23 December

23 December 

 

O Emmanuel, 

Rex et legifer noster, 

exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

 

O Emmanuel, 

God with us, our King and lawgiver, 

the expected of the nations and their Savior: 

come to save us, O Lord our God.

 

 

Photo:  Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Campion Center, Weston, MA.  The four advent candles lit for the final time.  

 

Meditation:  Advent has run its course.  Tomorrow we begin the Great Feast, commemorating that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, was born into this world on which we too live and die.  Try to put the sloppy sentimental imagery out of your head.  What we call "The Christmas Story" does not end with the angels' Hosanna, in Excelsis.  It is barely the beginning of the story of our redemption.  There was much to be suffered before the final chapter in the history of our salvation through Jesus' saving act would be written. 

 

 

Prayer: 

 

Give us, O God, the vision 

which can see Your love in the world 

in spite of human failure.

Give us the faith to trust Your goodness 

in spite of our ignorance and weakness.

Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray 

with understanding hearts.

And show us what each one of us can do 

to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.

 

                                                        Frank Borman,

                                                            Apollo 8 space mission, 1968

 

Background for this prayer.  On Christmas Eve 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman broadcast live from their space capsule.  Each of them read part of the Creation narrative from Genesis chapters 1-10 while orbiting the moon.  An interesting side note is that Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the chronically hostile notorious atheist, sued the U.S. government claiming that the astronauts violated the first amendment.  The Supreme Court dismissed the suit because of lack of jurisdiction.  Borman wrote the above prayer for Christmas Day.  It is most appropriate today. 

 

Lagniappe: 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel.'  Even more appropriate tonight than the first day of Advent.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSRocN1dTrM

(Latin)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoqMJxlaUnQ

(English, the late Jessye Norman)

22 December

 

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, 

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem, 

quem de limo formasti.

 

O King of the gentiles and their desired One, 

the cornerstone that makes both one: 

come, and deliver man, 

whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.

 

 

Photo:  The holy oils at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, D.C. 

The sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and the anointing of the sick include anointing with specifically blessed oils: the oil of catechumens, sacred chrism, and the oil of the infirm. 

 

Meditation:   Both the Old and New Testaments refer to the king being anointed with oil.  David was anointed with oil.  Jesus' feet were anointed with oil just before his death.   The anointing we receive at baptism and confirmation joins us to Him in a share of His Passion.  Consider the great gift of anointing.  What does it mean to me? 

 

Prayer:

 

The Anima Christi appears on the fly-leaf of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  It is an ancient prayer that was not written by Ignatius.  However, it is obvious Ignatius knew the prayer and entered deeply into it.

 

Anima Christi, sanctifica me.

Corpus Christi, salva me.

Sanguis Christi, inebria me.

Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.

Passio Christi, conforta me.

O bone Jesu, exaudi me.

Intra tua vulnera absconde me.

Ne permittas me separari a te.

Ab hoste maligno defende me.

In hora mortis meae voca me.

Et iube me venire ad te,

Ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te.

In saecula saeculorum.

 

Amen

                                                                        

Soul of Christ, sanctify me 

Body of Christ, save me 

Blood of Christ, inebriate me 

Water from Christ's side, wash me     

Passion of Christ, strengthen me 

O good Jesus, hear me 

Within Thy wounds hide me 

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee 

From the malicious enemy defend me 

In the hour of my death call me 

And bid me come unto Thee 

That I may praise Thee with Thy saints 

and with Thy angels 

Forever and ever.    

Lagniappe:

 

Anima Christi (sung)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phGDR9y912s

21 December

 

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, 

et sol iustitiae: 

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris 

et umbra mortis.

 

O dawn of the east,

brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: 

come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness 

and in the shadow of death.

 

 

Photo Sunrise over Cohasset Harbor in August 2020

 

Meditation:

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

 

 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. 

The final prayer of the Mass before communion, the final prayer before we acknowledge our unworthiness and ask that Christ be with us despite that unworthiness.  In the Agnus Dei we ask that he not only have mercy on us but that he grant us peace, peace in our world and peace within our own selves.  

 

Allow the 'Dona Nobis Pacem' from Bach's B minor Mass to swirl around you no matter if you are seeking peace for yourself, for another, or for our deeply troubled world.  Pray for a return, or even a partial return, of civility and respect in our country's social and political life.  Pray for peace to come at the dawn of the Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Mary.

 

Lagniappe: 

 

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) from the Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach. 

Masaaki Suzuki  conducting the Bach Collegium Japan 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrsc3wdBt4

 

Prayer:

 

Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, 

that we, made in your image, 

may conform ourselves to it. 

 

In our own strength 

we cannot image your majesty, power, and wonder; 

nor is it fitting for us to try.  

But your mercy reaches from the heavens, 

through the clouds, to the earth below  

 

You came to us as a child, 

but you brought us the greatest of all gifts, 

the gift of your eternal love.  

 

Caress us with your hands, 

embrace us with your arms, 

and pierce our hearts with your love.                               

                                                                        

                                                            St. Bernard of Clairvaux, (1090-1153)

20 December

O clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel: 

qui aperis, et nemo claudit; 

claudis, et nemo aperit: 

veni, et educ vinctum de domo 

carceris, sedentem in tenebris.

 

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, 

who opens and no man shuts, 

who shuts and no man opens: 

come, and lead forth the captive 

who sits in the shadows from his prison.

