Most Holy Name of Jesus 3 Dec 1013

  

Christmas Season

THURSDAY 3 January 2013

Fr. Nivard

---- Forwarded Message -----
From: Nivard
Sent: Thursday, 3 January 2013, 9:21
Subject: Holy Name

Most Holy Name of Jesus

Thurs 3^rd Jan 2013WWM Adapted

 

'The Lord's name is holy.' For this reason we must not abuse it. We must keep it in mind in silent, loving adoration (CCC 2144).

 

As you know, St Aelred was always murmuring, “Jesu, Dulcis memoria”.

 

 

 

John 1:36 Look, there is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

 

   We live in a violent world. Our newspapers are full of it. Each day, we feel the effects of death and destruction.

   We feel it in the home with domestic violence, on the streets with riots and public unrest and in war zones with broken bodies and much bloodshed.

   So much of our trouble and heartache comes from aggression and anger.

   We need to transform our minds because this affects the way we think and speak.    

  

In this month’s message from Medjugorje, the Infant Jesus speaks in two short sentances:

 

   "I am your peace,

    live my commandments."

  

May our thinking and speech never include the anger, which often means the taking of God's holy name in vain.

Father, teach use to be peacemakers. Let us sow in peace and produce a rich harvest. By the power of the Spirit renew our minds and tame our tongues.

 

  

Father, teach use to be peacemakers. Let us sow in peace and produce a rich harvest. By the power of the Spirit renew our minds and tame our tongues.

Year I

Cardinal Pierre de Berulle 

First Reading    Colossians 4:2-18

Responsory                                                                     Col 4:3; see Ps 51:17

Let us pray for one another, that God may give us an opportunity

+ to proclaim the mystery of Christ.

V. May the Lord open our lips that we may declare God's praises.

+ To proclaim the ...

Second Reading

From a meditation by Cardinal Pierre de Berulle (Discours de l'Estat et des Grandeurs de Jesus, 1-4)

The mystery of the incarnation

The divine Word, the splendour, power, and glory of the eternal Father, having been sent into the world, desired to establish there a school of holiness, an order of grace, a holy congregation, guided and animated by his Spirit, to speak to the earth in the language of heaven, to teach human beings the way to salvation, and to raise them to a lofty, and sublime knowledge of God, making then, aware of the grandeur of his nature, the plurality of his persons, the profundity of his purposes, and the uniqueness of his works, which, by itself, the human mind could never have discovered.

Dom Donald's Blog: Mystery of the Incarnation - Berulle

06 Jan 2011

Mystery of the Incarnation - Berulle. Monastic Lectionary. CHRISTMAS SEASON THURSDAY Year I. Night Office. First Reading Colossians 4:2-18. Portrait of Cardinal Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629) - Philippe de ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

Medjugorje Sky

Crabbed COMMENT.

To close the Blinds.

(Synonym: crabbiness, bad tempered, disagreeable by nature) 
More illumination from the Medjugorje Sky - inscribe the Child words

Sunset in Medjugorje Sky. The sky turns to fire in a beautiful sunset.

1 comment:

habemus papa said...

Fr. Don, are you serious?! 

These crazy lies needs to be stamped out! The sooner the Holy Father makes a pronouncement the better. You don't seriously think he believes in this crack pot nonsense. Medj, will never be approved of. 

2 January 2013 11:34 

January 3, Most Holy Name of Jesus

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/christmas/christmas_days10.cfm

 
January 3, Most Holy Name of Jesus

The name of Jesus is a name of gladness, a name of hope and a name of love. A name of gladness, because if the remembrance of past transgressions afflicts us, this name comforts us, reminding us that the Son of God became man for this purpose, to make himself our Savior.

A name of hope, because he that prays to the Eternal Father in the name of Jesus may hope for every grace he asks for: If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you.

