Passiontide is upon us. The Liturgy is in the full stream in these fifteen days. Our hearts are attuned to the mystery of the Cross, of Jesus suffering and of his mother. The special Preface of the Mass today presents the Passion of Christ as the healing of the world, and his Cross as the sign of victory.
Through the saving passion of your Son
the whole world has been called
to acknowledge and to praise your majesty;
for in the ineffable power of the Cross
the judgment of the world
and the power
This Sunday of March 29th has been different. This morning, we lost one hour by the GMT change of the Clock. It was moved forward one hour in our UK clocks. The most noticeable effect has us filled with light from morning until Compline. Daffodils are in full strength and at evening even Compline Salve Regina was sung in full daylight.
At Vespers and Benediction the Church was crowded. Following their tradition of Fifth Sunday ofLent the people of the Midlothian parishes made their usual pilgrimage of making the Stations of the Cross along the drive from the Guesthouse to the Abbey.
Top of Cistercian Blogs.
Later after the celebration of the Solemnity of the Founder Abbots, Robert, Alberic and Stephen, it was an outstanding Blog. Fr. Mark, who identifies his Blogspot on Vultus Christi, gives an mystical view of Saint Robert of Molesmes.
More significally is that the painting here allegorizes the founding of the Cistercian Order. This visualing prompt must lead onto the endless connections and reflections in Cistercian life.
Our thanks to Fr. Mark for his discovery of the painting and for his wonderful understanding of such Cistercian context.
New Discoveries of the Constellations on
LINK: Results matching “San Bernardo alle Terme” from Vultus Christi. By Fatheer Mark on January 26, 2009
I Love Them that Love Me
San Bernardo alle Terme
One of my favourite churches in Rome is San Bernardo alle Terme. It is a luminous round church, built in 1598 on the site of the hot steam baths of Diocletian. Immense paintings by an artist named Odazj dominate the two side altars: the one on the right is dedicated to Saint Bernard, the one on the left to Saint Robert of Molesmes, the first abbot of Cîteaux. The first time I visited the church of San Bernardo I was so taken by the magnificent painting of Saint Bernard in the embrace of Jesus Crucified that I failed to understand the significance of the one depicting Saint Robert. It was on a later visit that I discovered it. It has, with the passing of time, become rich in meaning for me.
Saint Robert of Molesmes and the Virgin Mother
Saint Robert, whom we celebrate today with his two immediate successors, Saints Alberic and Stephen, was the founding abbot of the New Monastery at Cîteaux in 1098. The painting in the church of San Bernardo alle Terme shows Saint Robert clothed in his white cowl. Abbot Robert's face is entirely recollected; his head is bowed, illustrating the twelfth step of humility in Chapter Seven of the Holy Rule. At the center of the painting we see the Virgin Mother of God in all her beauty. Her face is radiant. She wears a rose coloured dress with a blue mantle and pale brown veil. The Infant Jesus, leaning on her knee, is in conversation with an angel. Angels surround the Queen of Heaven on all sides, fascinated and thrilled by what she is doing.
Mystical Espousal to the Virgin Mary
Our Lady is placing a wedding ring on Saint Robert's finger. Robert, overwhelmed by so tender a love, offers her his right hand. The painting depicts the Mystical Espousal of Saint Robert to the Virgin Mary, a theme not often represented in art. Even in the annals of holiness, mystical espousal with the Virgin Mary is not encountered very frequently. We hear of it in the lives of Saint Edmund of Canterbury, of the Premonstratensian Saint Hermann-Joseph of Steinfeld, and of the Dominican Alain de la Roche. In the seventeenth century, Saint John Eudes wrote of Our Lady as the spouse of priests, and bound himself to her by means of marriage contract. Does not the liturgy attribute to Our Lady the words of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: "love them that love me" (Prov 8:17)?
