Monday 27 May 2013

Père Jacques ter STEEGE o.c.s.o. (1929 – 2013)



Pray for Father Jacques, better known at Latroun, friend during Donald’s visit
http://www.ocso.org/images/stories/logoUSA.gif
April 20, 2013 : Father Jacques ter Steege was born in 1929 in Rotterdam

(The Netherlands). He entered Achel in 1951, made his solemn profession in 1953 and was ordained a priest in 1956. 
He was sent to Kasanza (RDC) in 1959 and made stability there. 
He lived in the Monastery of Latroun (Israël) since 1994. 
Father was 84 years old, had been in monastic vows for 61 years and 56 years a priest when the Lord called him.

Père Jacques ter STEEGE
o.c.s.o.
(1929 – 2013)

Père Jacques ter STEEGE, qui vient de nous quitter à l’âge de 84 ans, a vécu parmi nous à Latroun à peine 19 ans, soit la dernière tranche de sa vie. Il nous arriva le 09.10.1994, croyant trouver un monastère dont le climat soit adapté à sa santé. Il ne se trompait pas. Il s’est intégré facilement à notre communauté, mais il a tenu à garder son appartenance can ………..

OBITUARY in Latroun Chronique 

Sunday 26 May 2013

Sr. Mary Anthony Levi R.I.P. Hyning

With sympathy and prayer with the Sisters at Hyning, after the real shock, as no one was expecting the death of Sister Mary Anthony.
In her great spirit, she is now ushering her sisters and brother to the faith in the glory if the eternal Trinity - (in our hearts on Holy Trinity Sunday).

Monastery of Our Lady of Hyning
http://www.bernardine.org/news.html
They say a week is a long time in politics and at the moment we can certainly sympathise with that view at Hyning this week. In the midst of the devastation in Oaklahoma, the shock of the attack in Woolwich, we were shocked by the death of Sr. Mary Anthony. Some of you will know by now that Sr. Mary Anthony died on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. Her funeral will be at 2pm Friday 31st May. She was taken ill suddenly on Thursday evening and died on Wednesday 22nd May. On Monday we were told it would be a question of weeks but by late afternoon on Wed we were told it was very close. So it seems very sudden in the end. She leaves a massive gap in our community and in the wider community of oblates and guests. It's still hard for us to take in but the funeral has been confirmed for 2pm Friday 31st May at Hyning. The reception of the body is at 4:30 pm on Thursday 30th combined with evening prayer. There will be a special Vigils at 8pm focussing on her life. If you can't attend the funeral you are very welcome to attend the other services. It would be really helpful if people can let us know if they are attending so we can know for seating and catering purposes. If you need accommodation (limited places) please contact Sr. Mary Bernard at hyningbookings@yahoo.co.uk.
Sr. Mary Anthony RIP
Sr. Mary Anthony Levi R.I.P.
The community count very much on your prayers at this time. She was very peaceful and full of faith right to the end. Once she realised that the Lord was calling her to Him, she said yes very simply and kept faithful right to the end. As headteacher and Superior at Slough, as a foundress in Africa and as Guest Mistress at Hyning for many years her impact has been immense and it has been a privilege for all of us to hear some of the stories people have been remembering about her. We count very much on your prayers at this time. People are welcome to sedn flowers or to make a donation to our community in the Congo, where Sr. Mary Anthony lived for several years.
You can also find our group on facebook, Bernardine Cistercians. We have 326 members! (4 joined this week so please add more!) Don't forget to join our group if you are on Facebook!

Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity ...its resplendent grace.

Breviary

Sunday, 26 May 2013

The Most Holy Trinity
READINGS

FIRST READING

From the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians
2:1-16

The great mystery of God’s will

As for myself, brothers, when I came to you I did not come proclaiming God’s testimony with any particular eloquence or “wisdom.” No, I determined that while I was with you I would speak of nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. When I came among you it was in weakness and fear, and with much trepidation. My message and my preaching had none of the persuasive force of “wise” argumentation, but the convincing power of the Spirit. As a consequence, your faith rests not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.

There is, to be sure, a certain wisdom which we express among the spiritually mature. It is not a wisdom of this age, however, nor of the rulers of this age, who are men headed for destruction. No, what we utter is God’s wisdom: a mysterious, a hidden wisdom. God planned it before all ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew the mystery; if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. Of this wisdom it is written:

   “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard,
   nor has it so much as dawned on man
   what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Yet God has revealed this wisdom to us through the Spirit. The Spirit scrutinizes all matters, even the deep things of God. Who, for example, knows a man’s innermost self but the man’s own spirit within him? Similarly, no one knows what lies at the depths of God but the Spirit of God.

