Christ says, He who has seen me has seen the Father. St. Cyril of Alexandria

Night Office, Patristic Lectionary,  Augustine Press 1999

OT Trinity Rublev

Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year II Monday

First Reading

2 Corinthians 1:15-2:11 

Responsory 2 Cor 1:21-22; Dt 5:2.4

God firmly establishes us in Christ. He anointed and sealed us,

+ and as his pledge to us he sent his Spirit to dwell in our hearts.

V. The Lord our God made a covenant with us and spoke to us face

to face. +And as his ...  

Second Reading

From a commentary by Saint Cyril of Alexandria (In Ep. [] ad Corinthios: PG 74,921-923)

Christ is God by nature and in truth

God the Father makes us firm in Christ and establishes in all souls a faith that is correct and unshakable in holding that Christ is God by nature and in truth. That is so even if he was visibly in a form like ours, being born from a woman according to human nature and yet being above every created thing. At any rate, when Peter confessed his faith, saying clearly that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ our Lord replied himself, saying, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona.for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. For since the mystery is an enormous one, it has reasonable need of the revelation which is from above, from the Father.

It is God, therefore, who makes us firm in Christ, God who seals and anoints us and gives the Spirit as the guarantee, so that it might not be obscure for us, and derived from these things around us, that the Son is not "yes" and "no" but, rather, is truly God and that the "yes" to all good things is in him. God is said to seal and to anoint us, giving the guarantee of the Spirit, so that Christ might be the one who fulfils these things in us, not in a servile way nor as one anointing and sealing us with an alien spirit, but with the Spirit which is his own and the Father's. For the Holy Spirit is in both Father and Son by means of the identity of nature, not as something shared between them but rather as coming forth from the Father through the Son to the created universe. Christ breathed on the holy apostles and said Receive the Holy Spirit, and it is through him and in him that we have received the impress of the divine and intelligible image. For the divine apostle himself said in the letter to the Galatians My children, with whom I am again suffering labour pains until such time as Christ is formed in you. Now if we are conformed to Christ, and if we are enriched by the divine image within us, then Christ himself is the image of God the Father, and his exact resemblance, and we are called to his likeness, not by means of a participation in holiness but rather in nature and essence.

For it is not unreasonable that the one who, by nature, is related to the true God by nature and who is generated from his substance should himself be God. He has been sealed by God the Father, as John the wise says, He who receives his witness has put his seal to the fact that God is true. But he has not been sealed in the same way as we have been, for the Father writes to the effect that he himself is wholly in the nature of the Son, and substantially intimates such. Thus Christ says, He who has seen me has seen the Father.

Cyril of Alexandria (d.444) succeeded his uncle Theophilus as patriarch in 412. Until 428 the pen of this brilliant theologian was employed in exegesis and polemics against the Arians; after that date it was devoted almost entirely to refuting the Nestorian heresy. The teaching of Nestorius was condemned in 431 by the Council of Ephesus at which Cyril presided, and Mary's title, Mother of God, was solemnly recognized. The incarna­tion is central to Cyril's theology. Only if Christ is consubstantial with the Father and with us can he save us, for the meeting ground between God and ourselves is the flesh of Christ Through our kinship with Christ, the Word made flesh, we become children of God, and share in the filial relation of the Son with the Father.

Sermon of the Mount February 23, 2014 Homily Fr. Aelred

23/02/2014

7th Sunday (A)

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt. 5:48

Homily; Fr. Aelred

(1)Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew continues with me the Sermon of the Mount. In the centre of the Sermon of the Mount stands the Lord’s Prayer in whose centre again the petition for the coming of the Kingdom

(2) Jesus contemporaries knew that God’s kingly rule is eternal and stretches out over the wide world. Although God’s sovereignty is fully acknowledged only in Israel, the near day is near when God will break into history to manifest Himself as the ruler of all, to free his people from bondage, and to subject all nations to his holy will. The prophets had announced a coming Kingdom of God, but Jesus brought the Kingdom of God

…..

(6)Today’s passage concludes with the command ‘You must be perfect’ just as ‘your heavenly Father ‘is perfect’. The word ‘perfect here does not denote a moral or other perfection which we are not really capable of. Seen in the light of its OT background it means rather ‘whole-hearted in, sincere, undivided. As in Deuteronomy says, ‘You shall be whole-hearted in your service of the Lord your God’. It is related to the ‘pure of heart who shall see God’ of the Beatitudes, denoting consistency as well as total commitment and generosity. It is not an optional ‘counsel’ for those who already keep the commandments, but a must for those who want to enter the kingdom.

THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER FEAST Saturday, 22 February 2014

THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER
FEAST

BENEDICT XVI

ARNOLFO_DI_CAMBIO
The_Statue_Of_Saint_Peter

 "On this rock I will build my Church'

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, the Latin-rite liturgy celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. This is a very ancient tradition, proven to have existed in Rome since the fourth century. On it we give thanks to God for the mission he entrusted to the Apostle Peter and his Successors.

"Cathedra" literally means the established seat of the Bishop, placed in the mother church of a diocese which for this reason is known as a "cathedral"; it is the symbol of the Bishop's authority and in particular, of his "magisterium", that is, the evangelical teaching which, as a successor of the Apostles, he is called to safeguard and to transmit to the Christian Community.

When a Bishop takes possession of the particular Church that has been entrusted to him, wearing his mitre and holding the pastoral staff, he sits on the cathedra. From this seat, as teacher and pastor, he will guide the journey of the faithful in faith, hope and charity.

So what was the "Chair" of St Peter? Chosen by Christ as the "rock" on which to build the Church (cf. Mt 16: 18), he began his ministry in Jerusalem, after the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost. The Church's first "seat" was the Upper Room, and it is likely that a special place was reserved for Simon Peter in that room where Mary, Mother of Jesus, also prayed with the disciples.

Subsequently, the See of Peter was Antioch, a city located on the Oronte River in Syria, today Turkey, which at the time was the third metropolis of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria in Egypt. Peter was the first Bishop of that city, which was evangelized by Barnabas and Paul, where "the disciples were for the first time called Christians" (Acts 11: 26), and consequently where our name "Christians" came into being. In fact, the Roman Martyrology, prior to the reform of the calendar, also established a specific celebration of the Chair of Peter in Antioch.

From there, Providence led Peter to Rome. Therefore, we have the journey from Jerusalem, the newly born Church, to Antioch, the first centre of the Church formed from pagans and also still united with the Church that came from the Jews. Then Peter went to Rome, the centre of the Empire, the symbol of the "Orbis" - the "Urbs", which expresses "Orbis", the earth, where he ended his race at the service of the Gospel with martyrdom.

So it is that the See of Rome, which had received the greatest of honours, also has the honour that Christ entrusted to Peter of being at the service of all the particular Churches for the edification and unity of the entire People of God.

The See of Rome, after St Peter's travels, thus came to be recognized as the See of the Successor of Peter, and its Bishop's "cathedra" represented the mission entrusted to him by Christ to tend his entire flock.

This is testified by the most ancient Fathers of the Church, such as, for example, St Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, but who came from Asia Minor, who in his treatise Adversus Haereses, describes the Church of Rome as the "greatest and most ancient, known by all... founded and established in Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul"; and he added:  "The universal Church, that is, the faithful everywhere, must be in agreement with this Church because of her outstanding superiority" (III, 3, 2-3).

Tertullian, a little later, said for his part:  "How blessed is the Church of Rome, on which the Apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood!" (De Praescriptione Hereticorum, 36).
Consequently, the Chair of the Bishop of Rome represents not only his service to the Roman community but also his mission as guide of the entire People of God.

Celebrating the "Chair" of Peter, therefore, as we are doing today, means attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather his whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation.

Among the numerous testimonies of the Fathers, I would like to quote St Jerome's. It is an extract from one of his letters, addressed to the Bishop of Rome. It is especially interesting precisely because it makes an explicit reference to the "Chair" of Peter, presenting it as a safe harbour of truth and peace.

This is what Jerome wrote:  "I decided to consult the Chair of Peter, where that faith is found exalted by the lips of an Apostle; I now come to ask for nourishment for my soul there, where once I received the garment of Christ. I follow no leader save Christ, so I enter into communion with your beatitude, that is, with the Chair of Peter, for this I know is the rock upon which the Church is built" (cf. Le lettere I, 15, 1-2).

(General Audience - Wednesday, 22 February 2006 )

- Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana   http://dailygospel.org/  

St. Peter Damian and Saint Raphael Arnaiz

  

Friday, 21 February 2014

Friday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time

Saint(s) of the day : St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1007-1072) 

See commentary below or click here

Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron : "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 8:34-38.9:1.

Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, «Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Commentary of the day : 

Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a Spanish Trappist monk 

Spiritual writings 07/04/1938 (trans. Mairin Mitchell) 

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me"

What joy to live in the Cross of Christ! Who could complain of suffering? Only the insensate man who does not adore the Passion of Christ, the Cross of Christ, the Heart of Christ, can in his own griefs, give way to despair... How good it is to live united with the Cross of Christ. 

Christ Jesus... teach me that truth which consists in rejoicing in scorn, injury, degradation; teach me to suffer with that humble, silent joy of the saints; teach me to be gentle towards those who don't love me or who despise me; teach me that truth which from the mound of Calvary you reveal to the whole world. 

But I know: a very gentle voice within me explains it all; I feel something in me which comes from you and which I don't know how to put into words; so much mystery is revealed that man cannot apprehend it. I, Lord, in my way, do understand it. It is love. In that is everything. I know it, Lord, nothing more is needed, nothing more, it is love! Who shall describe the love of Christ? Let men, creatures, and all things, keep silent, so that we may hear in the stillness the whisperings of love, meek, patient, immense, infinite, which from the Cross Jesus offers us with his arms open. The world, mad, doesn't listen.

St. Augustine 'There is another, inner prayer without ceasing. It is the desire which consists in longing.'

Patristic Lectionary.
"longing". 12 occurrences of St. Augustine's passage in this Reading.

 Augustin Press Edition 1999

TWO YEAR LECTIONARY

PATRISTIC VIGILS READINGS

ORDINARY TIME

WEEKS 1 to 17 : YEAR II

WEDNESDAY, 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  5:1-28)

 First Reading

1 Thessalonians 5:1-28

Responsory   1 Thes 5:9; Col 1:13

God has not destined us to endure his wrath but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, t who died for us, so that we might live in him.

V. God rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom 

 

Alternative Reading

From a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo (Enarr. il'l Ps. 37, 14: CCL 38, 391-392)

Inner prayer without ceasing

Your desire is your prayer. And if your desire is unending, so is your prayer unending. For it was not without good reason that the apostle spoke: Pray without ceasing. We are hardly expected to go down on our knees without a break, are we, or to prostrate ourselves, or raise our hands? Is this really what he means by saying: Pray without ceasing? If we are saying that this is how we are to pray, I think it is frankly impossible to do so without ceasing.

There is another, inner prayer without ceasing. It is the desire which consists in longing. Whatever else you do, if you long for that sabbath, you never cease praying. H you do not want to cease praying, do not cease longing. Your unending stream of longing is your unending stream of speech. H you cease loving, you will cease speaking. Who are those who have ceased speaking? Those of whom it is said: Because there is an abundance of iniquity, the love of many shall grow cold. The cooling-off of love is the silence of the heart. The leaping flames of love are the shouting of the heart. H love lasts for ever, then you are always shouting. If you are always shouting, you are always longing. If you are longing, then you are recollecting the future rest. And you ought to understand before whom the roaring of your heart takes place.

Consider now what sort of longing it ought to be which is before the eyes of God. Should it really be a longing for the death of our enemy? This is the sort of thing people think they are right to ask for. Indeed sometimes we do pray for the thing we ought not to. Let us have a look at what people think they are entitled to pray for. For they pray for the death of someone, and for an inheritance to come their way. But let even those who pray for their enemies to die listen to the Lord when he says: Pray for your enemies. Let them not, therefore, pray for the death of their enemies, but let them pray for their improvement. Indeed their enemies will in a very real sense be dead, for once they have been corrected, they will no longer be enemies.

And before you is all my longing. What if their longing is before God, and their groaning is not before God? How can this possibly be, when the voice of that longing is groaning? That is why the psalm says: And my groaning is not hidden from you. For you it is not hidden, but it is hidden from many people. Sometimes God's humble servant is seen to be saying: And my groaning is not hidden from you. Sometimes God's servant is seen also to laugh. You could hardly say that the longing for God was dead and buried in his heart, could you? And if there is longing within it, there is also groaning. It does not always filter through to the ears of people like you and me, but it never escapes the attention of God's ears.

Responsory   Ps 103:8-9.13-14

The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to anger and full of compas­sion. He will not always reprove us; his wrath will come to an end.

+ As tenderly as a father treats his children, the Lord treats those who stand in awe of him.

V. He knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust. + As tenderly ...

Rublev Trinity Icon line drawing, and artist colouring

 Rublev Trinity Icon line drawing

William J - Email

Dear Father Donald,

Lovely to be drawn into the mind of the artist and into the mystery hidden in the painting!

I have found two 'versions' of the image (mesmerizing), and a 'pattern' to print (for colouration) in order to experience its creation - that I might perhaps discover in the recreation OF the image the mystery IN the image for myself.http://www.betsyporter.com/patterns.html

Painting it oneself causes one to follow every line, establish every colour, and realize every position.

That will be a joy! as indeed it is to share in your (nocturnal) meditations!

With ... ,

William

Dear William,

Thank you for the three Icon versions.

  And in particular, the line drawing has the challenging possibility.

Am I to think that you are yourself is ‘painting’ or creating as, “Painting it oneself causes one to follow every line, establish every colour, and realize every position”.

We will be excited by the creation.

In a different genre, Henri Nouwen shows his breaching of the Benedictine and the Byzantine spiritualities – a forceful insight. St. Benedict, calls us first of all to listen, the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing. See below.