Saint Joseph
In the painting I am describing it is clear that the initiative is Our Lady's. She appears to have drawn Saint Robert upward to herself to receive this ineffable grace binding him to her. Now, the most extraordinary detail, to my mind is this: just above Saint Robert and a little to his right, none other than Saint Joseph is looking on! He is pointing to his staff, the top of which has flowered into a pure white lily. What does this mean? Saint Joseph is saying that intimacy with the Virgin Mary is the secret of holy purity. He is pointing to his flowering staff to say that one bound to Mary, as if by a marriage bond, will be pure. She is the Virginizing Bride. One who obeys the injunction of the angel to Joseph -- "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost" (Mt 1:15) -- will find that she communicates the grace of a fruitful purity to those who bind themselves to her in a permanent and exclusive way.
Not Good for Man to Be Alone
Already in the second chapter of Genesis, God said to Adam, "It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help like unto himself" (Gen 2:18). The complement to this word of God to Adam is the word of Jesus Crucified to John: "After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own" (Jn 19:27). Every union of a man with a woman, even, and I would say especially, the union of hearts and souls, is ordered to a spiritual fecundity. "Whoso findeth me, findeth life," says Our Lady, "and shall obtain favour of the Lord" (Prov 8:35).
Saint Benedict
Perhaps this is why the artist shows the Patriarch Saint Benedict, the father of a progeny too great to be numbered, accompanied by an angel holding his pastoral staff and the open book of his Rule, in the lower left hand corner of the painting. Saint Benedict gazes upon what is happening to Saint Robert with an expression of gratitude and wonder.
New Beginning and Authentic Renewal
What exactly is the message of this extraordinary painting? You may recall what Pope Benedict XVI said on the occasion of his visit to the abbey of Heiligenkreuz in September 2007:
Where Mary is, there is the archetype of total self-giving and Christian discipleship. Where Mary is, there is the pentecostal breath of the Holy Spirit; there is new beginning and authentic renewal.
Saint Robert's mission was to launch a new beginning at Cîteaux; it was to foster an authentic renewal of life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. He could not do this apart from Mary.
Mediatrix of All Graces
In the Gospel given us for this feast, Our Lord says: "I have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain" (Jn 15:16). Robert's mystical espousal with the Virgin Mother is the promise and guarantee of spiritual fruitfulness. The same Jesus who says, "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5), wants us to understand that, by reason of the Father's mysterious over-arching plan, without Mary, the Mediatrix of All Graces, we can do nothing. "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman" (Gal 4:4). Just as the first creation required the presence and collaboration of Eve at Adam's side, so too does the new creation, and every particular manifestation of it, be it personal or corporate, require the presence and collaboration of Mary, the New Eve, at the side of Christ, the New Adam.
Our Lady and the Holy Spirit
Cîteaux was a new creation, a particular corporate manifestation of the Kingdom of God in all its newness. The same may be said of every authentic reform and renewal of monastic life, sacerdotal life, and apostolic life in the history of the Church. Whenever and wherever the Blessed Virgin Mary is welcomed and loved, she attracts a mysterious descent of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady prays for us at every moment, saying, "Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth" (Ps 103:30).
Saint Robert's Legacy
In 1099, one year after the foundation of the New Monastery at Cîteaux, Saint Robert was obliged, by a bull of Pope Urban II, to return to the abbey of Molesme as abbot. He remained there until his death in 1111. Saints Alberic and Stephen Harding succeeded him as abbots of Cîteaux. Abbot Robert's love for Our Lady, the Virgin Mother who had placed a ring on his finger, was part of his legacy. Cîteaux flourished because Mary was present there, present as she was in the house of Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse; present as she was in the house of Saint John, the Beloved Disciple; and present as she was in the midst of the apostles on the first Pentecost.
Earthen Vessels
Weakness, fear, tribulation, and humiliations are unavoidable in the Christian life. Each of us carries the precious gifts of God in his own peculiar frailty. Saint Paul says:
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us. In all things we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed; we are straitened, but are not destitute; we suffer persecution, but are not forsaken; we are cast down, but we perish not (2 Cor 4:7-9).
The Blessed Virgin Mary is accustomed to carrying earthen vessels. The secret of holiness is to place our weakness in her immaculate hands.
All Things Made New
She who placed a wedding ring on Abbot Robert's finger will not deny us the grace of a fruitful intimacy with her Most Pure Heart. It is with His Mother, and through her, that Our Lord fulfills the promise made to Saint John on Patmos: "Behold, I make all things new" (Ap 21:5).
