St. Ninian, COMMENT. Scotland's National Saints

COMMENT: The event of the gathering of the annual St. Ninian Pilgrimage seems to have missed the reportage of the other the other Scottish pilgrimages.

This stained glass window in the Whithorn Story
Exhibition by Richard LeClerk is a copy of a
Douglas Strachan window in
St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.

- - - - - We appreciate that Andrew updated St. Ninian Church and the Whithorn Trust news.
He says, "We had a beautiful day here for the annual Pilgrimage".
http://nunraw.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/st-ninian-feast-one-of-scotlands.html 
The Mass was celebrated at the Cave of St. Ninian.
The pilgrims visited at the R.C. Church at prayer adoration.
"All God puts other things front of us, our lives are rooted in prayer contemplation and the Blessed Sacrament.
My prayer at this time is that all people, lay and religious can live in Christ who is not only amongst us not within us and truly find the fruits of our Church".
Participation in the Church of St. Martin and St. Ninian, and support of the Whithorn Trust enliven the town community.
In the pages of a monk's Choir Book, the thoughts in a folder of Eucharist reflection.  

Thanks to Andrew for the enclosures. 
"The Life & Miracles of St. Ninian". translated from an anonymous Scots poem of the fifteenth century is an invaluable publication.

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A Stanbrook prayer folder, 1930s

My Daily Offering:

I offer all . . .

Eternal Father, I place upon the paten, my whole being, my soul, my body, my intellect and my will, for I offer You all that I am and have; also all my joys, my sorrows of today, my work with its fatigue, my crosses with their bitterness.

I place also upon this paten the hearts of all those whom I love, those who have done me good, those who have recommended themselves to my prayers, those for whom I have promised to pray, and the hearts of all the agonizing.

THROUGH THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

I unite all this to the offering of Jesus as a holocaust of love for the salvation and sanctification of priestly and religious souls and for my own sanctification.

United to Christ

By the drop of water which represents me, o my God, permit me to cast into the Chalice, with Jesus Christ, every moment of my life so that all may be sanctified, supernaturalized in the Blood of Christ and may pass through Him to the Adorable Trinity.

I cast also into the Chalice and I offer You the life and efforts of all, so that their life too may take on a divine value.

I place also within the chalice the souls of all my relatives for whom I should pray: the souls of those for whom I may have forgotten to pray: the souls most devout to the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Virgin: the souls of the most abandoned. Jesus, when You change the wine into Your Precious Blood, change these poor souls from their place of suffering into Eternal Happiness.

Eternal rest give unto them, 0 Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Mother of sorrows! Mother of Christ!

You had influence with your Divine Son when on earth, you have the same influence now in Heaven, pray for me.

In all the Masses

O my Jesus, I unite myself to all the Masses which will be celebrated this day throughout the world, in union with the intentions of your Sacred Heart. O my Jesus, I beg of you to retain for me, from each of these Masses, a drop of Your Precious Blood, in expiation for my sins.

O Divine Heart of Jesus, give to the world many and holy priests to continue the work of your Redemption. AMEN.

A TREASURE TO EXPLOIT.

The death of our Saviour Jesus Christ upon the Cross-That is the great Treasure! The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the key which unlocks this Treasure from which we can derive an abundance o(graces.

Th.e Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the centre, the heart of our religion, a heart which, without ceasing, sends a stream of grace into the veins of Christianity, so that it may vivify each and every member of the great Mystical Body of Christ which is our Holy Mother the Church. (Mgr.Mader)

LET US USE this TREASURE . . .

–By assisting devoutly at Holy Mass.

–By having Masses said.

–By uniting with all the Masses which will be celebrated in the world, at every hour of the day and night.

More than 400,000 Masses are celebrated each day-which means 5 Elevations every second. He who unites himself with them, shares in them. Let us therefore gain for ourselves a Treasure in eternity.

TREMEMTDOUS VALUE OF HOLY MASS

AT the hour of death the holy Masses you have heard devoutly will be your consolation.

