Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (Ep. ad Gallam viduam 3-5: CCL 91,198-199), ... do not have an undifferentiated sadness over the death of your husband

Attending the congregation of the Mass, a widow is grieving the recent death of her husband.      

The thoughts of St. Fulgentius in the Night Office, expressed well the prayer, 'not think of him (husband) as lost but as sent on ahead of you. You should not think of his youth as prematurely cut off but rather see him confirmed in an endless eternity. To the faithful souls it is said:  "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's."

 Augustin Press Edition 1999

TWO YEAR LECTIONARY

PATRISTIC VIGILS READINGS

ORDINARY TIME

WEEKS 1 to 17 : YEAR II

TUESDAY, SIXTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II

A READING FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF ST PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS

(A holy life and the hope of resurrection: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18)

  

Alternative Reading

From a letter by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (Ep. ad Gallam viduam 3-5:

CCL 91,198-199)

Sent on ahead of you

So, if we hold on to the true faith, if we harbor no doubts about the words of God, if we, with most certain hope, progress toward the future life, if we love God and neighbor worthily, if we do not await a vainglory from human beings but the true glory of the Christian name from God, we must not like the unbelievers have any sadness concerning the faithful departed and, to speak more precisely, our people who have fallen asleep. There must remain in our heart a distinction between a salutary and a harmful sadness

by which it comes about that a spirit, given over to eternal things, does not collapse because of the loss of temporal solace and assumes a salutary sadness concerning these things in which it considers that it did either something less or differently than it should have.

So Paul teaches that each type of sadness is different no less in deed than in word. Finally, he shows that in one there is progress toward salvation but in the other an ending in death, saying, "For godly sorrow produces a salutary repentance without regret but worldly sorrow produces death."

Therefore, do not have an undifferentiated sadness over the death of your husband beyond the way of the Christian faith. You should not think of him as lost but as sent on ahead of you. You should not think of his youth as prematurely cut off but rather see him confirmed in an endless eternity. To the faithful souls it is said:

"Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's."  (Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe). 

Far be it from us, agreeing with the errors of the unbelievers, to think or to say that" A black day has carried off and plunged in bitter death" that young Christian man. For black day carries off those who, according to the saying of the Apostle John, "are in darkness and walk in darkness and do not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded their eyes." Black day has carried off those whom the true light itself vehemently rebukes:

"This is the verdict," he says, "that the light came into the world but people preferred darkness to light because their works were evil." Such are they who live in such a way that when they hear the voice of the Son of God, they are called forth, not to life, but to judgment, as the Lord says, "The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation." And since neither a short nor a long life can avail these people, consequently in the book of Wisdom it is said of such people:

"Even if they live long, they will be held of no account and, finally, their old age will be without honor. If they die young, they will have no hope and no consolation on the day of judgment."

Responsory      Ps 41:1; Gal 6:2

Blessed are those who are concerned for the poor and the weak;

+ the Lord will save them in time of trouble 

Rublev's Icon of the Trinity

On Friday, 14 February 2014, 22:17, Donald ... wrote:

 Dear William, 

Late evening, and simply sent some drafting from the Rublev Trinity pasture.

God bless.

Donald  

 

Google surfing - About 218,000 results  (0.27 seconds)

Knowing the mass of the Rublev ‘Trinity’ resources or Websites, we can only dip into the digital ocean.

1. English Anglican Ann Persson is the author of The Circle of Love:  Praying with Rublev's Icon of the Trinity 
Ann Persson’s lecture at St. Paul’s retells of her experience of viewing the Rublev Icon in Russia. She learned to know a Icon maker, a Sister in Oxford. And they both made the ‘pilgrimage’ to Rublev in Moscow.  Some reflections echo Henri Nouwen

 

2. Enjoy the Hospitality of the Trinity (with Rublev’s Icon)    

 Bill Gaultiere    www.soulshepherds.org

Henri Nouwen’s Meditation on Rublev’s Icon

What a joy it is for us to be drawn into this circle of divine love portrayed in Rublev’s icon!  In the words of Henri Nouwen:

The more we look at this holy image with the eyes of faith, the more we come to realize that it is painted not as a lovely decoration for a convent church, nor as a helpful explanation of a difficult doctrine, but as a holy place to enter and stay within.

As we place ourselves in front of the icon in prayer, we come to experience a gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation that is taking place among the three divine angels and to join them around the table.  The movement from the Father toward the Son and the movement of both Son and Spirit toward the Father become a movement in which the one who prays is lifted up and held secure…

 

... We come to see with our inner eyes that all engagements in this world can bear fruit only when they take place within this divine circle… the house of perfect love (Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons, p. 20-22).