A name of love. For the name of Jesus brings to our remembrance all the sufferings which Jesus has endured for us in his life and at his death. — Excerpted from St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Incarnation Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ

Day Ten activity (Holy Name Activities)

____________________________________________________

Feast of
the Holy Name of Jesus

 

This Feast is associated with the Feast of the Circumcision, for it is when a child was circumcized that he received a name and was accepted as a son of Abraham and a full member of his family (the Feast of the Holy Family will come soon, after the Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th). So honored is His Holy Name that devout Catholics bow their heads (men removing their hats) at the sound of "Jesus" (or "Iesus" in Latin), both inside and outside of the liturgy. To protect the sacredness and honor due the Holy Name, when hearing the Name of the Lord taken in vain, it is right to pray "Sit nomen Dómini benedíctum!" ( "Blessed be the Name of the Lord"), to which the reply, if overheard, is "Ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum!" ("from this time forth for evermore!"). . http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/01/the-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus.html And here are the thoughts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (who wrote the hymn "Iesu Dulcis Memoria" which is sung today) on the most holy Name of Jesus: The sweet Name of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affections. All spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil, the Name Jesus. When you take your pen, write the Name Jesus: if you write books, let the Name of Jesus be contained in them, else they will possess no charm or attraction for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the Name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all diseases of the soul. Are you troubled? think but of Jesus, speak but the Name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? so that you fear death? invoke the Name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy Name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name. Are you surrounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the Name of Jesus, and your fears will vanish. Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this help-giving Name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us for the cure of all our ills; to soften the impetuosity of anger, to quench the fire of concupiscence, to conquer pride, to mitigate the pain of our wounds, to overcome the thirst of avarice, to quiet sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures. If we call to our minds the Name of Jesus, it brings before us His most meek and humble heart, and gives us a new knowledge of His most loving and tender compassion. The Name of Jesus is the purest, and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of names, the Name of all blessings and of all virtues; it is the Name of the God-Man, of sanctity itself. To think of Jesus is to think of the great, infinite God Who, having given us His life as an example, has also bestowed the necessary understanding, energy and assistance to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts, inclinations, words and actions. If the Name of Jesus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Read more about devotion to the Holy Name here.

 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/01/the-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus.html 

Before I was a Catholic, I didn’t put much stock in the name of Jesus.  Sure, I knew that Mary had been told to name her son this by the angel Gabriel. I kind of knew that Isaiah had mentioned a name, and that it was Immanuel which, according to the Matthew, meant “God with us.”

Remarks of St. Bernard on the Sweet Name of Jesus

The holy name of Jesus produces holy thoughts in us, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, lets good works bloom, and nourishes pure affections. All nourishment leaves our soul dry, if it contains not that penetrating oil, the name Jesus. When you take up your pen, write the name Jesus: you may make books, but if the name of Jesus is not in them, you are without strength and flavor for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm.

Yes, it must be owned: Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all the ills of the soul. Art thou troubled? Think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Hast thou fallen into sin? and doest thou fear the net of death? Invoke the name of Jesus, and soon wilt thou feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness, resists this holy name; no heart is so closed that it is not moved, and opens not in tears, to the name of Christ Jesus.

Art thou surrounded by sorrow and danger? Invoke the name of Jesus, and thy fears will vanish. Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this helpgiving name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us for the cure of all our ills; it softens the impetuosity of anger, the tire of concupiscence, the movements of pride, the smart of our wounds, the thirst of avarice, the sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures.

If we call it to our minds, the very name of Jesus brings before us the most meek and humble heart of Jesus, and gives us a new knowledge of the most loving and tender compassion that ever yet was seen. The name of Jesus Christ, the purest and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of men, of the God-Man, of sanctity itself, the name of all blessings and of all virtues! To think of Jesus is to think of the infinite great God, who, while He has given His life as an example to ours, has also given us the needful understanding and energy, and the assistance necessary to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts and inclinations, and in our words and actions.

If the name of Jesus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul, the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, (i. Cor. xvi. 22.)

Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - The Great Sign! (Isaiah 7:14)

In Isaiah 7, the prophet goes out to meet Ahaz

COMMENT: 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William W ...
To: Donald ....
Sent: Wednesday, 2 January 2013, 16:28
Subject: Re: Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - The Great Sign!

Dear Father Donald,

 

I am taken by you back to a passage where I lost connection with Bendict's train of thought [I had used the word 'deviation'!], and so you have given me the motivation to try to follow the reasoning behind this excursive section, the historical - or indeed otherwise! - circumstances of the origin of the prophecy of the great sign (Isaiah 7:14):

 

Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 

 

I believe that Benedict outlines the historical background in his wish to establish that the famous quotation from Isaiah was drawn from within the context of faith, relating to a decision that ultimately rested upon faith, thus of a kind that is fully justified as prophecy. Before he considers whether it could indeed be applied to the birth of the Messiah, he quietly denounces Ahaz's refusal of a sign ("the prophet is not deterred"); a refusal, for Ahaz had already made up his mind to take the political gamble of an Assyrian alliance. Thus when Benedict raises the legitimacy of the quotation as a reference to the Messiah, he has neatly contrasted Ahaz's obstinacy before God with Joseph's acceptance of the prophecy!