EVERY MASS will go with you to Judgement and will plead for pardon for you.

By every Mass you can diminish the temporal punishment due to your sins, more or less, according to your fervour.

By devoutly assisting at Holy Mass you render the greatest homage possible to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord.

ONE HOLY Mass, heard during your life, will be of more benefit to you than many heard for you after your death.

THROUGH Holy Mass you are preserved from many dangers and misfortunes which would otherwise have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory by every Mass.

By piously hearing Holy Mass you afford ·the Souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief.

Permissu Superiorum

Stanbrook Abbey No. 32

Printed in England

   

Roman Catholic church St Martin and St Ninian
Whithorn

   

Fw: [Dom Donald's Blog] St. Ninian, Feast, one of Scotland's National Saints 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)   Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk,    | domdonald.org.uk 

On Tuesday, 16 September 2014, 1:00, Blogger <no-reply@blogger.com> wrote:

Saint Ninian Window St Mary's Parish Church Dundee Scotland

A bit about our national saints – St Ninian, St Columba, St ...

www.scmo.org/papalvisitscotland/...Scotland.../Scotland's%20Saints.doc

Feast day: 30 November. ST NINIAN. Scotland's earliest known saint, recognised as bringing Christianity to Scotland. Although little is known about him, 397 AD  ...below.

St. Ninian, Feast, one of Scotland's National Saints

Saint Ninian Window St Mary's Parish Church Dundee Scotland

A bit about our national saints – St Ninian, St Columba, St ...

www.scmo.org/papalvisitscotland/...Scotland.../Scotland's%20Saints.doc

Feast day: 30 November. ST NINIAN. Scotland's earliest known saint, recognised as bringing Christianity to Scotland. Although little is known about him, 397 AD  ...below.

Tour Scotland video of the Saint Ninian stained glass window in St Mary's Parish Church on visit to Dundee.

Saint of the day: 16th September

St Ninian

A 5th century British bishop and apostle in Whithorn and Galloway, St Ninian  is traditionally also the apostle of the Picts. 

A number of inscribed Christian stones have been discovered by archaeologists around Galloway, which indicate that St Ninian lived there. Bede refers to him living at a monastery in the area near a church painted white. An anonymous 8th century poet wrote about him and the 12th century Ailred of Rievaulx wrote a life of this Scottish saint.

His shrine was a popular pilgrimage place for centuries,  surviving up to the Reformation. By that time his cult had also spread to Kent and Denmark.  In recent years pilgrims have again begun returning to Whithorn on this day.  Since 1984, excavations have revealed a site of major importance.

Scotland’s National Saints

ST ANDREW

Andrew was a fisherman and the first disciple of Jesus.  He was a follower of John the Baptist but when John heralded Jesus with the words “Behold the Lamb of God” Andrew understood Christ was the Messiah.  He experienced first hand many of the miracles Jesus carried out in his ministry.  Jesus acknowledged Andrew and his brother Simon (St Peter) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and promised to make them “fishers of men”.  At that point they both left their nets and followed him.  After the Lord’s ascension to heaven St Andrew preached in Greece.  He is said to have been put to death on a cross and continued preaching until the moment of his death.  He is also the patron saint of Russia.  Today, the national flag of Scotland is called the St Andrew’s Cross.  He is the patron saint of fishermen.   Relics of St Andrew brought from Amalfi in Italy to Edinburgh in the 1960’s are kept in St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral.

Born:  Early first century AD, Galilee

Feast day:  30 November

ST NINIAN

Scotland’s earliest known saint, recognised as bringing Christianity to Scotland.  Although little is known about him, 397 AD is celebrated as the year he began his mission in Scotland.  Where Bethlehem is the Cradle of Christianity, Whithorn in Galloway, where he settled, has become popularly known as The Cradle of Christianity in Scotland.  One legend about St Ninian tells of him planting seeds which grew to fruition within a few hours, relieving his monastery's food shortages.  In 1871 an incised cross was found in a cave in Whithorn where St Ninian was said to live.  An excavation in 1884 uncovered a number of other crosses.  The body of St Ninian was buried in the church at Whithorn.