 

Photo:  The door leading to the monk's cells at a Trappist monastery.  After compline the men ascend the stairs in silence as they return to cell for some sleep before rising at 3:00 AM for prayer.

 

Meditation:  

The door to eternal life is never locked from the inside.  As we read in scripture Jesus refers to himself as the gate, the door, the way, and other images of himself as the portal to eternal life.  We lock our doors at night or when we are out of the house.  We do so for our own safety.  Jesus' door is always open.  That too is for our own safety.  Only we can lock that door from the outside when we refuse the gift of faith.  We can unlock it through prayer.

Lagniappe:

Royal Choral Society: 'Since By Man Came Death' from Handel's Messiah

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tViHs7MeTk

 

Prayer:  Prayer for Generosity

 

O Lord, teach me to be generous

To serve you as you deserve

To give and not to count the cost

To fight and not to heed the wounds

To toil and not to seek for rest 

To labor and not to ask for reward

Save that of knowing I do your holy will

                                                            St. Ignatius of Loyola

19 December

 

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, 

super quem continebunt reges os suum, 

quem gentes deprecabuntur: 

veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.

 

O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, 

before whom the kings keep silence 

and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: 

come, to deliver us, and tarry not.

 

 

Photo: The seal and motto (Stat crux dum volvitur orbis) of the Carthusian Order.  The photo captures the sky reflected in a window of the St. Bruno Center atop Mt. Equinox in Arlington, VT.

 

Meditation: Consider the tree that grew from the root of Jesse.  The roots of that tree anchor the earth even as it revolves and hurtles through space.  The tree is a symbol of life.  It is the symbol of eternal life.  The tree in the garden of Eden represents the triumph of man's hubris and disobedience over humility.  The tree on which Jesus hung reverses the equation; humility and obedience conquered hubris once and for all.  

 

Gaze at a cross with or without a corpus hanging on it.  Imagine carrying its weight on your shoulders for the sake of someone else.  Imagine Jesus doing the same for the entire universe.  

 

Lagniappe:  Ennnio Morricone conducting orchestra and chorus in a suite from his music for "The Mission."  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oag1Dfa1e_E

 

Prayer:  

 

Patient Trust (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ)

 

Above all, trust in the slow work of God

We are quite naturally impatient in everything

   to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages. 

We are impatient of being on the way to something

   unknown, something new. 

And yet it is the law of all progress

   that it is made by passing through

   some stages of instability—

   and that it may take a very long time. 

 

And so I think it is with you. 

   your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,

   let them shape themselves, without undue haste. 

Don't try to force them on, 

   as though you could be today what time

   (that is to say, grace and circumstances

   acting on your own good will)

   will make of you tomorrow. 

 

Only God could say what this new spirit

   gradually forming within you will be. 

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing

   that his hand is leading you, 

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself 

   in suspense and incomplete. 

"O" Antiphon for 18 December

18 December:

 

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,

qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, 

et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.. 

 

O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, 

who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush 

and gave him the law on Sinai: 

come, and redeem us with outstretched arms

 

 

Photo: Sunrise in Port Lincoln, South Australia  mid-July 2011.  Taken from the front porch of the rectory at St. Mary of the Angels.  Except for a slight crop and straightening of the horizon, the photo was untouched by processing.  

 

Meditation:  As Moses saw the Lord in the burning bush we see Him in the flaming skies of sunrise and sunset.  We see Him in all that occurs between those boundaries between day and night, night and day. We hear in the Third Eucharistic Prayer at Mass: "You never cease to gather a people to yourself so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name."  

 

Where, how, or in whom did I see the Lord today?  How did I respond?

 

Lagniappe: Tell Out My Soul (Mary'sMagnificat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ji4y9Q-K0

Prayer:

 

Longing for Christ (c.10th century)

 

Come, true light.

Come, life eternal.

Come, hidden mystery.

Come, treasure without name.

Come, reality beyond all words. 

Come, man beyond all understanding.

Come, rejoicing without end. 

Come, light that knows no evening. 

Come, raising up of the fallen. 

Come, resurrection of the dead.

O Wisdom

17 December

 

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: 

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.  

 

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, 

reaching from one end to the other, 

ordering all things: 

Come and teach us the way of prudence. 

 

 

Photo:  The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Ljubljana at sunset in January 2016.

 

Meditation:  One of the sad realities today is that wisdom is often ignored, dismissed, or derided in favor of quickness, a cheap shot, a snarky comment, cynicism, or an easy laugh. Wisdom is the great gift that the aged have given to all societies throughout history, along with an understanding of prudence that was hard won through trial and error.  Even those who are dying or who have developed dementia can teach and grant us wisdom, if we allow them the privilege of doing so, if we are less wrapped up in ourselves.  The desire to kill the inconveniently sick  or the demented elderly in the name of a misguided understanding  of mercy is one of the great sins of our world and of our time. It is the antithesis of wisdom, prudence, and understanding.  

 

Lagniappe:  Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Dame Myra Hess 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGsPdEm3FfI

 

Prayer: 

Suscipe (attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola)

 

Take Lord, and receive 

all my liberty, my memory,

my understanding, 

my entire will, 

all I have and call my own. 

You have given all to me.

To You, Lord, I return it. 

Everything is yours; do with it what you will. 

Give me only Your love and Your grace,

That is enough for me.