The Church is the Bride of Christ, she is our Mother; we ought to love her because she brings us to Jesus and unites us to Him. We ought to love and revere her doctrine, because it is doctrine of Jesus Christ; to love her prayer and associate ourselves with it because it is the prayer of the Bride of Christ, and there is none safer for us, none more pleasing to Our Lord.
We ought to attach ourselves to the Church, to all that comes from her, as we should have been attached to the very Person of Jesus and all that came to us from Him, if it had been give us to follow Him during His earthly life.
St Pau compares her to an edifice 'built upon the foundation of the Apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.' (Ipso summa angulari lapide Christo Iesu).
We live in this house of God, '…no more strangers and foreigners: but fellow citizens with the saints…' It is Christ 'in whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.'
I have been reading the biography of Fr William Doyle, SJ by Professor Alfred O'Rahilly. Go buy it. I am enjoying as much as I loved reading the Little Flower's autobiography, The Story of a Soul. In a way, this is second biography of a saint (he's not been canonised yet, but as with the Servant of God, Fulton Sheen, I'm certain he's up there!) that I am properly reading, the rest being summaries and abstracts. It's made me want to get a book on St Guiseppe Moscati, the first canonised modern doctor.
Fr Doyle was an irish jesuit who showed signs of sanctity from his very boyhood. The biography quotes him as being notorious for his kindness and generosity, taking great pleasure in looking after the poor in his neighbourhood, in terms of helping them with chores, supplying them with a cup of tea, and most importantly reminding them to visit the sacraments and pray. He later joined the Society of Jesuit and became a missionary, touching and changing many lives along the way, before becoming a military chaplain. He did so because he had a great desire for martyrdom since young, and eventually obtained it whilst carrying out his ministry in the trenches. He also had a great sense of humour and a jolly nature, often playing practical jokes on friends.
I'm only two or three chapters in the book, and he has already become a hero of mine. Growing up in a Jesuit parish run by good Irish Jesuits, it is only nature to have an affinity of Jesuit saints and spirituality; albeit I will probably have to rediscover the more authentic form of Jesuit spirituality, even my parish was not spared the dilution of the sixties. I have much in common with his never ending energy, impatience and impetuous nature, and love of jokes, though little in common with his sanctity. I hope he will aid me from on high in the road to sanctity. Here's an entry from his private spiritual diary, with the title, 'The Practice of Humility'
I will strive to get a great contempt for myself, to think little of and despise myself, and to pray and desire that others may do the same. I have nothing which God has not given me; I can do nothing without God's grace and help. In a few, very few years, my name will be forgotten. What would people think of me if they knew as I know myself? My pride and desire for praise; my mean uncharitable thoughts about others; my fear of humiliation; the imperfect way I have lived in the Society; the sins I have committed, the scandal give, the terrible harm done to others by making them tepid, breaking rules, etc.; my resolutions broken in an hour; the many faults not corrected after sixteen years of religious life. In spite of all this I deceive myself that I am pleasing God...'
The good Fr Doyle also used to mortify himself, and during a talk about him during the Eucharistic Congress, a story was read about how he used to lie prostrate on the cold floor of his church before the Blessed Sacrament in the early hours of the morning, every so often moving to another spot, 'to make best use of the cold.'
He used to be a popular inspiration in Ireland prior to the '70s. I showed the book to Fr Keane, the last of the Irish Jesuits at my parish and his face lit up in nostalgia (he can't really talk anymore). Though, in more recent times, no one has really heard of him. It's not hard to imagine why though. I can't imagine a Jesuit today doing the things that Fr Doyle did!
Anyway, I love a good Jesuit story and I love good Jesuits! Fr Doyle, pray for us!
PS: For more information and interesting articles about Fr Doyle, do visit this website, http://fatherdoyle.com/ and do pray to him for favours so we can advance his cause for canonisation!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that Fr Doyle also pioneered retreats for the working man and was a big inspiration of St Josemaria in the setting up of Opus Dei
I found this on the preces latinae website. The patron demon of scribes. A must read for the writer/blogger.
Titivillus is often referred to with the somewhat fanciful title of "The Patron Demon of Scribes". For much of human history the mechanical printing press did not exist, so any copies of a book or document had to be made by hand. Such copying was always done by professional scribes who were oftentimes monks in the Scriptorium of their monasteries (a tradition we can thank Cassiodorus for, not to mention for the preservation of texts and learning during the "Dark Ages"). Except for the shortest of documents, the work was generally laborious. The text had to be carefully drawn and faithful to the original document. Consider the labor required to copy an entire Bible or Missal, for example! I, for one, would not want to copy all of my Latin prayers by hand, much less an entire Bible.