Born:  4^th century AD

Feast day:  16 September

Our Lady of Sorrows

Published on 4 Apr 2013

Father gives a talk on Our Lady of Sorrows. What are the 7 Dolors of Our Lady & why this devotion so great. For more sermons & lessons please visit
http://www.sensustraditionis.org/mult...

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Our Lady of Sorrows
This feast dates back to the 12th century. It was especially promoted by the Cistercians and the Servites, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries it was widely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. In 1482 the feast was added to the Missal under the title of "Our Lady of Compassion." Pope Benedict XIII added it to the Roman Calendar in 1727 on the Friday before Palm Sunday. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. "The Seven Dolors," the title by which it was celebrated in the 17th century, referred to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th.
—Excerpted from Our Lady of Sorrows by Fr. Paul Haffner (Inside the Vatican, September 2004)

This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world.

As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50) 
4. Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
6. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Symbols: heart pierced with a sword; heart pierced by seven swords; winged heart pierced with a sword; flowers: red rose, iris (meaning: "sword-lily"), cyclamen.

Patron: people named Dolores, Dolais, Deloris, Dolorita, Maria Dolorosa, Pia, and Pieta.

Things to Do:

• Teach your children the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Read more about this devotion. September is traditionally dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
• Present different art pieces of Our Lady of Sorrows, or illustration of one of her sorrows, for meditation and discussion. There are so many different pieces from all different eras, countries and mediums. Search words for art titles would be Lamentation, Deposition, Pieta, Dolorosa, Sorrows, etc. Some samples:
  
  • The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin by Albrecht Durer
  • Michelangelo's Pieta
  • Pieta by Giovanni Bellini
  • Vincent Van Gogh's Pieta
  • Titian's Mater Dolorosa
  • Different artists on the Presentation in the Temple
  • Various artists on the Flight into Egypt
• Discuss why Mary is called the Queen of Martyrs.

Exhalation of the Cross at Assisi

Patristic Reading, iBreviary;

"The cross is Christ’s glory and triumph"

The Schola - Assisi

Region of the Islea at the OCSO General Chapter

The first day ended happily; This afternoon was devoted to prayer, with the Blessed Sacrament exposed at our Mass venue for the whole afternoon. |

With this attended to, the General Chapter of 2014 has truly begun!   

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk    domdonald.org.uk  

The opening Mass had the Homily by the Abbot General, Fr. Eamon, his words rooted in our baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

On each day of the General Chapter a Homily in the Mass will be addressed in various languages. 

We look forward to words from the Geographical Regions! Especially if we learn the 'Exhalation of the Cross' Homily in the Assisi Basilica. Photo of the Schola above.fr. Donald

   

Welcomed at Assisi Centre 

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iBreviary SECOND READING

From a discourse by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop
(Oratio 10 in Exaltatione sanctae crucis: PG 97, 1018-1019, 1022-1023)

The cross is Christ’s glory and triumph

We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.

Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be canceled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation—very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.

The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said:When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph. 

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St. John Chrysostom 13 September Early Church Fathers:

Today, 13 September, is the feast of St John Chrysostom, and this window is from Mansfield College chapel in Oxford. 

St John Chrysostom (Mansfield)
Photo. stained glass window: 
Lawrence OP St John Chrysostom (Mansfield)

You-tube. Patristic Reading.

Comment:
Community Mass this morning: 
With the Intercessions we prayed for Ian Paisley, 88, just died. R.I.P. 
Fr. R. prayed for Ian and for his wife and the family. Fr. N. also for the intention. 




iBreviary SECOND READING

From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
(Ante exsilium, nn. 1-3; PG 52, 427*-430)

Life to me means Christ, and death is gain

The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.

