Scotand First Saint

16th September

Saint Ninian, Scotland’s First Saint

The Whithorn Trust was established in 1986 - explores the writings of the Venerable Bede ...

www.whithorn.com/saint-ninian.htm

St. Ninian: (NINIAS, NINUS, DINAN, RINGAN, RINGEN)

Bishop and confessor; date of birth unknown; died about 432; the first Apostle of Christianity in Scotland. The earliest account of him is in Bede (Hist. Eccles., III, 4): "the southern Picts received the true faith by the preaching of Bishop Ninias, a most reverend and holy man of the British nation, who had been regularly instructed at Rome in the faith and mysteries of the truth; whose episcopal see, named after St. Martin the Bishop, and famous for a church dedicated to him (wherein Ninias himself and many other saints rest in the body), is now in the possession of the English nation. The place belongs to the province of the Bernicians and is commonly called the White House [Candida Casa], because he there built a church of stone, which was not usual amongst the Britons". The facts given in this passage form practically all we know of St. Ninian's life and work.

The most important later life, compiled in the twelfth century by St. Ælred, professes to give a detailed account founded on Bede and also on a "liber de vita et miraculis eius" (sc. Niniani) "barbarice scriptus", but the legendary element is largely evident. He states, however, that while engaged in building his church at Candida Casa, Ninian heard of the death of St. Martin and decided to dedicate the building to him. Now St. Martin died about 397, so that the mission of Ninian to the southern Picts must have begun towards the end of the fourth century. St. Ninian founded at Whithorn a monastery which became famous as a school of monasticism within a century of his death; his work among the southern Picts seems to have had but a short lived success. St. Patrick, in his epistle to Coroticus, terms the Picts "apostates", and references to Ninian's converts having abandoned Christianity are found in Sts. Columba and Kentigern. The body of St. Ninian was buried in the church at Whithorn (Wigtownshire), but no relics are now known to exist. The "Clogrinny", or bell of St. Ringan, of very rough workmanship, is in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh.

www.newadvent.org/cathen/11084a.htm

Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15, 2009

Our Lady of Sorrows

In the 'grand-stairs' of the Guesthouse, a set of the traditional frames of the Seven Sorrows came with the foundation. The morning sun shines in from the east, and there the light has direct sun and has sadly caused the bleaching of the pictures.
The reproductions of the Durer (see to left) are not subject to fading of the colours from the Internet exposure.

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary First Sorrow The Prophecy of Simeon. Reading: Luke 2: 25-35. When Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus in the temple, Simeon predicts that a "sword" (of sorrow) will pierce her soul. Second Sorrow The flight into Egypt. Reading: Matthew 2: 13-15. When King Herod orders the death of all male children age two or younger, Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with the infant Jesus. Third Sorrow The Child Jesus Lost in the Temple. Reading: Luke 2: 41-50. Mary and Joseph search for the child Jesus for three days, fnding him at last in the temple. Fourth Sorrow Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross. Reading: Luke 23: 27-29. Mary shares Jesus' suffering as He carries the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. Fifth Sorrow Mary at the foot of the cross. Reading: John 19: 25-30. Mary witnesses the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Sixth Sorrow Mary receives the body of Jesus. Reading: Psalm 130. Jesus is taken down from the cross and his body is placed in Mary's arms. Seventh Sorrow Mary witnesses the burial of Jesus. Reading: Luke 23: 50-56. The body of Jesus is laid in the tomb and Mary awaits the Resurrection.

Seven Sorrows

See: Albrecht Durer. The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin.

The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin is the earliest known altarpiece by Dürer. It was originally very large, about 2x3 m. The right half, representing the Seven Joys of the Virgin, is now missing and only the left part with sorrows survived. The central part depicts the grieving Virgin after the Crucifixion. Around the Virgin are seven smaller panels with detailed scenes from the life of the Christ (from top left): 1. the Circumcision, 2. the Flight into Egypt, 3. the 12 year old Christ among the Doctors, 4. the bearing of the Cross, 5. the Nailing to the Cross, 6. the Crucifixion and 7. the Lamentation. The altarpiece was bought in mid-sixteenth century by the artist Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-86), it was probably him who sawed the work into separate panels.

