the New. Jordan is His witnessamong rivers; the sea of Tiberias among seas: blind and lame bear witness, and dead men raised to life, and devils saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus? We knowYou, who You are, the Holy One of God. Mark 1:24 Winds bear witness, silenced at His bidding: five loaves multiplied into five thousand bear Him witness. The holy wood of the Cross bears witness, seen among us to this day, and from this place now almost filling the whole world, by means of those who in faith take portions from it. The palm-tree on the ravine bears witness, having supplied the palm-branches to the children who then hailed Him. Gethsemane bears witness, still to the thoughtful almost showingJudas. Golgotha , the holy hill standing above us here, bears witness to our sight: theHoly Sepulchre bears witness, and the stone which lies there to this day. The sun now shining is His witness, which then at the time of His saving Passion was eclipsed : the darkness is His witness, which was then from the sixth hour to the ninth: the light bears witness, which shone forth from the ninth hour until evening. The Mount of Olivesbears witness, that holy mount from which He ascended to the Father: the rain-bearing clouds are His witnesses, having received their Lord: yea, and the gates of heaven bearwitness [having received their Lord ], concerning which the Psalmist said, Lift up your doors, O you Princes, and be lifted up you everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. His former enemies bear witness, of whom the blessed Paul is one, having been a little while His enemy, but for a long time His servant: the Twelve Apostles are His witnesses, having preached the truth not only in words, but also by their own torments and deaths: the shadow of Peter Acts 5:15 bears witness, having healed the sick in the name of Christ. The handkerchiefs and aprons bear witness, as in like manner by Christ's power they wrought cures of old through Paul. Persians and Goths , and all the Gentile converts bear witness, by dying for His sake, whom they never saw with eyes of flesh: the devils, who to this day are driven out by the faithful, bear witness to Him.

20. So many and diverse, yea and more than these, are His witnesses: is then theChrist thus witnessed any longer disbelieved? Nay rather if there is any one who formerly believed not, let him now believe: and if any was before a believer, let him receive a greater increase of faith, by believing in our Lord Jesus Christ, and let him understand whose name he bears. You are called a Christian: be tender of the name; let not our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be blasphemed through you: but ratherlet your good works shine before men Matthew 5:16 that they who see them may inChrist Jesus our Lord glorify the Father which is in heaven: To whom be the glory, both now and for ever and ever. Amen.

About this page

Source. Translated by Edwin Hamilton Gifford. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 7.Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310110.htm>.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 atnewadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2009 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

J.H. Newman, ‘David defended his father's sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to the shepherds at Bethlehem, suffered on the cross in order to conquer.’

34^th Week in Ord. Time, Wednesday

First Reading

Ezekiel  37:15-28

Responsory   Ez 37:21.24; In 10:16

I am going to take the Israelites from their places of exile and restore them to their own land. + My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.

V. There shall be one flock and one shepherd. + My servant ...

Second Reading

From a sermon by John Henry Newman

Parochial and Plain Sermons, VII, 235-242

From the time of Adam to that of Christ, a shepherd's work has been marked out with special divine favor, as being a shadow of the Good Shepherd who was to come. Righteous Abel was a keeper of sheep, and in process of time he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. And who were they to whom the angels first brought the news that a savior was born? Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And what is the description given of the chosen family when they descended into Egypt? Your servants, they say, are shepherds, both we and also our fathers; and what, in consequence, was their repute in Egypt, which surely is a figure of the world? Every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

David was the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, but he was found among the sheep. He took him away from the sheepfolds; as he was following ewes great with young ones, he took him, that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power. When he was brought before Saul, he gave an account of how a lion and a bear took a lamb out of the flock, and he went after them, and slew them both, and delivered it. Such were the shepherds of old times, men at once of peace and of war; men of Simplicity, indeed, plain men living in tents, the meekest of men, yet not easy; indolent men, Sitting in green meadows, and by cool streams, but men of rough duties, who were under the necessity to suffer, while they had the opportunity to do exploits.

And if such were the figures, how much more was the Truth itself, the Good Shepherd, when he came, both guileless and heroic? If shepherds are men of simple lives and obscure fortunes, uncorrupted and unknown in kings' courts and marts of commerce, how much more he who was the carpenter's son, who was meek and lowly of heart, who did not strive nor cry, who went about doing good, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, and who was despised and rejected of men? If, on the other hand, they are men of suffering and trial, how much more so he who was a man of sorrows, and who laid down his life for the sheep?

