Christian’s Armour “the machinations of the devil”

Night Office

COMMENT:

The Night Office Second Reading provided an little recalled name of writer, Haymo of Halberstadt.

[A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy Hours VI].

The  First Reading is Ephes 6:10-24 gives the subject, the Christian’s Armour.

Bl. Haymo’s writes of “the machinations of the devil”,  6 refs of ‘devil’.. Ephesians 6:12  On the other hand, The Commentary of Ronald Knox (p.260) takes up the thread of  the even more specific Gnostic bias, the astro-theological slant. “Verse 12 is perhaps a final allusion  to the Gnostic or semi-Gnostic teaching which had disturbed he peace of the Asiatic churches; ‘those who have the mastery of the world’ recalls a title given to the Devil by the (second-century) Gnostic leader Valentinus. “In order higher than ours” is literally “in places above the heaven”; cf. Ephesians 1.3. It is puzzling to find St. Apparently attributes to diabolic powers a super-celestial sphere of influence; in 2.2 he has told us that their domain is in the lower air. But he is concerned, here, to point out that we are not striving against human enemies, but against immortal spirits which belong, by right of origin, to the very highest order of created beings. . . . St. Paul ranges ever wider geography and theology.

St. Paul’s  geographical  wide spreads his

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against thespiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NASB: Lockman) Greek: hoti ouk estin (3SPAI) hemin e pale pros aima kai sarka, alla pros tas archas, pros tas exousias, pros tous kosmokratoras tou skotous toutou, pros ta pneumatika tes ponerias en tois epouraniois. Amplified: For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.  (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

12 For our ^astruggle is not against ^1bflesh and blood, but ^cagainst the rulers, against the powers, against the ^dworld forces of this ^edarkness, against the ^fspiritual forces of wickedness in ^gthe heavenly places.

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a	1 Cor 9:25
1	Lit blood and flesh
b	Matt 16:17
c	Eph 1:21; 2:2; 3:10
d	John 12:31
e	Acts 26:18; Col 1:13
f	Eph 3:10
g	Eph 1:3

Twenty First in Ordinary Time FRIDAY

First Reading    Ephesians 6:10-24

Responsorv                                                             1 Pt 5:8-9; Jas 4:7

Be on the alert - watch out! Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. + Stand up to him, strong in your faith.

V. Resist the devil and he will take flight. + Stand up ...

Second Reading From a homily by Haymo of Halberstadt

Homily by Haymo of Halberstadt, Hom. 2 in epp. Pauli: PL 118, 808-809

My brothers in faith and love, and because we have one omnipotent God and Father, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Do not rely upon your own strength, your own merits, or the power of the rulers of this world, but be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Put on the armor of God, so that you maybe able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The term armor includes everything needed for battle, cuirass, helmet, shield, lance, javelins, and other similar equipment. By the armor of God, however, we must understand our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose protection all the elect are defended, with whom they are clothed; as the same Apostle says elsewhere: All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

The elect put on Christ when with his help they acquire the virtues of Christ. To say Put on the armor of God is therefore the same as saying Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, set yourselves to acquire all the virtues which you know to be his. For example, he is just, truthful, patient, chaste, and gentle. He is called a lamb, a lion and a calf. Clothe yourselves, then, in justice, truthfulness, patience, love, cha stity, and gentleness. Be a lamb, that is, gentle; be a lion, that is, strong in faith and good works opposing the devil; be a calf too, mortifying yourselves with all your sins and unruly desires, so as to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For the devil tries to trip us up in many ways. He lies in wait for us by evil suggestions; he lies in wait for us through our carnal vices and the lure of evil pleasure; he lies in wait for us through his servants, such as heretics, false brothers and sisters, and pagans. But we must fight valiantly against them all to be sure of vanquishing them.

And take the helmet of salvation. A helmet is placed on the head to shield and protect all the bodily senses, namely the sense of sight in the eyes, of hearing in the ears, of taste in the mouth, of smell in the nose, and of touch in the whole head. What then are we to understand by the helmet which, as we have said, protects all the bodily senses? Our Lord Jesus Christ, and his protection. By the head we should understand the mind, for just as the limbs are ruled by the head, so thoughts are governed by the mind. Let us therefore place Christ on our head, that is, in our mind, to protect it; let us remember him in the secrecy of our minds, placing our trust in him instead of in ourselves, and he will guard all our senses so that our ancient enemy the devil will be unable to harm them.