The Spirit we have received is not the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit, helping us to recognize the gifts he has given us. We speak of these, not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, thus interpreting spiritual things in spiritual terms.

The natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God. For him, that is absurdity. He cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual way. The spiritual man, on the other hand, can appraise everything, though he himself can be appraised by no one. For, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.


SECOND READING

From the first letter to Serapion by Saint Athanasius, bishop
(Ep. 1 ad Serapionem 28-30: PG 26, 594-95. 599)

Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity

It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built, and if anyone were to lapse from it, he would no longer be a Christian either in fact or in name.

We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved. Accordingly, in the Church, one God is preached, one God who is above all things and through all things and in all things. God is above all things as Father, for he is principle and source; he is through all things through the Word; and he is in all things in the Holy Spirit.

Writing to the Corinthians about spiritual matters, Paul traces all reality back to one God, the Father, saying: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.

Even the gifts that the Spirit dispenses to individuals are given by the Father through the Word. For all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son, and so the graces given by the Son in the Spirit are true gifts of the Father. Similarly, when the Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the Father is present in the Word. This is the meaning of the text:My Father and I will come to him and make our home with him. For where the light is, there also is the radiance; and where the radiance is, there too are its power and its resplendent grace.

This is also Paul’s teaching in his second letter to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. For grace and the gift of the Trinity are given by the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Just as grace is given from the Father through the Son, so there could be no communication of the gift to us except in the Holy Spirit. But when we share in the Spirit, we possess the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Spirit himself.
THE HOLY GOSPEL

+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
16:12-15

Everything that the Father has is mine; the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
   he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
   but he will speak what he hears,
   and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
   because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
   for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
   and declare it to you.”

A homily on the Gospel may be given.

The Rose of the Trinity by William


The Rose of the Trinity
Trinity Day Greetings.
Thank you, William,
The words go with the Red Roses at the altar.
....Donald.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William W...
To: Donald ...  
Sent: Saturday, 25 May 2013, 20:01
Subject: The Rose of the Trinity

Dear Father Donald,
 
If I may...
 
There is one form in nature that always speaks to me of the Trinity  - the Rose, which grows strongly from hidden depths to flower in the life of mankind: in form it represents to me the Presence of the Godhead.
 
Its scent is the pervading presence of the Holy Spirit which lingers to draw our senses to its beautyits short lived petals which fall at our feet in exquisite gentleness and draw our personal attention and attraction, petals that describe the rose to us and through which we praise and most remember it - its beauty, the human life of Our Lord, the Son of God: and then the stem, revealing its source of life, its very substance, proceeding from the root of the hidden ground of love, that is, the Father.
 
In the Eucharist a fallen petal is held in our hand - the very life of the Godhead Whom we adore in this exquisite flower before us.
 
O Heart of God hidden in the Rose!
 
... in Our Lord,
William

Saturday 25 May 2013

The Threeness of the Trinity. Fr. Edward O.P.



That the Threeness in the Divine Nature is not an abstract threeness

The Threeness of the Trinity is best remembered in John's reminiscence
of the Lord's Last Supper discourse:
that Father and Son are not two in divinity but One
to which the Spirit-Paraclete is added as Proceeding therefrom.
Look we, think we, them around ourselves
though we see them not,
only their vestiges,
whose images we unite with our revealed and instructed faith.
We believe in an unbreakable and exact continuity,
even with the shortfall in a variegated cosmic nature,
with the certainty of being enfolded
with our essentialist nature noetic and geistlich
accessible and abundantly desirable,
unitable through connaturality to our Source,
which is a Spiritual light in infinitude.
Here the Three are One inseparable yet Triadic
in whjch the Lord has full and divine knowledge of Himself,
permeating the sharpest and deepest knowledge in a human mode,
yet united as unmixed and substantially single;
knowing through the single divine nature
the Godhead of Father and Spirit with their self-knowledge.
He knew this as timelessly real and true
and himself as so divinely united.
Arius's neo-platonising rationalisation
was the echoing of material thingness as separating
with an improper overlapping.
So containing divinely everything in Godhead;
containing all created being and beings through participation,
and rejecting the imagination's productions with separateness of Persons
from a flash of geometry -
in a flash suppressed in the form of our knowing,
yet not in the reality of its single ousia (as unstufflike "stuff").
Our spiritual connatural knowing of this
is through an admission to the (to us) darkness of
what is in itself purest, spiritual light: as such metaphorical,
in the Divine essence's timeless self-knowing,
to which an occasional attrait-attraction
from the all-containing divinity encourges us onward
in discernable soul-surging
towards our material uncontainment- (not point-like) finality.
The way to and through divine darkness is a "night-like illumination"
producing a glancing grasp of "divine delights" (Ps 139,11).

