What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

Lightning storn tonight. Lot’s of branch lightning. Hard to predict, but I caught a little.

Meanwhile, back at the Sabine farm...

Here is a detail showing the Risen Lord of one of my vestments in the chapel.

From the same vestment…. can you read what this says?

COLLECT:
Ecclesiae tuae, misericors Deus, concede propitius,
ut, Sancto Spiritu congregata, toto sit corde tibi devota,
et pura voluntate concordat.

Our masterly Lewis & Short Dictionary helps us dig into concordo, at the heart of which is “heart…cor”.  We find in the first place that it means, “to agree together, to be united, be of one mind, to harmonize”.  Then also it has the transitive meaning of “to bring into union”.  Blaise/Chirat has pretty much the same.  I rather like that transitive meaning here, though I am interested to know what you all might come up with.

LITERAL VERSION:
O merciful God, propitiously grant to Your Church
that, having been gathered by the Holy Spirit, in whole heart devoted to You,
may with a pure will be brought into harmony.

Herein we continue our ecclesial and collective preparation for the liturgical re-descent of the Holy Spirit next Sunday.

Notice the progression of thought:

1) God the Father shows merciful
2) God the Holy Spirit gathers
3) heart
4) will

There is a dynamic tension and interplay always going on between the intellective and the affective dimensions of our faith and life.  The God of mercy creates us according to his image.  Thus we can know, will and love.  Since we are not angels there is a process and interplay between the intellect and the will in every human act of knowing of decision and of action.  In the longer span of our lives we also have an overarching tension and interplay between what we know with our head, feel with out heart and choose with our will.  Faith, considered from our perspective, itself comes from both the motion of the heart and the reflection of the intellect.  Faith considered from another perspective, however, is a theological virtue, a grace which God gives us.   Faith must also be considered in itself.  There is a faith in which we believe (that content of the faith we learn and can assent to) and a faith by which we believe (which is the aforementioned grace with which we cooperate).  Deeper yet, the content of the faith is a person, indeed a Divine Person with whom we can and must have a relationship of love, to whom we express ourselves and to whom we come with active receptivity.  You cannot have a relationship of love with an abstraction or a formula our learn by heart.

Each of us have the challenge to get things into harmony, our heart with our intellect, our person with our neighbors, ourselves with our God.  The Holy Spirit, as St. Augustine and others described, is the perfect love between the Father and the Son, and as perfect love, as perfect self-gift of the One to the Other, has all that the Persons have in perfection, including divinity and personhood.   The relation of the Persons of the Trinity, in whose image we are made, mysterious as it is, must be a constant point of our reflection as we strive to bring into harmony all the different dimensions of our lives.  For Augustine, the search and contemplation of the Trinity conforms us to the image of God by thinking of him and loving him.   For Augustine, there are stages of this search and conversion

1) credere Deo ... to believe by means of God
2) credere Deum ... to believe God
3) credere in Deum ... to believe in God
4) credendo in Deum ire ... to go on by believing in God

Augustine was deeply, passionately, fiercely interested in love.  Often and appropriately he is depicted with a burning heart.  For Augustine, belief and love were intertwined.  He described love as a gravitational force pulling us to where we by nature belong.  Some people think the old man was a terrible pessimist about the human condition, especially as he got older, was worn down by constant theological battles and pastoral burdens and deteriorating health.  If he saw the negative side of the human condition, he knew with absolute conviction that love was its solution.  This conviction grew as the years passed.  The great Augustinian scholar A.-M. La Bonnardiere found that between 387-429, Augustine (+430) quoted Romans 5:5 at least 201 times.  Augustine rarely used Romans 5:5 before 411 (the year Rome was sacked by Alaric).  Romans 5:5 is found more frequently between 411-421 when he was fighting with Pelagians about grace.  Many references continue from 421 until his death while he was engaged in his bitter fight with the bête noir of his old age Julian of Eclanum.

What is Romans 5:5?