As with even the best of us, minds can wander from time to time and the monks were no exception. When this happened, errors would be introduced into the text. No one likes to take credit for his own mistakes, and true to human nature the monks invented Titivillus. He was invented somewhat in jest by them, both to take the blame for their mistakes and as a warning to the hapless monk whose mind strayed from the task. Titivillus is first mentioned by name in the Tractatus de Penitentia, written around 1285 by John of Wales, and then again in the 14th century by Petrus de Palude, the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Titivillus, so the story goes, would wander the earth every day collecting scribal errors until he had collected enough to fill his sack a thousand times. As he completed his collections for the day, the sack would be taken to the devil and each mistake was duly entered in a book against the name of the monk who had made the error. Upon Judgement Day, each of errors would be read out loud and would be held against the monk who had made it.
Keeping in mind what awaited for the careless scribe come Judgement Day, Titivillus helped the monastic community keep its standards up and its errors down. By 1460, the monks were doing such a good job that poor Titivillus was said to be reduced to slinking about churches and recording the names of women who gossiped during Mass. Hardly the sort of thing a once proud demon would want to stoop to, but times were tough.
However, that situation did not last. With the advent of the Renaissance, the rise of Universities and the merchant class, there was a sudden demand for manuscripts....
Author's Note: I originally began writing this on the 31st of May, following the close of my last examination, however several things popped round and I was unable to finish it. Hence, I will finish this post in parts.
Today is the last day of the Month of May. The Month of May is also called the Month of Mary, because it is spring, and from spring comes new life, and the spring of all life is the God, Jesus Christ, who sprung forth from her womb. Also, today, if it wasn't the Thursday in the Octave of Pentecost, would be the Feast of the Queenship of Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, it wouldn't be appropriate if I didn't write about my beloved Mother and Queen of Heaven at least once this month. Yes, it's still May by five hours over here.
To all my protestant buddies who are reading this, yes you, I think you should foster a devotion for Our Lady too. Now, before you take our the pitchforks and torches and accuse me of the idolatry, I should probably explain to you what a devotion is. A devotion is where one particularly reflects and meditates upon an aspects of the faith, for example, say you can have a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or to the Child Jesus. When the devotion is to a person, like a Saint, or your guardian angel, then you would add praying and talking to particular Saint or angel as well. Now, read this about what it means in Catholicism to pray to someone or something. Got that? This is dulia prayer, not latria prayer. Through these devotions, with the help of these spiritual guids, we cannot help but be led closer to God. So, who best of all to have a devotion to, then to Our Blessed Mother, Mary?
Also, I think you'd be interested to know that Martin Luther, John Calvin and Thomas Cranmer all loved our Lady very much. To deny her any honour at all is essentially to deny Christianity.
And for all my dear Catholics brethren who haven't thought of picking up a Marian devotion, or haven't started, here are five reasons to start.
1. She is the Mother of God.
I suppose, that is obvious enough. Though, some might say, what's the big deal, God could have chosen anyone to be His mother. Well, you see, the thing is, He could have, but He didn't. To dwell on that idea is rather redundant speculation, since history has unfolded in such a manner, the Blessed Virgin Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God by God, to which she humbly accepted. If God had theoretically chosen someone else, say, the Blessed Virgin Beatrice, well then, we still be having this same conversation now, except with Beatrice instead of Mary. It's like vehement atheists or secularist who argue that it is possible to create a moral society without religion, except due to history, all morality in all societies stems from some form of religion, and thus everyone in society is influenced by the morality of religion in some way or another. It's rather redundant speculation, because, no matter what, one cannot undo the knots of the past. What God has willed, He has willed.
In light of that fact, consider that Mother Mary is about the most special and unique person in the whole of creation. Throughout all ages, she is the only human who has and will ever house God in her womb. Moreover, Christ chose to take her flesh for His humanity. She was essentially, the first tabernacle, literally, bringing Christ into the world. And, I have written about how foetal cells cross the placenta and stay in the Mother's body for the rest of their lives before, so if you think about it, she remained his tabernacle for the rest of her life, always nearby, even at the foot of His cross. For this alone, we must give her the greatest respect. YOU have Jesus Christ and all of your life as it is today because she said yes.
'My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty,
hath done great things to me;
and holy is his name.' - Lk 1:46
These words in the gospel today ring true, and there are at least 1.3 billion people who called her 'Blessed', and for the last two thousand years, you can imagine the number who have done so.
Happy Feast of the Holy Trinity. A fitting feast to end the Octave of Pentecost and to completely end Paschaltide.
In the Divine Office of Prime (1st Hour) today, there is an addition to the psalms today of the Athanasian Creed. Also known as the Quicumque vult; which typical of all prayers and church documents, are the first words of it in Latin. I reproduce here for your meditation on the Blessed Trinity. FYI, the Athanasian Creed is also part of the rite of exorcisim with my emphasis.
Whosoever willeth to be saved, * before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith.
Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, * without doubt he shall perish eternally.
Now the Catholic faith is this, * that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.
Neither confounding the Persons, * nor dividing the substance.
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, * and another of the Holy Ghost.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, * the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, * and such is the Holy Ghost.
The Father Uncreated, the Son Uncreated, * and the Holy Ghost Uncreated.
The Father Infinite, the Son Infinite, * and the Holy Ghost Infinite. * The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, * and the Holy Ghost Eternal.
And yet they are not three Eternals, * but one Eternal.
As also they are not three Uncreated, nor three Infinites, * but One Uncreated, and One Infinite.
So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, * and the Holy Ghost Almighty.
And yet they are not three Almighties, * but One Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son God, * and the Holy Ghost God.
And yet they are not three Gods, * but One God.
So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, * and the Holy Ghost Lord.
And yet they are not three Lords, * but One Lord.
For, like as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, * so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, * neither created, nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone: * not made, nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and the Son: * not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is One Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; * one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.
And in this Trinity is nothing afore or after, nothing is greater or less; * but the whole three Persons are Co-Eternal together, and Co-Equal.
So that in all things, as is aforesaid, * the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
He therefore that willeth to be safe, * let him thus think of the Trinity.
But it is necessary to eternal salvation, * that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The right Faith therefore is, that we believe and confess, * that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
God, of the Substance of the Father, Begotten before the worlds: * and Man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world.
Perfect God, Perfect Man, * of a reasoning soul and human flesh subsisting.
Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, * inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood.
Who, although He be God and Man, * yet He is not two, but One Christ.
One, however, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, * but by taking of the Manhood into God.
One altogether, not by confusion of Substance, * but by Unity of Person.
For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, * so God and man is One Christ.
Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, * rose again the third day from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, * from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, * and shall give account for their own works.
And they that have done good shall go into life eternal, * but they that have done evil into eternal fire.
This is the Catholic Faith, * which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be safe.
I am very far behind in my revision (and almost in panic and desperation, alas an acute attack of medicus scholariasis, please pray for me!), but I feel that I must share these thoughts with you, because they are too beautiful to keep to myself until next year. My priest pointed this out to me in passing comment after Mass, and it gave me much thought to mediate on during my walk home.
Being my first year in Dublin, this most unworthy soul has been given the great blessing and privilege to be hear Mass in the extraordinary form on a daily basis. Thus, this year, I have had the great grace to experience much of the liturgy through the lens of the extraordinary form, and so I assisted at my first EF Mass for the Ascension.
During this Mass, following the end of the Mass of the Catechumens (Liturgy of the Word), before the Creed is sun, the Paschal candle is extinguished. In silence following the homily, the server takes the extinguisher (I don't know what you call it :/) and solemnly put it over the candle's flame, and when he removes it, all that is left is a trail of smoke ascending heavenward. After Mass, the candle is removed from the Sanctuary. The entire procedure is simple and plain, yet extremely poignant.
Throughout the entire of Easter, from the Vigil to until Ascension, the Paschal candle is light during Mass and remains on the gospel side of the sanctuary. The light is Christ Himself, having risen from the dead, he remains with us, in plain sight, as He did with His apostles for forty days. During that time, there was much rejoicing! One of the responsaries of the minor hours of the Office through Eastertide is , 'Gavisis sunt discipuli. Alleluia. Viso Domino. Alleluia', from John 20:20, The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. How happy we were when He rose, but then on Ascension, He leaves us again. When the candle is put out, the physical lost of the Light of the World is felt, and we feel as the apostles, lost, and scared, and we in this manner until pentecost, when He sends the Paraclete to us.
It was only after He had sent them His spirit that the apostles understood their mission and begun to preach the Word. Then they celebrated Mass, and conferred Christ down unto the altar. He promised that He would not leave us orphans, and He hasn't.
It makes you wonder the words of the Gospel of the 3rd Sunday of Easter, wherein He teased His disciples.
'A little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me' - John 16:16.
(yes, yes, I know this relates more to resurrection.)
I am taking a short break from my harrowing studies. So as requested, I will elaborate on my pseudotheology on the my earlier post on embryology.
So, a brief recap of the fertilisation process.
After ejaculation, ~5,000,000 sperm swim up the uterus into the fallopian tubes. Only about 200 sperm actually make it, and they take about 3-4hrs to actually be able to fertilise. They surround the egg, which is covered by layers of glycoproteins and other stuff, and uses enzymes to burrow to reach the egg's actual membrane, where it fuses with it, joining the two together, and emptying the sperm's genetic cargo into the egg's cytoplasm. The sperm also releases enzymes which begin a cortical reaction in the egg, that prevents other sperm from entering. Therefore it is just one sperm and one egg alone. The chromosomes combine, and the process of division begins.
At this point, the cell is now called a Zygote, from the greek ζυγωτός (zygotos), meaning yoked. Now, here's where the pseudotheology comes in. To yoke something, for the vocabulary challenged, that is me, means to join together, or to bind. A yoke is actually a wooden beam that you put on oxen so you could pair two of them together.