Outgoing from the Persons to the Others is also
instantanious and total return to themselves,
with no trace of Arian loss -
the Trinity is self-coincident.
Yet it contains derivational processes as known,
not in the Triadic self and its selves,
but in the outgoing emanations
of spiritual and material ousia.
Nothing in the Godhead is held back against itself;
its creation responds immediately, seen in Itself, to divine willing and intentionality,
but for what is created it is responsive to willed and creative delaying.
That delay entails a return from creation
from its crowning, stewarding humanity.
The Jewish people sensed a need in all justice
to make that return to the Creative, Choosing and Protecting God
through collective Liturgy and individual prayer.
It was in part converted to the Word of God Incarnated through Mary,
but the greater part kept the primacy with articulated multiple law-giving
held as absolute, even with the prophets' repeated positing of a Messiah,
his life and dying foretold in detail and fulfilled.
John the Baptist preached the imminent fulfillment,
calling for conversion and to take the straight Way which he would show,
leading it to a new and spiritual Jerusalem,
with diamented and impregnable walls and open gates,
its inhabitants prayer-bound in sober ecstasy,
in its Temple whose light-source and the Temple are the Lamb.
John saw him, heard him in his Patmos vision:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega ...
who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty"
For him he wrote letters to the seven Churches of John's Greek-Asian mission,
filled with precise and up-to-date instruction.
Receiving the preaching and worshipping mandate,
Bishops and Priests and their successors
lead the response of humanity through the Church:
Triadic matching the Triadic origination of Triadic gifts,
as surrounding the redeeming sacrifice of the Lamb, and in the Church
recapitulating what he recapitulated on his deicidal Cross.
Eucharistically drawing out a New Creation realistically and kerygmatically
from Him as Altar, Priest, Offering and End,
for the Almighty Father and in unity with the Holy Spirit
what was accomplished once and for all at history's pivotal point
Triadically and with the Son:
"Through Him, and with Him, and in Him",
To which the whole Church associates itself with its "Amen".


Stykkishólmur
18 May 2013


Dear Fr. Edward,
Thank you.
Last week you kindly sent your lines for the Feast of Holy Trinity.
Geeetings and blessings.
Donald
domdonald.org.uk 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: edward booth ...
Sent: Saturday, 18 May 2013, 23:13
Subject:
 More lines
 Dear Donald,
 A poem for tomorrow and a poem for next Sunday!
 Blessings from 
fr Edward
 -- 
Father Edward Booth O.P.
Iceland.

St. Bede, the only Englishman to be acclaimed as Doctor of the Universal Church


Bede the Venerable
Saturday 7th Week Ordinary Time
Community MASS; Introduction by  Fr. A…
Saint Bede, whose feast we keep today, was a man of England’s largest and most notable monastery of the late 7th century at Wearmout-Jarrow.
In the century before Bede, the Faith had been firmly established in England through two channels; from the north through Iona and Lindisfarne under the influence of St. Columba; from the south through the sending of Augustine to Canterbury by Pope St. Gregory.
Bede  was a devoted adherent of the Roman outlook, but he was also a sympathetic admirer of Celtic  Saints like Aidan and Cuthbert.
Often called ‘the father of English history.’ Bede is the only Englishman to be acclaimed as Doctor of the Universal Church