( www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer

Reading A Sermon of St Bernard His Mother stood by the Cross. The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord’s passion. The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been established as a sign which will be contradicted. He went on to say to Mary: And your own heart will be pierced by a sword. Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus – who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours – gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering. Or were those words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through to the division between soul and spirit? What an exchange! John is given to you in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of iron and stone though they are! Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants. Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his. Concluding Prayer O God, when your Son was hung high on the cross you willed that his Mother should stand by him and suffer with him. Grant to your Church that she may share, through Mary, in Christ’s passion and deserve to share also in his resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Name of Mary

Saturday 12th September

The Most Holy Name of Mary Background In 1513, a feast of "The Holy Name of Mary" was granted by Pope Julius II to the diocese of Cuenta in Spain. It was assigned with proper Office to September 15, the octave day of Our Lady's Nativity. With the reform of the Breviary undertaken by Pope St. Pius V, the feast was abrogated only to be reinstituted by Pope Sixtus V, who changed the date to September 17. From there, the feast spread to all of Spain and to the Kingdom of Naples. Throughout time, permission to celebrate the feast was given to various religious orders. Pope Innocent XI extended "The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary" to the Universal Church. The feast was first celebrated on the Sunday after the Nativity of Mary, Pope St. Pius X [+1914] decreed that it be celebrated on September 12 to commemorate victory over the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. After a short period when it was removed because it was considered a duplication it of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary onSeptember 8, the memorial was restored to September 12. We venerate the name of Mary because it belongs to her who is the Mother of God, the holiest of creatures, the Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of Mercy. The object of the feast is the Holy Virgin bearing the name of Mirjam (Mary); the feast commemorates all the privileges given to Mary by God and all the graces we have received through her intercession and mediation. Pondering the Meaning of "Mary" The rendering of the name Mary in Hebrew is Miryam and in Aramaic, the spoken language at Our Lady’s time, was Mariam. Derived from the root, merur, the name signifies "bitterness." Throughout the centuries, Saints and scholars have proposed different interpretations for the name "Mary." A mixture of etymology and devotion produced an interesting array of meanings: "Mary means enlightener, because she brought forth the Light of the world. In the Syriac tongue, Mary signifies Lady." [St. Isidore of Seville +636] "Let me say something concerning this name also, which is interpreted to mean Star of the sea,[1] and admirably suits the Virgin Mother." [St. Bernard +1153] "Therefore a certain Star has risen for us today: Our Lady, Saint Mary. Her name means Star of the sea; no doubt the Star of this sea which is the world. Therefore, we ought to lift up our eyes to this Star that has appeared on earth today in order that she may lead us, in order that she may enlighten us, in order that she may show us these steps so that we shall know them, in order that she may help us so that we may be able to ascend. And therefore it is a beautiful thing that Mary is placed in this stairway of which we are speaking, there where we must begin to climb. As the Evangelist says, Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, so immediately at the very moment of our conversion she appears to us and receives us into her care and enlightens us in her light and accompanies us along this laborious path." [St. Aelred +1167] "Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary's maternal intercession." [St. Thomas Aquinas +1274] "This most holy, sweet and worthy name was 'eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea,[2] star of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix.[3] Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men she is the Star of the sea; to the Angels she is illuminatrix, and to all creatures she is Lady."[4] [St. Bonaventure +1274] "God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called it Mary or Maria . . . This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the saints call the 'treasury of the Lord.' From her fullness all men are made rich." [St. Louis de Montfort +1716] It is not difficult to see why these various interpretations of the name "Mary" should have been proposed and cherished, for they encapsulate many of our Marian doctrines and beliefs. Among the many, one interpretation for the name "Mary" highlights the relationship of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Church. It is derived from the Hebrew verb mara, meaning "to be fleshy or robust” and implicitly pointing to Our Lady’s beauty and spiritual fecundity. She is the Tota Pulchra, the Beautiful One. by Sister Danielle Peters [1] The title, "Star of the Sea," dates back to St. Jerome [+420]. It has been said that the great Doctor had originally used the phrase Stilla Maris to describe Mary as a "drop of the sea," the sea being God. A copyist's error, then, could have resulted in stilla [drop] being written down as stella [star]. Of course, the hallowed title, "Star of the Sea," suits Our Lady perfectly. [2] "Bitter sea [mara = bitter; yam = sea]," in addition to the interpretation given by St. Bonaventure, also calls to mind Our Lady's Seven Sorrows and the sword which "pierced" Her soul on Calvary, recalling the lamentation of the mother-in-law of Ruth, who had lost a husband and two sons: "Call me not noemi, [that is, beautiful,] but call me Mara, [that is, bitter,] for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness [Rt. 1: 20]." Maror are "bitter herbs," such as are found on the seder plate at Passover. [3] The "Illuminated" points us to St. John's apocalyptic image of the "Woman clothed with the Sun," a dual image encompassing both, the Catholic Church and Mary, the Mother and Image of the Church. [4] The interpretation "Lady" for Mary was also proposed by St. Jerome, based on the Aramaic word, mar, meaning "Lord." This would render the meaning "Lady" in the regal or noble sense [as in "Lord and Lady."] Catholic sensibility, however, recognizing in Mary the simple dignity of a Mother, as well as the grandeur of a Queen, did not hesitate to add an affectionate touch to this majestic title. Mary is not just "Lady"; She is "Madonna," Notre Dame i.e., she is Our Lady.