 

I can now see why Benedict made the excursion, for it lays the foundation for his examination of the NT rendering of the passage. On page 48 last paragraph, having described how "the entire Christian tradition" understands the passage, he asks "But is that how Isaiah understood the prophetic sign?" Here Benedict can now draw on the historicity of the prophecy he has outlined, and lead us into an examination of all attempts to provide an historical context for the passage, finding that none of the interpretations are convincing, removing the obvious argument that such prophecies were only relevant to their time! And then he asks (page 50)..."So what are we to say? The passage about the virgin who gives birth to Emmanuel, like the great Suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53, is a word in waiting. There is nothing in its own historical context to correspond to it. So it remains an open question: it is addressed not merely to Ahaz. Nor is it addressed merely to Israel. It is addressed to humanity. The sign that God himself announces is given not for a specific situation, but it concerns the whole history of humanity."

 

His final conclusion is now all the clearer to me: "Indeed", he writes, "I believe that in our own day, we can share anew this sense of astonishment at the fact that a saying from the year 733 B.C., incomprehensible for so long, came true at the moment of the conception of Jesus Christ - that God did indeed give us a great sign intended for the whole world."

  

It is truly the vital piece of the jigsaw that fits exactly and completes the picture of the infancy narratives!

 

Thank you - what a fascinating excursion!

 

With my love in Our Lord,

William

From: Donald ...
To: William J ....
Sent: Wednesday, 2 January 2013, 13:26
Subject: Fw: Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - AGAIN and Ahaz

• Grappling with Benedict, Matthew and Ahaz page 45-47 and on.
  
  
  Dear William,
  I read and re-read these pages.
  I will need to study Pagina Sacra, or with more time or other illumination.
  Day Nine of Christmas - fare and music and siesta.
  Deo Gratias
  Donald .   
  
  
  Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict xvi

  THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF JESUS ACCORDING TO MATTHEW p. 46
  
  
  ... leads quite spontaneously to obedience. Even if hitherto he had puzzled over his various options, now he knows what the right course of action is. Being a just man he follows God's commands, as Psalm 1 says. 
  At this point, we must examine the proof from Scripture that Matthew presents, which has become the object (how could it be otherwise?) of extensive exegetical debate. The verse is as follows: "All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel,' which means, God with us" (Mt 1:22£; c£ Is 7:14). This prophetic saying, which Matthew makes into one of the key Christological statements, we will first attempt to understand in its original historical context, and then we will try to see how the mystery of Jesus Christ is reflected in it.
  Exceptionally, we are able to date this verse from Isaiah quite precisely. It comes from the year'733 B.C. The Assyrian King Tiglat-Pileser In had quashed the beginnings of an uprising by the Syro-Palestinian states by means of a surprise campaign. King Rezin of Damascus/Syria and King Pekah of Israel then formed a coalition against the great Assyrian power. Since they could not persuade King  Ahaz of Judah to enter their alliance, they decided to take to the field against the Jerusalem king, in order to force his country into their coalition.
  46
  Understandably,   Ahaz and his people were fearful in the face of the enemy alliance; the heart of the king and his people trembled "as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (Is 7:2). Nevertheless   Ahaz, who was evidently a clever and coldly calculating politician, maintained his pre­vious line: he did not want to enter an anti-As Syrian alliance, which he evidently thought had no chance of success in view of the vast superiority of the superpower. Instead, he concluded a protection treaty with Assyria, which on the one hand guaranteed him security and saved his country from destruction, but on the other hand demanded, as a price, the worship of the protecting power's national gods.
  After   Ahaz had concluded the treaty with Assyria, despite Isaiah's warnings, an altar was indeed built on the As­syrian model in the Temple at Jerusalem (c£ 2 Kings 16:lIff.; cf. Kaiser, Isaiah 1-12, P: 149n.). At the time of the episode related in the Isaiah passage that Matthew quotes, this had yet to happen. But it was clear that if   Ahaz was going to conclude this treaty with the great king of Assyria, it meant that as a politician he trusted more in the power of the, king than in the power of God, which evidently did not strike him as sufficiently real. So what was at stake here was ultimately not a political problem, but a question of faith.
  Isaiah tells the king that he need not fear the two "smouldering stumps of firebrands," Syria and Israel (Ephraim), and that there is therefore no reason for the protection treaty with Assyria: he should rely on faith, not on political calcu-
  47 

