Friday after Ash Wednesday. Fr. Mattew, MSB, RIP

Friday, 07 March 2014

  Lent Mass. Introduction: Fr. Nivard   

Gospel St Matthew 9:14-15.

...The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Community Mass – today we had the special memory of Fr. Mattew OCSO,  who has died in Mount St. Bernard Abbey.       

Ash Friday . . . They will fast when the Bridegroom departs.org.uk 

On Friday, 7 March 2014,

Fr. Nivard: wrote:

Magnificat adapted

Ash Frid 7 Mar 2014 Mt 7_14-15

When the bridegroom departs they will fast

   Fasting is a form of self-deprivation that deepens our appreciation of and longing for the food we really need.    

   Christ's disciples do not fast because they have given themselves over to Jesus who is their Food.

   We fast in order to seek him day after day and to desire more to know his ways.

   We fast so that this Lent Christ will become our All.

Father, help us to hunger for you,

   to know you more.

   Let us now come to you:

   our hearts are yours;

   possess them always

   and only for yourself,

                      through Christ our Lord.

Fw: Fr Matthew Dunn. Some Memories and picture in Mount Saint Bernard Abbey.  

On Friday, 7 March 2014, 17:11,

From: Nivard . ...:

Fr Matthew Dunn. Some Memories ...

March 6, 2014:

 Father Matthew Dunn was born in 1936 in Liverpool (Great Britain).

Matthew went to Freshfield Mill Hill College for his secondary education. The college was mainly for boys aspiring to be Mill Hill Missionaries. He then went to the Mill Hill Missionary Major Seminary in Roosendal, Holland, to study Philosophy. While there his thoughts turned to the contemplative life and he visited the nearby Cistercian Trappist Monasery of Zundert. They suggested that he pay a visit to Mt Saint Bernard Abbey, Leicester.

He entered Mount St Bernard in 1957, made his solemn profession in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1964. He was then sent to Rome where he obtained a degree in Sacred Scripture. He taught Scripture to the young monks for some time. He then took charge of the piggery with some success and enjoyed the work.

He then went on loan to Our Lady of Bamenda, Cameroon, as assistant novice master. He later became novice master, and after some years made his stability in Bamenda. He taught Scripture most of his time there. When signs of deterioration in his mental health began to increase he returned to Mt Saint Bernard and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. In his failing years Father was very well looked after by the Community, the Infirmarian and Carer with great kindness and understanding. For all this the monks of Bamenda are most grateful.

Father was a good community man with a ready smile. The young monks found him very approachable. He was very faithful to choir and the daily routine. As he approached the end he spent much time in his choir stall. Like Fr Andrew Ward of Mellifont Abbey, he was a true monk and missionary. He had pneumonia when he died peacefully in the Lord.

Father was 77 years old, had been in monastic vows for 54 years

and 49 years a priest when the Lord called him. 

Fr Donald and I said our Masses for the repose of his soul this morning. 

May he rest in peace.

Saint John Chrysostom, Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good:

Patristic Reading,  

Shepherd feeding the sheep -
preparing for the Lambing.

Breviary 

Friday After Ash Wednesday,
7 March 2014

READINGS

FIRST READING

From the book of Exodus

2:1-22, 18:4

The birth and flight of Moses

A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, who conceived and bore a son. Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the river bank. His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

....

SECOND READING

From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop

(Supp. Hom. 6 De precatione: PG 64, 462-466)

Prayer is the light of the spirit

Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times or periods, but continuous throughout the day and night.

Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God, and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God’s love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.

Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.

Prayer stands before God as an honoured ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God’s grace. The apostle Paul says: We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings.

When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to someone; he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of the utmost intensity.

Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday - Benedict XVI: Following him

Thursday, 06 March 2014

See commentary below 

Benedict XVI: Following him

Book of Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

Moses said to the people: «Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. 

If, however, ...

Benedict XVI, pope from 2005 to 2013 
General Audience of 17/02/2010 (trans. © copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 

Following him

The “favourable moment” (2Cor 6,2) of grace in Lent also reveals its spiritual significance to us in the ancient formula: "Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return" which the priest says as he places a little ash on our foreheads. Thus we are referred back to the dawn of human history when the Lord told Adam, after the original sin: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3,19; 2,7)...

Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality. Hence the Liturgical formula... finds the fullness of its meaning in reference to the new Adam, Christ. The Lord Jesus also chose freely to share with every human being the destiny of weakness, in particular through his death on the Cross; but this very death, the culmination of his love for the Father and for humanity, was the way to the glorious Resurrection, through which Christ became a source of grace, given to all who believe in him, who are made to share in divine life itself.

This life that will have no end has already begun in the earthly phase of our existence but it will be brought to completion after "the resurrection of the flesh". The little action of the imposition of ashes reveals to us the unique riches of its meaning. It is an invitation to spend the Lenten Season as a more conscious and intense immersion in Christ's Paschal Mystery in his death and Resurrection, through participation in the Eucharist and in the life of charity, which is born from the Eucharist in which it also finds its fulfilment. With the imposition of ashes we renew our commitment to following Jesus, to letting ourselves be transformed by his Paschal Mystery, to overcoming evil and to doing good, in order to make our former self, linked to sin die and to give birth to our "new nature" (Eph 4,22f.), transformed by God's grace.

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return

A cross of ashes _ forehead on Ash Wednesday

Turn away from your sins and believe in the Gospel”

Ash Wednesday Patristic Lectionary,

Night Office Readings  

See previous Wednesday, 13 February 2013  
http://nunraw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/thomas-merton-reading-ash-wednesday-13.html  Thomas Merton Reading Ash Wednesday 13 Feb 2013

 

       ASH WEDNESDAY

Night Office -Alternative Reading

From  Thomas Merton, O.CS.O.

(Meditations on the Liturgy, 100-101)

A time of metanoia

TWO YEAR LECTIONARY

PATRISTIC VIGILS READINGS

EXORDIUM BOOKS 1982

LENT

ASH WEDNESDAY - YEAR 2

FIREST READING FROM THE PROPHET ISAIAH

(On the fast that pleases God: Isaiah 58:1-12)

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. ...

SECOND READING

From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement I, pope and martyr
(Cap. 7, 7-8, 3; 8, 5-9, 1;13, 1-4; 19, 2: Funk 1, 71-73, 77-78)

Repent

Let us fix our attention on the blood of Christ and recognize how precious it is to God his Father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world.

If we review the various ages of history, we will see that in every generation the Lord has offered the opportunity of repentance to any who were willing to turn to him. When Noah preached God’s message of repentance, all who listened to him were saved. Jonah told the Ninevites they were going to be destroyed, but when they repented, their prayers gained God’s forgiveness for their sins, and they were saved, even though they were not of God’s people.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the ministers of God’s grace have spoken of repentance; indeed, the Master of the whole universe himself spoke of repentance with an oath: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the death of the sinner but his repentance. He added this evidence of his goodness: House of Israel, repent of your wickedness. Tell the sons of my people: If their sins should reach from earth to heaven, if they are brighter than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, you need only turn to me with your whole heart and say, “Father”, and I will listen to you as a holy people.

In other words, God wanted all his beloved ones to have the opportunity to repent and he confirmed this desire by his own almighty will. That is why we should obey his sovereign and glorious will and prayerfully entreat his mercy and kindness. We should be suppliant before him and turn to his compassion, rejecting empty works and quarreling and jealousy which only lead to death.

Brothers, we should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger. Rather, we should act in accordance with the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit says: The wise man must not glory in his wisdom nor the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches. Rather, let him who glories glory in the Lord by seeking him and doing what is right and just. Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when he taught gentleness and forbearance. Be merciful, he said, so that you may have mercy shown to you. Forgive, so that you may be forgiven. As you treat others, so you will be treated. As you give, so you will receive. As you judge, so you will be judged. As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly. The measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving.

Let these commandments and precepts strengthen us to live in humble obedience to his sacred words. As Scripture asks: Whom shall I look upon with favor except the humble, peaceful man who trembles at my words?

Sharing then in the heritage of so many vast and glorious achievements, let us hasten toward the goal of peace, set before us from the beginning. Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Father and Creator of the whole universe, and hold fast to his splendid and transcendent gifts of peace and all his blessings.