From a homily by Saint John Chrysostom
(Homily de cruce et latrone, 1, 1-2: PG 49,400).
This homily was given at Antioch on Good Friday sometime between 386 and 397. The present extract explains that Christ was both priest and victim and that the cross was an altar. The sacrifice offered on it was for the whole world.
Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us, and if you ask where he was sacrificed, it was upon a high scaffold.
This was a new kind of altar of sacrifice because the sacrifice itself was new and amazing.
The victim and the priest were the same. Victim in his humanity, priest in his divinity, Christ both offered and in his human nature was offered.
Listen to Paul's explanation of both these truths. He says: Every high priest taken from among the people is appointed to act on their behalf. This high priest too must have something to offer, then, and so he offers himself. But in another place Paul says: Christ, having been offered once for all to take away the sins of many, will appear to those who await him to save them.
Perhaps you will ask why the sacrifice was offered outside the city walls and not in the temple. It was to fulfill the text of Scripture that says: He was reckoned among the wicked. It was offered outside the walls to show you the universal nature of the sacrifice. The purification was not for only a few as with the Jews, but for everyone. God had commanded the Jews to offer sacrifice and prayer in one place on earth to the exclusion of all others, because the whole world was polluted by the smoke and fat of burnt offerings and all the other defilements of pagan sacrifice. But for us the whole world has been purified by the Coming of Christ, so that every place has become a place of prayer. And so Paul boldly urges us to feel free to pray everywhere. In every place, he says, I want the men to lift up reverent hands in prayer.
Do you not see then how the world has been purified? We are able in every place reverently to raise our hands to God because the whole world has become holy, holier than the inmost shrine of the temple. The sacrifice offered in the temple was an irrational beast but that offered on the cross was divine, and the more perfect the victim the more perfect too is the sanctification
Browsing through old pamphlets, the name, “Three Tabernacles”, was a striking title. Fr. Nash was a prolific writer among the Jesuit Sacred Heart publications in Dublin.
Here are some paragraphs from this wonderful old TWOPENCE booklet. It makes a good suggestion to browse the Net on that lead “Three Tabernacles” on the wider resources never anticipated by the generation of Fr. Nash.
. . . Now there are three tabernacles in which we can find God, even in this life. In answer to our question Our Lord walks with us down the bank of the river and invites us. " You want to know where to find God? Come and see."
The First Tabernacle
The first of these tabernacles is nothing else than, the world in which we are living. It is the sheer truth that the Presence of God permeates the atmosphere around us like the ether. There is never a moment, sleeping or waking, alone or in company, but the eye of God is fixed 'upon me. You go down the street and chat with your friends,—every word is heard by the ear of God. You think in your mind,—unkind thoughts or kindly thoughts, unclean thoughts or beautiful thoughts,-not a thought passes through your mind, even in the most fleeting manner, but it is witnessed by the eye of God. "In Him," says the apostle, "we live and move and have our being." God's eye therefore is always upon me, not as the eye of a stern Judge but as the eye of a most loving Father. Every effort to live a decent Catholic life is known to Him. Every attempt to stir up in my neighbour a love of Him and a sense of responsibility to Him meets with His divine blessing and approval, though ill men's eyes it may be a failure..
"Whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend intoheaven Thou art there. If I descend into hell Thou art present. If I take my wings early in the .morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall Thy hand lead me . . . Perhaps darkness shall cover me? But darkness' shall not be dark to Thee and night shall be light as the day ...
The Second Tabernacle
Continuing 'Our walk with Our Lord He now proceeds to tell me about a second tabernacle in which God is to be found: . He opens out before me a stupendous plan He has formed, nothing less than to leave with His Church the, and power to consecrate bread and wine into the body and blood of God Himself.
. . . All this we know. But it is not mere knowledge that is wanted. The Blessed Eucharist is, above all, a challenge to our personal love of Christ. In the first of the three tabernacles we learn to hate sin and to· shun' it.
But the service of God is not merely the "Negation avoidance of sin. Important though this is it is only the first step; for you will never get much distinguished service from, a man who stops short at the mere negative side of his work: The soul. of man is hungering for happiness,—as we saw from the start,—and the avoidance of sin is the first requisite if a healthy appetite is to follow., According as a man starves his soul of its hunger for what is of sin so does his, desire increase for what is of God.