…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, (v. 5) and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. <supportLineBreakNewLine]—>

Over at the fine Catholic World News (which you ought to subscribe to if you don’t already) there is a very good story on WDTPRS’s favorite Joseph Card. Zen of Hong Kong.   Go read the article.  However, here is an excerpt (emphasis mine):

Questioned about the three bishops who were ordained for the "official" Catholic Church in China earlier this month, without the consent of the Vatican, Cardinal Zen said that he did not think the government was reacting against Pope Benedict’s decision to make him a cardinal. Such a reaction, he said, would be "disproportionate."

The real purpose of defying the Vatican, the Chinese cardinal suggested, was the government’s desire to test the Catholic Church, and to impose its own authority. "Personally, I think it was a test of strength," he said.

Cardinal Zen explained that the government is worried by the loyalty that Chinese Catholics have toward the Holy See. He pointed out that "85% of the bishops of the ‘official’ Church have asked for and obtained recognition from Rome." Hoping to weaken those bonds, the government has installed its own favored clergymen as bishops in the illicit ceremonies earlier in May. The cardinal added that "unjust pressures" were placed on Catholics to participate in the ordination ceremonies and recognize the authority of the government-appointed bishops. Many Catholics, he said, "did not have a lot of choice."

Do you remember that just after the illicit consecrations a few weeks ago I posted here:

In reaction to the consecrations (and probably a lot more beside) Card. Zen said dialogue "cannot continue because people will think we are prepared to surrender".

"We cannot budge. When you brutally place such a fait accompli, how can you call this dialogue?"

I was having a conversation with someone the other day about China and made the point that the only way to deal realistically with situation of the Church is to approach it with strength, rather than simple accomodation.  Pope Benedict has lately made strong statements about reciprocity.  He seems to be moving quickly away from an attitude of appeasement, which perhaps characterized certain dimensions of the Holy See’s relations with nations and separated Churches.

All Hail the Great Zen, who is a perspicacious player in this intricate game of Catholic Chinese Chess.

COLLECT:
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens et misericors Deus,
ut Spiritus Sanctus adveniens
templum nos gloriae suae dignanter inhabitando perficiat.

LITERAL VERSION:
Grant, we beseech You, Almighty and merciful God,
that the Holy Spirit, now coming,
will by the indwelling of His glory worthily perfect us as a temple.

Many times in the WDTPRS columns in the paper we have seen how gloria expresses Greek doxa and Hebrew kabod.  St. Hilary of Poitier, taught about gloria as that divine characteristic which God will share with us in the life to come and which will continually transform us for eternity.  Something of the gloria was shown to Peter, John and James on Mount Tabor.  When the cloud descended upon the mountain or upon the tent where the Ark was kept and Moses entered within to speak with God, he would emerge with face so bright that he had to wear a veil.  

Is not reception of Holy Communion in some ways more profound an encounter with God than what Moses experienced?

Our encounters with God in His glory transform us.  God’s Real Presence in the Eucharist must result in His glory shining through to others in our actions and words.  However, the transforming glory of the Lord is not something that makes us hard to look at.  Instead, it makes us that much more amazing to others.  Whatever we have of physical attractiveness is dust in the wind compared to the beauty of a soul in the state of grace which has cultivated the life of virtue.

This is not merely an individual endeavor.  Our prayer today asks that the Holy Spirit make us (plural) into a temple (singular).  We are all in this together.   If by our sins we harm others in the whole Church, nay rather human family, so too by our meritorious actions do we build up the whole Body.  Even in the face of adversity we by our sacrifices, united to the Cross, can be of great service to others even though we live the most reclusive of lives.  The smallest of stones, chipped and battered, can still have its perfect place in the building of the temple.  God makes us the shape He needs us to be by knocking off what isn’t part of his blueprint.  We read in 1 Peter 2:1-6:

So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander.  Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.  Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame."

 

A Bedtime Prayer
Of A Catholic Marine Corps Officer

- Luke 18:17-

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray Thee Lord my soul to take.

For ‘ere the daystar rises high
Upon the morrow we must fly
To face again death’s dire hand
And free a distant people’s land.

Upon a shore, on mountain steep,
In desert, snow, or jungle deep,
Through heat, on ice, by land or sea
Marines will ever faithful be.

Our purpose true and mission clear
Will help us face all pain and fear.
Since one we are in heart and mind,
Marines leave none of theirs behind.