Praying to the Lord before Rublev’s icon painting can help us to join Abraham in hosting the Lord in our hearts.  As we do we discover that the Father, Son, and Spirit were already inviting us to join in their circle of love! “We love because He first loved us”  (1 John 4:19).

When we participate in “The Hospitality of Abraham” to the Lord we discover that really we are responding to “The Hospitality of the Trinity.”

 3. Finding this reference to Henri Nouwen, after lunch I checked the library shelf. There is the well copy of ‘Behold The Beauty of the Lord – Praying with Icons’, right into our lectio alley.  

 

4. 4. Natan Duffy Dogmatic Enigmatics   

 http://nateduffy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-rublev-trinity-icon.html

On the Bunge book:

Extract – last paragraph

In The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty, Paul Evdokimov reads the Rublev Trinity in an extremely bizarre manner, completely out of sync with everything I had come to understand about it and seemingly contradicting some of these these obvious facts about the icon, especially in the context of the iconographical tradition. Specifically, Evdokimov identifies the central angel as the Father, rendering his reading quite incoherent, from my perspective. Which is not to disparage that text as a whole, as it is quite profound, but Bunge's The Rublev Trinity provides a richer and more accurate reading of this particular icon, substantiated by tracing the tradition that lead up to its production.

Posted by Nathan Duffy 

4.Next we investigate into the above interpretation. and the Dogmatic Enigmatics

              Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    

Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk |

domdonald.org.uk 

On Thursday, 13 February 2014, 8:18, William  ... wrote:

Dear Father Donald,

I love that icon, and Wiki offers an interesting comment on its composition:

"The only work authenticated as entirely his [Rublev] is the icon of the Trinity, ca. 1410, currently in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. It is based on an earlier icon known as the "Hospitality of Abraham" (illustrating Genesis 18). Rublev removed the figures of Abraham and Sarah from the scene, and through a subtle use of composition and symbolism changed the subject to focus on the Mystery of the Trinity. In Rublev's art two traditions are combined: the highest asceticism and the classic harmony of Byzantine mannerism. The characters of his paintings are always peaceful and calm. After some time his art came to be perceived as the ideal of Church painting and of Orthodox iconography."

I wonder what else you will discover!

In the love of Our Lord,

William

From: Fr Donald ...
To: William.....
Sent: Thursday, 13 February 2014, 5:42
Subject: [Dom Donald's Blog] Vigils Doxology

Night Office 

Rublev icon, TRINITY

Doxology of Hymn of Thursday B Glory be to God, 
Father, Son and Dove, 
Three and One in Love, 
now and evermore. 

I had forgotten where the  Icon in the monastery. 

Yesterday there it was on one of the pillars in the cloister. opposite the Pieta alcove.   Above is the photo taken there. And there must be some commentary crying out for, e.g., the nearest YouTube:  

  http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/solemnity-of-holy-trinity-2012.html   -- Posted By Fr Donald to Dom Donald's Blog on 2/13/2014 05:42:00 am

Fr. Charles Dumont ocso - the Reading before Compline in community Chapter

At the Reading before Compline in community Chapter continues the Biography of  Fr. Charles Dumont ocso.
I am enjoying the 'life' of Fr. Charles immensely.
A couple of  quotations in the most recent pages, above.

During the winter of 1982-1983 Fr. Charles continued to go to Soleilmont regularly for confessions and a talk or two to the community, and from time to time went for ministry to La Paix in Chimay or to the Bernardine nuns in Charleville, but otherwise his activity was limited by a recurrence of his illness. On April 13 he underwent surgery at Saint Luke Hospital. Before long, however, it became evident that this last operation had not had the desired result. The two specialists who had been treating him decided that a radical operation was necessary. So it was that in the middle of August he was operated on for a definitive ablation of the ileum.

