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

A biretta tip o{]:¬) to Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things who alerts us to a YouTube of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen doing color commentary on the celebration of a Tridentine High Mass for Easter (Resurrexi) with Gregorian chant and choral/orchestral music. Check it out! I really like the irony of his statement during his description of the Vidi aquam about how the Church never drops its liturgical customs.

For some reason I couldn’t get the YouTube window to embed here, so I put it in a comment.

Today, on a boat in Pittsburgh, 12 women are pretending to get ordained. In their honor, a little riff on Gilligan’s Island has been written:

Come sit right back
and you’ll hear a tale,
a tale of some heretics
That started from a Pittsburgh port,
aboard a tiny ship.

The mate was a fan of labyrinths
The skipper was a nun
10 other women were on board
for sacramental fun.
(for sacramental fun)

The liturgy was getting rough,
The litany was long,
Invoking Lilith, Gaia too,
Seemed just a bit too wrong
(though not to Bishop Spong)

The ship set ground in a strange new world,
uncharted heresy
With lesbians And feminists
An acting deacon’s wife
Peace activists
And the rest
Here on Womanchurch Isle

So this is the tale of the priestesses
There here for a long, long time.
They’re sure to make a mess of things
And bitch and moan and whine.

No pope! No men! No canon law
Not a dime to Peter’s Pence!
Like Lollard, Hussites, Bogomils,
They’ve left out common sense.

So join us here each year my friend,
There’s sure to be more fun,
With a hearty shout, “non serviam!
My will, not Thine be done.”

FR. Z ADDS: I am not sure we will thank Tim for planting the Gilligan’s Island theme song in our heads, where it will no doubt stick for a while, but this was pretty good parody work, I’ll say.

Here is the Martyrologium Romanum entry for this great saint and founder of the Society of Jesus. (To the right is my photo of the statue of St. Ignatius atop the colonade of St. Peter’s Square in Rome).

Memoria sancti Ignatii de Loyola, presbyteri, qui, hispanus in Cantabria natus, in aula regia et militia vitam egit, donec, post grave vulnus acceptum ad Deum conversus, Lutetiae Parisiorum studia theologica complevit et primos socios sibi ascivit, quos postea in Societatem Iesu Romae constituit, ubi ipse fructuosum exercuit ministerium et in operis conscribendis et in discipulis instituendis, ad maiorem Dei gloriam.

This morning Holy Mass was celebrated at The Sabine Farm using the 1962 edition of the Missale Romanum and here is the spiffy:

COLLECT (1962MR)
Deus, qui ad maiorem tui nominis gloriam propagandam,
novo per beatum Ignatium subsidio militantem Ecclesiam roborasti:
concede; ut, eius auxilio et imitatione certantes in terris,
coronari cum ipso mereamur in caelis.

LITERAL VERSION
O God, who strengthened the Church militant with a new reinforcement through blessed Ignatius,
in order to spread widely the greater glory of Your Name,
grant that we, who are contending on earth by his help and example,
may deserve to be crowned with him in heaven.

The Novus Ordo Collect for Ignatius has been pretty much weenied down, I think:

COLLECT (2002MR)
Deus, qui ad maiorem tui nominis gloriam propagandam
beatum Ignatium in Ecclesia tua suscitasti,
concede, ut, eius auxilio et imitatione certantes in terris,
coronari cum ipso meramur in caelis.

Notice anything missing??

Here is a shot of the altar and tomb of the saint in the Church called the Gesù in the heart of Rome.

The other day I mentioned that at The Sabine Farm I had relics of Sts. Joachim and Anne.  I promised photos and here they are.

At the top is St. Joachim and in the center is St. Anne.  On the left is St. Nicholas (yes, Santa Claus), on the bottom is St. Blaise of throat-blessing fame, and at the right is St. Paul, the Blessed Apostle to the Gentiles.

I can here it now.  "But Father!  But Father!" you exclaim, stabbing your powered-sugar covered finger at the screen as you put down your piece of Turkish delight, "How can you be sure that these are real?  After all, St. Anne?  St. Joachim?  Why should we beleive that?"  Well… you’ve got me there.  All I can say is that if you have proof that they are not real, please send it and I will take it under advisement.

This is a really old reliquary.  I am guessing it dates to the early part of the 18th c.  It was common (and still is) to put more than one relic in a reliquary.  There is a waxen seal on the interior part of the back, but I haven’t explored it yet.  There are no documents, alas.

Over at the Shrine, a question was asked about the term homo viator, which descibes "the wanderer" (which is the name of a paper I write for), the Christian as a pilgrim or "wayfarer" en route. In this life we are all pilgrims on the road toward the patria, the "fatherland", heaven. This is an image used especially by St. Augustine. He uses the word viator, as a matter of fact.

In classical texts, in addition to a "wayfarer" (which is the style of RayBan sunglasses I wear) a viator is just as likely to be a fellow who summons other people to court

A quick look into some texts rapidly revealed that the term homo viator isn’t used often in Patristic or medieval texts, though it is present. The nominative homo viator is found in Bonaventure’s prologue to the Breviloquium:

3. For in its development Holy Scripture has not been circumscribed by the rules of reasoning, defining, and dividing unlike the other fields of knowledge, nor is it restricted to only part of the universe, but rather it procedes by supernatural inspiration for the sake of providing man the wayfarer (homini viatori) with as much knowledge as he needs to save his soul; using a language sometimes literal and sometimes figurative, it describes as it were the content of the entire universe and so covers the breadth, it describes the whole course of history thereby comprehending the length, it displays the glory of those in the end to be saved thus showing the height it recounts the misery of the reprobate, and thus reveals the depth not only of the universe but also of God’s judgment.

And in thus describing the breadth, length, height, and depth of the entire universe, in so far as this knowledge serves the purpose of salvation, Holy Scripture itself develops, as will be shown later, according to the same fourfold pattern. This manner of development was called for by man’s capacity of understanding: for the human intellect was made to grasp great things and many things in a grand and manifold way, like some noble mirror made to reflect the whole complex of the created world, not only naturally, but also supernaturally; so that the development of Scripture may be thought of as answering all that man’s capacity demands.

Today is the feast of St. Peter Chrysologus, as you probably know. He talks about the viator (s. 89, in CCL 24a):

Incedentes: incedit qui non stat in triuiis peccatorum, qui peregrinum se hoc sentit in saeculo, qui asperas uirtutum intrat intrepidus mansiones, qui montes iustificationum, mandatorum colles indefessus uiator ascendit, ut praesentia parentis dei patriae caelestis beatitudine perfruatur.

Back to Augustine, he pairs viator with patria several times in his works. Here is an example from the Quaestiones evangeliorum 2.19:

stabulum est ecclesia, ubi reficiuntur uiatores de peregrinatione in aeternam patriam redeuntes. ... The Church is an inn, where wayfarers returning to the eternal fatherland are refreshed from their journey.

There was in that quote a touch of the exitus/reditus pairing. There are other Augustinian citations as well. For example, in s. 255:

Et in hoc quidem tempore peregrinationis nostrae ad solatium uiatici dicimus alleluia; modo nobis alleluia canticum est uiatoris: tendimus autem per uiam laboriosam ad quietam patriam, ubi retractis omnibus actionibus nostris, non remanebit nisi alleluia… And indeed, during this time of our exile and our wayfaring, we say Alleluia is for us the song of a wayfarer; but by a toilsome road we are wending our way to our restful fatherland where, all our busy activies over and done with, there will remain nothing other than Alleluia.