It is true that the world around us is His tabernacle, but He has set up a second tabernacle wherein there is a very special Presence. And as the first tabernacle deters us from sinning, the second fills the heart with a burning love of God. Nothing is easier to illustrate. Do you remember how Father William Doyle describes "the, mad longing for His Presence, which is' at times overpowering"? Or have you read about St. Paschal Baylon, the Franciscan .lay-brother and patron of the Blessed Eucharist? If so you will recall how his heart used to bleed -when he listened to the Mass bell and. was unable to answer the summons. You know that Matt. Talbot, the Dublin workingman, found in the Blessed Eucharist his support and his strength? As a young man he was a slave to drink. He took the pledge and kept it. But who can tell what it cost him? When the temptation was fiercest Matt would make his way to the church and sit there. "I'm safe as long as I stay here"! One of the finest things in his life, .don't you think? . . .
Personal love of God through the Blessed Eucharist?
If intimacy with Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist is going to develop there must once more be co-operation between Him and the soul that is seeking Him. In the hurricane existence of many a modern man or woman there will never develop this delicacy in relations' towards the Blessed Sacrament. For this it is essential that the .soul gives itself time to think and to pray. Now what is your attitude towards the Blessed Eucharist? If you .realised that. here lives your best Friend would you dream- of passing His door without at least a word of salutation? . . .
Other practical suggestions, will come readily to your own mind. if you are keen, for love, St. Tersaa tells you, is always showing itself. in a 'thousand different ways.. Let this divine flame once begin to blaze up within you and it will urge you forcefully to prove your sincerity, not by high-sounding words but by deeds. .You could, for instance, spread among your friends some of the Messenger pamphlets 'which' tell about the Marvels of the Eucharist, the fruits It bears in your soul, the reasons why those fruits are often -not produced. On the cover of this booklet you will probably find some titles of the Eucharistic Series. I know nothing more in accordance with the expressed wish of Our Lord than that you should enkindle in yourself and in others a practical living love for God in' this, His second tabernacle with men.
The Third Tabernacle
And what is the third tabernacle in which the soul can find God, even. in this life? “Master, where dwellest Thou"? By way of answering you Our Lord points to yourself, and tells you that your own soul is actually the place where God has deigned to choose His abode. If you doubt this listen to His assurance. "If any man. love Me, My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him." Or, turn to St. Paul. "Know you that you are the temple of Godand that the not? Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Now if any man violate the templeof God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is Holy, which you are." This is. what it means to possess in one's soul this inestimable treasure, purchased for us through the merits of Christ,—sanctifying grace.
So it is true that your soul is His tabernacle.The world around us will one day crumble and fall to pieces. A day will come when the last Mass will be said and the last Sacred Host consumed. But the third tabernacle is eternalfor the soul will live for ever. Indeed the world exists for the good of the soul; the things God has placed in the world are to be used. or not used just in so far as they help or hinder the soul's progress. Even the Blessed Eucharist is given us for the nourishment of the divine life within the soul.
2. Let us make here three tabernacles. Three booths of boughs, like those of ... Master Moses Peter Shelters Sir Tabernacles Tents Thankful Three Want Wilt Wish ...
... three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah "-- not ... Master Moses Parting Peter Preparing Rabbi Tabernacles Tents Thankful Three ...
... there are three central pilgrimage feasts: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. ... suggests building three tabernacles for the three figures. ...catholic.co.il
Homily Reflections today tended to speak of the Family Roots or Task Role of St. Joseph.
The following from St. Alphonsus resounds from the Saints.
PREFACE OF JOSEPH, HUSBAND OF MARY
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks as we honor Saint Joseph.
He is that just man,
that wise and loyal servant,
whom you placed at the head of your family. With a husband's love he cherished Mary, the virgin Mother of God.
With fatherly care he watched over Jesus Christ your Son, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through Christ the choirs of angels
and all the powers of heaven
praise and worship your glory.
May our voices blend with theirs
as we join in their unending hymn: Holy holy holy . . .
MEDITATION by Alphonsus de Liguori (+ 1787, founded the Redemptorists).