When this eight-hour operation was all over and he was coming to the first thing he heard was a nurse's voice urging him to "Breathe! Breathe!" After having successfully gone through this extreme ordeal, the doctors did not want to lose Fr. Charles simply because it didn't occur to him to breathe! But let the pa­tient tell his story:

After the operation, while I was still under the effects of the anaesthesia I felt so happy that I refused to make the effort that the nurse was asking of me, that is, to breathe! Finally she said: "If you don't breathe, you are going to die" ... I was praying to the Blessed Virgin, with the Hail

Mary in Greek!: χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία,. I hadn't recited it in the original for more than twenty years. But there was the word "fruit" -καρπὸς- that I couldn't think of. And when I decided to breathe and to live, to the surprise of the nurse and doctor I cried out triumphantly: καρπὸς;!, which I had to explain. I believe that the Blessed Virgin was somehow present (Sept. '83).       [pp. 96-97]  (Luk 1:42)

from page 101

For him, Saint Bernard’s Sermons on the Song of Songs were the key to the whole Cistercian genius, and he would have liked to have seen the General Chapter take more interest in the Cistercian Fathers' teaching.

Even if Fr. Charles was at last freed of his most important health problem, he continued to be plagued by other ills. The next year he underwent two operations: one in July for kidney stones and the other, in October, for prostate problems. Between the two operations he went to Caldey to rest. Like most monas­teries, Caldey had changed considerably during the post-Vatican II period. Perched high on a cliff one day, he thought back over the years when he taught the juniors on Caldey Island, and wrote:

"Here I find nothing of the life I knew in the '50s. Only the sea and the rocks are the same. Since then, generations of sea gulls have come and gone. And what remains of the young monk of those days? Maybe a little of this desire for the absolute and eternity which I sometimes go to find at the edge of the waves" (5.26.86).

When Father Charles got back to Scourmont he learned that the book Prieres aux quaire temps had just come off the press."

Note 29. More than ten years later, Fr. Charles saw a letter in The Tablet by a British lady who had had an analogous experience during which she felt the Blessed Virgin's presence. Fr. Charles wrote to her and they compared notes, so to speak.

  

http://nunraw.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/charles-dumont-scourmont-abbey.html

Scourmont Abbey:
see the Abbot's Chapter and Homily word, http://www.scourmont.be/Armand/arm-fra.htm

Writings of Fr. Charles. 
Here are three of his more recent publications:

Charles Dumont Monk-Poet
A Spiritual Biography

Elizabeth Connor OCSO; Foreword by Mark A. Scott OCSO
Introduced to the spiritual theology of the twelfth-century Cistercian Fathers when he entered the abbey of Scourmont, Belgium, Charles Dumont shared his ever deepening knowledge as editor of the Order's French-language journal,Collectanea Cisterciensia, in articles and translations of texts, and in lectures in Europe and North and South America. He has also written and published poetry, combining his love of language with his love of the Fathers and their language.

Elizabeth Connor earned an M.A. in Classics at the John Hopkins University before entering the Abbaye de Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil in Québec, where she has served as formation director and prioress.
ISBN: 978-0-87907-040-3

Vigils Doxology

Night Office

Rublev icon, TRINITY

Doxology of Hymn of Thursday B

Glory be to God,

Father, Son and Dove,

Three and One in Love,

now and evermore.



I had forgotten where the  Icon in the monastery and yesterday there was on one of the pillars in the cloister. Above is the photo taken there.
And there must be some commentary crying out for.
The nearest YouTube:
  http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/solemnity-of-holy-trinity-2012.html  

Friday, 12 February - Blessed Humbeline sister of st Bernard 12 Feb.

Bl. Humbeline, 12 February

Friday, 12 February 2011

Blessed Humbeline sister of st Bernard 12 Feb.