Sounds to me like the Sabine Farm is a foretaste of the patria. Hmmm…

You might also want to check out Paul G. Kuntz, "Augustine: From Homo Erro to Homo Viator" in Augustinian Studies 11 (1980): 79-89. Also, this issue of Christ as patria can be deepend by a reading of Goulven Madec’s La Patrie et la voie: le Christ dans la vie et la pensée de saint Augustine. Desclée, 1989.

The second reading for today’s Holy Mass (with the Novus Ordo) is from Ephesians 4:1-6. Let us hear what St. John Chrysostom says about it.

Again [Paul] uses the metaphor of bonding. We have lft it behind, and now it comes running back to us. Beautiful was Paul’s bond; beautiful too is this [bond of peace among Christians], and the former arises from the latter. Bind yourself to your brethren. Those thus bound together in love bear everything with ease…. If now you want to make the bond double, your brother must also be bound together with you. Thus He wants us to be bound together with one another, not only to be at peace, not only to be friends, but to be all one, a single soul. Beautiful is this bond. With this bond we bind ourselves together both to one another and to God. This is not a chain that bruises. It does not cramp the hands. It leaves them free, gives them ample room and greater courage. (Homily on Ephesians 9.4.1-3 – IOEP 4:202)

I am reminded when I read this of the powerful moment in the sermon of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April 2005 during the Mass that marked officially the beginning of his Petrine Ministry. I was at the Piazza of St. Peter when he pronounced these words and even now I can feel their power and the memory gives me shivers:

There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him. The task of the shepherd, the task of the fisher of men, can often seem wearisome. But it is beautiful and wonderful, because it is truly a service to joy, to God’s joy which longs to break into the world.

Here I want to add something: both the image of the shepherd and that of the fisherman issue an explicit call to unity. “I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must lead them too, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16); these are the words of Jesus at the end of his discourse on the Good Shepherd. And the account of the 153 large fish ends with the joyful statement: “although there were so many, the net was not torn” (Jn 21:11). Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that it has been torn! But no – we must not be sad! Let us rejoice because of your promise, which does not disappoint, and let us do all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised. Let us remember it in our prayer to the Lord, as we plead with him: yes, Lord, remember your promise. Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity!

At this point, my mind goes back to 22 October 1978, when Pope John Paul II began his ministry here in Saint Peter’s Square. His words on that occasion constantly echo in my ears: “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!” The Pope was addressing the mighty, the powerful of this world, who feared that Christ might take away something of their power if they were to let him in, if they were to allow the faith to be free. Yes, he would certainly have taken something away from them: the dominion of corruption, the manipulation of law and the freedom to do as they pleased. But he would not have taken away anything that pertains to human freedom or dignity, or to the building of a just society. The Pope was also speaking to everyone, especially the young. Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen.

There is perhaps also a note here for those who have chosen to "tear the net" of unity for the sake of their aspirations.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003

Mr. John L. Allen, Jr., the outstanding Rome correspondent for the less than traditionally minded National Catholic Reporter reports in the 3 July 2003 The Word From Rome offering that on 27 June the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) held a joint plenary session to thrash over the 55 page draft document concerning liturgical practice and abuses which Sovereign Pontiff called for in his last encyclical, Ecclesia De Eucharistia (EdE). This document will address inter alia inter-communion with Protestants. According to Mr. Allen “the document contains no reference to wider permission for celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass, the so-called “Tridentine rite”” as was suggested strongly in a 13 May news item on the website of Inside the Vatican reporting an interview with the CDW’s Prefect Francis Card. Arinze. I can confirm Mr. Allen’s report. As I learned in my own recent conversations with friends I spoke with in Rome who had read a version of the draft: no mention of the older form of Mass. I had reported this in my WDTPRS column for Ascension Thursday/Sunday (The Wanderer 29 May 2003) together with my lament that, with the advance publicity and precocious crowing of some, the opposition would have time to mount an enveloping attack. I would say that those traditionally minded folks who have their hearts set on a “universal indult” shouldn’t get their hopes up too high. Nevertheless, as the sage and sometime catcher Yogi Berra reminded us, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over”.

JF writes via e-mail: “May I impose on you to ask if “for you and for all” is a correct translation of the Pope’s actual words (in the new encyclical EdE 2a)? Assuming the original language is Latin, did he say “omnibus” or “multis”? I know a mistranslation is acceptable for use in the Mass in English speaking countries, but would the Pope be bound by this?” First, JF, may I refer you to WDTPRS column for the 4^th Sunday of Easter (The Wanderer 8 May 2003 – and also the archive on the internet at http://www.wdtprs.com)? I explain the whole thing there. Second, it is not “acceptable” to mistranslate anything for Mass in English. We must always strive to have translations that are to the best degree possible accurate and beautiful. A daunting task, to be sure. That is, as you know, why these columns have been published for the last two and a half years. We need what Christ wants to give. Christ wants always to give it through His Church. The celebration of the Eucharist (Christ Himself) at Mass is the source and summit of our Christian life. What the Church prays at Mass makes a difference. We need what the Church’s prayers really say in order to benefit to the greatest degree from what Christ is offering to us in those prayers. I am glad you raised this for us, JF. It is good to keep focused. So, let’s get focused on this week’s…

POST COMMUNIONEM

LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum):
Populo tuo, quaesumus, Domine, adesto propitius,
et, quem mysteriis caelestibus imbuisti,
fac ad novitatem vitae de vestustate transire.

Having some precedent in the Gelesian and Veronese Sacramentaries, this prayer is new to the Roman Missal as of the 1970MR. There are nice popping “p” alliterations in the first line and a good humming “m” in the middle. The alliteration on “v” in the last line is very snappy.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Merciful Father,
may these mysteries
give us new purpose
and bring us to a new life in you.

As I look back and forth between these different versions, alarm bells immediately ring: the English is shorter than the Latin. We can do better, I think. And if we can do better in WDTPRS, then we can be very confident that those who are charged with the preparation of the new translation of the 2002MR can do very well indeed and actually give us what the prayer really says. In the meantime, let us busy ourselves with our text.

I think that St. Paul’s letter to the Romans must be the partial source for our prayer, for in it we read: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Latin Vulgate: novitate vitae ambulemus). For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self (vetus homo) was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (RSV 6:3-6). This will be familiar as the common first reading for a Requiem Mass or funeral. Note that the words transeo (“to go over, across”) in our prayer and the ambulo (“to walk” – though it also comes to represent how we live our lives) in Romans both are motion verbs. In that same letter the Blessed Apostle writes: “While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code (in vetustate litterae) but in the new life of the Spirit (in novitate spiritus)” (RSV 7:5-6).

In the comprehensive Lewis & Short Dictionary we find that novitas (related to novus, a, um) is “a being new, newness, novelty” and “rareness, strangeness, unusualness” which carries in an ancient Roman’s mind a negative connotation. Think of “novelty” and “innovation”. There is nothing of the negative attached with Christian “newness” in our prayer today – quite the contrary. Vestustas (related to vetus, eris) is, as you might guess, “old age, age, long existence” and “ancient times, antiquity.” Think of “inveterate” and “veteran”. Here we have a sharp contrast between the old and the new.