Go to Joseph
Saint Bernardine of Siena used to say: 'There is no doubt about it; in heaven, Jesus Christ not only continues to show Saint Joseph every sign of the familiarity and respect which he showed him during his life on earth, as Son to father, but adds to them with fresh honors." Notice these two words: familiarity and respect. The Lord, who on earth honored Saint Joseph as a father, will certainly not refuse him anything he asks in heaven.
At this point we ought to add that Saint Joseph had on earth no authority over the humanity of Jesus Christ as a natural father would have, though he did, in a certain sense, have authority over him as husband of Mary who had authority over him as his natural Mother. Whoever has the right to a tree, also has the right to the fruit it bears. Consequently, on earth Jesus Christ used to respect Joseph and obey him as his superior, and it follows that Saint Joseph's prayers in heaven are treated as orders by Jesus Christ. This is Gerson's thought: "When a father prays to his son," he says, "his prayers truly are commands."
Now let us listen to what Saint Bernard has to say about Saint Joseph's intercessory power on behalf of his supplicants: 'There are some saints who have the power of protecting in certain specific circumstances; but Saint Joseph has been granted the power to help us in every kind of need, and to defend all who have recourse to him with pious dispositions."
That was how Saint Bernard put it; Saint Teresa confirms his opinion from her own experience and tells us: "It would seem that God has only granted the other saints power to help us in one kind of necessity; but experience shows that Saint Joseph can help in every kind of need."
There is no doubt about it: just as Jesus Christ wanted to be subject to Joseph on earth, so he does everything the saint asks of him in heaven. When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine, Pharaoh told his people, Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph! So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord and take Pharaoh's advice; let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled ... Above all, I most strongly urge you to ask him for three special graces: forgiveness of sins, love of Jesus Christ, and a happy death.
It was a joy joining in the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of a friend, Fr. John Caffrey OFM. In his Homily he made an extremely moving reference to an experience from meetings of the Eucharistic Priest of Cenacolo group.
It leads me to learn something about Cenacle and this very Lent morning's Mass meditation is from Mother Elvira Petrozzi below.
Being "Prophetic" Regarding Our Life MEDITATION OF THE DAY March 16th 2009 (Magnificat Monthly)
Our life is not an invention, but rather the invention of God, who had the courage to have so much faith in us to give us this gift to put into our hands life, existence, with all the "tools" to be able to live it well. Maybe we have not yet taken into consideration this initiative of God and many times we think we are simply born because our parents wanted us or, in any case, for natural or human motives. This is confirmed by the fact that there are people who do not want to live, who stop at the exterior and never taste the fruit of life ... Overall, we must convince ourselves that God wanted to give to you, to me, to everyone the gift of life. It is a gift to discover, to receive, to protect, and to love. If we do not discover this in ourselves, we do not even know how to welcome or defend the life of others, of our children, or of those whom we say we love ...
It is a big lie to believe that life is just an accident or even that it is ours! Life is a gift from God, born from his heart, which is Love. It is a gift that we must begin to unwrap like when we receive a package and out of curiosity we desire to know what is inside. We want to know the reason for this gift that will surely make us happy. No one can enter into the heart of our life for us. It is a personal journey ... Everyone loves the life that we can see, feel, and touch, but life is not only that which belongs to us. It is Someone else. We are from Someone who takes care of us and wants us to discover the flavor of life, because he knows that only in this way we can be truly happy.
MOTHER ELVIRA PETROZZI
Mother Elvira Petrozzi is foundress of Comunita Cenacolo, welcoming the lost and desperate in forty fraternities in thirteen countries.
The celebrations of the Martyrdom of this Scottish Jesuit priest commenced with the First Vespers sung by the St. Mungo Singers.
Following the Mass at the St. Andrew Cathedral, the traditional WALK honouring St John Ogilvie takes the route to thesite at Glasgow Cross.
Martyr of Scotland
John Ogilvie (1579-1615) performed ministry in his native Scotland for only 11 months after he returned to his homeland following 22 years abroad. He is the only canonized Scottish martyr from the time of the Reformation, and was only 36 when he gave his life for Christ.
