Lent 3rd Week, St. Cyril, 'The ark, a symbol of Jesus'

Patristic Reading, Night Office,  

Saturday 3^rd Week LENT

A Word in Season

Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours

Lent- Easter Triduum

Augustine Press 2001

SATURDAY   Year 1I

First Reading     Exodus 40:16-38

Responsory      1 Cor 10:1-2; Ex 40:34

Our ancestors were all under the cloud and all of them passed through the sea.+ All were baptized into Moses in the cloud.

V.The cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled

the tabernacle.+ All were baptized ...

Alternative Reading   

From a commentary by Saint Cyril of Alexandria
(In Joh. IV, 4: PG 73, 620.621.62S)

The ark, a symbol of Jesus

Emmanuel, God-with-us, is presented in figure and image when scripture says: And you will place the ark of the testimony in the tabernacle and cover it with the veil. For in the preceding account the Word was described to us as in the whole taberna­cle; for it was the house in which God dwelt, namely, the holy body of Christ. But despite that, the ark gives us the same mean­ing in detail. For it was made of acacia wood, for you to perceive his incorruptibility. It was entirely overlaid with pure gold, as it is written, both inside and outside. For everything in him, both divine and human, is precious and splendid; and in everything he is preeminent, as Paul says. Gold, then, stands for honour and pre-eminence in general. So the ark was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, and had the divine law put into it as a symbol of the indwelling Word of God united to a holy body. For the Word of God was also the law, even, if not in human form, as the Son is. But it is covered with the veil.

It was much the same with God the Word made man, the covering of his own body obscured to the many. He, too, was hidden by his holy flesh as by a veil. Some of the Jews, therefore, failing to recognize his divine majesty, sometimes tried to stone him to death, accusing him of claiming to be God, when he was a man. Others again did not hesitate to say: Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How, then, can he say: "I have come down from heaven." So the laying of a veil on the ark tells us symbolically that Jesus would not be recognized by the many. Then even the ark itself was a symbol of him. So it was even he who went before the Israelites in the desert, taking the place of God at that time; for it was he who led the people. The psalmist is also a witness to this, saying: When you went before your people, 0 God, when you crossed the desert, the earth shook and the heavens, too, poured down rain. For the ark being always in front clearly means that God leads the way.

For Christ is one in us, and is understood in many and vari­ous ways: he is the tabernacle, because of the veil of flesh; the ark, containing the divine law, is the Word of God the Father. Again he is the table, as life and nourishment; the lampstand, as intellectual and spiritual light; and the altar of sacrifice, as the fragrant odour in sanctity; and the altar of offerings, as an offering for the life of the world. Thus all things in life are sanctified, for Christ is entirely holy, in whatever way he is understood.

Responsory      Jn 1:17; 3:5

The law was given through Moses;+ grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

V. Without being born of water and the Spirit, it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God. + Grace and truth ...

Cyril of Alexandria, Scholia on the incarnation of the Only-Begotten ...

www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_scholia_incarnation_01_text.htm‎

Therefore very many before Him were saints but no one of them was called Emmanuel .... But that the ark is taken as a type of Christ one may be assured of through .... the dead: for thus defined the holy and great Synod the Symbol of the Faith;. 


Cyril of Alexandria, Scholia on the incarnation of the Only-Begotten.  LFC 47, Oxford (1881) pp.185-236.  A library of fathers of the holy Catholic church: anterior to the division of the East and West, vol. 47.

THE BIRTH OF MOSES AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST by St. Cyril  

   Created on Wednesday, 01 January 2014 17:06

 http://www.stmaryscopticorthodox.ca/index.php/english/abouna-s-blog/97-the-birth-of-moses-and-the-mystery-of-christ-by-st-cyril  

Published on Wednesday, 01 January 2014 17:06

When at some point famine was afflicting (the children of Israel) ... they descended from the land of Canaan to Egypt; about seventy five souls, as it is written. And as the time crept, their race multiplied. For it has been written: “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (Ex 1:7) And because the one who happened to be the ruler of the land of the Egyptians was not unaware of the growth of the Jews, he plotted against them and appointed for them overseers of the labours so that they maltreat them at work.

Lent, [Moses] was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. Tertullian

Mount Sinai

Sinai view

Night Office Readings, as we are mid-Lent, the OT words resounded the words of the FORTY DAY AND FORTY NIGHTS, reminding of Moses' being with the Lord forty days and forty nights, not to eat or drink water.