Another source from this prayer, still from St. Paul’s famous line in Ephesians 4: “Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live (non ambuletis) as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. Put off your old nature (veterem hominem – “the old man”) which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature (induite novum hominem – “the new man”), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (RSV 4:17-24)

We will not omit consulting L&S for insights into the nuances of imbuo. This verb indicates “to wet, moisten, dip, tinge, touch” and “to fill, tinge, stain, taint, infect, imbue, imbrue with any thing”. By extension it means “to inspire or impress early, to accustom, inure, initiate, instruct, imbue.” Did you notice another connection in our prayer’s vocabulary with the Romans passage above?

In the original Greek for this passage from Romans the words referring to “baptize, baptism” come from baptizô. A consultation the Latin L&S’s Greek counterpart, the “other” L&S, or better and more usually the LSJ, the veritably bulky Liddell & Scott aka Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon (by the scholarly lexicographers Henry George Liddell’s and Robert Scott’s massive tome edited and revised by Henry Stuart Jones (the “J” of LSJ) with Roderick McKenzie and published by Oxford University Press in 1940 – there being also a very small reduction and an intermediate dictionary obviously nicknamed the “Little Liddell” and the “Middle Liddell”) we learn that baptizô means basically, “dip, plunge” and thus also “draw wine by dipping the cup in the bowl”. Early Christians adopted this classical Greek word and “baptized” it with a new meaning. Digging at baptizô a little more we learn that it is derived from baptô, “to dip, dye; draw water by dipping a vessel”. This is used in contexts such as glazing or silvering earthenware vessels in pottery work. It puts a coating on the outside of the vessel which is then made part of the substance of the clay through an additional process. According to yet another source, G.W.H. Lampe’s majestic A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: 1961) baptô was used for dipping the Eucharistic Host into the chalice in the Liturgy of St. James. This was a Eucharistic liturgy based on the Antiochene Liturgy, perhaps the most ancient Christian liturgy. Modified forms of the Liturgy of St. James are used by Catholic Syrians, Monophysite Syrians (Jacobites), Catholic Maronites, and the Orthodox of Zakynthos and Jerusalem. In most Eastern churches, Orthodox and Catholic, it has been superseded by the Byzantine liturgy of St. John. In some contexts baptô and even more baptizô indicate a permanent change, as in dipping hot steel into water to temper it or dipping hides in solutions to tan them. In all these cases the object being dipped is changed in a permanent way. Through the closely related baptizô of baptism we too are changed in a radical way when the indelible mark is left on our soul as if we have been dyed like cloth, tanned like hides or tempered like steel – all three good metaphors for Christian life.

Just as an aside you might remember once in WDTPRS (on the Super oblata of the 5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – The Wanderer 7 February 2002) we discussed the placement of accents in Latin words and how they can change the meaning. The examples were derivatives of the verbs condio which gives us the word condítor (“pickler”) and condo producing cónditor (“founder”). We must be careful when singing St. Ambrose’s great hymn Cónditor alme siderum not to misplace the accent in such a way that we are singing “O loving pickler of the stars” rather than “creator of the stars”. The connection? The clearest example showing the meaning of baptizô is a text from the Greek grammarian, poet and physician Nicander of Colophon (fl. II c. B.C., not to be confused with an epic poet Nicander son of Anaxagoras). The text is a recipe for making pickles in which Nicander uses both baptô and baptizô. He says that to make a good pickle (I am not making this up) we must first “dip” (baptô) the veggie into boiling water and then “baptize” (baptizô) it in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables. The first immersion is a preparatory stage while the second, the act of “baptising” the vegetable, produces the permanent change in which the vegetable is “imbued” with new properties.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beseech you, O Lord, mercifully to be present to your people,
and cause those whom you have imbued with the heavenly sacramental mysteries
to cross over from the old to newness of life.

Our baptismal character remains forever, on earth, in heaven or in hell. It can never be removed. We are forever changed by this pouring or immersing with water and the Trinitarian formula. Our outward comportment and interior landscape must reflect this deepest of realities. At the moment we hear this Post communionem prayer, the Lord has deigned to allow Himself in the sacred Host to be “dipped” into what should be the pure and clean chalice of our earthly bodies. When the Host is “moistened” by us, our souls are imbued with the grace which it is: a Host does not merely symbolize Christ, it truly is Christ in itself. We must avoid that our baptismal character be, in thought, word and deed, merely “skin deep” as it were, as if the only thing being imbued was the surface of our skin. When a person or plant is parched and dying the surface and skin become terribly dry and cracked. Wetting the surface will momentarily restore it as the moisture imbues the outer part and renews it. It will however quickly dry again. The benefit passes quickly. The surface looks good for a while and then it diminishes in beauty, since the effects were only skin deep. What the organism needs is to be renewed from within so that the outward appearance can be restored and made whole and beautiful again. Our baptism imbues us with grace and makes us temples of the Triune God. This interior and invisible reality must imbue all we do from the inside out so that the dimensions of us most visible to others, and I don’t mean the way we look, are similarly beautiful, reflecting the One within us in whose image and likeness we are made.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2006

The offices of The Wanderer have not forwarded your snail-mail for a while, but here is some of your recent feedback via e-mail. W has written about the column and the WDTPRS internet blog (edited): “I was compelled this evening to send this quick note to say ‘Thank You’ for the wonderful work you are doing via WDTPRS. Fr. James V. Schall in his book On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs talks about the mystery of teachers we have not met. He has a penchant for recommending books that teach us ‘the truth of things as they are’. I consider your writing on the liturgy and Patristics mandatory for my understanding of the truth of things as they are. Thank you for being one of those teachers that I have never met but have affected me greatly.” Your note, W, is very gracious and I return the thanks. An objective of the WDTPRS series is to help get at the truth of the prayers as they are in the original Latin. Thanks!

MH of TX sent a long e-pistle. She made reference to the prayer I wrote for those who are involved in preparing the new English translation. Here is MH (edited): “We read your column in The Wanderer each week. We would not miss it! My husband and myself prayed daily your prayer for the Bishops’ meeting in Los Angeles. ... Most Catholics are sick and tired of the banal language and prayers as well as what passes for music at our local parishes. It really lacks so much. ... The sense of the sacred is almost gone. People have forgotten what is holy and how to act in the presence of Holiness. ... I find it unbelievable that the USCCB think that Americans are so ‘dumbed down’ that we can’t even understand the word ‘consubstantial’. There is such a thing as the ‘dictionary’, if one is puzzled.” Yes, MH. We don’t need dumbed-down texts. Aside from the obvious point that “dumbed down” texts are “wrong”, they are also – and this might be even more important – simply uninteresting. They inspire nothing in the listener. There is little in them to engage the mind and provoke desire to seek greater understanding.

Fr. TJ of ND has written a lengthy note reacting to various translations points in the newly approved English draft. His comments are too extended for me to include here, but I will with happy self-interest share this (edited): “I just received and read through my entire latest edition of The Wanderer ... I could not put it down because it had so much in there about the new translations for the Roman Missal in English. ... Let’s hope for better days ahead with the upcoming improved translations of the Roman Missal into English. I always look forward to reading your column each week, and I thank you for sharing your insights and reflections, and all of the hard work you put into making the column.” Reverend and dear Father, you are welcome. Yes, the columns require effort, but I think they are bearing fruit in many places.