I learned from the OCSO Order Necrology that Fr. Chrysogonus died at Gethsemani Abbey November 23, 2OO8 :
Community Note: Our beloved Fr Chrysogonus Waddell entered into the joy of the Lord on this solemnity of Christ the King. Blessed with many talents and an exuberant spirit, Fr Chrysogonus returned the gifts generously and tirelessly. His musical compositions are known and played throughout the world.
His scholarly contributions are highly renowned and acclaimed. Humble and faithful, humorous and devout, he sought the face of the Lord with zeal and tenacity. May his song in heaven be jubilant and eternal!
The memory of Fr. Chrysogonus is very moving to me from when I first got to know him at the time we shared some study days at Monte Cistello 1960s.
Two days ago I was dusting bottom library shelves in the books on Our Lady and I came upon a print-off from LITURGY, the quarterly periodical produced by Fr. Chrysogonus. He published the article, THE BLESSED VIRGIN COMPARED TO THE AIR WE BREATHE by Gerard Manley Hopkins with Conference Notes of Thomas Merton. (LITURGY Vol. 25:1 3-19, 1991).
The Blessed Virgin poem above forms an apt Memorial for the thanksgiving and prayer of the life of Chrysogonus we cherish.
THE BLESSED VIRGIN COMPARED To THE AIR WE BREATHE
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
(Stonyhurst, May 1883)
With Conference Notes of
Thomas Merton
Getsemani 1954
Wild air, world-mothering air,
Nestling me everywhere,
That each eyelash or hair
Girdles; goes home betwixt
The fleeciest, frailest-flixed
Snowflake; that 's fairly mixed
With, riddles, and is rife
In every least thing's life;
This needful, never spent,
And nursing element;
My more than meat and drink,
My meal at every wink;
This air, which, by life's law,
My lung must draw and draw
Now but to breathe its praise,
Minds me in many ways
Of her who not only
Gave God's infinity
Dwindled to infancy
Welcome in womb and breast,
Birth, milk, and all the rest
But mothers each new grace
That does now reach our race—
Mary Immaculate,
Merely a woman, yet
Whose presence, power is
Great as no goddess's
Was deemèd, dreamèd; who
This one work has to do—
Let all God's glory through,
God's glory which would go
Through her and from her flow
Off, and no way but so.
I say that we are wound
With mercy round and round
As if with air: the same
Is Mary, more by name.
She, wild web, wondrous robe,
Mantles the guilty globe,
Since God has let dispense
Her prayers his providence:
Nay, more than almoner,
The sweet alms' self is her
And men are meant to share
Her life as life does air.
If I have understood,
She holds high motherhood
Towards all our ghostly good
And plays in grace her part
About man's beating heart,
Laying, like air's fine flood,
The deathdance in his blood;
Yet no part but what will
Be Christ our Saviour still.
Of her flesh he took flesh:
He does take fresh and fresh,
Though much the mystery how,
Not flesh but spirit now
And makes, O marvellous!
New Nazareths in us,
Where she shall yet conceive
Him, morning, noon, and eve;
New Bethlems, and he born
There, evening, noon, and morn—
Bethlem or Nazareth,
Men here may draw like breath
More Christ and baffle death;
Who, born so, comes to be
New self and nobler me
In each one and each one
More makes, when all is done,
Both God's and Mary's Son.
Again, look overhead
How air is azurèd;
O how! nay do but stand
Where you can lift your hand
Skywards: rich, rich it laps
Round the four fingergaps.
Yet such a sapphire-shot,
Charged, steepèd sky will not
Stain light. Yea, mark you this:
It does no prejudice.
The glass-blue days are those
When every colour glows,
Each shape and shadow shows.
Blue be it: this blue heaven
The seven or seven times seven
Hued sunbeam will transmit
Perfect, not alter it.
Or if there does some soft,
On things aloof, aloft,
Bloom breathe, that one breath more
Earth is the fairer for.
Whereas did air not make
This bath of blue and slake
His fire, the sun would shake,
A blear and blinding ball
With blackness bound, and all
The thick stars round him roll
Flashing like flecks of coal,
Quartz-fret, or sparks of salt,
In grimy vasty vault.