RESPONSORY
Isaiah 55:7; Joel 2:13; See Ezekiel 33:11

Let the evil man give up his way of life,
and the sinful man his thoughts.
Let him turn back to the Lord,
and the Lord will have mercy on him.
– Our God is kind and compassionate,
always ready to forgive.

The Lord does not wish the sinner to die,
but to turn back to him and live.
– Our God is kind and compassionate,
always ready to forgive.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Lord,
protect us in our struggle against evil.
As we begin the discipline of Lent,
make this day holy by our self-denial.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Or:

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service,
so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.
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.

ACCLAMATION 

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.
*************************

Alternative Reading 

FROM A SERMON BY ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

St John Chrysostom, Oratio 3 Adversus Iudaeos (PG 48, 867-868); from Word in Season II, 1st ed.

Explaining the great Lenten fast, Chrysostom emphasizes the work of purification this liturgical season is meant to accomplish in the people of God. The homily was delivered at Antioch in 336 or 387.

Why do we fast for forty days?             Insert jump break

St. Leo 'spiritual fruits of giving'

TWO YEAR LECTIONARY

PATRISTIC VIGILS READINGS

ORDINARY TIME

WEEKS 1 to 17 : YEAR II

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year 2

A READING FROM THE SECOND LETTER OF ST PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

(The spiritual fruits of giving: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15)

A READING FROM THE SERMONS OF ST LEO THE GREAT

The sublime nature of God’s grace lies in this, my dear friends, that daily in our Christian hearts all our desires are transferred from what is earthbound to what is heavenly. Yet it is still true that our present life is lived with the Creator’s aid and is supported by his providence. It is the one and same Lord who bestows temporal blessings and who promises the eternal blessings. There is a corre­spondence between two duties which we have of giving thanks to God. First of all for the fact that we are carried along by the hope of future happiness to the fulfilment of this great preparation. It is faith which gives us speed. And secondly, we are to honour and praise God for the goods which we receive annually. It is he who from the creation has granted the earth’s fruitfulness and who has established the cycles of fruit production in the various plants and seeds. He never abandons his decrees so that his kindly providence as Creator remains throughout the creation.

Whatever benefit the harvests, the vines and olives have brought to man’s use, all of it flows from the generosity of God’s goodness. In his delicate way he helps on the hesitant labours of the farmers by the varied nature of the elements. Thus it is that wind and rain, cold and heat, day and night, serve our needs. If the Lord did not grant increase with his habitual planting and watering, human reason by itself would not be able to carry through its tasks to the end. Consequently it is perfectly right and just that we should help others from the things which our heavenly Father has mercifully bestowed on us.

There are many who have no share in fields, vines, or olives. It is worthwhile remembering the poverty of these people so that, out of the plentifulness which God has given, they too may bless God with us for the fruitfulness of the earth. With the landowners they can also rejoice at having been given what is the common part of the poor and of the pilgrims; that barn is a truly happy one and worthy to have all its products multiplied from which the hunger of the poor and weak is satisfied, from which the pilgrim's need is satisfied and from which the sick man's desire is cared for. God's justice allows these people to labour under various disabilities so that he may reward the lowly for their patience and the merciful for their kindness.

The most effective form of intercession for sin is in almsdeeds and fasting; and prayer which is offered with such good works is quickly heard by God. As it is written, The merciful man does good to his own soul, and nothing is more personal than what we bestow on our neighbour. For the share of earthly commodities which is given to those in need becomes eternal wealth. The riches which are born of this kindness will not be diminished by use, nor subjected to any corruption. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall have mercy shown to them by God. God is the highest reward and the form of the commandment.

St Leo the Great, Sermons, 16.1-2 (CCL 138:61-62); Word in Season VII.

Community Monthly Memorial of the Dead

 
Monday 3rd March 2014

Night Office of the Dead

http://divineoffice.org/office-of-readings-for-a-man/

RESPONSORY

Lord, do not judge me according to my deeds:
I have done nothing worthy in your sight:
therefore I implore you, God of majesty,
– blot out all my guilt.

Lord, wash away my iniquities, and cleanse me from my sin.
– Blot out all my guilt.