Blessed Humbeline. February 12 Menology: Bl Humbeline St Bernard's only sister.  Married to a nobleman, Guy de Marcy, she enjoyed the life of a noble lady in the world, but a visit to her brothers at Clairvaux brought about a great change in her.  She began to lead a life of piety, and two years later entered the Benedictine convent of Jully.  In 1130 she became superior.  She died on August 21, probably 1141, in the presence of Bernard, Andrew and Nivard.  MBS, p. 52      A Reading about Blessed Humbeline. Humbeline was the only sister of St Bernard. She was born the year after him and they were always very close to each other. Like Bernard she was naturally well-endowed. When her brothers and father joined Citeaux in 1113, she came into a good part of their estates. And she married Guy de Marcy, a rich nobleman of the house of Lorraine. In the happiness of the first years of her marriage Humbeline was very popular among the nobility of Burgundy. She gave herself to the fascinating intellectual and social fashions of her century -the age of 'courtly love'; this was the clever and entertaining society in which women were beginning to play an important part. One day she decided to visit her brothers at Citeaux. At first St Bernard refused to see her, when he saw the rich splendour of her cavalcade and the vanity of her life. As she guessed what it was that had upset him, she sent word that she would do as he said if he came out to see her. After speaking with Bernard she left the monastery chastened. From then on she turned away from the pursuit of empty pleasures and sought her happiness in the things of God. She spent much time looking after the poor, the sick and the needy. After several years Humbeline began to think of the cloister. Eventually, with her husband's consent, she entered the Benedictine convent near Troyes. Humbeline's life in the convent was characterized by great generosity. And, in a Iife of unusual fasting and other physical austerities, she continued to live in the spirit of her conversion. When the abbess, who was her sister-in-law, left to found another convent near Dijon, Humbeline was appointed in her place. The convent very soon began to flourish under Humbeline's leadership and, within two or three years, twelve new foundations were made. One of these, the convent of Tart, later became the first house of Cistercian nuns. As Humbeline approached her death her brothers were called to her bedside. And as she lay dying she spoke of the love that existed between all the members of her family and which had helped to sanctify them all. We see here the fundamental sanity of the early Cistercians whose holiness consisted not in crushing and exterminating natural affection but in elevating and sublimating it. What they renounced was the selfishness in that affection. They gave their whole nature, with all of its powers and gifts, to God .and thev served him in those among whom he had placed them. It is no wonder then that Humbeline died with the words of the psalmist on her lips: 'I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord.' This recalls the words of the Canticle: 'Draw me, and we shall run after you ... '. When God takes someone to himself he never draws that one person alone. With the individuals who die God draws all those who have been bound to them with special ties of love in this world; they wi II be united with them in a particularly intimate way in the next. Adapted from Modern Biographical Sketches of Cist. Blesseds and Saints. Gethsemanl, 1954, Book IV, pp. 52-56, and Butler's Lives of the Saints, August, p 265.

February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick

February 11
Our Lady of Lourdes

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”
During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.
Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.

Bernadette Soubirous
 Saint Bernadette of Lourdes

 

Comment:

Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters. There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film The Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

Quote:

“Lo! Mary is exempt from stain of sin, Proclaims the Pontiff high; And earth applauding celebrates with joy Her triumph, far and high. Unto a lowly timid maid she shows Her form in beauty fair, And the Immaculate Conception truth Her sacred lips declare.” (Unattributed hymn from the Roman Breviary)

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/Saint.aspx?id=1288 

Saint Scholastic 10 February. Sr. Concordia died 5th Feb 2014

Saint Scholastica

Monday, 10 February, Benedictines celebrate the admirable life of Saint Scholastica of Nursia. Her twin brother, Saint Benedict, is the Patriarch of Western Monasticism.

"Whether or not the great Patriarch established a nunnery, it is certain that in a short time he was looked upon as a guide and father to the many convents already existing. His rule was almost universally adopted by them, and with it the title Abbess came into general use to designate the superior of a convent of nuns" (Cath. Encyclopedia).

Pope Saint Gregory, in Chapter 33 of Book II of his Dialogues, tells the story of the last meeting between the two siblings. He uses it to teach a lesson in the efficacy of prayer and the primacy of love. The visit Benedict made to his sister suggests that their monasteries were not far distant. Such has remained the pattern, and many Brother/Sister monasteries are geographically close. Through collaboration in the apostolate and in prayer, men and women Benedictines support each other in fidelity to the Holy Rule.

In the next chapter of the Dialogues, Gregory recounts how three days later Benedict, "lifting up his eyes to heaven, beheld the soul of his sister that had departed her body ascend into heaven in the likeness of a dove." He gave orders that they both should be buried at Monte Cassino. Saint Benedict was soon thereafter laid to rest beside her in the crypt of Monte Cassino Abbey. "As their souls had always been one in God while they lived, so their bodies continued together after their deaths."

  http://www.osb.org/new/current.html 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PAX

Minster Abbey Ramsgate     

Please pray for the repose of the soul of our dear 

Sister Maria Anna Concordia (Caroline) Scott OSB

who died peacefully, fortified by the Rites of the Holy Church

on the Feast of St. Agatha, 5th February 2014

in her 90th year

and the 59th year of her Monastic Profession.

SAINT BENEDICT

“Father of Europe”

Sculpted by

Sr. Concordia Scott O.S.B.

Minster Abbey  1980.

Note from Sr. Concordia, March 1980,
to Abbot at Nunraw.

The medallion on St. Benededict’s neck is the symbol for European Unity

-        - 12 stars around the cross - . 