So God was god of old:
A mother came to mould
Those limbs like ours which are
What must make our daystar
Much dearer to mankind;
Whose glory bare would blind
Or less would win man's mind.
Through her we may see him
Made sweeter, not made dim,
And her hand leaves his light
Sifted to suit our sight.
Be thou then, O thou dear
Mother, my atmosphere;
My happier world, wherein
To wend and meet no sin;
Above me, round me lie
Fronting my froward eye
With sweet and scarless sky;
Stir in my ears, speak there
Of God's love, O live air,
Of patience, penance, prayer:
World-mothering air, air wild,
Wound with thee, in thee isled,
Fold home, fast fold thy child.
Conference Notes of THOMAS MERTON
The theme of the poem: the Universal Mediation of the Blessed Mother.
The poem develops in the form of an argument to prove that Mary's influence is as ever present, as necessary, as perfectly efficacious in producing spiritual life and keeping it in existence, as the air we breathe is necessary for preserving bodily life.
1.The all-pervading presence of air - the presence of Mary everywhere. Air is everywhere; it surrounds all things, it penetrates them all. "World mothering" air. Things are "nestled" in the air as children in the arrns of another. "Nestling Ire everywhere."
The smallest, frailest things - "frailest flixed snowf'Lake " - are "fairly riddled " with air. It is a
Needful, never spent
And nursing elerrent.
We are "nursed" by the air - it is our "meal at every wink" .
Hence the surrounding air is a Mother that protects and nourishes her child. This makes him at once think of Mary, and her presence.
She is Mother first of all to "God's infinity - dwindled to infancy". But also she "Mothers each new grace - that does new reach our race."
Hence the great power of Mary, a power that was never attributed to any goddess although she is a mere woman.
Her whole mission, her "vocation" is to be the medium which "lets all God's glory through" as the sky filters the light of the sun and pours it through on to the world .
. . . . ... . . . .. who
This one work has to do—
let all God's glory through,
God's glory, which would go
Through her and from her flow
Off, and no way but so.
2.Here he takes up the same idea and deepens it, makes it more concrete and precise. To be surrounded by her influence is to be surrounded by ''mercy''. Mary is present not only as a remote influence, not only in the gifts she brings to us. She is herself the mercy that surrounds us, so that we live in her. (Like a spirit she is present where she acts.)
I say that we are wound
With mercy round and round
As if with air: the same
Is Mary, more by name,
She, wild web, wondrous robe,
Mantles the guilty globe . . .
Nay, more than almoner
The sweet alms' self is her
And men are meant to share
Her life as life does air.
Mary is the life of our life. We breathe Mary. We live entirely by her.
As children within their mother's womb.
In other words, she is Mediatrix of all grace.
The doctrine of Mary' s Mediation of all grace:
God, who could have given us . all without Mary, freely decreed and positively ordained that grace should not be given to us without her intercession. " ... from her flowoff, and no way but so." (see above)
The mediation of Mary is clearly subordinated to God. "Since God has let her dispense - her prayers his providence." She is "more than almoner," she is the "sweet alms' self", because all His gifts cane to us not only through her but as it were in her.
It is secondaryto the mediation of Christ. She received all from and in Him. But it is universal.
a)In time - she has been since the Assumption the administrator of all grace for all people.
b)She is the administrator of omes et singulaegratiae [each and every grace] .
- sanctifying grace and the annexed gifts.
- actual graces - together with temporal goods and preservation fram evil.
- the graces of the sacraments - in so far as she merited de congruo the institution of the sacraments, and in so far as her intercession disposes us for a proper reception of the sacraments and obtains for us opportunities so to receive them.
This is summarized by Gerard Manley Hopkins as follows e
If I have understood,
She holds high motherhood
Towards all our ghostly good
And plays in grace her part
About man' s beating heart,
Laying, like air's fine flood
The deathdance in his blood;
Yet no part but what will
Be Christ our Saviour still.