Yes, folks, the preparation of the new English translation is going forward. In the meantime, the new German translation is progressing nicely under the watchful eye of Joachim Card. Meisner and Ecclesia Celebrans (their version of the Vox Clara Committee). The Dutch version has also moved ahead. In June there was a meeting at the Abbey of Montecassino of the relevant committee of the Italian Bishops Conference for the conclusion of the first phase of the revision of the Italian translation (which needs a great deal less work than the English, I can tell you!). In these cases there is essentially no acrimonious debate. For the most part, those other translations are being revised for style rather than basic meaning and doctrine.

Here is this week’s so called “Prayer over the gifts”.

SUPER OBLATA (2002MR):
Deus, qui legalium differentiam hostiarum
unius sacrificii perfectione sanxisti,
accipe sacrificium a devotis tibi famulis,
et pari benedictione, sicut munera Abel, sanctifica,
ut, quod singuli obtulerunt ad maiestatis tuae honorem,
cunctis proficiat ad salutem.

A predecessor of this lengthy prayer, which is the Secret of the 7th Sunday after Pentecost in the 1962 Missale Romanum, was in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary exactly as it appears today with the exception that the ancient version includes the genitive adjective “iusti” with Abel (which is indeclinable).

The valuable Lewis & Short Dictionary helps us to crack open some of the vocabulary. For example, differentia means “a difference, diversity.” For those of you who are reviewing your Latin or studying it for the first time (and there are more and more of you) the verb sanxisti is from sancio, which is “to render sacred or inviolable by a religious act; to appoint as sacred or inviolable” and mostly of legal ordinances or other public proceedings, “to fix unalterably; to establish, appoint, decree, ordain; also, to make irrevocable or unalterable; to enact, confirm, ratify, sanction”. Thus we find a common pairing in Latin of lex (not Lex Luthor) and sancire, as in sancire legem (“to ratify a law”), sancire lege (“to ratify by law”), and lex sancit (“law decrees or ordains”). I like “ratify” in this context because it has a conclusive sound to it. The legal terminology of this prayer, in the context of “sacrifice”, together with the word differentia juxtaposed to unum hints to us that we will see a contrast of the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law under the Old Covenant and the once-for-all-time Sacrifice of Christ forming the foundation of the New Covenant.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who by the perfection of one single sacrifice
ratified the diversity of victim offerings prescribed by the Law,
receive now a sacrifice from the servants devoted to You,
and sanctify it by means of a blessing the like of that wherewith the gifts of Abel were blessed,
so that what individuals have offered to the honor of your majesty
may profit unto salvation for all.

Under the old Covenant the People were reconciled and purified in God’s sight through the ritual sacrifice of animals. These sacrifices had to occur over and over again because no sacrifice of that kind could make satisfaction for our sins or repair the chasm opened between God and man. Complete and superabundant satisfaction was made in the Sacrifice of the Cross.

Because of what Christ did, once and for all time, never again would there be need for a bloody sacrifice. The fruits of His Sacrifice extend forward into eternity and also backward into the past even to the first sin of our first parents. Thus, the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross embraces all the bloody sacrifices of the Mosaic Law. Whatever efficacy those previous ritual sacrifices the Father commanded the People to offer would have had, they had in only anticipation of the unique Sacrifice of the Cross of Jesus Christ. This is why our prayer says that the Sacrifice of Christ “consecrated” or “ratified” (sancio) the “diversity” of sacrifices of the previous dispensation “in perfection”.

Fundamentalist Protestants falsely think that Catholics are trying to “sacrifice Christ over and over again” during Mass. Catholics have never believed that, of course. Holy Mass is the same Sacrifice of Christ, not an additional sacrifice. Christ’s Sacrifice need not be, indeed cannot be repeated! Holy Mass is the renewal, the representation of His Sacrifice.

In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we lovingly offer back to the Father in an unbloody way what was accomplished in a bloody way once for all time upon the Cross of our salvation. Christ, at the same time both Victim and Priest, who is the true actor in the Mass is offering Himself to the Father in a sacramental way. Sacramental reality is just as real as historical reality. In the Mass the Lord applies the fruits of His unrepeatable Sacrifice to us who are present and to those for whom Mass is being offered, living or dead. We are not trying to repeat the historic Sacrifice of Christ which took place at a specific moment in time. That is impossible and, in any event, unnecessary. Christ’s work is perfectly accomplished already. What we do now we do because of Christ’s command: we renew His Sacrifice in an unbloody and sacramental way. Holy Mass truly is the one and same Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, no less real than the event of 2000 years ago.

Holy Mass, Christ’s true Sacrifice, deserves the very best from us regarding those things that pertain to our human achievements and contributions. While all lenses have their flaws and inevitably distort what they aim at, however slightly, a cloudy or dirty or chipped lens does not allow any light to pass, much less a proper image. Better translations will permit us to benefit evermore from what Christ does for us at Holy Mass.

FREER BUT STILL ACCURATE VERSION:
O God, who in a unique and perfect Sacrifice
embraced and surpassed the manifold victim offerings
under the Law of the Old Covenant,
accept now this sacrifice from us Your devoted servants,
and sanctify it with a blessing like unto that whereby You hallowed the gifts of Abel,
so that what each person here has offered in honor of Your majesty
may further the salvation of all.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
bring us closer to salvation
through these gifts which we bring in your honor.
Accept the perfect sacrifice you have given us,
bless it as you blessed the gifts of Abel.

While important progress has been made on the new translation for the Ordinary of Mass, much needs to be done for the proper prayers. Compare the 1973 ICEL version and the two WDTPRS versions. Even though we make no pretense here of preparing liturgically sound translations, what sort of version would you like to have during Mass? Pray and write letters accordingly.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2005

I have received e-mail from DM (edited): “Thank you for your WDTPRS work, which a friend of mine, a high school Latin teacher, who has a full Latin-only load in a public school, by the way, sends me in a periodic bundle of The Wanderer. I think it of utmost importance to show not only what we are praying when we do so in Latin, but of course also how poor our current English translations are so as to gain something better as soon as possible.” Thanks, DM, I am in full agreement with your sentiments about Latin and about translations. DM also wrote some challenges to choices I had made in previous WDTPRS columns but, frankly, I couldn’t follow what he wrote so I can’t provide any more comments. I am, however, glad DM is engaged. Hey, DM! How about subscribing to The Wanderer instead of having to wait for weeks to get it from someone else? You help the cause that way!

Today’s Collect is new to the Missale Romanum in any edition. It has a historical antecedent in the Sacramentarium Bergomense, a 9^th or 10^th century manuscript in a library in Bergamo, Italy of the Western, but non-Roman, Latin rite used in Milan, the “Ambrosian” Rite. I don’t have a copy of that at hand, so I cannot say right now to what extent it is based on that ancient book. This prayer has a wonderfully snappy and crisp sound to it when spoken or, even better, sung. The final line has a lovely clausula (rhythmic ending). People who have for so long been denied the beauty of Latin may find it difficult to conceive of the exquisite delight to be taken in the singing of the tightly woven ancient Latin Collect with its lovely rhythms, its riveting clarity of thought, its force and purity of style. These Latin prayers reveal both the formation behind the minds of their composers and their power to continue that formation in the hearer centuries later. This fact certainly argues both for their preservation in Latin in our churches as well as beautiful and accurate translations of the originals when we are being asked to tolerate the use of the vernacular in our Latin Rite.