Monastic Lectionary for the Divine Office

Edited by

Friends of Henry Ashworth

Exordium Books 1982

The Covenant Renewed 34:10-28
34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT - Thursday Year II   

First Reading

Year II
From the book of Exodus (34:10-29)

Responsory

Hebrews 5:8.9.7

Though he was the Son of God.

Christ learned obedience through what he suffered; + and now, for all who obey him,

he has become the source of eternal life.

In the days of his earthly life he prayed, crying aloud. and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. + And now, for ...

Second Reading

From the treatise On Prayer by Tertullian (De oratione, 28-29: CCL 1, 273-274)

In this extract from a work addressed to catechumens between 198 and 220 A.D., Tertullian speaks of the interior and exterior discipline of liturgical prayer, which is a spiritual sacrifice of great power and efficacy.

Prayer is the spiritual offering that has replaced the ancient sacrifices. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands? What God has asked for we learn from the gospel. The hour will come, it says, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself.

We are the true worshipers and the true priests. Praying in spirit we offer prayer to God as a sacrifice. Prayer is an appropriate and an acceptable sacrifice to God. It is the offering he has asked for and the offering he expects.

We must make this offering with our whole heart. We must fatten it on faith. prepare it by truth. keep it unblemished by innocence, spotless by chastity, and we must crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it wiU gain for us all that we ask of God. What can God refuse to prayer offered in spirit and in truth, when he himself asks for such prayer? How many proofs of its efficacy we read about, hear of, and believe!

Lent Mass 3rd Thursday,. Fr. Nivard

Avenue Daffodils

On Wednesday, 26 March 2014, 

Nivard ... wrote:

Daily Read & Med Don Schwager © 2014 Servants of the Word

3 Thur 27 March  Adapted

 " God's kingdom has come upon you" Luke 11:14-23

Is Jesus the Master of your life?

With Jesus, there are no neutral parties.

We are either for Jesus or against him, for the kingdom of God or against it.

   There are two kingdoms in opposition to one another - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness under the rule of Satan.

   If we disobey God’s word, we open the door to the power of sin and Satan in our lives.

   If you want to live in freedom from sin and Satan, then your house - your life and all you possess - must be occupied by Jesus where he is enthroned as Lord and Saviour.

   He spoke the same message to a modern mystic in similar words. “Don’t divide yourself into two – one part for you and the other part for me. I am most demanding. I want my children to be wholly mine at every moment. So don’t withhold a thing. Don’t take anything of yourselves away. You would steal from Me if you did, because everything is mine.” Gabrielle Bossi 20 April 1945

   Is the Lord Jesus the Master of your home, heart, mind, and will?

 

Father, grant us patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all our spiritual foes, Through Christ our Lord.

   Grant us sorrow for our sins, thankfulness for your benefits, fear of your judgment, love of your mercies, and mindfulness of your presence; now and for ever."  (Prayer by John Cosin)

Lent 3rd Week Wed. St. Ambrose, Moses’ intimacy with God

 Night Office Readings, 

Monastic Lectionary for the Divine Office

Edited by

Friends of Henry Ashworth

Exordium Books 1982

THIRD WEEK OF LENT - Wednesday  Year II

Moses’ intimacy with God

First Reading

From the book of Exodus (33:7-11.18-23; 34:5-9.29-35)

2 Corinthians 3:13.18.15

Responsory

Moses veiled his face to hide it from the people of Israel

+ but we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces and grow ever more radiant,

as we are transformed into his likeness by the Lord who is Spirit.

To this day that same veil lies over their minds.

+ But we behold ...

Second Reading

From a commentary on psalm 118 by Saint Ambrose
(Senno 17, 26-29: CSEL62, 390-392)

Moses veiled his face after speaking with God as the people could not bear to see its radiance, but the Gentiles saw the Father's glory in the face of Jesus with unveiled faces, thus fulfilling an innate longing of our nature.

Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your precepts. The Lord enlightens his saints and makes his light shine in the hearts of the just. This means that when you see wisdom in anyone you can be sure that the glory of God has come down and flooded that person's mind with the light of understanding and knowledge of divine truth. With Moses, however, it was different: God's glory affected his body also, causing his face to shine. Indeed, his countenance was so transfigured that the Jews were afraid to look at him, and he was obliged to cover his face with a veil so that the children of Israel should not be alarmed at the sight of it.