Monasticism of Saints Basil and Gregory Nazianzen

The Night Office this morning was a stirring example friendship  in community fraternity, (Two bodies, but a single spirit - Gregory Naz)
In the Introduction to the Mass, Fr. H. enlightened us on the monasticism of Basil and Gregory Nazianzen and on the Rule of Basil in contrast to the Rule of St. Benedict.

 
January 2, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen

In celebrating the feasts of St. Basil of Caesarea and St. Gregory Nazianzen on the same day, the Church extols a virtue which she has always esteemed, friendship. The friendship between Basil and Gregory was admirable. Born in Cappadocia around 330, they studied together in Athens and then returned to their homeland where they led a monastic life for several years. Their temperaments were very different. While Basil had the qualities of a leader and a gift for organization that made him a legislator for monks in the East, Gregory was a contemplative and a poet.

The Orthodox Church has placed Basil and Gregory with John Chrysostom in the first rank of ecumenical doctors. They are "the three Hierarchs." — Excerpted from Magnificat, PO Box 91, Spencerville, MD © 2001

Universalis

 

Wednesday 2 January 2013  

Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Doctors
 (2 January  

Reading	A sermon by St Gregory Nazianzen

Two bodies, but a single spirit

Basil and I were both in Athens. We had come, like streams of a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it.

  I was not alone at that time in my regard for my friend, the great Basil. I knew his irreproachable conduct, and the maturity and wisdom of his conversation. I sought to persuade others, to whom he was less well known, to have the same regard for him. Many fell immediately under his spell, for they had already heard of him by reputation and hearsay.

  What was the outcome? Almost alone of those who had come to Athens to study he was exempted from the customary ceremonies of initiation for he was held in higher honour than his status as a first-year student seemed to warrant.

  Such was the prelude to our friendship, the kindling of that flame that was to bind us together. In this way we began to feel affection for each other. When, in the course of time, we acknowledged our friendship and recognised that our ambition was a life of true wisdom, we became everything to each other: we shared the same lodging, the same table, the same desires the same goal. Our love for each other grew daily warmer and deeper.

  The same hope inspired us: the pursuit of learning. This is an ambition especially subject to envy. Yet between us there was no envy. On the contrary, we made capital out of our rivalry. Our rivalry consisted, not in seeking the first place for oneself but in yielding it to the other, for we each looked on the other’s success as his own.

  We seemed to be two bodies with a single spirit. Though we cannot believe those who claim that everything is contained in everything, yet you must believe that in our case each of us was in the other and with the other.

  Our single object and ambition was virtue, and a life of hope in the blessings that are to come; we wanted to withdraw from this world before we departed from it. With this end in view we ordered our lives and all our actions. We followed the guidance of God’s law and spurred each other on to virtue. If it is not too boastful to say, we found in each other a standard and rule for discerning right from wrong.

  Different men have different names, which they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits and achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians.

Medjugorje - Our Lady's December 25, 2012 Message

Our Lady of Medjugorje

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Sr Maria  ...
Sent: Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 16:35
Subject: FW: Medjugorje - Our Lady's December 25, 2012 Message

The Medjugorje Web
http://www.medjugorje.org

December 25, 2012

Our Lady came with little Jesus in her arms and she did not give a message,
but little Jesus began to speak and said : "I am your peace, live my
commandments." With a sign of the cross, Our Lady and little Jesus blessed
us together.
For all Our Lady's messages: http://www.medjugorje.org/messagesall.htm

-----Original Message-----
Sent: 25 December 2012 19:11

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/8393/mary-stays-silent-but-baby-jesus-speaks/

Mary, Mother of God Solemnity 1st January

An icon of the Theotokos, the Mother of God.
Egg tempera on wood, Central Russia, mid-1800's.

