Taken from Roman Miscellany
What is Advent? Many answers can be given. We can grumble and say that it is nothing but a pretext for hectic activity and commercialism, prettified with sentimental cliches in which people stopped believing ages ago. In many cases this may be true, but it is not the whole picture.
We can say the reverse, that Advent is a time when, in the midst of an unbelieving world, something of the luminous quality of this lost faith is still perceptible, like a visual echo. Just as stars are visible long after they have become extinct, since their erstwhile light is still on its way to us, so this mystery frequently offers some warmth and hope even to those who are no longer able to believe in it.
Advent is a time when a kindness that is otherwise almost entirely forgotten is mobilized; namely, the willingness to think of others and give them a token of kindness. Finally Advent is a time when old customs live again, for instance, in the singing of carols which takes place all over the country. In the melodies and the words of these carols, something of the simplicity, imagination and glad strength of the faith of our forefathers makes itself heard in our age, bringing consolation and encouraging us perhaps to have another go at that faith which could make people so glad in such hard times.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above (1986), pp16-17
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
13 December 2006
11 December 2006
The Immaculate Conception
Taken from De Fide Catholica
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is probably one of the most touching among all the dogmas. The reason for this is that it is intimately connected with our very human nature. This dogma concerns our Mother. It reveals a part of the person of Mary. It helps us to understand her better and consequently to love her more.
This dogma came during a difficult time for the Church. You know that the belief in the Immaculate Conception has not always been evident to all throughout centuries. Even the great and genius Saint Thomas Aquinas didn’t think that Our Lady could have been conceived without any sins. He would have been right, if God Himself had not preserve Mary by a unique privilege. It is only after many centuries of theological discussions and reflexions that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed and this took place in the middle of the XIX century which was renowned for its strong rationalism. The Magisterium was forced to intervene many times to refute and correct the numerous errors of this century. Pius IX would condemn them in his famous Syllabus of errors in 1864. In a certain way, I would say that they were already implicitly condemned by the Bull of proclamation of the Dogma: Ineffabilis Deus.
First, because this dogma is a dogma, and, as such, requests the adherence of our Faith. Refusing to give our assent would, ipso facto, exclude us from the Communion of Saints and of the unity of the Church. Secondly, this dogma is Marian. Our Most Holy Mother Mary, who, by crushing the head of the serpent, is victorious over all heresies. And finally, by its content, this dogma is a refutation of rationalism. By declaring that Our Lady, “in the first instant of her conception, by a unique grace and privilege of the omnipotent God and in consideration of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin”, the Church obviously reaffirms the truth of original sin. And through this, she also reaffirms the existence of a supernatural order, which has been wounded by original sin and restored by Jesus Christ. It is precisely in consideration of the Incarnation, and consequently the Redemption, that Mary was preserved from original sin. So, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception truly is at the center of our Faith. It sheds a new light on the mystery of the Incarnation and cannot be understood without it.
The Second Vatican Council has recently given more precision to the explanation of dogma stating that Our Lady was “Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie. She is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth.”
Though the dogma was proclaimed only recently, the belief in the Immaculate Conception had already been liturgically expressed for many centuries by the Church. Pope Sixtus IV approved the liturgical celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1477. Then, Clement XI made this feast a universal one in 1708. Finally, Our Lady herself recognized her title. She presented herself to Saint Catherine Labouré as being conceived without sin. And she ratified the Bull of Pius IX four years later by telling Saint Bernadette: Que soy era immaculada councepciou.
What a beautiful privilege! What a beautiful gift from God! What a great dignity for Mary! As Cardinal Journet says, “The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was already a first degree in the union with the Divine purity. This union would reach its peek in the Incarnation." Mary knew it. She knew that she had been preserved by God in order to become the Mother of the Savior, the Mother of God. She has been consecrated for a unique mission in the History of men. The sign of this consecration is her virginity, the beautiful expression of her Immaculate Conception. Immaculate Conception and Blessed Virgin are precisely two names of Mary. They express who she is. Denying one of them is denying Mary herself and denying her is denying the work of God. It is reducing the mystery of the Incarnation to a pure human concept. It is a rationalization of the Mystery. This is a frequent temptation because we would like to understand the mysteries, but we cannot because they are above our reason.