Now the face of Moses represents the splendour of the law; yet this splendor is not to be found in the written letter but in the law's spiritual interpretation. As long as Moses lived, he wore a veil over his face whenever he spoke to the Jewish people. But after his death Jesus, or Joshua, the son of Nun, spoke to the elders and the people without a veil. When he did so no one was afraid, even though God had spoken to Joshua as well as to Moses, assuring him that he would be with him just as he had been with Moses and would make him resplendent also. Joshua's glory, however, would be seen in his deeds rather than in his face. By this the Holy Spirit signified that when Jesus, the true Joshua, came, he would lift the veil from the heart of anyone who turned to him in willingness to listen, and that person would then see his true Saviour with unveiled face.

So it was that, through the coming of his Son, God the almighty Father made his light shine into the hearts of the Gentiles, bringing them to see his glory in the face of Christ Jesus. This is clearly stated in the Apostle's letter, where we find the following written: The God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has made his light shine in our hearts, to enlighten us with the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ Jesus.

And so when David says to the Lord Jesus: Let your face shine upon your seruani, he is expressing his longing to see the face of Christ, so that his mind may be capable of enlightenment. These words can be taken as referring to the incarnation. for as the Lord himself declared: Many prophets and righteous men have desired to have this vision. David was not asking for what had been denied to Moses, namely that he might see the face of the incorporeal God with his bodily eyes. (And yet if Moses, who was such a wise and learned man, could ask for this direct, unmediated vision. it was because it is inherent in our human nature for our desire to reach out beyond us.) There was nothing wrong, therefore, in David's desire to see the face of the Virgin's Son who was to come; he desired it in order that God's light might shine in his heart, as it shone in the hearts of the. disciples who said: Were not our hearts burning within us when he opened up the Scriptures to us?

Responsory

Isaiah 9:2; John 8:12

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

+On those who dwelt in a land of deep shadow

a light has shone.

I am the light of the world;

those who follow me will not be walking in the dark,

but will have the light of life.

 + On those who ...

The Annunciation of the Lord - Sylvia Benert - Mural of Annunciation in a Nunraw Abbey stair well.

Mass Solemnity of the Lord, Tuesday 25th March 2014.

The mural of of the Annunciation by Sylvia Benert at Nunraw is a very apt for today.

At the same time, we remember Sylvia and Mass intention offered for her.

Hoping to visit her at the Exhibition of Paintings.

+ + + 

Annunciation - Virgin, wholly marvellous

Sylvia Benert  - Mural of Annunciation in a Nunraw Abbey stair well. 

Artist - Sylvia Benert

  

ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD Mural by Sylvia Benert Annunciation - Virgin, wholly marvellous Sylvia Benert  - Mural of Annunciation in a Nunraw Abbey stair well.  As this morning, we celebrated the Annunciation, we heard the Hymn of 'Virgn, wholly marvelous', the amazing line, 'Cherubim with fourfold face' astonished me'. Gabriel is centre role in the Annunciation but we can recognise all the Angels around Mary. 1 Virgin, wholly marvellous,  Who didst bear God's Son for us,  Worth-less is my tongue and weak  Of thy purity to speak .....

St. Margaret of Scotland by Sylvia Benert

 Our Lady Queen of Martyrs by Sylvia Benert.

Lent 3rd Week Saint Thomas More

Night Office Readings - Ratification of the covenant

 

Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger.

TWO YEAR LECTIONARY

PATRISTIC VIGILS

READINGS

Editions Exordium  Books 1982, Augustine  Press2001

LENT

YEAR 2

Monday of the Third Week in Lent Year II

First Reading

From the book of Exodus (24:1-18)

Sirach 45:5-6; Acts 7:38

Responsory

God allowed Moses to hear his voice and led him into the cloud.

– Face to face he gave him his commandments,

that he might teach Jacob his precepts and Israel his decrees.

In the desert assembly

Moses was the mediator between our ancestors and the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai

– Face to face ...

Second Reading

From A Treatise upon the Passion by Saint Thomas More

(Chapter 4, sermon 1. Partially modernized)

More's Treatise (or as we should say today "homilies") upon the Passion was probably written in the early months of 1534. This extract from it contrasts the old covenant and the new. The first was ratified by the blood of an animal, the second by the blood of a man who was also God. Through that blood, which he gives us to drink in the blessed sacrament, our sins are forgiven.