For some of us must surely fall,
Tenacious in hard duty’s call.
According to God’s timeless ken
We live, then serve, then die as men.

Our Rosaries and Michael’s sword
Will Anchor, Globe and Eagle guard.
Warm prayers of dear ones, Masses said,
Support our living and our dead.

O Queen of Martyrs! Christ, my Light!
O Guardian angels! Joseph bright!
O Trinity Three Persons One!
For us and foe Thy will be done.

And now I lie on Adam’s clay.
Grim weapons crack and shatter day.
Throughout cold night hot blood must flow.
This hour shall I God’s Judgments know?

Or will wounds heal? Will terror scar?
Will grief my trust in heaven mar?
Youth was shortened, young men lost.
Will what I’ve done merit this cost?

Ash to ash and dust to dust.
Thundering armaments will rust.
Bone and flesh must go to ground,
But none of us by death are bound.

Not ‘till heaven shall I see,
The men who offered up this fee.
Marines long taken from our eyes
At long last glorious will rise.

All the tears that I will shed
Make sense as I behold the Head
Of Him whose Sacrifice was free,
For all, for sinners, on the Tree.

Some losses do merit the cost.
Our loss is great. We mourn our lost.
But I and neighbor must be free.
Paid is the price of liberty.

So, brothers now we lay to rest,
And fix their medals on their chest.
Their mothers I will gently tell
Sons loved them, God, and country well.

We smooth the lines in pale brow,
Then close their final bed and bow
To express gratitude and love
With folded flag, priest’s hand above.

Parents, wives, and children know
From me that we did love them so.
They’re clear in memory and my dreams.
Christ Jesus save my brave Marines.

In safety now my loved ones sleep.
Let Mighty God our nation keep!
And should I die before I wake,
My soul I offer Christ to take.

In honor of all those who served perhaps just one example of valor will serve to express gratitude:

Father Vince Capodanno was Maryknoll missionary priest.  He was sent first to the missions in Taiwan and later joined the US Navy and served with the 7th Marines in Vietnam and then, after working at the naval hosptial, with the 5th Marines. 

On 4 September 1967 there was a terrible battle in Que-Son Valley.  As the battle developed Fr. Capodanno heard over the radio that things were getting dicey and  so he requested to go out with M company.  

As they approached the small village of Chau Lam, they were caught under fire on a knoll.  There was terrible fighting, even hand to hand, and they were almost over run.  Father Capodanno was wounded in the face and his hand was almost severed by a mortar round but he continued to giving last rites and take care of his Marines.  He was killed trying to get to a wounded marine only 15 yards away from an enemy machine gun. 

In January 1969, Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, became the second chaplain in United States history to receive our nation’s highest military honor. "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty …", he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

In addition, he was also awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal. The government of Vietnam awarded him the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with device.

These men served in hell armed with love of God and love of country.  We should remember chaplains.

I want to add a word of thanks to a priest friend of mine, Fr. Tim Vakoc, with whom I was in seminary.  He is now in the VA hospital in Minneapolis after suffering serious wounds in Iraq.

COLLECT:
Adveniat nobis, quaesumus, Domine,
virtus Spiritus Sancti,
qua voluntatem tuam fideli mente retinere,
et pie conversatione depromere valeamus.

The first part of this is based on a phrase in a prayer during the Octave of Pentecost in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary and another prayer in the Veronese Sacramentary in the month of July: Omnipotens sempiterne deus da nobis uoluntatem tuam et fideli mente retinere. et pia conuersatione depromere. ut aecclesia [sic] tua a profanis uanitatibus expiata. non aliud profiteatur uerbis, aliud exerceat actione.  Notice that what we have going on here is underscoring of the contrast between mere words or actions and interior disposition.