Yet, God gives us a way to approach Him. The way of the little and of the poor in spirit. It is the way of humility, the way of Mary. We don’t understand the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Then what? With Dom Delatte we say: “What does it matter if those truths are above our intelligence? It is already a joy for us to not be able to measure and to mumble when the supernatural beauty of the Blessed Virgin is spoken about. It is by excellence the field of God’s liberty and liberality.”
What can we say about the Immaculate Conception of Mary? Dom Delatte says again that in this matter, "we miss the appreciation and the measure of the appreciation." We can only say with Saint Anselm and the entire Catholic Tradition that the Supernatural beauty of Mary is such that no greater beauty can be found except in God. All the works of God are wonderful – Mirabilia facta sunt – but Our Lady exceeds all of them, because she is the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
How is it possible that so many Christians don’t see that? Why don’t they understand or why don’t they want to understand? How can they say that glorifying Mary is belittling God? Admiring the gem made by the hands of the jeweler is recognizing his ability. Mary is the purest creature made by God and recognizing this can only compel us to glorify God more. Our Lady, better than anyone can say these words of Saint John: De plenitudine ejus omnes nos accepimus et gratiam pro gratia - of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.
Mary has received all from God and she renders all to God. We, her children, want to do nothing else but to render grace for grace with her to God our Father. May Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, lead us on the way of humility – her way – so that we can return to Our Father from whom we come.
-Fr Laurent Demets, FSSP
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is probably one of the most touching among all the dogmas. The reason for this is that it is intimately connected with our very human nature. This dogma concerns our Mother. It reveals a part of the person of Mary. It helps us to understand her better and consequently to love her more.
This dogma came during a difficult time for the Church. You know that the belief in the Immaculate Conception has not always been evident to all throughout centuries. Even the great and genius Saint Thomas Aquinas didn’t think that Our Lady could have been conceived without any sins. He would have been right, if God Himself had not preserve Mary by a unique privilege. It is only after many centuries of theological discussions and reflexions that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed and this took place in the middle of the XIX century which was renowned for its strong rationalism. The Magisterium was forced to intervene many times to refute and correct the numerous errors of this century. Pius IX would condemn them in his famous Syllabus of errors in 1864. In a certain way, I would say that they were already implicitly condemned by the Bull of proclamation of the Dogma: Ineffabilis Deus.
First, because this dogma is a dogma, and, as such, requests the adherence of our Faith. Refusing to give our assent would, ipso facto, exclude us from the Communion of Saints and of the unity of the Church. Secondly, this dogma is Marian. Our Most Holy Mother Mary, who, by crushing the head of the serpent, is victorious over all heresies. And finally, by its content, this dogma is a refutation of rationalism. By declaring that Our Lady, “in the first instant of her conception, by a unique grace and privilege of the omnipotent God and in consideration of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin”, the Church obviously reaffirms the truth of original sin. And through this, she also reaffirms the existence of a supernatural order, which has been wounded by original sin and restored by Jesus Christ. It is precisely in consideration of the Incarnation, and consequently the Redemption, that Mary was preserved from original sin. So, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception truly is at the center of our Faith. It sheds a new light on the mystery of the Incarnation and cannot be understood without it.
The Second Vatican Council has recently given more precision to the explanation of dogma stating that Our Lady was “Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie. She is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth.”
Though the dogma was proclaimed only recently, the belief in the Immaculate Conception had already been liturgically expressed for many centuries by the Church. Pope Sixtus IV approved the liturgical celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1477. Then, Clement XI made this feast a universal one in 1708. Finally, Our Lady herself recognized her title. She presented herself to Saint Catherine Labouré as being conceived without sin. And she ratified the Bull of Pius IX four years later by telling Saint Bernadette: Que soy era immaculada councepciou.
What a beautiful privilege! What a beautiful gift from God! What a great dignity for Mary! As Cardinal Journet says, “The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was already a first degree in the union with the Divine purity. This union would reach its peek in the Incarnation." Mary knew it. She knew that she had been preserved by God in order to become the Mother of the Savior, the Mother of God. She has been consecrated for a unique mission in the History of men. The sign of this consecration is her virginity, the beautiful expression of her Immaculate Conception. Immaculate Conception and Blessed Virgin are precisely two names of Mary. They express who she is. Denying one of them is denying Mary herself and denying her is denying the work of God. It is reducing the mystery of the Incarnation to a pure human concept. It is a rationalization of the Mystery. This is a frequent temptation because we would like to understand the mysteries, but we cannot because they are above our reason.
Yet, God gives us a way to approach Him. The way of the little and of the poor in spirit. It is the way of humility, the way of Mary. We don’t understand the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception. Then what? With Dom Delatte we say: “What does it matter if those truths are above our intelligence? It is already a joy for us to not be able to measure and to mumble when the supernatural beauty of the Blessed Virgin is spoken about. It is by excellence the field of God’s liberty and liberality.”
What can we say about the Immaculate Conception of Mary? Dom Delatte says again that in this matter, "we miss the appreciation and the measure of the appreciation." We can only say with Saint Anselm and the entire Catholic Tradition that the Supernatural beauty of Mary is such that no greater beauty can be found except in God. All the works of God are wonderful – Mirabilia facta sunt – but Our Lady exceeds all of them, because she is the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
How is it possible that so many Christians don’t see that? Why don’t they understand or why don’t they want to understand? How can they say that glorifying Mary is belittling God? Admiring the gem made by the hands of the jeweler is recognizing his ability. Mary is the purest creature made by God and recognizing this can only compel us to glorify God more. Our Lady, better than anyone can say these words of Saint John: De plenitudine ejus omnes nos accepimus et gratiam pro gratia - of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.
Mary has received all from God and she renders all to God. We, her children, want to do nothing else but to render grace for grace with her to God our Father. May Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, lead us on the way of humility – her way – so that we can return to Our Father from whom we come.
-Fr Laurent Demets, FSSP
10 December 2006
Advent Perspective
Taken from Athanasius Contra Mundum
It is of course just like me to begin a post on Advent after Advent has already begun. I prefer not to blog on Sundays, then the week turned out to be 3 times busier than I expected. I had all kinds of ideas for what I was going to write early this morning, but then I woke up late. Figures.
One of the things I find fascinating is that while in the Eastern Church there had always been a fast preceding the celebration of the birth of Christ, there has never been a canonical fast in the west. The nature of the fast varies according to the sources you read, but it had never at any time the force of law to fast for either 40 days or the 4 Sundays of Advent. Even in the Eastern Church, the fast is not as rigorous as the Great Lent because it is said to have come not from the Apostles as the fast at lent but from pious traditions of men, at least according to Dom Gueranger.
Regardless of which tradition, east or west, one is going to follow, we should fast and pray in some manner befitting a serious preparation for the coming of God.
Something I find fascinating about Christmas time as a whole is that all year around men blaspheme God, mock him and sin against him, then all of the sudden at Christmas time, they are happy to sing songs about a child born in Bethlehem, carols that declare Christ is God and the king of the new Israel and even put out a nativity set somewhere. Of course they don't really care about Our Lord because they set up trees only to see presents, foolishly and imprudently spend hundreds of dollars beyond their means and offend God by curses and slanders against his name because they have to wait in line longer. In fact, a friend of mine who works for Walmart sent me a picture of the after Thanksgiving blitz. People who had waited in line since 1am burst into the door at 5am when the store opened, like craven animals running for the first sight of food in days. Why? A 52" TV was on sale. Wow. I don't think you can get that through the baggage checkers on your way into heaven. No, it gets muddled up with all the vices and sins and things.
What is truly sad however, is that often we Christians are little different. We just have different baggage. For example, avoiding the commercialism of Christmas, we decide we are going to be better than everyone else. Yet we are still rude to our parents, we still don't give God His due in prayer, and we still don't make a suitable home for the Christ-child. In fact, it is generally more like Herod's welcome rather than that of the shepherds.
What can we do about this state of affairs? Fasting and prayer. For some that means taking on more tasks, for others giving things up. In the Eastern Church there is fasting and abstinence from meat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while on Tuesday and Thursday a simple abstinence from meat. For Latin Catholics, we have traditions of fasting but no law. Nothing prevents us from fasting from meat and sweets (and alcohol) at least an extra day or two a week. Furthermore, there are things we can do which we do not ordinarily do like reciting the offices of the Church, Lauds and Vespers, learning Psalms in Latin which you can recite during the day, or Eucharistic adoration. Fill your mangers with straw, not with nails should be our motto, because we easily become like everyone else. It is for Christians rather to be against the world, and especially the worldliness in ourselves.
It is of course just like me to begin a post on Advent after Advent has already begun. I prefer not to blog on Sundays, then the week turned out to be 3 times busier than I expected. I had all kinds of ideas for what I was going to write early this morning, but then I woke up late. Figures.
One of the things I find fascinating is that while in the Eastern Church there had always been a fast preceding the celebration of the birth of Christ, there has never been a canonical fast in the west. The nature of the fast varies according to the sources you read, but it had never at any time the force of law to fast for either 40 days or the 4 Sundays of Advent. Even in the Eastern Church, the fast is not as rigorous as the Great Lent because it is said to have come not from the Apostles as the fast at lent but from pious traditions of men, at least according to Dom Gueranger.
Regardless of which tradition, east or west, one is going to follow, we should fast and pray in some manner befitting a serious preparation for the coming of God.
Something I find fascinating about Christmas time as a whole is that all year around men blaspheme God, mock him and sin against him, then all of the sudden at Christmas time, they are happy to sing songs about a child born in Bethlehem, carols that declare Christ is God and the king of the new Israel and even put out a nativity set somewhere. Of course they don't really care about Our Lord because they set up trees only to see presents, foolishly and imprudently spend hundreds of dollars beyond their means and offend God by curses and slanders against his name because they have to wait in line longer. In fact, a friend of mine who works for Walmart sent me a picture of the after Thanksgiving blitz. People who had waited in line since 1am burst into the door at 5am when the store opened, like craven animals running for the first sight of food in days. Why? A 52" TV was on sale. Wow. I don't think you can get that through the baggage checkers on your way into heaven. No, it gets muddled up with all the vices and sins and things.
What is truly sad however, is that often we Christians are little different. We just have different baggage. For example, avoiding the commercialism of Christmas, we decide we are going to be better than everyone else. Yet we are still rude to our parents, we still don't give God His due in prayer, and we still don't make a suitable home for the Christ-child. In fact, it is generally more like Herod's welcome rather than that of the shepherds.
What can we do about this state of affairs? Fasting and prayer. For some that means taking on more tasks, for others giving things up. In the Eastern Church there is fasting and abstinence from meat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while on Tuesday and Thursday a simple abstinence from meat. For Latin Catholics, we have traditions of fasting but no law. Nothing prevents us from fasting from meat and sweets (and alcohol) at least an extra day or two a week. Furthermore, there are things we can do which we do not ordinarily do like reciting the offices of the Church, Lauds and Vespers, learning Psalms in Latin which you can recite during the day, or Eucharistic adoration. Fill your mangers with straw, not with nails should be our motto, because we easily become like everyone else. It is for Christians rather to be against the world, and especially the worldliness in ourselves.
4 December 2006
1st Sunday of Advent, St Francis Major Seminary, Carmelites
Well the 1st Sunday of Advent began for me by watching 1st Vespers celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at St Peter's Basilica and telecast live on EWTN. It not the best example of Vespers, and the "Quia tuum regnum est.." followed straight after the Pater Noster, which should not have been the case at all. The Pope however was wearing a rather interesting cope.
And well for the 1st time in a very, very long while, I attended the Sunday Morning Mass at 9am. I should have arrived earlier to go for confession, but I am really not a morning person. Fr Suyono was to celebrate Mass, so he was not able to take my confession before Mass started. Surprisingly however, after the Mass started Fr Anthony came out to take confessions. It being the 1st Sunday of the Mass, the "Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling Holy Water" was used. So as Fr Suyono was going round with the aspergillum together with the altar boy carrying the holy water vat, I slipped into the confessional. Finished my penance just in time for the Collect.
In the evening I went all the way up to Pungol for the Feast Day for St Francis Xavier Major Seminary, since 3 Dec is the Memorial for St Francis Xavier. For once the chapel in the seminary was completely filled and additional chairs were needed on the outer parts. Bishop celebrated the Mass and I guess there was a record number of concelebrants. Personally, the choice of hymns was far from ideal and having hymns in so many different languages just was simply a mess. Sacred Music is to be used in the Mass, and it should in the the first place Sacred. There is to be active participation in the liturgy but choosing hymns just so that those from the different language language can sing at least one song to be is not a good idea at all. Being able to sing a hymn in one's own language is far from actively participating in the liturgy. Active participation means in the very first place understanding that the Mass is a Sacred moment where the Son offers himself up as a pleasing sacrifice to the Father. This part of the Mass is the most important, not the hymns and not the homily. And well personally I feel that 'Christ will come again' is really a nonsensical response to the Mysterium Fidei. It does not take a genius to realise that more accurately 'Christ has come again'. To my surprise however, there was the announcement that a book that compiled the vocation stories of various Diocesean Priests had been published and for those intending this Mass, they would distribute it for free. Hmm...being present at Diocesean events does have its privileges. The reception was also not bad.
After this I then dropped by the Carmelite House that was just nearby and stayed on for their Compline. Flos Carmeli was sung in Latin as the closing hymn. Yet I still prefer the old Monastic Breviary. The English Translation of the current Divine Office is just far from ideal really.
And well for the 1st time in a very, very long while, I attended the Sunday Morning Mass at 9am. I should have arrived earlier to go for confession, but I am really not a morning person. Fr Suyono was to celebrate Mass, so he was not able to take my confession before Mass started. Surprisingly however, after the Mass started Fr Anthony came out to take confessions. It being the 1st Sunday of the Mass, the "Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling Holy Water" was used. So as Fr Suyono was going round with the aspergillum together with the altar boy carrying the holy water vat, I slipped into the confessional. Finished my penance just in time for the Collect.
In the evening I went all the way up to Pungol for the Feast Day for St Francis Xavier Major Seminary, since 3 Dec is the Memorial for St Francis Xavier. For once the chapel in the seminary was completely filled and additional chairs were needed on the outer parts. Bishop celebrated the Mass and I guess there was a record number of concelebrants. Personally, the choice of hymns was far from ideal and having hymns in so many different languages just was simply a mess. Sacred Music is to be used in the Mass, and it should in the the first place Sacred. There is to be active participation in the liturgy but choosing hymns just so that those from the different language language can sing at least one song to be is not a good idea at all. Being able to sing a hymn in one's own language is far from actively participating in the liturgy. Active participation means in the very first place understanding that the Mass is a Sacred moment where the Son offers himself up as a pleasing sacrifice to the Father. This part of the Mass is the most important, not the hymns and not the homily. And well personally I feel that 'Christ will come again' is really a nonsensical response to the Mysterium Fidei. It does not take a genius to realise that more accurately 'Christ has come again'. To my surprise however, there was the announcement that a book that compiled the vocation stories of various Diocesean Priests had been published and for those intending this Mass, they would distribute it for free. Hmm...being present at Diocesean events does have its privileges. The reception was also not bad.
After this I then dropped by the Carmelite House that was just nearby and stayed on for their Compline. Flos Carmeli was sung in Latin as the closing hymn. Yet I still prefer the old Monastic Breviary. The English Translation of the current Divine Office is just far from ideal really.
3 December 2006
White Christmas?
With the arrival of Advent one inevitably encounters Christmas Carols both sacred and otherwise. While I would very much prefer sacred music, here's and example of a secular carol made into a Traditional Catholic one...
Courtesy of Fr Tim Finigan commenting on WDTPRS. And hehe I started it with "All I want for Christmas..."
I’m dreaming of a broad indult,
and chant restored to pride of place.
Mass ad orientem,
Usque venientem,*
would be a wondrous Christmas grace.I’m dreaming of a broad indult,
Just like we’ve heard through the grapevine
May we all be turned towards the divine
And may Christmas Mass be Tridentine!
*Christum, understood
Courtesy of Fr Tim Finigan commenting on WDTPRS. And hehe I started it with "All I want for Christmas..."
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