David defended his father's sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to the shepherds at Bethlehem, suffered on the cross in order to conquer.

My brethren, we say daily, We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Again, we say, we have erred and strayed from your ways, like lost sheep: let us never forget these truths; let us never forget, on the one hand, that we are sinners; let us never forget, on the other hand, that Christ is our guide and guardian. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is a light unto our ways, and a lantern unto our paths. He is our shepherd, and the sheep know his voice. If we are his sheep, we shall hear it, recognize it, and obey it. Let us beware of not following when he goes before: He  goes before, and his sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Let us beware of receiving his grace in vain.

Sermon 16. The Shepherd of Our Souls

"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." John x. 11.   http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume8/sermon16.html 

Sermon 16. The Shepherd of Our Souls

"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." John x. 11.

{230} OUR Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." And in like manner St. Peter speaks of our returning "to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls." [Ezek. xxxvii. 24. Zech. xiii. 7. 1 Pet. ii. 25.]  

Hubert van Zeller, ‘This is a tremendous vision. Somehow the idea of sound is better expressed in Ezekiel than in other sacred writers - Nahum not excepted. Between the sky-cracking claps of thunder we can hear the rattle of bones as they come together with the impact of obedience.’

Monastic Office of Vigils,

 

First Reading

TUESDAY

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Responsory          Ez 37:12-13; In 11:25

I am going to open your graves and raise you up from them. + Then you will know that I am the Lord.

V. I am the resurrection and the life; those who believe in me, even if they die, shall live. + Then you will ...

Second Reading

From Ezekiel, Man of Signs, by Hubert van Zeller, pp. 113-115 

This is a tremendous vision. Somehow the idea of sound is better expressed in Ezekiel than in other sacred writers - Nahum not excepted. Between the sky-cracking claps of thunder we can hear the rattle of bones as they come together with the impact of obedience. Not an empty socket, not a finger-bone out of place. There is no mention of rain but we feel sure that a downpour followed close upon the thunder and the earthquakes; we seem to hear the water beating down upon the parched valley until eddies of it swirl and bubble round the ankles of an innumerable army of hitherto dry skeletons. But only for a minute are they skeletons. And I saw, and behold the sinews and flesh came upon them, and the skin was stretched out over them ... but there was no spirit in them.

There they stood, these bodies, simply waiting to become alive. The spirit only was wanting. Surely there is a link here between Ezekiel and Genesis? It is as if a repetition of God's creative act were needed for the restoration of the body of the faithful ... the material is prepared, but for the making of the new human being there must be the breath of God. And is there not also a purely symbolical interpretation to the progressive bestowal of life? Often enough there is the body of religion when at the same time the soul is lacking: knowledge has seen to it that every sinew is in position and that there is skin to cover the frame, but that is as far as it has got. Love is absent. And it is the spirit of Love - God's Spirit - which gives life.

And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the spirit came into them and they lived. A rush of air swept down upon the lifeless bodies and they lived. We can imagine a great silence following. We see a great host of people standing silent before the face of God. "Can bones live again?" we imagine the Lord repeating to his prophet in the stillness. "Lord, you know" would be the whispered reply, and this time would be added - "that they can."

The whole thing is so short: eleven verses. And what are not its possible applications? It can stand for dead souls as well as dead races; it can apply to an ideal that has been scattered and wasted as well as to a faith that has dried up in the valley of the soul. It can apply to a devotion or a friendship or a project or a prayer; it can apply to anything that has petered out under the glare of the sun. But the bones can live again. We may not say, as Judah said, We are dried up, our hope is lost. Our hope is not lost, we are not cut off permanently.

Thus when we hear the invocation "send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth" we can recall the vision of Ezekiel. We can recall also its fulfilment. God did send forth his Spirit, his people were created anew, and face of the earth smiled beneath the sunshine of his favour.

Responsory          Ps 104:30; Wis 1:7

When you send forth your Spirit they are created, and + you renew the face of the earth.

V. The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world. + You renew

St. Columban. FAR EAST, Columban Missionaries

Community Chronicle.

On St. Columban's day we prayed for Fr. Jim McGlynn and Fr. Eddie Sherry and wonderful Columban Missionaries. 

Fr. Jim used to visit the family on breaks from Australia. 

Fr. Eddie was the brother of our Fr. Michael who Edited the FAR EAST magazine in Australia. During his home leave, and in Europe searched for Old Master painting for the Columban Calendar.

Samuel Mulcahy was a Columban Seminarian in Dalgan. He was directed to find his vocation to Roscre Abbey. 

Samuel became, novice Br. Columban. In the end he became the first Abbot of Nunraw Abbey in Scotland.

From the Director - God became one of us The Gospels relate that Jesus was born in a stable, there was no room at the inn. Today we know there is no room in the world for millions of people seeking a better life. Part of our human condition is that we are both merciful and merciless. (more)

Saint Columbanus Abbot November 23 - Optional Memory

Ireland c. 525-530 - Bobbio, Piacenza, November 23 615 Columba is one of the representatives of the monastic world that give rise to the 'pilgrimage pro Domino', which was one of the factors of cultural renewal and evangelization of Europe. From Ireland passed (c. 590) in France, Switzerland and Northern Italy, creating and organizing community church and founded several monasteries, some of which, for example Luxeuil and Bobbio, famous for the liturgical books of the same name. The monastic rule that encodes its spirituality is marked by great precision and intends to associate with the monks in the sacrifice of Christ. His practice has influenced the new monastic penitential discipline of the West. (Message Rom) Etymology: Columban = mild, delicate Emblem: Pastoral Staff Martyrology: St. Columba, Abbot, that of Irish origin, who became a pilgrim for Christ in the Gospel to educate the people of France, he founded along with many other monasteries that of Luxeuil, which he ruled in strict observance of the rule; forced to ' exile, crossed the Alps and founded the monastery of Bobbio in Napa, famous for its discipline and studies, where well-deserving of the Church, he died in peace, and his body was laid on this day.

http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/30200

2014-Columban Art-Calendar

For the Memorial of Saint Columban:

SECOND READING

From an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot
(Instr. 11, 1-2; Opera, Dublin, 1957, 106-107)

Man’s likeness to God, if preserved, imparts high dignity

Moses wrote in the law: God made man in his image and likeness. Consider, I ask you, the dignity of these words. God is all-powerful. We cannot see or understand him, describe or assess him. Yet he fashioned man from clay and endowed him with the nobility of his own image. What has man in common with God? Or earth with spirit?—for God is a spirit. It is a glorious privilege that God should grant men his eternal image and the likeness of his character. Man’s likeness to God, if he preserves it, imparts high dignity.

If man applies the virtues planted in his soul to the right purpose, he will be like God. God’s commands have taught us to give him back the virtues he sowed in us in our first innocence. The first command is to love our Lord with our whole heart because he loved us first from the beginning, before our existence. Loving God renews his image in us. Anyone who loves God keeps his commandments, for he said: If you love me, keep my commandments. His command is that we love each other. In his own words: This is my command, that you love each other as I also have loved you.

True love is shown not merely in word, but in deed and in truth. So we must turn back our image undefiled and holy to our God and Father, for he is holy; in the words of Scripture: Be holy, for I am holy. We must restore his image with love, for he is love; in John’s words: God is love. We must restore it with loyalty and truth, for he is loyal and truthful. The image we depict must not be that of one who is unlike God; for one who is harsh and irascible and proud would display the image of a despot.

Let us not imprint on ourselves the image of a despot, but let Christ paint his image in us with his words: My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you. But the knowledge that peace is good is of no benefit to us if we do not practice it. The most valuable objects are usually the most fragile; costly things require the most careful handling. Particularly fragile is that which is lost by wanton talk and destroyed with the slightest injury of a brother. Men like nothing better than discussing and minding the business of others, passing superfluous comments at random and criticizing people behind their backs. So those who cannot say: The Lord has given me a discerning tongue, that I may with a word support him who is weary should keep silent, or if they do say anything it should promote peace.

RESPONSORY
Luke 6:47, 48; Sirach 25:15

Anyone who comes to me
and listens to my words and acts on them,
I will show you what he is like.
– He is like a man who while building his house
dug deeply and laid his foundation on rock.

Happy is the man who fears the Lord.
Who is his equal?
Who can compare with him?
– He is like a man who while building his house
dug deeply and laid his foundation on rock.

CONCLUDING PRAYER
   
Let us pray. 
O God, who in Saint Columban
wonderfully joined the work of evangelization
to zeal for the monastic life,
grant, we pray,
that through his intercession and example
we may strive to seek you above all things
and to bring increase to your faithful people.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.