Take also the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; that is to say, the teaching and knowledge of the holy scriptures given us by the Spirit. It is called a sword because just as a sword drives an enemy off, so by meditating on the divine scriptures given us by the Holy Spirit, and seeking to do what they teach and avoid what they forbid, we can defeat all the machinations of the devil.

 Haymo, Bishop of Halberstadt, d. 853: B. Haymonis ... Historiae ecclesiasticae, sive, De rervm christianarvm memoria, libri X. Correctius jam atq́[ue] emendatius editi, cvra Joachimi Johannis Maderi. (Helmestadi 

Condolence: Dom Ambrose's funeral at Mt St Bernard

Dom Ambros

Peter,

Thank you for the kind memories of Dom Ambrose.

....

Donald 

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Peter ....
To: Donald <......
Sent: Wednesday, 28 August 2013, 15:46
Subject: Dom Ambrose's funeral at Mt St Bernard

 Dear Donald,
. . .
I . . . am very sorry to be missing Dom Ambrose's funeral at Mt St Bernard. I would definitely have attended. I was actually at the Community Mass there last Saturday. I noticed for the first time that Dom Ambrose was not in his usual place, but in a wheel chair behind the altar. He often came to the back of the shop on a Saturday morning for a few minutes after Mass. I had the pleasure of sharing the same birthday as him, a little coincidence that we sometimes laughed about. I also helped him occasionally with some computer work, especially when he was librarian for a few years. He was a really good man, and will be missed. May he rest in peace.
. . .
Peter

The Beheading of St John the Baptist 29 August

Thursday, 29 August 2013   

John the Baptist - 

The Beheading of St John the Baptist

Is 49:1b-2

The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.

He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand.

He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.

From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest

(Hom 23: CCL 122, 354, 356-357)

Precursor of Christ in birth and death

As forerunner of our Lord’s birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendour of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.

There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.

Through his birth, preaching and baptising, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.

Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace, yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptised in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptise the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.

Since death was ever near at hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

---

Concluding Prayer:  O God, it was your will that John the Baptist should be your Son’s forerunner in both birth and death. 

    Just as he fell a martyr, witness to truth and righteousness,  

    so may we fight fiercely to proclaim your teaching.   

Through our Lord . . .

Saint Augustine, bishop, confessor and doctor, Memorial

Breviary

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Wednesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

SECOND READING

From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop
(Lib. 7, 10, 18; 10, 27: CSEL 33, 157-163, 255)

O eternal truth, true love, and beloved eternity

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance into the inmost depth of my soul. I was able to do so because you were my helper. On entering into myself I saw, as it were with the eye of the soul, what was beyond the eye of the soul, beyond my spirit: your immutable light. It was not the ordinary light perceptible to all flesh, nor was it merely something of greater magnitude but still essentially akin, shining more clearly and diffusing itself everywhere by its intensity. No it was something entirely distinct, something altogether different from all these things: and it did not rest above my mind as oil on the surface of water, nor was it above me as Heaven is above the Earth. This light was above me because it has made me; I was below it because I was created by it. He who has come to know the truth knows this light.

O Eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread. I learned that I was in a region unlike yours and far distant from you, and I thought I heard your voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men; grow then, and you will feed on me. Nor will you change me into yourself like bodily food, but you will be changed into me.”

I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever. He was calling me and saying: I am the way of truth, I am the life. He was offering the food which I lacked the strength to take, the food he had mingled with our flesh. For the Word became flesh, that your wisdom, by which you created all things, might provide milk for us children.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php

DOM AMBROSE SOUTHEY funeral Mass

     http://www.ocso.org/net/drcty_m.htm
 

Funeral rites for Dom Ambrose

Tuesday, 27 August 2013 17:16

Funeral rites for DOM AMBROSE SOUTHEY

Abbot General of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance

from 1974 to 1990

We are advised that the funeral Mass for Dom Ambrose will be celebrated at the monastery of Mount Saint Bernard this Thursday, 29 August, at 11.00 a.m. The Mass will be presided by Mgr Malcolm McMahon, O.P., Bishop of the diocese of Nottingham (Great Britain), in the presence of Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, Abbot General of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

All Trappist communities are especially united in prayer with the brothers of Mount St Bernard, to bid a last adieu to one who devoted himself for so many years to the service of the brothers and sisters of the Order.

Night Office J.H. Newman 25 August 2013 Ephes. 4:24

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Vigils. Second Reading  From a sermon by John Henry Newman  

http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/sermon13.html
A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours VI
Augustinian Press 1995

Sermon 13. The State of Salvation 

"That ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephes. iv. 24.