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus it is related that Moses, in confirmation of the old law, put half the blood of the sacrifice into a cup, and the other half he shed upon the altar. And after the book of the law had been read he sprinkled the blood upon the people, and said unto them: This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in all these words. And so was the Old Testament ratified and confirmed with blood. And in like manner was the New Testament confirmed with blood, saving that, in order to declare the greater excellence of the New Testament brought by the Son of God, above the Old Testament brought by the prophet Moses, whereas the Old Testament was ratified with the blood of a brute beast, the New Testament was ratified with the blood of a reasonable man, and of that man who was also God, that is to say, with the blessed blood of our holy Saviour himself. And that self-same blood did our Lord here give unto his apostles in this blessed sacrament, as he plainly declared himself, saying: This is my blood of the New Testament, or: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood which shall be shed for you and for all for the remission of sins.

When our Lord said this, he declared therein the efficacy of the New Testament above the old, in that the old law in the blood of beasts could only promise the remission of sin that was to come later. For as Saint Paul says: It was impossible that sin should be taken away by the blood of brute beasts. But the new law with the blood of Christ does perform the thing that the old law promised, that is, the remission of sin And therefore our Saviour said: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood – that is, to be confirmed in my blood – which shall be shed for the remission of sins.

His words also declared the wonderful excellence of this new blessed sacrament above the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, in these words: For you and for all. For in these words our Saviour spoke, says Saint Chrysostom, as though he meant to say: The blood of the paschal Lamb was shed only for the first-born among the children of Israel, but this blood of mine shall be shed for the remission of the sin of all the whole world

Responsory   Revelation 5:9; Psalm 85:9

English Saints: Thomas More and Thomas Cranmer  By Lauren Gilbert

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/english-saints-thomas-more-and-thomas.html  

COMMENT: Lent 2nd Week Life of Moses

Bush identities.  

Left: Amelanchier

In the rectory, the bush was brightened in sunshine and name was suggested Japanese Lilac. 
I had to ask our garden helper,and he was able to put us right on the identity of the flowering shrub, Amelanchier Canadensis.
Later the story continued.
In fact, Fr. M. of horticultural experience, named the flowering shrub as the Japanese Cherry.
We learn more. It is from the Church window that the Amelanchier is showing in the spring development. It is seen to the left in the cemetery view.

Friday, 21 March 2014

Lent 2nd Week Life of Moses by St Gregory of Nyssa

   Patristic Lectionary,    
   Midday
We enjoy Bright sunshine and windy nights.

Beautiful views in all directions.

The Japanese Lilac tree is radiant in full bloom, especially from my refectory window.             

to correct - Japanese Cherry

Friday of the Second Week in Lent Year II

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF EXODUS

(Promise of the covenant and appearance of the Lord on Sinai: Exodus 19:1-19; 20:1 2nd Week 8-21)

On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. And when they set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL WITH SCENES OF HIS INTERVENTIONS

ICON: from the book calendar 1898, St. Paul MultiMedia, UK.

    

PLATE XIII

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL WITH SCENES OF HIS INTERVENTIONS

c. 1399, Moscow, 235.5x182 cm

CHURCH OF THE ARCHANGEL, THE KREMLlN, Moscow

This splendid work is a characteristic example of late fourteenth century icons. It was painted as the patronal icon for the princely burial chapel in the Moscow Kremlin. It must have been the object of study and contemplation by the young Rublev when he was part of the team of Theophanes the Greek painting frescoes in the same church.

In Russia there has been a long tradition of venerating the Archangel Michael as protector of the army, leader of the celestial battalions and defender of Christianity against the pagans. Many churches, therefore, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were dedicated to him.

In this icon, the painter portrays the Archangel with drawn sword, powerful wings and a flaming red mantle blown by the wind. The whole figure seems to personify the divine will. The interventions of St Michael are a recurring theme in Byzantine art, particularly in frescoes. This work is the earliest example we have of them presented in an icon. From top left: 1. the Trinity; 2. the celestial hosts; 3. Ezekiel's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem; 4. Daniel's vision; 5. the fight for Moses’ body; 6. Jacob's Ladder; 7. the three men in the fiery furnace; 8. the Archangel appears to Joshua; 9. St Michael frees St Peter from prison; 10. the apparition of the angel in monastic habit to Pacomius the Great; 11. Jacob’s struggle with the angel; 12. destruction of Sodom: 13. the angel routs the armies of the Assyrian king Sennacherib; 14. the Great Flood; 15. David and Uriah or the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar; 16. Davis and Bathsheeba; 17. David's repentance; 18. the miracle of Chonae.