Do you not hear the Lord saying: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst? Will he be absent, then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise; I am surely not going to rely on my own strength! I have what he has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to his promise and read his message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. What message? Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!

If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider’s web. Indeed, unless you, my brothers, had detained me, I would have left this very day. For I always say: Lord, your will be done; not what this fellow or that would have me do, but what you want me to do. That is my strong tower, my immovable rock, my staff that never gives way. If God wants something, let it be done! If he wants me to stay here, I am grateful. But wherever he wants me to be, I am no less grateful.

Yet where I am, there you are too, and where you are, I am. For we are a single body, and the body cannot be separated from the head nor the head from the body. Distance separates us, but love unites us, and death itself cannot divide us. For though my body die, my soul will live and be mindful of my people.

You are my fellow citizens, my fathers, my brothers, my sons, my limbs, my body. You are my light, sweeter to me than the visible light. For what can the rays of the sun bestow on me that is comparable to your love? The sun’s light is useful in my earthly life, but your love is fashioning a crown for me in the life to come.

CONCLUDING PRAYER  
O God, strength of those who hope in you,
who willed that the Bishop John Chrysostom
should be illustrious by his wonderful eloquence
and his experience of suffering,
grant us, we pray,
that, instructed by his teachings,
we may be strengthened through the example
of his invincible patience.
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.

Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

   

 Ordinary Time: September 12th

Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary    

Daily Readings for:September 12, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she may obtain your merciful favor. 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.

Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!

Old Calendar: Most Holy Name of Mary

On this day dedicated to the Holy Name of Mary let us repeat that wonderful prayer of Saint Bernard, responding to Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to “invite everyone to become a trusting child before Mary, even as the Son of God did. Saint Bernard says, and we say with him: 'Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary … in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart … If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination”' (Benedict XVI, address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007). — Luciano Alimandi

General Chapter 2014, Opening Mass Homily as Linked below.

Thursday, 11 September 2014  
Nunraw Community Mass: Intro. by Fr. Nivard

Thursday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time

News

• 11/09/2014 11:44

  Homily General Chapter 2014 Opening Mass

  The Gospel of today’s Mass puts us before the magnanimity of God and shows us just how much his...

Read more: http://o-c-s-o-gc-2014-assisi7.webnode.es/

Fw: Mass of Holy Spirit

 Intro of Mass: Fr. Nivard

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)  Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk   domdonald.org.uk 

On Thursday, 11 September 2014, 11:38, 

Nivard ...> wrote: 

www.dailyscripture.net, adapted Copyright © 2014 Servants of the Word

23 Thu 11 Sep 2014
 

Lk 6 7-38

Compassionate as your Father.

    

   In this Mass, we beg the Holy Spirit to bless our General Chapter in Assisi.

    Jesus promised to give his followers the best of gifts, the Holy Spirit as their Counselor and Helper. 

   The Holy Spirit is our Counselor.

   The Holy Spirit is our Advocate and Helper who brings us safely through the challenges and adversities we must face in this life. 

   The Holy Spirit is also the Giver of life -- the life of God -- and the One who guides us in the way of truth.  We can never stop learning because the Spirit leads us ever deeper into the knowledge of God's love and truth.

  

Father in heaven, en-kindle in us the fire of your love, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Abbot General, F. Eamon. Homily

Homily General Chapter 2014 Opening Mass

11/09/2014 11:44

The Gospel of today’s Mass puts us before the magnanimity of God and shows us just how much his thoughts are above out thoughts, his ways above our ways.  It is a message which could discourage us and lead us to give up on ourselves and on God if we focused too much on our own limitations.  We who can find it so hard at times to be kind or patient or forgiving to a brother or sister are called to: love, do good, bless, pray for, lend, be compassionate and this not just to a brother or sister but to an enemy, to those hate us, curse us, treat us badly and even rob us.  In all of this of course we are being introduced rudely perhaps into another way of being, another way of looking at our world, another way of living.  The curtain is being drawn back just a little to give us a glimpse of what God is like, to reveal to us something of the mystery of God’s being. 