[Note 1] {178} THESE words express very strongly a doctrine which is to be found in every part of the New Testament, that the Gospel covenant is the means of introducing us into a state of life so different from that in which we were born, and should otherwise continue, that it may not unfitly be called a new creation. As that which is created differs from what is not yet created, so the Christian differs from the natural man. He is brought into a new world, and, as being in that new world, is invested with powers and privileges which he absolutely had not in the way of nature. By nature his will is enslaved to sin, his soul is full of darkness, his conscience is under the wroth of God; peace, hope, love, faith, purity, he has not; nothing of heaven is in him; nothing spiritual, nothing of light and life. But in Christ all these blessings are given: the will and the {179} power; the heart and the knowledge; the light of faith, and the obedience of faith. As far as a being can be changed without losing his identity, as far as it is sense to say that an existing being can be new created, so far has man this gift when the grace of the Gospel has its perfect work and its maturity of fruit in him. A brute differs less from a man, than does man, left to himself with his natural corruption allowed to run its course, differ from man fully formed and perfected by the habitual indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Hence, in the text, the Apostle speaks of the spiritual state which Christ has bought for us, as being a "new creature in righteousness and true holiness." Elsewhere he says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. Elsewhere, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Elsewhere, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Elsewhere, "We are buried with Him by baptism into death; that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." [2 Cor. v. 17. Rom. xii. 2. Col. iii. 3. Rom. vi. 4.]

What then is this new state in which a Christian finds himself, compared with the state of nature? It is worth the inquiry.

Now, first, there ought to be no difficulty in our views about it so far as this: that there is a certain new state, and that a state of salvation; and that Christ came to bring into it all whom He had chosen out of the world. Christ "gave Himself for our sins (says St. Paul), that {180} He might deliver us from the present evil world." He "hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." He came "to gather together in one the children of God, which are scattered abroad." "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." [Gal. i. 4. Col. i. 18. John xi. 52; i. 12.] 

This is most clear. There can be no doubt at all that there is a certain state of grace now vouchsafed to us, who are born in sin and the children of wrath, such that those who are to be saved hereafter are (to speak generally) those, and those only, who are placed in that saving state here. I am not going on to the question, whether or not there is a visible Church; but I insist only on this, that it has not seemed fit to Almighty God to transplant His elect at once from this world and from a state of nature to the eternal happiness of heaven. He does not suffer them to die as they were born, and then, on death, change them outwardly and inwardly; but He brings them into a saving state here, preparatory to heaven;—a state which the Catechism calls a "state of salvation;" and which St. Luke denotes, when he says, "The Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved;" [Acts ii. 47.] that is, persons called to salvation, placed in a saving state.

No one ought to deny this; though in this day, when all kinds of error abound, some persons seem to have taken up a notion that the world was fully reconciled all at once by Christ's death at the very time of it, and wholly transferred into a state of acceptance; so that there is no new state necessary now for those who shall {181} ultimately be benefited by it; that they have but to do their duty, and they will be rewarded accordingly; whereas it does certainly appear, from such texts of Scripture as have been quoted, that there is a certain state, or kingdom of Christ, into which all must enter here who shall be saved hereafter. We cannot attain to heaven hereafter, without being in this new kingdom here; we cannot escape from the miseries and horrors of the Old Adam, except by being brought into this Kingdom, as into an asylum, and there remaining.

And further, this new state is one of "righteousness and true holiness," as the text speaks. Christ brings us into it by coming to us through His Spirit; and, as His Spirit is holy, we are holy, if we are in the state of grace. Christ is present in that heart which He visits with His grace. So that to be in His kingdom is to be in righteousness, to live in obedience, to breathe, as it were, an atmosphere of truth and love.

Now it is necessary to insist upon this also: for here again some men go wrong; and while they go so far as to acknowledge that there is a new state, or kingdom, into which souls must be brought, in order to salvation, yet they consider it as a state, not of holiness and righteousness, but merely or mainly of acceptance with God. It has been maintained by some persons, that human nature, even when regenerate, is not, and cannot be, really holy; nay, that it is idle to suppose that, even with the aid of the Holy Spirit, it can do any thing really good in any degree; that our best actions are {182} sins; and that we are always sinning, not only in slighter matters, but so as to need pardon in all we do, in the same sense in which we needed it when we were as yet unregenerate; and, consequently, that it is vain to try to be holy and righteous, or, rather, that it is presumptuous.