With thanks to The Mary Page

This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by Kelly Bodner was last modified Friday, 09/05/2008 14:46:53 EDT by Kelly Bodner. Please send any comments to Johann.Roten@udayton.edu.

URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/mostholyname.html

Nunraw Harvest

Catholic Life (Monthly 1970s). My Way of Prayer No two people pray the same way. But hearing how other people approach prayer can be of great help to us in our own prayer life. This month's contributor to our regular series is DOM DONALD McGLYNN, Abbot of Nunraw the Cistercian Abbey in Scotland THE BEAUTY OF GOD IS THAT he takes us where he finds us. When he finds me at prayer I really do feel for him: how anyone could sort this-lot out! Since he is presented with the jig-saw of the inner me so often it is not for me to complain when Catholic Life asks me the absurd question: "How do you pray?" Ask Princess Anne how she won the Olympic Show jumping, or ask .George the gardener how he grew the prize winning cabbage and you may be sure of an eloquent answer. But that answer may be inspired more by the joy of winning and the interest of others than by the actual jumping or the growing of cabbages. Talking about one's prayer is a kind: of babbling in the same way about something which absorbs one's interest but is no more one's own than the growth of the cabbage. l\1an's to plant and sow and water, but God's alone to give the increase. In the great muddle of my supposed prayer, which at times is literally being all things with all men: saying the Divine Office, sharing in the Rosary, meditating with silent brethren, rejoicing with a charismatic group -- always seem to come back to the quiet time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The feeling is that this is .the real prayer, And, in fact, in spite, of the silence and nothing happening, it always is the decisive time of prayer. PRACTICAL NECESSITY Prayer is catching and still keeps catching me. It even gets to the point where Christ's "pray without ceasing", and Paul's '''pray constantly" is no longer a kind of wishful ideal but a downright practical necessity. One goes through the day with the secret life of Our Lady's Tumbler-not knowing how to pray but juggling all one does and says into some kind .of continuous stream of prayer. When I get up in the morning and I have to make it a few minutes earlier in order to waken myself up properly, there lies before me not only a whole programme of liturgical prayer, but also all the other comings and goings, of the day. If I don't do something about it, everything is just going to spill on top of ··me .and roll on meaninglessly. So I make a mental jump to the end of the day and .then trace each hour back to the present moment and offer each hour as the embodiment of the wordless prayer of Morning Offering, which is all I can .make at this early hour. Inevitably the very thought of the day ahead is going to remind me of certain people and the stage could be set for a depressing start. Now I have discovered the best way to handle this. Instead of trying to forget the objectionable people I take them one, name by name, and raise each one up in prayer thanking God for them as they are, and allowing him to pro­vide the best means of meeting their needs-and he does provide! But when I am really in a fix, or the task ahead is just too much, it is only in the peace of the Blessed Sacrament that I am always sure of the help I need. Without an hour in his presence it feels as if the decision or the sermon or whatever, is going to be futile or fruitless, It is something new for me - and the charismatic renewal has something to do with it - that this aloneness before God has taken on a new meaning. It is just no longer possible to be alone in that sense. One is so much aware, perhaps as the result of the emphasis on praise and on sharing in group prayer, of everyone else united in the one chorus of praise in the Body of Christ. And at the same time one is aware of a deeper sense of God alone, God as unique, holy, worthy of all our love. BREATH OF THE SPIRIT When people speak of charismatic renewal I suppose this is what they are looking for: a new breath of the Spirit. It is a renewal which regardless of the heap it finds begins to activate it and set in motion every part of one's response to Christ; and. at the same time renews the sense of the Body of Christ in his members. Where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are at work this last aspect is not surprising since it is of their nature, according to St Paul, that such influence of the Holy Spirit is for the common good. As a result one has a greater appreciation and begins to see the tangible possibilities of a new sense of community, the Body of Christ, the sharing of life, spiritual and material, in witness of Christ's love.