MAGNIFICAT com
SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE
The Humility with which to Accept the Kingdom of God
It also sometimes happens that we seek things entirely related to salvation with our eager petitions and devoted actions, and yet we do not immediately obtain what we ask. The result of our petition is postponed to some future time, as when we daily ask the Father on bended knees, saying, your kingdom come, and nevertheless we are not going to receive the kingdom as soon as our prayer is finished, but at the proper time. It is a fact that this is often done with benevolent foresight by our maker, so that the desires [inspired by] our devotion may increase by deferment. When they have advanced more and more by daily growth, at length they embrace perfectly the joys they are seeking.
In this respect we should note that when we pray for those who sin, although we are unable to obtain our request for their salvation, still we are not in the least deprived of the fruit of our petition. Even though they do not deserve to be saved, we will nevertheless be rewarded for the love which we expend on them. And so in such a petition there will be fulfilled for us the promise of the Lord who said, "If you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give [it] to you." We must see that he did not simply say, "He will give [itl" but 'He will give [itl" he says, "to you." Even if he will not give [what we ask for] to those on whose behalf we ask, nevertheless when we mercifully intercede for the lapses of others, he will grant us a reward for our generosity.
Saint Bede the Venerable (+735) was an English Benedictine monk, a biblical scholar, and the first English historian.


Friday 24 May 2013

And I will show you a still more excellent way. 1 Cor 12:31

Scottish Saints: Margaret, Giles, David
Special prayers during these days; for 'the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland').

Saint of the day: 24th May

Saint David of Scotland

Scotland's greatest king was the sixth and youngest son of St Margaret of Scotland and Malcolm III, born in 1085. He married Matilda daughter of Waldef, the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northampton and Huntingd on which gave him a claim to the earldom Northumberland.

For many years he waged a long and unsuccessful war against England, but after being crowned king of Scotland in 1124, around the age of 40, he devoted his life to peaceful activities and became known as a kind, just and liberal king.

Historians say he was responsible for making Scotland into a modern nation, by reforming the legal system and public administration and encouraging trade and the foundation of towns. He also reformed the Scottish church, establishing a system of dioceses. Under his rule many monasteries, hospitals and almshouses were founded.

David prayed the Divine Office daily, received Communion each week and gave generous alms to the poor - often in person as his mother had done.

He died on this day in 1153 and was buried at Dunfermline. His shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage until the Reformation. One of the patron saints of Scotland, many churches are named after him.


Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Our Calendar today has Saint David of Scotland.
St. David was a friend of St. Aelred of Rievaux, and it so happens that the Night Office second reading is by Aelred.
The commentary  beautifully add light to the very favoured I Corinthians’  13th chapter.
The Friday Collect of Lauds has the embrace of the thought in prayer.
Night Office.
Friday (1)
“God of strength,
You light of hope in the heart of your Church.
Free your children from fear,
Strength them when evil threatens,
Make them more humble and more confident
On this day,
Which in your love you have prepared,
In Jesus, our Lord”.

Friday
First Reading     1 Corintians 12:31 – 13:13

Second  Reading
From The Mirror of Charity by Saint Aelred of Rievaulx

The Lord's yoke is easy; the Lord's burden is light. For what can be more agreeable, what more delightful than to find that by renouncing the world we have been raised above it? As we stand on the lofty height of a clear conscience, we have the whole world under our feet. When insults have no effect on us, when persecutions and penalties have no terror for us, when prosperity or adversity has no influence on us, when friend and foe are viewed in the same light, when we follow the example of him who makes his sun rise on the wicked and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust alike, do we not come close to sharing the serenity of God? All such dispositions spring from charity and charity alone, in which is true peace and contentment; for it is the Lord's yoke, and if we follow his call to bear it our souls will find rest, because his yoke is easy and his burden light.

Charity is patient and kind, it is not jealous or boastful, it is not conceited or rude. The other virtues are to us as a carriage bearing the weary traveler, as provisions fortifying the wayfarer, as a lamp for those in darkness, or as arms for combatants. But charity, although it must be present in all the other virtues, is yet in a special way rest for the weary, shelter for the traveller, fullness of light for one who arrives, and a glorious crown for the victor.

For what is faith but the carriage that bears us to our native land? What is hope but the food we take for our journey through life's hardships? And those other virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice-what are they but the weapons given us for the struggle? But when death has been swallowed up by that perfection of charity which is achieved in the vision of God there will be no more faith, because faith was the preparation for that vision, and there will be no need to believe what we see and love. And when we embrace God with the arms of our charity, there will be no more hope, for there will be nothing left to hope for. And as for the other virtues, temperance is our weapon against lust, pru­dence against error, fortitude against adversity, justice against injustice. But in charity there is also perfect chastity, and so no lust for temperance to combat; in charity there is the fullness of knowledge, and so no error for prudence to guard against; in charity there is true blessedness, and so no adversity for fortitude to overcome; in charity all is peace, and so there is no injustice for justice to withstand.
Faith is not even a virtue unless it is expressed by love; nor is hope unless it loves what it hopes for. And if we look more closely, do we not see that temperance is only love that no pleasure can seduce; that prudence is only love that no error can mislead; that fortitude is only love courageously enduring adversity, and that justice is only impartial love mitigating the injustices of this life? Charity therefore begins with faith, is exercised through the other virtues, but achieves perfection in itself.