COLLECT - (2002MR):
Propitiare, Domine, famulis tuis,
et clementer gratiae tuae super eos dona multiplica,
ut, spe, fide et caritate ferventes,
semper in mandatis tuis vigili custodia perseverent.

The verb propitio means “to render favorable, appease, propitiate” or “look propitiously.” Our form in the Collect clearly has imperative force and resembles an infinitive, but do not be deceived. In later Latin infinitives are sometimes used as imperatives, but I don’t think that is the case in our prayer today. The illustrious Lewis & Short Dictionary shows that in the Biblical Latin of the Vulgate, the passive form of propitio means, “to be propitious” (cf. Vulgate Leviticus 23:2 – propitietur vobis Dominus ... may the Lord be propitious to you). So, propitiare looks like an infinitive but is really a 2^nd person singular present passive imperative. The sonorous clementer is an adverb from the adjective clemens which, the L&S indicates as “of the quiet, placid, pleasant state of the air, wind, or weather, mild, calm, soft, gentle”. There is a moral quality to clemens, that is, “of a calm, unexcited, passionless state of mind, quiet, mild, gentle, tranquil, kind” and therefore by extension, “mild in respect to the faults and failures of others, i. e. forbearing, indulgent, compassionate, merciful”. There have been fourteen Popes named “Clemens”, the last being Clement XIV (+1774) and a couple medieval anti-Popes.

Famulus, i and feminine famula need some attention, since they appear with some frequency in our prayers. These words come seemingly from Latin’s ancient cousin in the Sabellic branch of the Italic language family, Oscan. In Oscan faama means “house.” Behind famulus we have a concept of “people who are in the house.” Ancient houses of the upper classes could be large and have many servants. A famulus or famula was a household servant or hand-maid, slave or free. In some ways they were considered members of the larger family. This explains in part how whole households, including the slaves and servants, converted to Christianity in the early Church.

A fundamental dimension of the word custodia is the idea of hindering free motion. It its therefore “a watching, guard, care, protection”. It means also, “a watching, guarding, custody, restraint, confinement.” In military language it indicates, “persons who serve as guards, a guard, watch, sentinel” and thus also the guard house, the “place where guard is kept.” Vigil, ilis (from the verb vigeo) can be an adjective “awake, on the watch, alert”. Someone who is vigil is “wakeful, watchful”. Vigil can be a substantive also, meaning “a watchman, sentinel”. In Italy even today certain types of police officers are called “vigili”. In English, we have the word “vigil”, a watch kept when one would ordinarily be sleeping during the night. Liturgically, a vigil is the evening and night before a great feast day. In ancient times vigils were moments of fasting and penance. Men who were to be knighted would keep a vigil during the night, fasting and praying, examining their consciences so as to be pure for the rite to follow. The idea is that one must prepare through self-denial and control of appetites and passions, watching and guarding against the attacks of the devil, who is a liar and tempter. Scripture often gives us images of watches during the night. For example, at the birth of the Lord we hear in Luke, “And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night (vigilantes et custodientes vigilias noctis)” (Luke 2:8 RSV). Jesus says, “Watch (vigilate) therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched (vigilaret) and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:42-44 RSV). On this theme remember how Jesus used the image of the household servants needing to keep watch so that they would be ready to open the door for the master of the house should he return home in the dead of the night (cf. Luke 12:37-39). St. Paul the Apostle constantly urges Christians to be “watchful” and “vigilant”. In our Collect, it might be possible to say either “vigilant restraint” or “vigilant protection.” The one emphasizes the use of the will to do things in the right measure, which is at the core of virtuous behavior (the three virtues faith, hope and charity are mentioned in the prayer) or also the kind of careful attention we should give to the great and precious gifts we receive from God.

What will you hear in your parish church on Sunday?

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
be merciful to your people.
Fill us with your gifts
and make us always eager to serve you
in faith, hope, and love.

Is this what the prayer really says? Let us consider a WDTPRS ...

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Look propitiously on Your servants, O Lord,
and indulgently multiply upon them the gifts of Your grace
so that, burning with faith, hope and charity,
they may persevere always in your commands with vigilant restraint.

There are various possibilities for translations and it is sometimes hard to make choices between the options. It is not rocket science, but neither is it child’s play. Back in 1985 the British Association For English Worship published Prayers of the Roman Missal comparing the ICEL versions of selected prayers with their own. The slim spiral-bound publication has a foreword by Christopher Butler, OSB, in which he says: “The search by ICEL for simplicity and immediate intelligibility has sometimes led to a jejune and staccato effect and to the loss of depth of meaning or the sense of mystery present in the Latin text” (p. iv). We agree. Here is the AEW version of today’s Collect: Look mercifully upon your household, O Lord and pour out upon us the gifts of your grace, so that in faith, hope and charity we may always watch and pray and walk in the way of your commandments.

From time to time you readers ask me to smooth out the translation and be a little less “slavish”. These WDTPRS articles are not aiming at providing a version for liturgical use. Our aim here is to put the ICEL side by side with the Latin so that we can all see clearly what was not done in times past and what must be done in the future. Nevertheless, we can try a smoother version. Let’s introduce some archaizing forms so as to remove it from ordinary everyday speech in the manner required by the normative document Liturgiam authenticam.

A smoother version:
Look upon Thy people with gracious forbearance, O Lord,
and clemently shower them with the gifts of Thy grace
so that, inflamed with faith, hope and charity,
they may with measured and vigilant care
ever persevere in Thy commandments.

When I reflect on this Collect, especially in light of the images of “watching in the night” used in Scripture, I think of a great ancient household, a domus or a Roman latifundium. A latifundium was an estate farm with many different buildings and quarters, for family, household servants, and the many workers. The estates were fortified even with walls against attacks by brigands. A house or domus in a city might even have a watch tower. These dwellings were often quite self-sufficient, everyone living there together, perhaps for their whole lives. The householder or the lord of the estate was the head of the larger “family” and would see to the needs of the all people under his care. He was provider, judge, teacher, and protector. When traveling in Italy you can see remnants of the modern versions of latifundia called fattorie. They would have chapels and resident priests to see to the spiritual needs of the denizens. In our prayer the lord of the estate and paterfamilias is gracious and kind, very patient with us, his workers even though we are sometimes wicked. We beg him to be indulgent and continue to give us gifts. These are not just any gifts: they are necessary for our survival. Just as workers in the house or on the land must produce good fruits if they are to be able to remain and enjoy a good quality of life, we servants of the Father, famuli, who are named “Christian” after His Son and who are marked even with the family mark by baptism and confirmation, need the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity in order to do our duty in the Lord’s sight. We are completely dependent on Him for everything. Not only do we need to be vigilant, we need to be attentive to everything we need for fulfilling our vocation in life. We need to gain the gifts and tools helpful for our salvation. Otherwise, when the reckoning comes, we will be like the foolish virgins who did not have enough oil for their lamps when they were watching during the night for the arrival of the Bridegroom (cf. Matthew 25). They were shut out of the feast, left in the dark to drift aimlessly, without a purpose to fulfill. They had no place to go, no productive work to do, no support or help, no place to belong.

Let’s start off with the Collect for today, briefly.

COLLECT
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
cuius Filius in domo beatae Marthae dignatus est hospitari,
da, quaesumus, ut, eiusdem intercessione,
Christo in fratribus nostris fideliter ministrantes,
in aede caelesti a te recepi mereamur.

LITERAL VERSION
Almighty eternal God,
whose Son deigned to be received as a guest in the house of blessed Martha,
grant, we beg, that, by her intercession,
faithfully ministering to Christ in our brethren
we may be worthy to be received by You in the heavenly mansion.

Take note that God is right away identified as eternal. Note also that it is Martha’s home and not Martha and Mary’s home. Note as well that there is a strong connection of service to others which leads to heavenly reward.

Let’s now move quickly to Augustine, who strove all his life to find that balance of service to others in busy tasks and, on the other hand, quiet contemplation. Remember: "service" to others (e.g., "social justice" is not everything… or even the most important in all cases).

Augustine commented often on Mary of Bethany and her busy sister Martha. Let’s listen to what he says about what Mary was gaining from the Lord as she sat at His feet. Here he is in s. 179 which he probably preached in another diocese, and maybe even in his own home town of Tagaste where his good friend Alypius was bishop.

This sermon gives you a sense of how Augustine really spoke to people and how dynamic his sessions of preaching were. There were obviously moments when he had to stop, because of applause, and then start back up again, with repetitions of what went just before. And there were stenographers there to record eveything he said, as he spoke. Enjoy!

6. And so, would your graces please think hard? Look, we’re talking about ministering to the saints, preparing food, serving drink, washing feet, making beds, welcoming under a roof; isn’t this all going to pass away? But has anyone the nerve to say that we are now being fed on truth, but won’t be fed on it when we attain to immortality? If we are now being fed on crumbs, won’t we then have a full table? It was about that spiritual food, you see, that the Lord was talking, when praised the centurion’s faith and said, "Amen, I tell you, I have not found such great faith in Israel. And therefore tell you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 8:10-11) ...

 

This, after all, is the reward he is promising his saints when he says, Ämen, I tell you, that he will make them sit down; and he will pass along and wait upon them (Lk 12:37). What can "he will make them sit down" mean, but he will make them rest, make them take their ease? After this passing along of his he will wait upon them. Here, you see, Christ made a passing along, or a passing over. We will come to him where he has passed over to; there he is no longer passing over. ...

So what Mary chose was growing, not passing along and away. The human heart’s delight, you see, in the light of truth, in the wealth of wisdom, the delight of a human heart, a faithful heart, a holy heart – no pleasure can be found to compare with it in any respect at all, not even to be called less than this. I mean, if you call anything less, it can imply that by growing it will become equal. I don’t want to say "less"; I’m not making any comparison, it’s of a different kind altogether, it’s quite, quite different. Why is it, after all, that you are all paying attention, all listening, all excited, and when something true is said you are delighted? What have you see, what have you grasped? What color has appeared before your eyes, what form, what shape, what figure, what lines and limbs, what beauty of body? None of these things. And yet you love it. I mean, when would you have applauded like that, if you didn’t love it? When would you have loved it, if you hadn’t see anything? and so, though I am not showing you any form of a body, and lines, color, beautiful movements, though I’m showing you nothing, you all the same are seeing, loving, applauding. If this delight in the truth is lovely now, it will be much lovelier then. "Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Lk 10:42).

VELÁZQUEZ, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y
c. 1620
National Gallery, London

Busted.

Take a good hard look. The pouty look on Martha’s face, almost that of a child, shows her disappointment at being busy about many things while Mary of Bethany is in the other room with Christ. Instead of focusing her attention at the task at hand, she is looking at the scene which we see reflected in the mirror on the wall behind her. She is on the edge of frustrated tears.

In the mirror we see the scene in the other room. A discussion is taking place, no doubt about fascinating things. Christ lifts His hand, which will soon be bruised in falling, pierced with a nail, as if to say, "Wait! Be silent a moment! There is more to this than meets the eye. What this really means is…."

Who can know what incredible things He is saying, which we can’t quite hear from the kitchen?

Mary’s hair is loose about her shoulders. Her hair, a "woman’s glory", is not in danger of being singed in the cooking fires, or soiled as it brushes the surface of the kitchen work table. It won’t fall into Mary’s eyes or bother her while cleaning. She can have her hair loose as she "just sits there". She has a wrap of some sort around her arm, calling to mind the robe of the ancient Greek philosopher which draped upon one arm, a conspicuous symbol that philosophers did not do manual work. They were dedicated to contemplation of the deeper questions.

Martha’s sleeves are pulled back, rolled up, exposing her forearm. There is a little bit of decoration on her rolled up sleeve which she won’t be able to show off now. Her hair is bound up. It has to be. Her own "glory" is hidden because she has a lot of work to do. She had put on dangling earrings, probably because she thought she would be out there in the parlour as well. But now… here she is in the kitchen, hair pulled back, working. Mary can just sit there and be pretty, calm, in the presence of the desired One. Martha must work, be less fetching, even grimy and sweaty as she works for everyone else’s pleasure.

Isn’t it true that sometimes we want to strip others of the joy they have when we can’t have it for ourselves?

On the table are instruments of Martha’s labor. Fish and eggs, Christian symbols. The oil flask calls our mind to the Passion, at least to the coming death and burial of Lazarus. Perhaps even the cloves of garlic are a symbol of the resurrection, much like an orange can be in art, because of its peeling and the sections it breaks down into. Most significant is the large mortar which is keeping Martha from Jesus in the other room.

Martha is literally given over to the daily grind.

So, perhaps you have been busted. The old woman on the left, probably a serving woman in the house at Bethany, who NEVER has Martha’s opportunities, is showing you yourself.

She is your conscience in this image.

In this life there is a tension between the active and the contemplative, the daily grind and a true Christian’s desire for silence, recollection and prayer. How do we rise to the challenge of bringing something of prayer and reflection to our daily work? How do you make your quiet stillness fruitful by means of corporal works of mercy? In heaven, action and contemplation will not be divided as they are here. We are still called, however, in our lives to inform each of these dimensions of Christian life with the other.

In Patristic terms Martha is taken by St. Augustine as a figure of the active life and Mary of Bethany as a symbol of the contemplative life. Augustine has several pairings like this, including Rachel and Leah and also John and Peter. Augustine was always trying to find the right balance of action and contemplation in his own extremely busy life, otium in negotio. While clearly desiring to carry out his duties as a bishop well, he wanted to remain a monk, in quiet prayer and contemplation of the deeper questions. How to resolve these seemingly contradictory styles of life?

Augustine’s examination of Mary and Martha is found primarily in sermones. 179, 103 and 104. In s. 179 Augustine explains James 1,19;22 using an exegesis of Luke 10, the episode of Mary and Martha we see in the painting. He emphasizes the deep attention we ought o give Scripture saying, factores verbi… et auditores… contrasting the former who put what they hear into practice with the later who listen only and then don’t act.

Maria, quae ministrante et circa multum ministerium occupata sorore sua sedebat ad pedes Domini, et otiosa verbum eius audiebat… Mary was sitting at the feet of the Lord while her sister functioning as a maid was busy with many matters of service, and free from pressing care (otiosa) she was listening to His word.

S. 179 shows Augustine’s deep regard for his flock. He would rather be a listener but he must also be a doer. He was willing to sacrifice his own desires for the sake of his flock. Augustine says that it is dangerous to be a preacher, and exercise ministry, but he is constrained to place himself in a dangerous position for them in seeming contrast to what James says (which point he took up at the beginning of the sermon. Augustine demonstrates that contemplation must necessarily lead to action in this life. While the idea is to sit and listen (Mary) there nothing wrong with acting (Martha), indeed it is necessary to act. Martha the busy "minister" is doing something great, and giving a great gift… magnum ergo ministerium, magnum donum. What Mary does is greater. Augustine explains that there is a unity between the two lives because they come to the same eternal reward. Furthermore, the Person of Jesus is the focus of both Mary and Martha. In a sense, one must arrive at the "better part" precisely by means of the active life. Heaven is the perfect "fusion" of the active and contemplative dimensions of Christian life, though here in this vale of tears they are difficult at times to reconcile.

Rorate Coeli has done us a service again by alerting us to the recent declaration on the part of the SSPX. Here are some interesting parts of the cover letter and declaration with a few of my comments (my trans.) and emphasis:

The cover letter:

... However, the Chapter did not limit itself to elections. It was also an opportunity to examine our situation, to consider the weak points to be strengthened and to directions so that our priests can live their lives better according to our Statutes and, subsequently, to pass on to you in a more efficacious way the grace and the gifts of heaven [Which apparently don’t have to include a spirit of obedience to the Roman Pontiff.]

Evidently, we considered the state of our relationship with Rome. Having the intention of the greatest possible transparency, and to avoid any sort of false hope or illusion, the Chapter, unanimously, decided to make a declaration which you will find attached.

In this vein the Chapter charged me to communicate to you this ambitious project.

The Fraternity has the intention to present to the Supreme Pontiff a "spiritual bouquet" of one million chaplets of the Rosary by the end of October, the month of the Holy Rosary. [I like spiritual bouquet. This is a good thing. As a matter of fact it is a great project for little kids and priests and bishops love to get these together with cute drawings. However, I as much as I would love to receive any "spiritual bouquet", I would really like to get one from children who were obedient and not telling me what to do.]

The chaplets will be recited according to the following intentions:

1. To obtain from Heaven for Pope Benedict XVI the necessary strength to completely liberalize the Mass "of all times", called that "of St. Pius V". ["O God! Please give the Pope the strength to do what I want him to do. Nevertheless, not Your will, O Lord, or his, but mine be done." Folks, believe me. I really like the intention, in one sense. I agree that the older form of Mass should be "liberalized", that is, made available widely and with every priest having the right to say it even publicly. I also know that huge and angry forces are arrayed against such an intention… but I sincerely think they should word this differently.]

2. For a return to the Social Reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Hmmm… John Paul II’s Social Doctrine in his encyclicals and… of course… the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on Religious Liberty. That what this is about. Bet on it.]

3. For the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. [HURRAY! Perhaps they should have stuck to this one alone. Also, I think that this aims at the issue of the Third Secret of Fatima. A lot of people, a lot of smart people don’t think that the entire text of the Third Secret was revealed and that Mary’s will in that message has been continuously thwarted. I think that is the subtext here.]

Therefore, we call you to a true and authentic crucade by means of this prayer which was urged so many times by the Most Holy Virgin Mary and present as the great means of support, protection and salvation for Christians today in this time of crisis….

Here is the declaration in their translation:

DECLARATION OF THE GENERAL CHAPTER

For the glory of God, for the salvation of souls and for the true service of the Church [Which apparently doesn’t have to include an exemplary obedience to the Roman Pontiff.], on the occasion of its Third General Chapter, held at Ecône in Switzerland, from July 3 to 15, 2006, the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X declares its firm resolution to continue its action, with the help of God, along the doctrinal and practical lines laid down by its venerated founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Following in his footsteps in the fight for the Catholic Faith, the Society fully endorses his criticisms of the Second Vatican Council and its reforms, as he expressed them in his conferences and sermons, and in particular in his Declaration of November 21, 1974: “We adhere with all our heart and all our soul to Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary for the maintaining of that Faith, to eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and of truth. On the contrary, we refuse, and we have always refused, to follow the Rome of neo-modernist and neo-protestant tendencies, which showed itself clearly in the Second Vatican Council and in the reforms that issued from it.” [What did Archbishop Lefebvre say about the Council’s document on Religious Liberty, anyway?]

Contacts held with Rome over the last few years have enabled the Society to see how right and necessary were the two pre-conditions [1] that it laid down ["I’ll hold my breath until I turn blue and then you’ll be sorry!] , since they would greatly benefit the Church by re-establishing ["How dare dare you tell me what to do! I’m grown up now!"] , at least in part, her rights to her own Tradition. Not only would the treasure of graces available to the Society no longer be hidden under a bushel, but the Mystical Body would also be given the remedy it so needs to be healed. [Folks, I agree 100% that we have been cheated of our rightful patrimony. It is the attitude I don’t appreciate here.]

If, upon these pre-conditions being fulfilled, the Society looks to a possible debate on doctrine ["I’ll come out of my room only if you give me back my cellphone and the keys to the car!"], the purpose is still that of making the voice of traditional teaching sound more clearly within the Church. Likewise, the contacts made from time to time with the authorities in Rome have no other purpose than to help them embrace once again that Tradition ["I’ll tell you Mindy! I just, like, gonna stop eating until he listens to me. Like, Dad just doesn’t, you know, understand how important this is! Like, if I don’t go to the mall tomorrow with Billy, I’ll just DIE!] which the Church cannot repudiate without losing her identity. The purpose is not just to benefit the Society, nor to arrive at some merely practical impossible agreement. ["I mean, like, Billy really needs me right now. He has a big game coming up! You know?".] When Tradition comes back into its own, “reconciliation will no longer be a problem, and the Church will spring back to life”. [2]

In the long haul to victory, the Chapter encourages all members of the Society to live, as its statutes require, ever more intensely by the grace proper to it, namely, in union with the great prayer of the High Priest, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Let them be convinced, along with their faithful, that in this striving for an ever greater sanctification in the heart of the Church is to be found the only remedy for our present misfortunes, which is the Church being restored through the restoration of the priesthood. ["And another thing… you know, like, at school, like… maybe we could get all the guys to, like, you know… walk out of class at the same time. We’ve got to get those new uniforms I can’t stand that Principal Romano. How dare he say tell us what to wear!"]

In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.

I know, I know. "But Father! But Father!" some of you will object. "This is really serious! How can you be so flippant?" It is not my intention to deny the importance of the dialogue or the issues involved. I even agree with many of their points!

What I don’t like is the attitude. Until that changes, I doubt much progress can be made. If they don’t know that, well… then they don’t have much to contribute in the long run. If they do know that, they could be acting in bad faith.

From time to time I have let you know about what we are eating here at the Sabine Farm.  Over at The hermeneutic of continuity there is fun menu posted.  Check it out via that link but here it is:

This is a most excellent menu, truly an amuse guele.  I would like to suggest a final cheese course, however.  Perhaps a good ripe piece of Stinking Bishop and a glass of Cardinal Zin to wash it down?

No, I am not making those up and, yes, they are both good, especially the cheese. 

Sometimes saints seem a little… how to put this… weird. Today is the feast of St. Simon the Stylite, called Simeon Stylites, a 5th century Syrian monk who lived for 36 years on top of a tall pillar.

Even as a young monk he practiced very severe penance, with terrible fasting and binding himself around with palm leaves so tightly that they adhered to his flesh. He was so severe that the other monks kicked him out of the monastery. He tried living in a hut for a while, and would even pass Lent without eating at all. Then he went to live in a crack in the rock in the desert, but people started coming to see him and he had no isolation. Thereafter he scaled up a pillar still standing in a ruin but it was only 4 meters high (read: not high enough). To help him out a bit, his fans got him increasingly higher pillars. The last was over 15 meters high.

People still got up to him with ladders, however, and he would preach loudly, denouncing various things like usury, which remains even today a serious problem in the Mediterranean regions. His reputation was such that even Emperors like Theodosius paid attention to him. St. Simeon also supported the Council of Chalcedon, which upheld the doctrine that Christ has two full natures, divine and human.

At one point, some higher ecclesiastics tried to pressure St. Simeon the Stylite to come down off his column and submit to their authority (they wanted to shut him up). He would have done it, but they changed their minds and he stayed atop the pillar. The Emperor Theodosius tried to get him to come down once to be treated during an illness, but he stayed in his place.

This is all very odd stuff, to be sure, but in those days Simeon inspired many converts and was greatly influential. He was also imitated by others (!!) but no one stayed on top of their pillars as long as St. Simeon. I suppose he was the Cal Ripken of Stylites.

Here is his entry in the Martyrologium Romanum:

6. Prope Antiochiam in Syria, sancti Simeonis, monachi, qui multos annos vixit stans super columnam, unde et Stylitae cognomen accepit, cuius vita et conversatio admirabilis exstitit. ... Near Antioch in Syria, (the feast of) Saint Simeon, a monk, who lived for many years standing atop a column, whence he got the name "the Stylite", whose life and manner of living stood out as astonishing.

Today is the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Since I am at the time of this writing up on the North Shore of Lake Superior and connecting through my cellphone, suffice for the moment the entry from the Martyrologium Romanum.

Memoria sanctorum Ioachim et Annae, parentum immaculatae Virginis Dei Genetricis Mariae, quorum nomina ab antiquis traditionibus christianorum ex Iudaeis servata sunt.

I have in the chapel back at "The Sabine Farm" relics of both Joachim and Anna.  I will post a photo of them when I get back there, shoot one, and get it uploaded.

Today is the feast of Saint, er um… "Mister" Christopher.  This beloved figure "lost", as it were, his status as saint when the Holy See made a determination to remove from the universal calendar some certain figures (e.g., "Miss Philomena") whose historicity was questionable.  The Church has never said that a person cannot venerate these figures, of course, but they are generally not be celebrated at the altar.

In any event, here is the terse entry in the Martyrologium Romanum:

2. In Lycia, sancti Christophori, martyris.

 

The Martyrologium Romanum assumes that he is a saint! 

"Christopher" means "Christ bearer".  

May we all be Saint Christopher!

Today is the feast of St. James the Apostle.  I am sure other blogs will tell you about the great Apostle.  I will give you the perspective of a patristiblogger.

The Gospel for today’s feast is from Matthew 20:20-28, when the mother of the sons of Zebedee ask Jesus for an unthinkable honor.  This creates a division among the Apostles and Jesus predicts suffering and then teaches them in a new way.  St. John Chrysostom explains the situation a sermon on this part of Matthew.

He says, "The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."  It is as if here were saying, "I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gve my life as a ransom.  For whom?  For enemies.  For you.  If you are abused, my life is given for you.  It is for you.  Me for you."

So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor.  No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended.  And yet the deep descent of one has become the ascent of all.  His glory shines forth from these very depths.  For before he was made man, he was know among the angels only.  But after he was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, he acquired further glory besides, even that from His personal knowledge of the world.

So fear no then, as though your honor were put down.  Rather, be ready to abase yourself.  For in this way it becomes greater.  This is the door of the kingdoom.  Let us not then go the opposite way.  Let us not war against ourselves.  For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all.

Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down?  He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect.  In the preceeding passages we have shown this in many instances.  He acted this way in the cases of the covetous and of the proud.  So you can see why he asks whether we are giving our alms to be seen by others.  To enjoy glory?  Do not do this for glory, and you will enjoy it more.  Why do you lay up treasures?  To be rich?  Try laying up no treasure, and then you will be rich.  And in this case, wy do you set your heart on sitting in the first place?  That you may have the honor before others?  Try choosing the last place; work in the kingdom.  If it is your will to become great, then do not seek greatness and you will become great.  (s. 65.4 on the Gospel of Matthew – in PG 58:622-23; NPNF 1 10:401-2)

No matter how fall we think we have sunk, either because of our own mistakes, or the dealings of others, or simply by bad luck, nothing compares to how far the Eternal Son sank down when He condescended to take our human nature into an indestructible bond with His divinity, thus to suffer and to die.  When we think we have been slighted, this thought can be a remedy for ill will we might harbor towards others in our weakness.

It took guts to be a Catholic and saint back in the day, let me tell you.  Today we have the feast of a couple fellows who lived in pretty tough times.  Today we celebrate Sts. Boris and Gleb, martyrs.  Here is their entry in the Martyrologium Romanum:

8. In Russia, sanctorum Boris et Gleb, martyrum, qui, principes Rutheni et filii sancti Vladimiri, mortem excipere maluerunt quam vi fratri Svatopolco resistere.  Boris ad Altam flumen prope Pereislaviam palmam martyrii nactus est, Gleb vero post prope Smolenscum.

 

"But Father, but Father!", you shout, "Just how tough were those times you are talking about.  Well, consider this.  As we read that Boris and Gleb were the children of Vladimir, their grandfather on their mother’s side was Basil II, "the Bulgar Killer".   What sort of fellow was Basil?  Well, when grandad got tired of incursions and constant annoyances from the Bulgars, he beat the stuffing out of them and then blinded all the men, while leaving each 100th man with one eye so that he could lead his group of defeated Bulgars home.  The Bulgars were quiescent after that for quite a while.

Any way, Boris and Gleb, also called Roman and David, were Russia’s first saints. Both were martyred during the internecine wars of 1015-1019 and glorified by the Russian Orthodox church in 1071. Numerous churches are dedicated to them.

Apparently, Svyatopolk the Accursed had them killed. Boris and his manservant were stabbed to death when sleeping in a tent. The prince was discovered still breathing when his body was being transported in a bag to Kiev, but the Varangians put him from his misery with a thrust of a lance.  Gleb was assassinated on his way to see the dying father by his own cook who cut his throat with a kitchen knife and concealed his body in a brushwood.