Now, of course it is plain, that even the best of men are full of imperfections and failings; so far is undeniable. But, consider, by nature we are in a state of death. Now, is this the state of our hearts under the Gospel? Surely not; for, while "to be carnally minded is death," "to be spiritually minded is life and peace." I mean, that the state of salvation in which we stand is not one in which "our righteousnesses are" what the prophet calls "filthy rags," but one in which we can help sinning unto death,—can help sinning in the way men do sin when left in a state of nature. If we do so sin, we cease to be in that state of salvation; we fall back into a state resembling our original state of wrath, and must pass back again from wrath to grace (if it be so), as we best may, in such ways as God has appointed: whereas it is not an uncommon notion at this time, that a man may be an habitual sinner, and yet be in a state of salvation, and in the kingdom of grace. And this doctrine many more persons hold than think they do; not in words, but in heart. They think that faith is all in all; that faith, if they have it, blots out their sins as fast as they commit them. They sin in distinct acts in the morning,—their faith wipes all out; at noon,—their faith still avails; and in the evening,—still the same. Or they remain {183} contentedly in sinful habits or practices, under the dominion of sin, not warring against it, in ignorance what is sin and what is not; and they think that the only business of a Christian is, not to be holy, but to have faith, and to think and speak of Christ; and thus, perhaps, they are really living, whether by habit or by act, in extortion, avarice, envy, rebellious pride, self-indulgence, or worldliness, and neither know nor care to know it. If they sin in habits, they are not aware of these at all; if by acts, instead of viewing them one and all together, they take them one by one, and set their faith against each separate act. So far has this been carried, that some men of name in the world have, before now, laid it down as a great and high principle, that there is no mortal sin but one, and that is want of faith; and have hereby meant, not that he who commits mortal sin cannot be said to have faith, but that he who has faith cannot be said to commit mortal sin; or, to speak more clearly, they have, in fact, defined a state of salvation to be nothing more or less than a state in which our sins are forgiven; a state of mere acceptance, not of substantial holiness. Persons who hold these opinions, consider that the great difference between a state of nature and a state of salvation is, that, in a state of nature when we sin, we are not forgiven (which is true); but that, in a state of salvation, when we sin, our sins are forgiven us, because we are in that state. On the other hand, I would maintain from scripture, that a state of salvation is so far from being a state in which sins of every kind are forgiven, that it is a state in which there are not sins of every kind to forgive; and that, if {184} a man commit them, so far from being forgiven by his state, he falls at once from his state by committing them; so far from being justified by faith, he, for that very reason, has not faith whereby to justify him. I say, our state of grace is a state of holiness; not one in which we may be pardoned, but in which we are obedient. He who acts unworthily of it, is not sheltered by it, but forfeits it. It is a state in which power is given us to act rightly, and therefore punishment falls on us if we act wrongly.

This is plain, from Scripture, on many reasons; of which I will here confine myself to one or two.

This then is the Christian's great aim, viz. not to come short after grace given him. This forms his peculiar danger, and his special {186} dread. 

Of course he is not secure from peril of gross sin; of course he is continually defiled with sins of infirmity; but whereas, how to be forgiven is the main inquiry for the natural man, so, how to fulfill his calling, how to answer to grace given, how to increase his Lord's money, how to attain, this is the great problem of man regenerate. Faith gained him pardon; but works gain him a reward.

...for the complete Sermon, see Link
  http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/sermon13.html

Raymond Homily Sunday, 25 August 2013

Fr. Raymond

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13:22-30.

"Sir, will there be only a few saved?" v. 30 ...

Sun 21 C 2013

“Sir, will there be only a few saved?” Jesus’ answer to this awkward question more or less amounted to: “That’s none of your business”.

We can presume that the reason for this was that if the answer was ‘yes, only a very few will be saved’ then we would all be very much discouraged and even perhaps despairing, knowing that we could hardly call ourselves exceptionally virtuous.  On the other hand, if the answer was ‘no, the vast majority of souls will be saved’ then we might become presumptious and not bother trying to live a very good life since we could be reasonably sure that we were in much the same boat as most people and therefore sure of salvation.

But Jesus points to ‘the narrow door’ and indicates that we must strive, we must try hard, to enter there.  Jesus sums it up in another place where he says that ‘ the kingdom of God suffers violence and it is the violent who conquer it’.  The attitude to the kingdom of heaven that Jesus wants us to adopt is not one of numbers; how many will be saved? but one of striving; one of trying to love the Lord our God with all our mind and heart and soul; one of longing and hope.  Christian tradition depicts the virtue of Hope as an anchor that the soul casts up into the clouds to catch a hold of heaven for us so that we can haul ourselves up there by it.

The more we hope for it the more surely do we attain it.