Response   1 Jn 4:16.7



Pentecost photos at Mount Sion Jerusalem

Latest news sent about Bethlehem, http://www.obethlehem.com/  

Hi, Jo,  
Model of Latroun in Mine Israel, Theme Park
In the distance, between monk groups, is view of the actual Latroun Abbey
                                 
Thanks for the photos. 
I'll add captions; lovely views.
Correct the pictures if not accurate.
Donald.
domdonald.org.uk 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jo Mc...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Friday, 24 May 2013, 6:37
Subject: photos

Dear Don,
Here are some photos of Pentecost Sunday. 
Hope they come. 
I'm just off to Latroun.
love, jo  fmm  

Dormition crypt, sculpture of Mary's deathbed, made of ivory and cherry wood

Mt. Sion The Cenacle

Statue of (St.) King David on Mount Zion, Jerusalem.

Monastery of St. Francis Ad Coenaculum

The Dormition Church - The Virgin and Child Mosaic.








Thursday 23 May 2013

P E N T E C O S T S U N D A Y - 19 May 2013 - Sr. Jo's Sabbatical

Apple blossoms

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Sr. Jo ...
To: Donald ....
Sent: Thursday, 23 May 2013, 14:05
Subject: Pentecost Sunday

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
    
                             P E N T E C O S T    S U N D A Y   -  19 May  2013 
One of the Srs. and I set off for Mount Sion, destination the CHURCH of the DORMITION
for the Solemn High Mass at 10am. The upper church was filled to capacity when the Patriarch and about thirty priests processed in to the sound of joyful music.All the main parts were sung in Latin and some of the hymns in Arabic. After the homily, the Patriarch
confirmed six teenagers, boys and girls. What a privilege and joy for those young people, (and their families) to be confirmed on Mt.Sion where the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and Mary! They participated in the readings and intercessary prayers. It was a beautiful, prayerful Liturgy from beginning to end. 

The clergy were solemnly processing out when suddenly showers of pink petals descended from the high dome above them causing the seriousness to be transformed into surprised smiles! The spirit of joy took over as the church became alive with talk and laughter while children, and even adults, scrambled to  collect the pink petals. The joyful atmosphere continued outside in the courtyard where refreshments were served to all.My companion hadn't seen the crypt so I brought her down to show her Our Lady "in dormition" and all the other striking mosaics.
The afternoon saw us back on Mt.Sion but,this time, in the  C E N A C L E  for Solemn Vespers led by the O.F.M. Custos and a large number of his Brothers. A few "early birds" had found ledges to sit on but for the rest, it was standing room only. I found a good breathing space half behind the exit door and with a wall at my back! The Franciscans processed in, weaving through the crowds to the centre. We had booklets and all was chanted in Latin so everyone joined in and the volume was powerful. Holding a lighted candle and the booklet and turning the pages took quite a bit of juggling as well as avoiding the pilgrims who kept squeezing past from the entrance door to the exit!  Before the Reading, the main celebrants processed up to the little room which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit for some incensing and prayer before processing back down again. The whole ceremony was very prayerful, in spite of the many distractions. As the O.F.M's processed out, I felt that the Lord was surely pleased with our enthusiastic prayer and song in praise and thanksgiving for the fulfilment of His Life-giving promise:
"I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, Who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit Who reveals the truth about God. When that day comes, you will know that I am in My Father, and that you are in Me and I am in you."    Jn. 14:16,20
Praise be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Alleluia, Alleluia!
The love of the Trinity be with each one,
Jo.  fmm

 + + + + + + + + + + +


CenacleMount Zion, Jerusalem - all you have to see in the - YouTube

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFSPMNUBBcA

Jul 26, 2012 - Uploaded by Zahi Shaked
Cenacle, Mount Zion, Jerusalem - all you have to see in the ...City of David," an area of Jerusalem ...