So you have that passage in the bible, (Mk 10:9), 'What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.' The original greek word used for 'joined' is 'συνέζευξεν (synezeuxen)', which is a very strong word for yoke or couple. Hence, I think it is rather fitting that consequence of the consummation of Holy Matrimony, is a biological process rather similar to sacrament. Here the man and woman are forever 'yoked' together in this new life, and there is nothing in the world that can ever separate the two parts. And like in Holy Matrimony, where God is is the third person of the marriage, so is he the third person involved in conception (or rather he has allowed the husband and wife this special privilege to co-create with him), for at the point of conception, he ensouls this new life. A cosmic act of creation that changes the universe! If you think about it, in the entire galaxy, at this very second, there is a set and finite number of everything, atoms, people, etc, but when conception occurs, that number is changed, and new soul is created (I got this last bit off Fr Barron, I think). I suppose it is all fitting, after all, marriage is the beginning of a new life.
That's it for the pseudotheology, now for some other interesting allegories. Within 24 hours, the single cell zygote, all the while hard at work, divides into a two cell conceptus. The word is latin for 'conception', obviously, from which the english word is derived. It is interesting too that this is the particular nomenclature for the two cell zygote as agreed by Embryologists. I suppose, one cannot be a professor of the study of how life begins and develops and not agree that life begins at conception. This rather difficult to ignore fact is plastered all over embryology textbooks. (Though of course, if you're pro-choice, life begins at 14 days, or in the third trimester...or well, maybe at the age of seven, according to some bioethicists who promote infantcide...sorry 'post-birth abortion').
By day 6 or 7, the embryo, has divided many more times, turned into a blastocyst, travelled a long journey to the uterus and began the process of implantation. It literally burrows its way into the its mother's uterus, by using enzymes that digest the outermost layer of the uterus, allowing it to burrow into the endometrial tissue. And, like any good mum who embraces her child when he comes running to her, the endometrium will actually grows over the embryo!
The entire process is completed by the 14th day, and by the 16th day the placenta begins to form. It is a special tissue that is a combination of both fœtal cells and the mother's cells. It provides the embryo with oxygen, nutrients, and removes waste from the embryo. It actually a very interesting link, as the mother's immune cells do not attack the growing child within her, though they have direct access, and also, that the embryonic cells can actually travel across the placenta into the mother's blood stream! At this stage, they are still stem cells and the mother will carry them for life. That's right, for every child that is conceived in her womb, that child does not only take her flesh and blood, but literally becomes apart of her's! Mothers are awesome!
I got the last bit of this article, which you should all read. In it, the author goes on to contemplate how the Blessed Virgin Mary literally carried her the body of Christ within her all her life, and how she was always in communion with God. It is amazing thought! Can you imagine, God took her flesh, and then dwelt in her from then on. How the protestants can ever say that she isn't special is beyond me. No one has been blessed like she has, or done what she has, or received what she received, and no one ever will. Also, My CTS Missal has reflections for the rosary with regards to the Eucharist, and for the second joyful mystery, on the visitation, it reflects about how Our Lady acted as the viaticum, the little metal box made to hold the Sacratissimum which was to be brought to the sick, carrying our Lord to her cousin, heavily pregnant (and of course, later she presents her precious child to the whole world, to us, during the presentation). Our Lady always brings her son to us, and the only way we can get to know Him proper, is to get to know her.
The third mark of the true Church as professed in the Nicene Creed is that it is ‘Catholic’, from the greek καθολικός, meaning ‘universal’. This is what I love about her, she is the universal Church, a church for all. She provides a means of salvation for everyone, sinners and saints, regardless of colour, language, culture, or depth of depravity. To each one of these, she provides the same means of salvation: the thrice holy sacrifice of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, in the Mass.
Many, many people with good intentions misunderstand this one fact of the universality of the one true Church. They understand the term to mean ecumenism, acceptance, multiculturalism and plurality of practice. Many of the Catholics I have spoken to keep this weird notion of many roads to salvation, many different spiritual practices. For those enjoy it, there is the Latin Mass, and the rest who want to understand what is going on can attend Mass in the vernacular. Those appreciate it can have chant at Mass, the rest can have praise and worship songs or hymns. Even worse are the ones who don’t believe in the superiority of the Catholic Church over all other religions.
I had a very disturbing conversation with a priest about the starting a Catholic Society in School, and he was not to happy that I wanted to make the liturgy and prayer the foundation and cornerstone of the group. He was worried that people with other spiritual inclinations, like providing care for the others, and corporal acts of mercy would get side lined. The childish pluralistic idea that Catholicism is a buffet with something for everyone!