Jesus has already in the opening salvo of this discourse proclaimed his disciples the fortunate ones because they are among the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those persecuted for his sake.  God, Israel had been taught, had a preference for the poor and the small, that was how Israel saw itself but the message never quite got through to its rulers and so justice and peace were never something that all God’s people ever enjoyed.   Now in these last times God sent his Son, who as Son shared God’s Spirit, bringing good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight to the blind, liberation for the oppressed and the Lord’s graciousness for all.  The rich of this world, the well-fed, those whose lives are one long party and those who have the acclaim of the world are living a mirage – they have lost the plot and the plot where true treasure is to be found.  For the truth is that we are all poor in the sight of God – and the clearest sign of this is our mortality – naked we came into this world and naked we will depart it. 

Now to us poor who have listened to his words Jesus urges us to follow this heavenly script.    But he not only teaches us, he gives us an example of what God is like in human form, what it is to be truly human as God wishes us to be – to be like God.   We see this blessedness at the moment of death with his: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.  This Spirit is the great gift of his resurrection to his disciples, who form the community that is the Church.  This is the great gift that makes the Christian community Christian as Luke shows in the book of Acts and to which Paul testifies so eloquently in his letters. 

Poor and all as we are we have been baptized in his Spirit and are called to be his witnesses in the world, not to show how good we are but how great God is and how his grace can transform our human weakness and help us do much more than we can ever ask or imagine.  Gathered for this General Chapter we remind ourselves with this Mass of the Holy Spirit of the greatest gift that God has given us, the Spirit of his Son that makes us cry out Abba, Father.  We pray that God may stir up his gift within us so to guide our thoughts and our deliberations, our exchanges and our relationships that together we may come closer to the truth and walk with greater freedom and confidence in the path of life that God wants for us and for the Order that we may be witnesses of goodness and mercy in our world.   

 F. Eamon

Assisi, September 11, 2014

Read more: http://o-c-s-o-gc-2014-assisi7.webnode.es/news/homily-general-chapter-2014-opening-mass/ 

Cistercian ocso General Chapter 2014. COMMENT; William

 2014 September A-2 Thursday

Weekday [Opening of the General Chapter]

Conventual Mass: of the Holy Spirit Gl (Cr ad lib)

Proper pf of the Holy Spirit I or II.

Mary Mother of Citeaux

  General Chapter 2014 Assisi

Tuesday, 09 September 2014 21:06

The link to the Blog of the General Chapter 2014 at Assisi:

http://o-c-s-o-gc-2014-assisi7.webnode.es/

O.C.S.O. GC – 2014 Assisi

At fixed times all the abbots/abbesses come together. They discuss there the salvation of their own souls and of those committed to them. They take measures regarding the observance of the Holy Rule and of the Order where there is something that needs to be corrected or added. They foster anew among themselves the benefit of peace and charity. They devote themselves to maintaining the patrimony of the Order and safeguarding and increasing its unity. (C.77)

Aula - Assisi

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Fw: The OCSO Chapter - and its adventure

 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk |

domdonald.org.uk 

On Wednesday, 10 September 2014, 17:16, William ...> wrote:

Dear Father Abbot Mark and Father Donald,

WHAT A GREAT JOY it is for me to receive your emails, Thank you: Fr Mark telling of his preparation and departure for Assisi, and Fr Donald giving me insight of the Chapter's considerations - a very fine 94 page document - enlightening me as to the tremendous organisation and INTEGRITY at the heart of the Order - I am quite in AWE at its presentation! And I am so thrilled that you have, through your kindness, invited me to share in these events. Reading the main document, I am quite sure that all that Fr Mark has achieved and has set in motion, will essentially receive nothing but acclaim in the relevant Commission, and that many present will wonder at the courage-in-faith that has achieved so much! .....