Beatitudes

'If we want to know what man really is, in his state of brokenness and fallenness, we must look at Christ in his agony. Ecce homo (John 19:5).'

Gospel Luke 6:20-26

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. To an age suffering from affectlessness, 'Blessed are those who mourn' is, paradoxically, a more necessary message than 'Rejoice in the Lord always' because there can be no true rejoicing until we have stopped running away from mourning. But this is not the only reason why mourning is pronounced blessed. To pursue the meaning of our beatitude further, we must once again return to the consideration of the whole strategy of redemption. Why was it 'necessary' for the Christ to suffer (Luke 24:26)? Why is it that only those who are willing to take up their cross can be accounted his followers (Matt. 10:38 etc)? What sense is there in St Paul's claiming to be 'filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ' (Col. 1 :24)? Surely there is only one answer to these questions: Christ had to suffer and die because suffering and death were where mankind was. If he was to redeem mankind, he had to go, like the good shepherd, to where the lost sheep was. The point is dramatically made in the story of the harrowing of Hell. That is where man was. That is where Christ went to fetch him.? Any other kind of redemption would have been a fake, it would not have been a true redemption of true mankind. But a similar realism is called for on the part of those to be redeemed. We must acknowledge where we are if we are to be redeemed from there. This is in accordance with man's peculiar position in creation. Man is not just passive, even in his own creation. Man is God's co-worker (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9), he is co-creator even of himself. In St Gre­gory of Nyssa's startling phrase, each man has to be his own begetter." Similarly with redemption. It is not, of 'course, that man has anything of his own to contribute to it independently of God. But, when he is dealing with man, God's act creates a corresponding act in man. God's act does not let man off doing it for himself; it is rather the other way about. 'Work out your own salvation ... because it is God who works within you' (Phil. 2:12f). This means that God's acceptance of our pain, in Christ, creates a corresponding acceptance in us of our own pain. It is because Christ has carried the cross of each one of us that we have to carry our own and one anothers' crosses. Human beings are created interdependent on one another, as we can see even from our biological interconnectedness. We are involved in 'creating' one another. Because of sin, we are also involved in devastating one another. But redemption does not sep­arate us off from one another, however prudent such a move might seem to us; we are involved in redeeming one another. So we are told, 'Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulful the law of Christ' (Gal. 6:2). If we want to know what man really is, in his state of brokenness and fallenness, we must look at Christ in his agony. Ecce homo (john 19:5). That is what we are. And it is a double revelation. That is what we are: his agony, his helplessness, his dying, they are all ours. But even worse, that is what we are: we are the people who do that, who kill and torment, who react to love, even to God's love, with that kind of fury, that kind of cruelty, that kind of cynical mockery. Ecce homo. In the light of that, is it not right to weep? In the rather artificial scheme devised by St Augustine for linking the seven beatitudes with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, this beatitude of the mourners is linked with the gift of knowledge. To know the truth of our human predicament is to know it as something that can be met only with mourning. And this is the kernel of true contrition. It is more than likely that St Matthew was thinking especially of penitential mourning in our beatitude, and it is precisely penitential mourning that results from an honest awareness of what man is and that it is, in one way or another, man himself who has made himself what he is. But yet, blessed are whose who mourn. On the face of it, seeing the human condition clearly for what it is is little more than a formula for despair. The author of 4 Esdras presents himself as replying to a divine communication: This is the first thing I want to say and it is the last: it would have been better for the earth never to have brought Adam forth, or, once he had been brought forth, for him to have been constrained not to sin. What use is that we all live now in sadness and have only punishment to hope for when we are dead But the Christian does not simply see the human condition in itself. In the broken face of a man he sees the broken yet redeeming face of Christ. And, perhaps even more importantly, he knows that he is not alone in his seeing of the human plight. If we are courageous and humble enough to see it clearly for what it is, that very seeing is a way of identifying ourselves with Christ. Our mourning becomes a singularly profound mode of identification with his redeeming suffering of our lot. Simon Tugwell O.P., Reflextions on the Beatitudes, pp, 61-63, DLT London. 1980,.