Other amazing avenues. The tapestries in our Sacristy are in new situations.; the Leonardo Last Supper above Fr. Raymond’s collection of the our Liturgy Booklets,

  

and in the Sacristy id the tapestry of ‘the lord calming the waves  in Galilee.

Not surprising, I wondered about the tapestry of Rublev Trinity Icon, and the discovery is beautiful. See Link and pictures below. http://www.worldwidetapestries.com/tapestry/holy-trinity-icon.html

Granted to look further, and we find the McCrimmon Church posters of Rublev

mccrimmons.com  

Enough, William, for the moment.

Question: The previous BlogSpot is not broadcast yet.

I hear the drafts all together may seem entirely incoherent.

Looking forward to your praying with Icons.

Donald

Henri Nouwen – Behold the Beauty of the Lord,Praying With Icons, extract ...

“But I can still look at these images so intimately connected with the experience of love.

Acting, speaking and even reflective thinking may at times be too demanding, but we are forever seeing. When we dream, we see. When we stare in front of us, we see. When we close our eyes to rest, we see. We see trees, houses, roads and cars, seas and mountains, animals and people, places and faces, shapes and colours. We see clearly or vaguely, but always we find something to see.

But what do we really choose to see? It makes a great difference whether we see a flower or a snake, a gentle smile or menacing teeth, a dancing couple or a hostile crowd. We do have a choice. Just as we are responsible for what we eat, so we are responsible for what we see. It is easy to become a victim of the vast array of visual stimuli surrounding us. The "powers and principalities" control many of our daily images. Posters, billboards, television, videocassettes, movies and store windows continuously assault our eyes and inscribe their images upon our memories.

Still we do not have to be passive victims of a world that wants to entertain and distract us. We can make some decisions and choices. A spiritual life in the midst of our energy-draining society requires us to take conscious steps to safeguard that inner space where we can keep our eyes fixed on the beauty of the Lord.

Page 12

I offer these meditations on four Russian icons as such a step. By giving the icons long and prayerful attention-talking about them, reading about them, but mostly just gazing at them in silence-I have gradually come to know them by heart. I see them now whether they are physically present or not. I have memorized them as I have memorized the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and I pray with them wherever I go.

For you who will read these meditations it is important to gaze at the icons with complete attention and to pray with them. Gazing is probably the best word to touch the core of Eastern spirituality. Whereas St. Benedict, who has set the tone for the spirituality of the West, calls us first of all to listen, the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing. This is especially evident in the liturgical life of the Eastern Church. The words in this book come from my own gazing at these icons. They may or may not touch you. But if they help you only a little to start seeing these icons for yourself, my words will have fulfilled their purpose and may be forgotten. Then these icons will have become yours and they can guide you by day and by night, in good times and in bad, when you feel sad and when you feel joyful. They will begin to speak of the unique way in which God has chosen to love you.

Why icons? Would it not have been better to use more accessible paintings such as those by Michelangelo, Rembrandt or Marc Chagall? The great

Page 13

....”.

Dear William, Something of a P.S. It was at the point of downloading your glorious 'water colour' creation, hit the Exit button. And it was late to open again. Attached now and cropped  or 'hue&saturation' view. Your water colour may actually prove to be better than the possible oil painting. Water colour by William Edited - hue & saturation  Added is ATTACHMENT of the Icon geometric interpretation.  http://thebyzantineanglocatholic.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/rublevs-sacred-geometry.html   Another clue - geometric. Yours ... Donald http://www.worldwidetapestries.com/tapestry/holy-trinity-icon.html Holy Trinity (Icon) Worldwide Tapestries

Tapestry of Rublev Trinity icon

This religious art tapestry "Holy Trinity (Icon)" shows the work of Andrei Rublev from 1410. This work of Rublev shows The Old Testament Trinity. The original is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia. He was considered one of the most influential artists of the medieval Russian period of Orthodox frescoes and icons. The old testament trinity refers to the appearance of three angels to Abraham at Mamre while he was in his tent in the heat of the day. He offered them food and to wash their feet. One of the three angels told Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a son. Sarah overheard what was said and was doubtful due to her age. The angel then declared that nothing is too hard for God. This religious art tapestry "Holy Trinity (Icon)" is lined and has a tunnel for easy hanging.

&&&&&&&&&&

McCrimmonds Church Posters

The Holy Trinity - Rublev icon. A superb reproduction of Rublev's image of the Holy Trinity, now available as a wall hanging banner or foamex board. Printed using a dye-sublimation process on a 100% polyester material with a natural feel that hangs well. Size: 52" x 37". Larger sizes are available.Order Ref: MB-BANHT455 £234.00. Foamex Boards £39.95 medium, £49.95 large.

    mccrimmons.com