....the Cistercian contemplative life that I discovered, witnessed and [through your kindness] have shared in at Nunraw, that holds the Key to the lived life in Christ entrusted to Peter. I often think that MARY MAGELENE should be the patron saint of the Order, always listening to the Incarnate Word and living entirely within His love, with the entire Order living at His feet.

You give me, so generously, so much happiness - thank you, most sincerely.

With my love in Our Lord,

William 

23rd Sunday (A) 2014 Mt. 18: 15-20 'Discourse on the Church', 'reconciliation with God and others' Fr. Aelred

St. Bernard, earlier portrait came to Nunraw 1946,
with the founders from Roscrea Abbey
inset Fr. Aelred

 

23^rd Sunday (A)

Homily by Fr. Aelred.

1. The 18^th chapter of Mathew’s Gospel, from which today’s Gospel passage is taken, is often called the ‘Discourse on the Church’, because it collects together Jesus teachings that directly apply to the life of church communities. Today we have the teachings on fraternal correction and prayer in common; next Sunday, on the forgiveness of offences. 

And today’s Responsorial Psalm, ‘O that you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts’, show the close connection between fraternal correction and forgiveness.

2. In countries that experience long droughts, say in the Middle East or Africa, you see what the absence of rain does. The ground turns into desert. Sometimes when the rain eventually comes, the ground is so hard that it can’t penetrate, and so it runs away causing flash flooding. So it is with the human heart when ot becomes hard. To be heart-harded is the worst of all conditions. A hard heart is invulnerable to sorrow, but neither can it experience joy. It is a closed heart, so can’t receive. Hard heart is a barren heart.

3.Jesus came to purify our hearts, not to soften them, to make them more supple human. To sow the seed of God’s word in them, and to turn them from wastelands into fertile ground.

4. In the Christian tradition many of the spiritual masters emphasise the role of the heart in attaining to a deeper prayer life and coming closer to God. To give one example, St. Bernard tells us when he was visited by the divine word: ‘As soon as he enters in, he awakens my slumbering soul; he stirs and soothes and pierces my heart, for before it was hard as stone. He begins to build up and to plan, to water dry places and illuminate dark ones; to open what is closed and to warm what was cold. To make crooked straight and rough places smooth. It was not by any of my senses that I perceived he had penetrated to the depths of my being. Only by the movement of my heart did I perceive his presence’.

5. ‘O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts’. In these words God is calling us from the error of our ways into a closer relationship with him and with one another. And today’s Liturgy provides us with an opportunity to head them.

6. Softened by the rain of God’s grace, and warmed by the sun of his love, the human heart can be turned from a desert into a garden. A place where reconciliation with God and others becomes possible.

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The following introduction to and selection from St. Bernard's Sermons on the Song of Songs was done by Prof. Katherine Gill for her courses at Yale Divinity School and Boston College. The page is reproduced here with permission.

Bernard of Clairvaux

  http://people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN413/bernard_sermons.html  

Sermon 74
6. You ask then how I knew he was present, when his ways can in no way be traced? He is life and power, and as soon as he enters in, he awakens my slumbering soul; he stirs and soothes and pierces my heart, for before it was hard as stone, and diseased. So he has begun to pluck out and destroy, to build up and to plant, to water dry places and illuminate dark ones; to open what was closed and to warm what was cold; to make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth, so that my soul may bless the Lord, and all that is within me may praise his holy name. So when the Bridegroom/ the Word, came to me, he never made known his coming any signs, not by sight, not by sound, not by touch. It was not by any movement of his that I recognized his coming; it was not by any of MY senses that I perceived he had penetrated to the depth of my being. Only by the movement of my heart, as I have told did I perceive his presence; and I knew the power of his might cause my faults were put to flight and my human yearnings brought into subjection. I have marvelled at the depth of his wisdom when my secret faults have been revealed and made visible the very slightest amendment of my way of life I have experience his goodness and mercy; in the renewal and remaking of the spirit of my mind, that is of my inmost being, I have perceived the excellence of his glorious beauty, and when I contemplate all these things I am filled with awe and wonder at his manifold greatness.