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Anastasius of Antioch, bishop
Christ will change our lowly body

To this end Christ died and rose to life that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But God is not God of the dead, but of the living .That is why the dead, now under the dominion of one who has risen to life, are no longer dead but alive. Therefore life has dominion over them and, just as Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again, so too they will live and never fear death again. When they have been thus raised from the dead and freed from decay, they shall never again see death, for they will share in Christ’s resurrection just as he himself shared in their death.

This is why Christ descended into the underworld, with its imperishable prison bars: to shatter the doors of bronze and break the bars of iron and, from decay, to raise our life to himself by giving us freedom in place of servitude.

But if this plan does not yet appear to be perfectly realized — for men still die and bodies still decay in death — this should not occasion any loss of faith. For, in receiving the first fruits, we have already received the pledge of all the blessings we have mentioned; with them we have reached the heights of heaven, and we have taken our place beside him who has raised us up with himself, as Paul says: In Christ God has raised us up with him, and has made us sit with him in the heavenly places.

And the fulfillment will be ours on the day predetermined by the Father, when we shall put off our childish ways and come to perfect manhood. For this is the decree of the Father of the ages: the gift, once given, is to be secure and no more to be rejected by a return to childish attitudes.

There is no need to recall that the Lord rose from the dead with a spiritual body, since Paul in speaking of our bodies bear witness that they are sown as animal bodies and raised as spiritual bodies: that is, they are transformed in accordance with the glorious transfiguration of Christ who goes before us as our leader.

The Apostle, affirming something he clearly knew, also said that this would happen to all mankind through Christ, who will change our lowly body to make it like his glorious body.

If this transformation is a change into a spiritual body and one, furthermore, like the glorious body of Christ, then Christ rose with a spiritual body, a body that was sown in dishonour, but the very body that was transformed in glory.

Having brought this body to the Father as the first-fruits of our nature, he will also bring the whole body to fulfillment. For he promised this when he said: I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself.

RESPONSORY 

5:28-29; 1 Corinthians 15:52

All who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God;
– those who have done good deeds will go forth to the resurrection of life; those who have done evil will go forth to the resurrection of judgment.

In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the final trumpet blast, the dead shall rise.
– Those who have done good deeds will go forth to the resurrection of life; those who have done evil will go forth to the resurrection of judgment.

Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary - iBreviary

 Night Office Readings, Patristic Reading,  

Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary - iBreviary

www.ibreviary.com/m/preghiere.php?tipo=Preghiera&id=243‎

 Alternative: 

4. From a sermon by Saint Proclus of Constantinople, bishop
(De nativitate Domini, 1-2: PG 65, 843-846)

He loved man and became man born of a virgin

Let the heavens rejoice from above, and let the skies rain down justice, for the Lord has had mercy on his people. Let the heavens rejoice from above, for when they were created from the beginning, Adam too was made by his Creator from the virgin earth and stood forth as kin and friend of God. Let the heavens rejoice from above, for now by the presence of our Lord in the flesh the earth has been made holy, and the human race has been freed from its idolatrous sacrifices. Then let the skies rain down justice, for on this day Eve's mistake was corrected and forgiven by the purity of the Virgin Mary and by the God-man born of her. On this day Adam, after his condemnation of old, was released from that terrifying sentence of darkness.

And so Christ was born of a virgin and took his flesh from her, as was his will, in accord with the economy of salvation: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Thus the virgin became the mother of God. She is both virgin and mother, for she gave birth to the Word incarnate without knowledge of man; and yet she retained her virginity because of the miraculous way he chose to be born. She is the mother of the divine Word insofar as in his human nature he took flesh in her, and thus united to this flesh he came forth, in accordance with the will and the wisdom of God, the author of miracles. Of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, as Saint Paul says.

He was as he now is, and he shall ever remain so. Yet he became man for our sake. Loving man he became a man, not being one before; but remaining God he became man without any change. And so he became like me for my sake, becoming what he was not, yet retaining all he was. He became man, finally, to make our suffering his own and thus prepare us for adoption as sons, to win for us that kingdom, into which, I pray, we may all be made worthy to enter by the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit has glory, honor and power, now and forever. Amen.

RESPONSORY
Psalm 72:6, 19; Revelation 21:3

He shall descend like rain on the meadow;
– and God’s majesty will fill the earth.

Behold the dwelling place of God with his people;
He will live among them;
God himself with be among them as their own God.
– and God’s majesty will fill the earth.