+ + +

Mary, Mother of God

Community Mass, Homily by Fr. Aelred

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is the oldest of all Marian celebrations. From very early times had been honoured by the title, Mother of God by the faithful. This title was affirmed at the Council at Ephesus in 431, which led to a still greater increase in veneration and love towards Mary. Formerly the Motherhood of the Virgin was celebrated in October. By moving it to the octave day of Christmas the Church wished to emphasis the close connection of the two feasts. Today we profess our faith in Jesus as truly God, yet truly born  at woman.

In the first reading from the Book of Numbers, the liturgy uses the most solemn benediction that can be found in the OT. The priests of ancient Israel spoke this blessing over the people, an invocation of joy, protection and peace. It was part of the Temple and synagogue liturgies (like our blessing at the end of Mass). There is, of course, no direct connection between this ancient blessing formula and today’s feast. But it fits in well with the guiding meme of today’s readings, which is the fulfilment of the promises through Jesus born of Mary. What the priests invoked in their blessing reaches to the heart of what revealed religion is; divine favour and friendship and happiness and well being flowing from these. This blessing harked back to the promises made to Abraham and to the covenant made thro’ Moses at Sinai. It was a prayer that God’s faithfulness would be recognised and acknowledged.

In the 2^nd Reading St. Paul tells us that God’s saving plan has reached fruition, the sending forth at the Son marks the fullness at time. Paul says that God gas sent Jesus, Son of God and Saviour, to all who will believe. Yet Jesus is born of a woman, like all of us, Jesus had a human mother, to redeem us he shared our nature and the conditions of our birth – so that we might ‘receive adoption’ and become children of God. We are constituted children of God by receiving the Spirit of the Son and thus becoming one with him. Through the Spirit we can address God as Jesus himself did, Abba, Father. And as children of God, we have rights; we share in the inheritance of Christ, the glorious life of communion with the Father.

In the Gospel the shepherds, informed by the angels at the birth of the Saviour, went in haste to verify what they had been told – Just as Mary had went in haste to visit Elizabeth. They share the same spontaneous trust in God.

We are given the impression that the shepherds had plenty to say about what they had seen and heard. In contrast, Mary kept all these happenings to herself, treasuring them and pondering over them. For Luke, Mary already is the first Christian believer – she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’ And in Mary’s final appearance in the Scriptures – with the apostles at prayer at Pentecost - her role seems to be that of the one who contemplates, considers and holds in her heart all that happens. Her receiving at God’s word continues throughout her Son’s life and beyond.

As we begin 2013 we cannot foresee what the New Year will hold for us or even if we will see its end. But we have this certitude: that we are children of God which makes us theirs, by God’s design. So day after day, throughout this year, we must seek to become what we really are.

Mary, the Holy Mother of God, New Year Day

Our Lady of Providence, painted by Gaetano.

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God 
Last Hogmany, 2012, in the hospital   I was able to to see through windows at midnight, to see the fireworks from Edinburgh Castle and hear the Canon shots on time

Month of January 2013 - dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/01.cfm
The month of January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, which is celebrated on January 3. The first nine days of January fall during the liturgical season known as Christmas which is represented by the liturgical color white. The remaining days of January are the beginning of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color changes to green — a symbol of the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection.

The Vatican has released the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for January 2013.

The Pope’s general intention is: “That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.”

His missionary intention is: “That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.”

 Prayers of Praise to the Blessed Virgin Mary (by Saint Ephrem the Syrian)  

St Ephrem the Syrian

    

O Virgin most pure, wholly unspotted, O Mary, Mother of God, Queen of the universe, thou art above all the saints, the hope of the elect and the joy of all the blessed. It is thou who hast reconciled us with God; thou art the only refuge of sinners and the safe harbor of those who are shipwrecked; thou art the consolation of the world, the ransom of captives, the health of the weak, the joy of the afflicted, and the salvation of all. We have recourse to thee, and we beseech thee to have pity on us. Amen.

___________________________

  

Prayer to the Immaculate Queen   

O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God's sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion forever and ever world without end. Amen.

http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/

Ephrem the Syrian

Ephrem the Syrian was a Syriac deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. His works are hailed by Christians throughout the world and many denominations venerate him as a saint. 

____________

Dom Donald's Blog: 1 January [Mary, Mother of God] Lk 2:16-21

01 Jan 2011

The teaching on Mary, Mother of God, received further confirmation at the Council of Chalcedon (451), at which Christ was declared "true God and true man... born for us and for our salvation of Mary, Virgin and Mother of God, ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/