Note the "action" of the imagery:
a)Mystery - is simply evoked. "If I have understood", and the word "ghostly" - ancient English word for "spiritual" - but sane resonance from modern usage of the word,
b)Action - ''man's beating heart" - "the deathdance in his blood." Rapid pulsing movements as of a thing precariously alive - fragile, palpitating life of the heart, and the inseparable presence of death within man I s very life (through original sin), since every heart beat is a renewal of life but a closer step towards death. But "like air's fine flood" - a smooth sweeping, uniform, silent action (suggesting efficacy, irresistible power') , Mary "allays", quiets, soothes, silences the "deathdance" - the agitation of man's sinful heart.
Apply this to contemplation of Mary - how close we are to hesychasm, although Gerard Manley Hopkins arrived at it purely spontaneously. Every breath, Mary invades our whole being, silencing, pacifying, smoothing out our life. Taste the sweetness of the air and feel its silence pour into you when you meditate. Mary. Quickly comes to constant sense of her presence. (cf. Yoga)
3.The life that is nourished and grows in us each moment is the life of CHRIST. At each breath of grace in our soul, Christ takes flesh, or rather "takes spirit" in us new:
And makes, O marvellous
New Nazareths in us,
Where she shall yet conceive
Him, morning, noon, and eve ...
Men here may draw like breath
More Christ and baffle death;
Who, born so, canes to be
New self and nobler me
In each one and each one
More makes, when all is done,
Both God I S and Mary' s Son.
So by the fact that we live in her, Christ is mothered in us. It is the doctrine of Bl. Guerric on the soul as the "mother of Christ" - but simplified by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Tomake Christ live in us, we need only to "breathe" Mary. Christ thus born in us is our true self "New self and nobler ne." And this takes place in all - his horizons widen out and embrace the whole Mystical Body, person by person: "in each one and each one."
4.As the purity of air filters the light of the sun without diminishing it, spreads it out, evenly and distributes it in the many colours of all things, so Mary’s purity does not "stain" the light of God, but brings it to us perfect.
Yet such a sapphire-shot,
Charged, steeped sky will not
Stain light. Yea, mark you this
It does no prejudice.
The glass-blue days are those
When every colour glows ,
Each shape and shadow shows ,
Blue be it: this blue heaven
The seven or seven times seven
Hued sunbeam will transmit
Perfect, not alter it.
5.Nevertheless, the air softens the harsh light of the sun.
And Mary' s mediation also brings us the light of God in a way that is bearable to our weak sight, without changing it. He comes to us "made sweeter, not made dim."
There are sane lines that remind us of Blake - a sudden picture of the sun without the protecting atmosphere of the earth –
Whereas did air not make
This bath of blue and slake
His fire, the sun would shake,
A blear and blinding ball
With blackness bound, and all
The thick stars round himroll
Flashing like specks of coal,
Quartz-fret, or sparks of salt,
In grimy, vasty vault.
These are some of the most marvellous lines in the poem. Brings out the feeling of a "hostile" heaven full of fires to which we are not tempered, whose sight hurts and frightens us - fires set in a vast emptiness in which we are likely to blow away.
This is the picture of the Old Testament God: "So God was god of old."
But the Incarnation has made "our daystar much dearer to mankind" .
Whose glory bare would blind
Or less would win man I s mind.
Through her we may see him
Made sweeter, not made dim,
And her hand leaves his light
Sifted to suit our light.
6.The closing lines are a beautiful prayer to Mary Mediatrix of grace.
Be thou then, O thou dear
Mother, my atmosphere;
My happier world,
wherein to wend and meet no sin;
Above me, round ne lie
Fronting my froward eye
With sweet and scarless sky;
Stir in my ears, speak there
Of God I S love, O live air,
Of patience, penance, prayer:
World-mothering air, air wild,
Wound with thee, in thee isled,
Fold home, fast fold thy child.
The final lines take up the first words of the poem and show all their meaning in a summary of the poem: our life consists in being clasped to our Mother’s breast, as we are "isled" and "mothered", that is to say, surrounded by the air.
Mary is all around us. We need to be aware of her to be "isled" in her, folded in her arms. This awareness is something she must give us, it being one of the great graces she procures for us. Thus we ask her to "fast fold" us, her children, in her arms.
Our hearts are attuned to the mystery of the Cross, of Jesus suffering and of his mother. The special Preface of the Mass today presents the Passion of Christ as the healing of the world, and his Cross as the sign of victory.