No, the universality of the Church is not a buffet with things to chose from, the universality of the Church is that there is one sure way to salvation, the cross. To put God at the centre of one’s life, to be completely obedient to the divine will, to go for Mass and receive communion. ‘He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day’. That is the Holy Mass. The religious orders are all the same, the Mass and prayer, and obedience to the divine will are at the centre of these orders, regardless of the minor differences in their expression of spirituality. The Little Sisters of the Poor, in keeping Christ at the centre of their lives, would put down their spoons during feeding time when the bell for prayer rang. In a letter to her sister, there is evidence that St Thérèse of Liseux put down her pen in midstroke to obey the bell.
That is the true universality of the Church, the one means to salvation, through Christ, her spouse. It doesn’t matter if one attends the Novus Ordo in English or the Tridentine Mass in Latin; they are the same Mass. That sacrifice is the one and the same sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. And, there could never be anything less exciting than the Mass. The Mass is where one finds Christ, truly present, in the most Blessed Sacrament! Assisting at Mass is where we participate together with the Christ in the salvation and conversion of souls! The Mass is where you get to meet your God, the God who created everything and everyone in the world, with love, regardless of their belief in Him. If anyone is to be converted to the truth, to belief in Christ, it would not be through endless hours of theological debate, it will be through the graces earned the Holy Mass.
And that is what we as youth need! What we want! Enough of this nonsense of making Mass accessible to youth! Enough of appealing to our hormonal emotions and desire for endorphins. Give us Christ! Give us His Mass in all its splendour! Teach it to us! Enough of bishops, priests and religious camouflaging themselves in civilian attire! Are they not the spouses of Christ, why do they not wear the very wedding gowns and collars that symbolize their fidelity and submission to Him? People complain that they won’t be able to appreciate chant, they won’t be able to understand the Mass if it was in Latin. Then learn about it! Listen to it, read up about it. We live in a world where all these things are accessible to us via a few keystrokes. So if it is inaccessible to you, it is only because you are lazy. That’s why. Why do you not make the effort to learn about the most exciting thing in your life: Christ? And if you are not excited, perhaps you should ask yourself, is Christ really the centre of my life?
Stop waiting around for Christ to come down and teach it to you Himself. He has already come once for our redemption. The next time He comes will be at the of time, to judge the living and the dead. Do really want to wait that long to learn more about Him? It will soon be a lent, what a better time to reconcile with Him and learn about his sacrifice!
Go, my Angel Guardian dear, To church for me, -----the Mass to hear. Go, kneel devoutly at my place And treasure for me every grace. At the Offertory time Please offer me to God Divine. All I have and all I am, Present it with the Precious Lamb. Adore for me the great Oblation. Pray for all I hold most dear Be they far or be they near. Rmember too, my own dear dead For whom Christ's Precious Blood was shed. And at Communion bring to me Christ's Flesh and Blood, my food to be. To give me strength and holy grace A pledge to see Him face to face And when the Holy Mass is done Then with His blessing, come back home.
Sorry ladies, this one is for the boys. Now, now before you start complaining about gender equality and all that, you may want to understand that these fine lads, your friends, are putting themselves in serious danger. I mean, the whole reason for allowing young boys to put on cassocks at serve at the Lord’s altar is to foster a religious vocation to the priesthood. Also, you may want to drop that gender sociology class, it’s all whack.
Yes, that’s right, to foster Christ’s call to men to join His blessed apostles in His divine ministry. That’s a life of celibacy, servitude, long years of philosophical and theological study, getting up at the break of dawn to pray the divine office and never really clocking off the job. Don’t forget having to put up with satan’s constant pranks. Don’t worry guys, you have someone far more powerful watching over you.
I’m sure you ladies have far more important things to do in your desire to consecrate your lives to serving Christ, like helping Him make more priests so that there’ll be more Masses and confessions. Anyway, you know how men always need extra help doing things…right? And besides, I don’t think you really want to wear the same thing every day do you? (or…if you do)
So anyway, here’re the five.
1. The cassock makes you look über cool and manly. If you don’t believe me, check out Christian Bale. Or Father Dwight Longenecker It may be long and flowy, but it’s really difficult to look girly in a cassock, especially if it’s black.
2. Being an Altar Server makes you manly. I remember, a long, long time ago, when I was but a wee lad, about the age of seven, all I wanted to do was be an Altar Boy. They were so cool, in the cassocks, doing things in sanctuary, helping the priest, and also helping God. I had to wait so long before I could start, like a whole entire year until I received First Holy Communion to join. Can you imagine the agony? A whole year (I was seven, give me a break, a whole year was like a seventh of my life). The older kids were like giants and we looked up to them. Even the things they did were manly, the president at that time was a commando during national service. How cool is that? When I finally got in, I was like woooooooah. The point is, a senior altar server has responsibilities, you will be responsible for guiding your little ones to becoming gentlemen. And if you’re really good, you get to wear bling during mass.
