Tuesday, 24 December 2013
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Is 9:1-6. / Ps 96(95):1-2a.2b-3.11-12.13. / Titus 2:11-14. / Lk 2:1-14.
Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
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| Refectory entrance |
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Is 9:1-6. / Ps 96(95):1-2a.2b-3.11-12.13. / Titus 2:11-14. / Lk 2:1-14.
Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass at Midnight - Solemnity
Feast of the Church : Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
Saint(s) of the day : St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898), St. Delphinus, Bishop († 403) Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:1-14.
Saint(s) of the day : St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898), St. Delphinus, Bishop († 403) Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:1-14.
... For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. ...
See commentary below:
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron :
See commentary below:
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron :
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a Spanish Trappist monk
Spiritual writings, 27/12/1936 (trans. Mairin Mitchell, 1964)
Spiritual writings, 27/12/1936 (trans. Mairin Mitchell, 1964)
It is cold on earth. The skies are pattered with stars whose existence can only be guessed on the background of the dark blue of the celestial vault. On earth, one of the smallest planets in the vast sidereal systems, wonders are taking place this night which fill the angels with awe...: a God who for love of man descends in the humility of mortal flesh, born of a woman on one of the smallest planets, one of the coldest-born on earth...
It is cold! Men are cold in their hearts too. No one attends to witness the miracle of the birth of God. The whole world is simply reduced to a woman who is called Mary, a man with blue eyes called Joseph, and a new-born Child, who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, opens his eyes for the first time between the breathing of an ass and an ox, and is cradled in the handful of straw which Joseph in his poverty and Mary in her solicitude and love have procured for Him. The whole world sleeps unconsciously the nightmare of the flesh. It is very cold this night in the lands of Judea. The stars which pattern the sky are the eyes of the angels singing "Glory to God in the highest ", singing directed to God and heard by some shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, and who with their childlike souls come to worship the newborn Jesus. It is the first lesson of the love of God...
Though my soul has neither the chastity of Joseph nor the love of Mary, I offered the Lord my complete poverty and my naked soul. And if I didn't praise him with hymns like the angels, I tried to sing Him shepherd's ballads, the song of the poor man, of him who has nothing, the song of him who has only miseries and weaknesses to offer to God. But never mind, for the miseries and weaknesses offered to Jesus by a heart that really loves Him, are accepted by Him as though they were virtues. Great, boundless, is the mercy of God! My mortal flesh doesn't hear the praises of Heaven, but my soul divines that today, as then, the angels look down in wonder at the earth, and sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
It is cold! Men are cold in their hearts too. No one attends to witness the miracle of the birth of God. The whole world is simply reduced to a woman who is called Mary, a man with blue eyes called Joseph, and a new-born Child, who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, opens his eyes for the first time between the breathing of an ass and an ox, and is cradled in the handful of straw which Joseph in his poverty and Mary in her solicitude and love have procured for Him. The whole world sleeps unconsciously the nightmare of the flesh. It is very cold this night in the lands of Judea. The stars which pattern the sky are the eyes of the angels singing "Glory to God in the highest ", singing directed to God and heard by some shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, and who with their childlike souls come to worship the newborn Jesus. It is the first lesson of the love of God...
Though my soul has neither the chastity of Joseph nor the love of Mary, I offered the Lord my complete poverty and my naked soul. And if I didn't praise him with hymns like the angels, I tried to sing Him shepherd's ballads, the song of the poor man, of him who has nothing, the song of him who has only miseries and weaknesses to offer to God. But never mind, for the miseries and weaknesses offered to Jesus by a heart that really loves Him, are accepted by Him as though they were virtues. Great, boundless, is the mercy of God! My mortal flesh doesn't hear the praises of Heaven, but my soul divines that today, as then, the angels look down in wonder at the earth, and sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
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