Birthday of Mary

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast Day
September 8th

From a homily by Blessed Rabanus Maurus (Horn. XXVII: PL 110,54-55)

This day we have been longing for, beloved, this day of Mary ever virgin, Mary blessed and venerable, has come. Let our earth, made illustrious by the birth of this great Virgin, exult with great rejoicing. By her childbearing the nature of creatures was changed and their sin blotted out. For in her God's woeful sentence, In sorrow shall you bring forth children, was rescinded, since she gave birth to the Lord in joy. Eve mourned, Mary rejoiced; Eve bore tears in her womb, Mary joy; for Eve gave birth to a sinner, Mary to one who was guiltless. Moreover, Mary gave birth as a virgin, and after bearing her Son she remained a virgin.

Hail, full of grace, the angel said to her; the Lord is with you. He is with you in your heart, in your womb, and in the assistance and support he gives you. Rejoice, blessed Virgin: Christ the King has come from heaven into your womb. Blessed shall you be among women, for you have given birth to life for men and women alike. The mother of our race brought punishment upon the world; the mother of our Lord brought salvation to the world. Eve killed, Mary gave life, since she replaced dis­obedience by obedience. In joy, therefore, does Mary bring forth her Child, in gladness she embraces her Son, carrying him who carries her. Listen to her as she says: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed, because the Almighty has done great things for me.

Then, after the angel's prophecy of blessing, while the Virgin was silently asking herself what this greeting could mean, the heavenly messenger continued: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found [auor with God. You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. How can this be, she said, since I am a virgin? The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the angel answered, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one to be born of you will be called the son of God. Then, without delay, the messenger returned and Christ entered his virginal bridal chamber.

Let us also rejoice on the special day of this great Virgin, who alone among women was found worthy to receive into her holy and chaste body, her virginal womb, the King whom neither the heavens, the earth, nor the sea can contain. May she lovingly intercede for us with her Son, who conducted her with great glory to his heavenly palace where she now lives and reigns with him for ever and ever. Amen.

Deaf Hear, Mute Speak

Homily for the Mass

23^rd Sunday (B)

Mk 7:31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

The ability to hear and to speak are two great gifts. Like all gifts they can be taken for granted or even misused. They are connected. We see this especially in the case of the elderly. When their hearing goes they retreat into silence. In today’s Gospel the man who came to Jesus was deaf and also had the impediment in his speech. The latter may have been due to part to the former.

We see the trouble Jesus went to on behalf of this poor man, and the care with which he dealt with him. He took him away from the crowd so that he could deal with him in private and give him his undivided attention. Rather than speak to him, he touched his ears and tongue. Thus he made him feel what he could not hear.

The miracle has relevance for us, not because we are deaf or dumb (which happily most of us are not) but precisely because we have the gifts of hearing and speech. The fact that we have these gifts doesn’t mean we use them well. Many people are very poor listeners. And many people have difficulty expressing themselves. We can have ears and refuse to hear, or have a tongue and refuse to speak. So we need the Lords healing touch it we are to use these two precious gifts well.

The miracle is not so much about the physical healing of a man who was deaf or dumb. Rather, it’s about the opening of a person’s ears so that he may be able to hear the word of God; and the loosening of his tongue so that he may be able to profess faith in Jesus. A person could have perfect hearing, and yet not hear the word of God. And a person could have perfect speech, and be unable to make an act of faith.

From very early times the ceremony of touching the ears and the tongue made its way into the rite of Baptism, and is still there to this day. The minister touches the ears and mouth of the person being baptised and says, ‘The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and dumb speak. May he soon touch yours ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.’

We need to be able to hear the word of God. Then we need to be able to profess that word with our lips. Finally, we need to put it into practice in our lives. The word of God, when heard and acted on, is like seed falling on good soil; it makes our lives fruitful.

Fr. Aelred