Plus, You’ll also teach how to start and play with fires, which brings me to my next point.
3. One word: THURIFER. Remember how when you were young, you always wanted to play with fire and couldn’t? Well now, you can, and you get great smelling smoke too. Come on guys, who doesn’t think that swinging a giant metal case with hot coals and sweet smelling smoking come out of it is not cool? That was about the coolest thing ever, you lead the procession and get to smoke the priests and servers and people. And if you really good, you get to try tricks.
If that’s not cool enough, have you heard of the botafumeiro?
Okay, I’ll be a bit more serious now.
4. A chance to get really close to the Blessed Sacrament. You know how, during Mass, the Priest consecrates the host, and turns the bread into the actual Body of Christ, and then you quietly say, ‘My Lord and my God.’? (I’m sure you do), and then it hits you, and you’re like, ‘O MY BRONTOSAURUS!!!!! GOD IS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME! I AM BEFORE GOD, SO COMPLETELY UNWORTHY AND SINFUL AND GOD IS THERE!?' Then you stare in deep adoration, dumbfounded in awe and wonder at the most beautiful Blessed Sacrament that the priest is elevating for a few seconds? (Repeat for Blessed Blood, except say, ‘O Lord, be mindful of Thy creature whom Thou has redeemed through Thy most precious blood.’) And that’s when you’re sitting all the way at the back of church. Now, imagine that while being right up there in front of the altar, especially at low Mass. Ya, I know, it seems kind of silly. Since, you get right up close and personal when you receive communion, but you have to admit, it’s a whole different experience.
5. You’ll learn more about Mass than you ever did in catechism. If you’re like me, then you probably didn’t learn anything from those ten years in catechism class every Sunday. It’s not your fault that the catechist didn’t think it was important to teach you about the perils of mortal sin or tell you cool stories about how Santa Claus layeth the smackdown upon a naughty heretic during the Council of Nicea. They probably thought it was better to teach you things like God is all loving and merciful, and then leave out all the other important things you need to learn, like how to actually attend Mass.
Besides, cat class wasn’t a complete was of time. The IJ girls were cute and so easy to tease right? I digress… But, we as Catholics have an obligation to know more or less how and why Mass works, so we can stick it to our protestant friends that we have real presence (with charity and kindness of course).
Serving Mass honestly helped me to gain a better appreciation of it. At least, by the time I was confirmed, I knew what a ciborium, chalix and monstrance were. Since then, I have learned a lot more about Mass and why it’s so important to our faith. So, important that the Pope tells people to go learn more about Mass and put the liturgy at the centre of their lives. This honestly saved my soul. If not for these basic tenants of truth to draw me back into the arms of Holy Mother Church when I had gone astray, I am sure I would have lost my soul by now.
So, I hope I have convinced you. And if you’re old like me, don’t let that stop you from learning to serve Mass. You know, how you join that happy clappy Catholic Students Society in school and then, they always have these private Masses? Ya, those need servers too. Or, if you really want to do it, I’m sure the 7am Mass at your local parish is looking for servers.
Today is the Solemnity of the Feast of the Epiphany of The Lord. Apart from having a lot of 'of the's in the title, this special feast marks the twelfth day of Christmas, and is called 'Mini-Christmas' in Ireland. A lot of people think that this is the end of Christmas, but...guess what? It isn't! (yay!) Christmas traditionally ends on the Candlemas, on the 2nd February. Confuse yourself away.
So move over Chinese New Year. Besides, Carol of the Bells over Gong Xi Gong Xi any day right?
Anyway, Epiphany is a big feast in the Roman Catholic Church, and while this post won't deal with the great theological and liturgy means behind this great feast, mostly because I am lowly medical student (read slave) and there many kind theologians and well informed bloggers who write about the Epiphany every year. You can read about it here, here, here, and perhaps the Pope's homily here.
Rather, this entry will be a short reflection on my celebration of Epiphany this year. As you, my dear reader, who have just finished reading all the splendid hyperlinks above, will know, on this solemn feast, chalk, water and incense is blessed at morning Mass. These are then taken back to bless one's home for the year. At home, a few prayers and the magnificat are said, and then the rooms in the house is sprinkled with holy water and censed with the blessed incense. I'm not sure how this is done, though it does conjure up images of taking out that spare thurible one keeps in the attic for such express purposes. (I jest, ideally, your priest brings his own.) Then, on the door of each room, written in blessed white chalk are the initials of the three magi framed by the year. e.g 20 C+M+B 12.
Of course, I don't have to tell you the three magi or wise men are named Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. Incidentally, the initials could mean Christus mansionem benedicat, may Christ bless the house.
If you're wondering why I wrote the blessing in a shelf, the paper that they gave out with the chalk suggested putting the blessing on the TV. Since my friend and I both don't have televisions in our rooms, we opted to put it in the shelf above our laptops for a reminder and visibility. And, that is my friend posing with his newly blessed door in the second picture, while the door at the bottom is mine, though similar they appear.
It is a great pity that this traditional has been largely lost across Europe. We didn't really get into it in Singapore because we were a mission country and not all of the great traditions were transferred to us, also the 60s came around. Anyway, I think it's a great tradition to revive, you begin the year with God by sanctifying your home. Also, a great opportunity for catechism when your friends ask you to explain your actions.
Today, I also served my first high mass! I am very blessed that the first one I serve is on the Feast of the Epiphany. I almost didn't serve today because I wanted to study. I pray that I will never make myself unavailable to serve at the altar when there is a need again. After all, what could be more important for me to do all day?
Anyway, please pray for me! I have 2 days left to revise a ton of concepts and memorise far more definitions.
Love will never betray you, dismay, or enslave you; it will set you free. Be more like the man, you were meant to be. – Mumford and Sons.
Love is good. It can only be good, because out of love comes goodness. Love cannot be evil, since out of evil, one finds only hate. Therefore love is good and since it is only good, it can only be beautiful. All beautiful things are created with love, from which comes the care, attention and passion necessary to create that beauty. The creation becomes beautiful because reflected within it is a part of the creator. Without a loving creator, the creation cannot be beautiful. It would be empty and ugly.
Love is passionate, it is hot, fiery, and energetic. It cannot be cold. Have you ever heard of a cold lover? Cold is a term used to describe emotionless and distant people, on the other hand, loving people tend to have a warmth around them, a warmth that emanates from the hot fire within their heart. That of love. It is a fire that burns, engulfs and consumes all in its wake.
Yet, Love’s consummation is special, it doesn’t reduce or destroy or break down the substance it consumes. Rather, it increases and grows and changes it! Love creates, it cannot destroy, since it is good.
Love is selfless. All its actions are for the benefit of another and it always puts others ahead of itself. Love fully gives of itself for another too. Love is humble, out of its selflessness, it chooses to serve others rather than be served. Love is charitable. It seeks to share all that it has. It will never take from you, because it cannot take. Love is a gift.
Love is freedom, because love is selfless. It can never be forced on any one or force anyone. Love is a choice, a conscious decision, a commitment, and a conviction.
Love is merciful and forgiving. It never turns away those who seek it, no matter how many times they turn away or how far away they go. Yet, Love is just, requiring fairness and reparation of wrongdoing, it teaches harsh lessons so that one might grow and grow in love. Love seeks the truth, so that justice may be done, for in lies and falsehoods, there can be no reality, they are empty. Love is the truth, it is full and it is real.
Love is supernatural. It transcend beyond our world. It cannot be seen directly, or quantified or explained by Science. To Science, who cannot understand or explain why or how Love exists, it merely reduces it to chemicals in our heads that alter the way we act in our lives. Though, perhaps, it is because of the perfection creation of love that we have these chemicals in our heads. That is, we are made to love; hence, love brings about the biochemical changes. And like all of the supernatural, love casts a shadow on this world, seen through these chemicals, but more importantly, the many acts of love that we perform.
Love is a blinding light, so hot and so bright, that it blinds one to the superficial visage of the worldly skin that clothes us in shallow and materialistic aesthetics that turn people into objects and commodities. Rather, Love’s light is so bright, that it illuminates the soul and spirit within. It lets us look past the dirt of the fallen world, to see the innate beauty and intrinsic dignity hidden within us, and lets us see who we really are, who we were meant to be.
Love is suffering. It is not a transient affection feeling of appeal, not the desire or quantity of how much one is willing to do or give to another. No, Love is the willingness to suffer for another. Love is denying ourselves and our wants and needs for another’s.
Love is a sacrifice. Perfect love is to give up everything to suffer for another person’s life. To be lay down one’s own life for another. It is to be completely innocent and pure and choosing to bear the punishment and shame and humiliation of another’s crimes, so that he will have a second chance to live. So that he will have a second chance to love. It is being tied to a pillar to be beaten and spat on, and then to be scourged. It is to be flagellated with hooked whip designed to tear and rip out flesh on every strike. To have one’s title and office mocked and insulted, by a crown of thorns forced on one’s head, digging into one’s temples, one’s skull. It is to be drag the heavy instrument of one’s death to the execution place, and then to be nailed and hung on it. It is to die, suffocating on one’s own collapsed muscles.
It is to give up a royal throne of power and majesty to be born in a stable, and to sleep in a manger, in complete poverty to be in solidarity with the lowest pauper. Amidst beasts and livestock, sleeping peacefully on a bed of hay. Love is the child whose birthday you recently celebrated. The babe, the creator of the cosmos, the very Saviour of the World. That is love.
Love is God, and He is called Jesus the Christ, and from Him, comes all love.