If you are working these prayers out yourself, and don’t happen to have at hand (quod Deus avertat!) a copy of the excellent Lewis & Short Dictionary you may want to know that depromo means in the first place "to draw out, draw forth; to bring, to fetch from anywhere, esp. out of any place".  The dictionary and commentary by Blaise/Dumas (in French) says that depromo is “formuler (voeux, priers)”.  Okay… not too easy to work with this, right?  Let’s look at Blaise/Chirat for some extra help: “mettre au jour, communiquer, publier, render public”.  That’s more like it!  Pius is a complicated adjective.  Valeo means in a simple way, “be able” but it means that because it fundamentally has to do with strength and power.  We are able to do things because we are strong enough to do them.  It has to do with being “dutiful”, as when pius Aeneas carried his old father upon his back from out the ruin of burning Troy.  It also has to do with being holy and devout and, in especially in reference God, merciful.  I think today I will simply dump these concepts into your skulls and say “pious” in our WDTPRS … 

LITERAL VERSION:
Let the might of the Holy Ghost
come to us, we beseech You, O Lord,
by which with faithful mind we may be strong to maintain Your will
and demonstrate it outwardly by a pious manner of life.

Life is filled with labors and cares and burdens to bear.  We have heavy loads to carry.  Even if our lives are relatively care free, the weight of years press Brother Ass down and become over time harder and harder.  The Holy Spirit charges us.  It “charges” us with interior power and it charges is in the sense of duty and responsibility.  Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are made strong to bear anything.  When the Holy Spirit comes with the Father and the Son to make us Their living temples and fill us with the seven Gifts and the twelve Fruits, we outwardly manifest their presence.  Manifestation of the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit are a sign that a person is in the state of grace, and habitually so.

What you do outwardly can have an enormous impact on the faith of others.  You can jump start a dormant faith life, strengthen another, or perhaps spark someone else into seeking answers to the questions they have.  On the other hand, you can damage people too. 

Today’s prayer aims at putting ourselves interiorly and exteriorly in harmony with the will of God in our lives.

Shouts in the Piazza and Roman Miscellany have posted about Benedict XVI (now gloriously reigning) conferring the Golden Rose as a gift at the Shrine of the Black Madonna, Jasna Gora at Czestochowa.   In the WDTPRS series I have written about the Golden Rose on articles for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday.  Here is an excerpt about the Golden Rose from one of those articles.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare” Sunday – Station: Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2001

There is a Latin dictum: repetita iuvant… repeated things help.  That is to say, repetition helps us to learn and remember.  Today we have a “nickname Sunday” (like Gaudete in Advent, Cantate in Eastertide, etc) This nicknaming tradition goes back at least to John of Salisbury (12th c.), and derives from the first word of the Introit chant for the Mass.  Today, there is a relaxation of the stark penitential aspect of Lent, during which season traditionally (and still present in the rubrics) there should be no flowers and decorations and no instrumental music (including organ unless used only to sustain congregational singing).  This Sunday we have a glimpse of the joy that is coming, which is why the first word sung is “Rejoice”!  We have rose colored vestments and instrumental music.

Some ink can be given to rose vestments. This custom is tied to the station churches in Rome.  For centuries in Rome there have been celebrations of Mass during the great seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas at "station" churches. The station Mass for Laetare Sunday is the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome, where the relics of Cross and Passion are kept.  It was the custom on Laetare for the Pope to bless roses made of gold that were then sent to Catholic kings and queens. Thus Laetare was also called Dominica de rosa…. Sunday of the Rose. Rose vestments developed naturally from this occasion. So, rose came to be used on Laetare Sunday in the Basilica of the Holy Cross when the Pope came for the station Mass. The use of rose (the technical term for the color is rosacea) spread to the rest of the City on this day. As a Roman custom it became part and parcel of the Roman Missal promulgated through the world by Pius V.  The custom is, thanks be to God, coming back into vogue again.

One might ask why roses were given to Catholic rulers and other figures.  The papal letters and documents that came with the rose hint at the meaning attached to it. Innocent III wrote about the significance of the rose and Laetare Sunday: "As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its color, odor, and taste, love, joy, and satiety respectively."  Innocent also says that the rose is the flower spoken of in Isaiah 11, 1: "there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root".  Centuries later Pope Leo XIII wrote that the beautiful golden flower signifies Christ in His majesty, spoken of by the prophet as "the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys"; the flower’s fragrance shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be diffused through the whole world by His faithful followers.  The thorns and red color symbolize His Passion, harkening to both the real event of the Crucifixion and its foretelling by the prophet Isaiah 43,2: "Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs th