St. Stephen, the first martyr | |
SAINT STEPHEN
The first martyr Feast
Saint Stephen is one of the first deacons chosen by the early church in Acts of the Apostles.
Upon the death of Jesus, Stephen began to work hard to spread what was then called The Way. He preached the teachings of Jesus and participated in the conversion of Jews and Gentiles. Acts tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy and was then stoned to death by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus, the future Saint Paul. He died praying for those who killed him : "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". Saint Stephen's name is simply derived from the Greek Stephanos, meaning "crown", which translated into Aramaic as Kelil. Saint Stephen is traditionally invested with a crown of martyrdom for Christianity and is often depicted in art with three stones and the martyrs' palm. In Eastern Christian iconography he is shown as a young beardless man with a tonsure, wearing deacon's vestments, and often holding a miniature church building and censer.
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Lord,
today we celebrate the entrance of Saint Stephen into eternal glory. He died praying for those who killed him. Help us to imitate his goodness and love our ennemies. | |
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Acts 6:59
Monday, 23 December 2013
Christmas Midnight Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:1-14.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Is 9:1-6. / Ps 96(95):1-2a.2b-3.11-12.13. / Titus 2:11-14. / Lk 2:1-14.
Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
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| Refectory entrance |
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Is 9:1-6. / Ps 96(95):1-2a.2b-3.11-12.13. / Titus 2:11-14. / Lk 2:1-14.
Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Feast of the Church : Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
Saint(s) of the day : St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898), St. Delphinus, Bishop († 403) Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:1-14.
Saint(s) of the day : St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898), St. Delphinus, Bishop († 403) Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:1-14.
... For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. ...
See commentary below:
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron :
See commentary below:
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron :
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a Spanish Trappist monk
Spiritual writings, 27/12/1936 (trans. Mairin Mitchell, 1964)
Spiritual writings, 27/12/1936 (trans. Mairin Mitchell, 1964)
It is cold on earth. The skies are pattered with stars whose existence can only be guessed on the background of the dark blue of the celestial vault. On earth, one of the smallest planets in the vast sidereal systems, wonders are taking place this night which fill the angels with awe...: a God who for love of man descends in the humility of mortal flesh, born of a woman on one of the smallest planets, one of the coldest-born on earth...
It is cold! Men are cold in their hearts too. No one attends to witness the miracle of the birth of God. The whole world is simply reduced to a woman who is called Mary, a man with blue eyes called Joseph, and a new-born Child, who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, opens his eyes for the first time between the breathing of an ass and an ox, and is cradled in the handful of straw which Joseph in his poverty and Mary in her solicitude and love have procured for Him. The whole world sleeps unconsciously the nightmare of the flesh. It is very cold this night in the lands of Judea. The stars which pattern the sky are the eyes of the angels singing "Glory to God in the highest ", singing directed to God and heard by some shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, and who with their childlike souls come to worship the newborn Jesus. It is the first lesson of the love of God...
Though my soul has neither the chastity of Joseph nor the love of Mary, I offered the Lord my complete poverty and my naked soul. And if I didn't praise him with hymns like the angels, I tried to sing Him shepherd's ballads, the song of the poor man, of him who has nothing, the song of him who has only miseries and weaknesses to offer to God. But never mind, for the miseries and weaknesses offered to Jesus by a heart that really loves Him, are accepted by Him as though they were virtues. Great, boundless, is the mercy of God! My mortal flesh doesn't hear the praises of Heaven, but my soul divines that today, as then, the angels look down in wonder at the earth, and sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
It is cold! Men are cold in their hearts too. No one attends to witness the miracle of the birth of God. The whole world is simply reduced to a woman who is called Mary, a man with blue eyes called Joseph, and a new-born Child, who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, opens his eyes for the first time between the breathing of an ass and an ox, and is cradled in the handful of straw which Joseph in his poverty and Mary in her solicitude and love have procured for Him. The whole world sleeps unconsciously the nightmare of the flesh. It is very cold this night in the lands of Judea. The stars which pattern the sky are the eyes of the angels singing "Glory to God in the highest ", singing directed to God and heard by some shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, and who with their childlike souls come to worship the newborn Jesus. It is the first lesson of the love of God...
Though my soul has neither the chastity of Joseph nor the love of Mary, I offered the Lord my complete poverty and my naked soul. And if I didn't praise him with hymns like the angels, I tried to sing Him shepherd's ballads, the song of the poor man, of him who has nothing, the song of him who has only miseries and weaknesses to offer to God. But never mind, for the miseries and weaknesses offered to Jesus by a heart that really loves Him, are accepted by Him as though they were virtues. Great, boundless, is the mercy of God! My mortal flesh doesn't hear the praises of Heaven, but my soul divines that today, as then, the angels look down in wonder at the earth, and sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Advent, Fourth Sunday. St. Paul, 'one of his masterpieces. Paul is writing to the Christians' Rom.1: 1-7
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Fourth Sunday of Advent
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| Christmas Crib - welcome, Guest House entry |
Fr. Aelred's Homily
Today's second reading
is taken from the beginning of St Paul's letter to the Romans - one of his masterpieces.
Paul is writing to the Christians living in very small communities in the great
city of Rome, a world where paganism reigns supreme in its institutions, its cultural
heritage, and its morality. Against the grandeur of Rome the small Christian community
appears insignificant, even contemptible. But even if a community is reduced to
a handful of faithful to celebrate the holy mysteries, it has a timeless message
to proclaim.
Today's passage from
Romans is most appropriate as we approach Christmas, because it provides us with
a profession of faith of the early church in the form of a hymn to Christ: in his
double sonship it reads: "The Gospel of God that he promised long ago through the
prophets, as scripture record....about his son. A descendant of David according
to the flesh, but son of god in power according to the spirit of holiness, by his
resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord". In a few verses the genius of
Paul brings out the Trinitarian character of the confession of faith that names
the Father (God), the son and the Spirit, and links them to mystery of the
Incarnation.
On the 17th
December, when we are within a week of Christmas, the opening prayer for Mass
reads: Father, you decreed, and your Word became man, born of the Virgin Mary.
May we come to share the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share our
human nature’. This prayer tells us that the Word becomes human so that humans
might become divine. By grace even in this life, we become sharers in the
divine nature. We don’t have to have to wait until after death before this can
take place. An early saint put it like this: ‘The divine word, who once for all
was born in the flesh, always in his compassion desires to be born in the
spirit in those who desire him. He became an infant and molds himself in them through
their practise of the virtues.
St Paul tells us in
one of his letters that the mysteries of our faith are very deep. But we don’t have
to be very clever in order to be good disciples and friend of Jesus. We can
join with Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds in contemplating the infant in the
crib. And if we are sincere in offering him our human love and service we will
receive in return something far more precious: The beginning of a share in his
divine nature.
Friday, 20 December 2013
St. Thomas Villanova, 'All the praises of the Virgin Mary may be summed up by saying that she is the Mother of God'
Saint Thomas Villanova OSA, Annunciation, sermon 3,2-3 from Lectern other translation. A Word in Season,Agustinian, 2001.
One little aside is moving; Gabriel says,“Hail , full of Grace, the Lord is with you, far more than with me".
OFFICE OF READINGS
SECOND READING
From a sermon by St. Thomas of Villanova: Opera Omnia Vol.5, PP 346-349.
You shall give God a robe of flesh.
All the praises of the Virgin Mary may
be summed up by saying that she is the Mother of God. For, what grace
could be suitable for the Mother of God? What favor would God be unable
to bestow on her? What blessing could her Son not but will for her?
When the time was ripe to reveal the
mystery that had (as the Apostle says) been hidden through the ages and
was now to be shown forth in the final age, God summoned Gabriel. “Go”,
he tells him, “to the Virgin Mary, carry the message beyond all
messages: God will become man in her.”
He enters [her room] and does homage on
his knees. “Hail , full of Grace, the Lord is with you, “ far more than
with me. Virgin, do you see and hear this great soldier of heaven? How
he does homage to you? How he greets you? What then are your thoughts?
Tell us: What. is your reply to him? What thoughts run through your
mind? He greets you: greet him in return?
What blush colors your virginal cheek?
What rosy hue? Why are you disturbed? ‘Why hesitant and afraid? This is
an angel, not a man! He is from heaven, not from earth; he greets you
humbly and does not seek to’ over. whelm you; he carries no sword! Why
then, are you disturbed? Why frightened? His greetings bring joy, not
fear!
See how prudent the Virgin is: “She
pondered what this greeting might mean.” Virgin, why do you reflect
before answering? This, after all, is an angel, not a serpent. Eve
answered without thinking; the virgin ponders. Eve was quick to consent;
Mar) reflects on what her answer should be. How different this
blessed woman from that first woman of our race! See, the angel speaks
at length; he has now said all he wanted; he has fully carried out his
embassy - but the virgin has not yet spoken. How reserved she is! Learn
from her all virgins, not to be too talkative. “How shall this take
place since: do not know any man? I do not doubt the mystery; I only ask
how will it be accomplished.
O virgin, how many virgins surrender the
virginity to bear a child, and yet it is but a mortal man they bring to
birth you have heard that you will give birth to God - and yet you
hesitate! “How shall this take place”, angel of God? However it takes
place, you will be the Mother of God. I could tell you virgin, of a way
prefigured in the law. You know the scriptures; you surely know, after
all that a virgin was to give him birth. Are not the law and the
prophets, then, to be fulfilled?
Recall: the bush burned but was not
consumed the flames roared through it but it remained intact. So you
shall be robed with the sun, yet your virginity will not be lessened.
You shall give him a robe with a body and be yourself robed by God. You
shall set the crown of mortality upon him; he shall crown you with a
diadem of glory. You are a virgin, yet fruitful; you shall be a mother,
yet unsullied, and have the joys of motherhood no less than the virgin’s
high estate.
http://friarydiaries.tumblr.com/post/22650841541/may-8-two-augustinian-feasts
RESPONSORY
Receive, O Blessed Virgin Mary, the word the
Lord has made known to you through the message of the Angel: you will
conceive and give birth to a son, both God and man.
- and you will be called blessed among women.
A Virgin, you will indeed bear a son; ever chaste and holy you will be the mother of our Savior.
- and you will be called blessed among women.
DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL HERMIT: DAY #7 - SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
diaryofanaccidentalhermit.blogspot.com - 717 × 538 - Search by image
is
a man after my own heart. I would like to introduce him to the many
people who even now in America are obsessed with recounting the supposed
sins of the poor.
Jubilation, Fr. Hugh Randolph, OCSO.
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| Fr. Hugh Randolph, Nunraw, OCSO |
Advent: December 20th
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
Special Jubilation.
Fr. Hugh has the Diamond Jubilee, 60th. anniversary, of his monastic profession at Sancta Maris Abbey, Nunraw.
Hugh will be the principal celebrant of the community Mass.
The Brethren thank him for the enthusiastic life of monastic service and of the Church,
O KEY OF DAVIDDecember 20
Symbols: Key
Come, and bring forth the captive from his prison.
O Key of David, and Scepter of the House of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens; Come and bring forth the captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israël, qui aperis, et nemo claudit, claudis, et nemo aperuit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
The key is the emblem of authority and power. Christ is the Key of the House of David who opens to us the full meaning of the scriptural prophecies, and reopens for all mankind the gate of Heaven.
Recommended Readings: Isaias 22:22-25
Thursday, 19 December 2013
The Christmas Crib at the Nunraw Guest House party of village community.
Christmas Season from fr. Donald ocso
Nunraw Abbey
The Christmas Crib at the Nunraw Guest House party of village community.
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| Wishing you Peace and Blessings at Christmas Greetings from Donald
This may be a more unusual messsage.
I am happy to sent the verses of the friend during his retreat days in the community.
He says, "... My
card includes a copy of a seasonal reflection which I have denoted as
"conceived before the Blessed Sacrament at the Night Office of the
Cistercian Abbey, Sancta Maria Abbey", my Christmas reflection - I
attach an e-copy for you - it came to mind during the wonderful
stillness before the Blessed Sacrament that follows after Vigils, the
sanctuary light revealing hidden expressions of adoration".
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Hidden in The Heart 'Blessed Sacrament at the Night Office of the Cistercian Abbey'
by William J. Wardle
Hidden in The Heart
Hidden in the Heart
Lk 17:21
for behold, the kingdom of God is within you
I love to
dwell in the darkness before the glow of the sanctuary lamp
As one
who keeps vigil beneath the Star that rises over Bethlehem
To behold
the coming of the Son of Man in the visions of the night [1]
A
shepherd boy watching for the Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord [2]
I gaze
upon the tabernacle that hosts the presence of the Lord Jesus
Once
cradled in a stable, Child of love divine dwelling in our midst [3]
For while
gentle silence envelopes all things and night is half gone [4]
You come
all-powerful Word, Son of God, from the realms of heaven
The
flickering candle casts a golden halo around the heavenly Host
As the
Star beams forth the radiance of eternal light upon the stable [5]
Shining
out of darkness to announce the majesty and glory of God [6]
Revealed
in the infant and manifest in the Person Jesus the Messiah
May the
rays spread their illumination within the temple of my soul
That I
may come to the knowledge of the secrets and mysteries [7]
The
treasures of the darkness of faith and the riches concealed [8]
Within
the sanctuary of Your indwelling, hidden in my heart
[1]Dan 7:13 I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a Son of Man
[2]Lk 2:11 To you is born this day… a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord
[3] Zec 2:10 for behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you
[4] Wis
18:14 for while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its
swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from
heaven
[6]2
Cor 4:6 For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in
our hearts so as to beam forth the Light for the illumination of the
knowledge of the majesty and glory of God as it is manifest in the
Person and is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ the Messiah
[7]Mt 13:11 To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
[8]Is 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places
at the Night Office of the Cistercian monastery,
Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw, Edinburgh
William
Third Advent Mass 'Your Prayer is Heard'
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| Chritmas Tree decorated by Br. S. Nunraw Refectory entry |
3 Advent Thursday
Mass Intro: Fr. Nivard.