Recently, I was reading a book called, ‘The Hidden Treasure: The Holy Mass’ by St Leonard of Port Maurice. It was a very good read which extoled upon the greatness and goodness of assisting at the Holy Mass, especially daily, and I recommend that everyone should get a copy and read it, it is short and easy to peruse and is certainly for everyone.
Now, perhaps you may be confused as to why I say that a book, which explores the graces of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, is a book for everyone though not everyone helps out at Mass unless one is an altar server, a chorister, or the celebrant himself. I’m just a normal average Joe, you say, I just attend Mass like everyone else, what good is it to me?
Ah. That is where you are misconstrued, my dear reader. It is actually you who are assisting at Holy Mass. Yes. That is right, you are the one who assists at Holy Mass. But, how can this be, you inquire, I do not do anything, I merely sit in the pew, trying to pay attention. I can’t really sing because the songs are so heavily syncopated and don’t even sound nice. That is where you are most gravely wrong. Anyone who hears the Holy Mass, has the potential to assist at it.
Perhaps, we might take a look at why you feel that you do not assist at the Holy Mass. For the past four decades, we have firstly seen a dramatic shift in our vocabulary regarding the Holy Mass, and our liturgy. We have been told to ‘attend’ Mass, whereas when one was in Church to ‘hear’ the Holy Mass, one was also expected to ‘assist’ at it. St Leonard’s book is strewn with phrases such as those aforementioned, so is the Baltimore Catechism. However, we have only been thought to attend Mass. No wonder there is great confusion with what is truly required of us at the most Holy Sacrifice!
How should we then participate in at Mass? Let us turn to the Baltimore Catechism and have a look.
Q946. How should we assist at Mass? A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety and with every outward mark of respect and devotion.
Thus, while the servers, choristers and the celebrant have the special privilege of assisting externally at the Holy Sacrifice, you, who are sitting devoutly in the pew, in modest dress, are to assist as well. It is about an interior assistance as opposed to an external one. It means that we need not know the responses or possess the capability to sing the propers or ordinaries of the Mass, we only need to be pious with our prayers and offer up our intentions during the Mass.
So what is the difference between merely attending and assisting at Mass? In the first place, the connotations of the words are very different. To ‘attend’ merely implies to one’s mere presence at the event, while to ‘assist’ implies the necessity of helping out and being part of the event. Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Cardinal Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Workship and Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation in Rome dealing with how Mass is to be said and how the Sacraments are administered, says that we can prepare for Mass by not only reading the readings beforehand, but by reading the opening, offertory and communion prayers as well as the various antiphons. He also describes the need to pray and ask God to allow one to receive communion. These pre-communion prayers are very necessary to remind ourselves of the great gift that we are to receive.
What’s more another priest once described that during the preparation of the gifts, we offer our own prayers and intentions into the chalice and raise it up to heaven. Also, during the consecration, it is said that largest amount of souls in purgatory are granted entry into heaven. Thus, it is during this time we should offer our prayers for the souls in purgatory.
There are so many things that we as the congregation need to do! To listen devoutly to the readings and the digest and meditate upon the words of the homily, to prayer for the Church, her people, the world and ourselves during the liturgy of the word. To meditate upon the beauty of the chanted antiphons and the words in the psalms they’re from. It amazes me that we even have time to sing along with the choir or to listen to the priest says his prayers on our behalf!
So it would be nice if you would stop attending Mass, my dear reader, and to humbly accept the office of the lay person and to interiorly devote yourself to Christ and his sacrifice as it unfolds before you. Also, do pick up St Leonard’s great book. I hope to see you assisting at Mass soon!
Some of us have exams nearing. And, as any of us normal students know, studying can be a difficult process marked with stress, frustrations, book-throwings, page-tearings, crying and other sorts of sufferings and sacrifices.
Also, you may know that there are many souls in purgatory. If you didn't, you do now. And suffering can be offered up as penance for the souls in purgatory. And since studying can have suffering, perhaps you may wish to offer up your academic sufferings for the holy souls in purgatory.
That way your studying won't go to waste (it won't either way but it feels that way sometimes). :)
If you think this is a good idea, you may wish to write down this prayer and keep it in your pencil case or file or book, and say it before you commence the daily mugging.
Pray Before Studying O Jesus, You who suffered and died upon the cross for my sins, and gave me the opportunity to learn of the knowledge you so wonderfully created, bless me today as I carry out this vocation and to give you glory in all I do. I also wish to offer you, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the sufferings that I endure through the course of my studying today for the intentions of the souls in purgatory. And, I ask that You and our Blessed Mother, through the prayers of all the patrons of students, especially St Joseph Cupertino, St Gregory Wonderworker and St Thomas Aquinas, to watch over me in my studies and my examinations. Amen
God bless!
PS: in desperate circumstances, St Jude is the patron saint of desperate cases.
PPS: I have started a facebook event for this, you can find it here. Please do show your support by attending and checking in with your progress from time to time!