A very happy Feastday to you and good community on 21st March

Yours in Christ

           Sr. Concordia Scott O.S.B

Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time

Fr. Raymond - Homily

Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time

"You are the light of the earth. ... -- From Today's Gospel Matthew 5: 13-16

Sun 5 yr.1

Jesus says that his followers will be a light to the world and salt for the earth.

Since we are his followers then we must consider ourselves as being this ‘light for the world’ this ‘salt for the earth’.  Certainly it would be, to say the least, a bit presumptuous of us if we just to say it of ourselves.  But it is Christ himself who says it of us and therefore it is something we must believe in; and not only is it something we must believe in, but it is something we must try our very best to live up to.  In fact it is one of the very fundamental obligations of  our Baptism.  Just as “No one lives for himself alone; no one dies for himself alone”,  so too, no one is baptized for himself alone.  The privilege of our Baptism means that we must do our best to share among our brothers and sisters in this world the wonderful light and life of grace that we have inherited.

In facing up to this tremendous responsibility it is encouraging for us to realise the power of the grace that is in us;  the tremendous power that is at work in us; the tremendous power that enables us to carry it out effectively and fruitfully.  When we look around at the world about us we could easily be dismayed.  There is so much evil at work.  Its influence seems to be so widespread and so powerful.  What can we do about it?  How can we possibly make any difference?  How can you and I be a light to the world and salt to the earth? The forces of Evil seem to have such a hold on the media, for instance; the press, the radio, television.  Unhealthy values are blared out on every side and dinned into our sight and hearing, into our minds day and night everywhere.

But here we must remember those wonderful words of St Paul:  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more”.  The face of grace is not so brazen as the face of evil; the voice of grace is not so strident as the voice of evil, but grace is none the less more powerful in many ways than they are to reach into the minds and hearts of men.  Grace and goodness are more powerful to lead them to the good than sin is to lead them to evil.  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more”. We must believe very firmly in that truth.  “Overcome evil with good” St Paul tell us, and he could not say that unless it was indeed possible to overcome evil with good; he could not say that unless Good was indeed more powerful than Evil.

The ultimate proof of this was given us on the hill of Calvary where evil thought it had triumphed over good but where , what it thought was its triumph, was in fact its own undoing.   

Fr. Raymond

   

 

  

Francis Thompson - The Passion of Mary. Saturday Mass

8th February 2014

Saturday Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Communion Hymn riveted my thoughts, and I re-read the poetry again. 
Only at the top, I glanced to the name of the composer. 
The life of Francis Thompson comes alight again.

Francis Thompson poem  The Passion of Mary

Oh Lady Mary, thy bright crown
Is no mere crown of majesty;
For with the reflex of His own
Resplendent thorns Christ circled thee.

                * * *

The red rose of this Passion-tide
Doth take a deeper hue from thee,
In the five wounds of Jesus dyed,
And in thy bleeding thoughts, Mary!

                  * * *

The soldier struck a triple stroke,
That smote thy Jesus on the tree:
He broke the Heart of Hearts, and broke
The Saint's and Mother's hearts in thee.

                     * * *

Thy Son went up the angels' ways,
His passion ended; but, ah me!
Thou found'st the road of further days
A longer way of Calvary:

                     * * *

On the hard cross of hope deferred
Thou hung'st in loving agony,
Until the mortal-dreaded word
Which chills our mirth, spake mirth to thee.

                        * * *

The angel Death from this cold tomb
Of life did roll the stone away;
And He thou barest in thy womb
Caught thee at last into the day,
Before the living throne of Whom
The Lights of Heaven burning pray.

                           * * *

Francis Thompson:

(author of 'The Hound of Heaven')

In February 1887, Wilfrid Meynell, the editor of Merry England a Catholic literary monthly magazine, received some untidy manuscripts, accompanied by the following covering letter: "In enclosing the accompanying article for your inspection, I must ask pardon for the soiled state of the manuscript. It is due, not to slovenliness, but to the strange places and circumstances under which it has been written".

Meynell must have wondered what sort of a man wrote the enclosed contents, including the moving poem, "The Passion of Mary". What were the "strange places and circumstances" under which these were written? All attempts to trace the author failed, until Thompson noticed one of his poems had been published in Merry England. Meynell's hope that the author would, in response to the publication, reveal himself, proved successful. One day in the spring of 1888, a man in his early 30s in ragged clothes and broken shoes and looking aged and ill - largely due to his drug addiction - presented himself at Meynell's office and introduced himself as Francis Thompson. (ad2000.com)   

Hound of Heaven at heals