On Thursday, 19 December 2013, 7:04, Nivard:
3 Advent
Thur 19 Dec 13: Lk 1;5-25
Your prayer is heard
The people guessed that Zechariah had a
special encounter with God.
You will have a son! His mission will be
great for all Israel.”
Zechariah doubted the angel’s words. Could
God really do a miracle for his barren wife, Elizabeth? The angel wisely
put Zechariah in his place before God’s mighty action.
Zechariah became speechless until the day
the infant was dedicated to the name, John.
When God draws us into his presence, he
wants us to be still and quiet before him. We can then listen to his voice as
he speaks to our hearts and reveals his mind to us.
Father, may your love
rule in all our relationships and remove any barriers to peace and harmony through Christ our Lord.
Caryll Houselander (The Reed of God) Today Christ is dependent upon us
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| GEERTGEN tot Sint Jans The Tree of Jesse |
19 DECEMBER
Year II
First Reading
Isaiah 47:1.3-15
Responsory Is 49:13; 47:4
Rejoice, 0 heavens, and celebrate, 0 earth; .0 mountains, cry
out with praise; + for the Lord will have compassion on his
poor.
V. Our redeemer, the Lord God of power and might is his name, the
Holy One of Israel. + For the Lord ...
Second Reading From the writings of
Caryll Houselander (The Reed of God, 30-32)
Today Christ is dependent upon us
When a woman is carrying a child she develops a certain instinct of
self-defense. It is not selfishness; it is not egoism. It is, cm absorption
into the life within, a folding of self like a little tent around the child's
frailty, a God-like instinct to cherish, and some day to bring forth, the life.
A closing upon it like the petals of a flower closing upon the dew that
shines in it’s heart. This is precisely the attitude we must have to Christ,
the life within us, in the Advent of our contemplation.
We could scrub the floor for a tired friend, or dress a wound
for a patient in a hospital, or lay the table and wash up for the family; but
we shall not do it in martyr spirit or with that worse spirit of self-congratulation,
of feeling that we are making ourselves more perfect, more unselfish, more positively
kind. We shall do it just for one thing, that our hands may make Christ's hands
in our life, that our service may let Christ serve through us, that our patience
may bring Christ's patience back to the world.
By his own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent: he was
absolutely helpless; he could go nowhere but where she chose to take him; he could
not speak; her breathing was his breath; his heart beat in the beating of her heart.
Today Christ is dependent upon us. In the host he is literally put into a man's
hands. A human being must carry him to the dying, must take him into the prisons,
work-houses, and hospitals, must carry him in a tiny pyx over the heart onto the
field of battle, must give him to little children and "lay him by" in
his "leaflight" house of gold. The modem world's feverish struggle for
unbridled, often unlicensed, freedom is answered by the bound, enclosed helplessness
and dependence of Christ - Christ in the womb, Christ in the host, Christ in the
tomb.
This dependence of Christ lays a great trust upon us. During this
tender time of Advent we must carry him in our hearts to wherever he wants to
go, and there are many places to which he may never go unless we take him to them.
None of us knows when the loveliest hour of our life is striking. It may be when
we take Christ for the first time to that gray office in the city where we work,
to the wretched lodging of that poor man who is an outcast, to the nursery of
that pampered child, to that battleship, airfield, or camp.
Charles de Foucauld, a young French soldier of our own day, became
a priest and a hermit in the desert, where he was murdered by some of the Arabs
whom he had come to serve. His life as a missionary hermit seemed no more than
a quixotic spiritual adventure, a tilting at windmills on the desert sands, but
he knew and said that is was worthwhile for just one thing: because he was there
the Sacred Host was there. It mattered nothing if the heroic priest could not
utter the wonder that was in his heart; the Blessed Sacrament was there in the
desert;
Christ was there, silent, helpless, dependent on a creature; that
which his servant could not utter in words Christ would utter, in his own time,
in silence.
Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives,
that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing
else but waste and weariness. But it may be that God has sent us there because
but for us Christ would not be there. If our being there means that Christ is there,
that alone makes it worthwhile.
ResponsonJ Lk 1:45-46; Ps 66:16
Blessed are you who have believed that the Lord's promises to you
would be fulfilled. And Mary said: + My soul proclaims the great-
ness of the Lord.
V. Come, and listen, and I will tell what great things God has
ac-
complished in me. + My soul proclaims ...
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