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

I tried my hand at a podcast.

Wait… I can hear it now…

"But Father, But Father!", one of you will no doubt exclaim, "Why on earth did you…."

You should know a few things.

First, I have no idea what I am doing (something evident to more than one of you I am sure).

Second, in trying to crunch the mp3 down to a reasonable size, the sound deteriorated. Perhaps someone can make TECHNICAL suggestions about programs for this sort of thing, audio files, compression, streaming, etc.

Third, flying in the face of common sense, I included an extended reading of an academic paper. However, the content was so good, covering such excellent foundational ideas for pro-life discussions, that I did it anyway.

Fourth, I don’t have the slightest notion of how to audio files "stream".

Some discussion in comments below about a) what you do, b) what can be done and c) how to do it would be helpful if this is the sort of thing people find interesting.

You have to make a start somewhere. Were we to think that a project had to be perfect from the get go, how many of us would ever get up in the morning?

LISTEN

A few days ago I posted a link to an mp3 of a reading of part of a sermon by St. Leo the Great. I got a lot of mail about that. So, I thought I would do it again once in a while, since I am reading them anyway o{];¬) at least for texts originally composed in Latin. For individual recitation of the Office, readings in the post-Conciliar Office is Readings is an improvement, IMHO.

Oh… one more thing. Today I made this reading part of a first attempt at a podcast. Frankly, I haven’t the slightest idea of how to make a podcast. I don’t listen to them, really. I imagine some people are doing them. I had some software to do some simple mixing of files and, well… I just made one. I am sure you’ll have your comments.

But let’s go back to Augustine who surely would have made podcasts had he been able. There is a link for the podcast below.

 

 07_02_25 Augustine on Ps 61 [23:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    Ex Enarrationibus sancti Augustini episcopi in psalmos (Ps. 60, 2-3 – CCL 39, 766)

    Exaudi, Deus, deprecationem meam, intende orationi meae. Quis dicit? Quasi unus. Vide si unus: A finibus terrae ad te clamavi, dum angeretur cor meum. Iam ergo non unus; sed ideo unus, quia Christus unus, cuius omnes membra sumus. Nam quis unus homo clamat a finibus terrae? Non clamat a finibus terrae, nisi hereditas illa, de qua dictum est ipsi Filio: Postola a me, et dabo tibe gentes hereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae.

    Haec ergo Christi possessio, haec Christi hereditas, hoc Christi corpus, haec una Christi Ecclesia, haec unitas, quae nos sumus, clamat a finibus terrae. Quid autem clamat? Quod supra dixi: Exaudi, Deus, deprecationem meam, intende orationi meae; a finibus terrae ad te clamavi. Id est, hoc ad te clamavi, a finibus terrae; id est, undique.

    Sed quare clamavi hoc? Dum angeretur cor meum. Ostendit se esse per omnes gentes toto orbe terrarum non in magna gloria, sed in magna tentatione.

    Namque vita nostra in hac peregrinatione non potest esse sine tentatione; quia provectus noster per tentationem nostram fit, nec sibi quisque innotescit nisi tentatus, nec potest coronari nisi vicerit, nec potest vincere nisi certaverit, nec potest certare nisi inimicum et tentationes habuerit.

    Angitur ergo iste a finibus terrae clamans, sed tamen non relinquitur. Quoniam nos ipsos, quod est corpus suum, voluit praefigurare et in illo corpore suo, in quo iam et mortuus est et resurrexit et in caelum ascendit, ut, quo caput praecessit, illuc se membra secutura confidant.

    Ergo nos transfiguravit in se, quando voluit tentari a Satana. Modo legebatur in Evangelio quia Dominus Iesus Christus in eremo tentabatur a diabolo. Prorsus Christus tentabatur a diabolo. In Christo enim tu tentabaris, quia Christus de te sibi habebat carnem, de se tibi salutem; de te sibi mortem, de se tibi vitam; de te sibi contumelias, de se tibi honores; ergo de te sibi tentationem, de se tibi victoriam.

    Si in illo nos tentati sumus, in illo nos diabolum superamus. Attendis quia Christus tentatus est, et non attendis quia vicit? Agnosce te in illo tentatum, et te in illo agnosce vincentem. Poterat a se diabolum prohibere; sed, si non tentaretur, tibi tentando vincendi magisterium non praeberet.

    From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop

    In Christ we suffered temptation, and in him we overcame the Devil

    Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer. Who is speaking? An individual, it seems. See if it is an individual: I cried out to you from the ends of the earth while my heart was in anguish. Now it is no longer one person; rather, it is one in the sense that Christ is one, and we are all his members. What single individual can cry from the ends of the earth? The one who cries from the ends of the earth is none other than the Son’s inheritance. It was said to him: Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. This possession of Christ, this inheritance of Christ, this body of Christ, this one Church of Christ, this unity that we are, cries from the ends of the earth. What does it cry? What I said before: Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer; I cried out to you from the ends of the earth.’ That is, I made this cry to you from the ends of the earth; that is, on all sides.

    Why did I make this cry? While my heart was in anguish. The speaker shows that he is present among all the nations of the earth in a condition, not of exalted glory but of severe trial.

    Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.

    The one who cries from the ends of the earth is in anguish, but is not left on his own. Christ chose to foreshadow us, who are his body, by means of his body, in which he has died, risen and ascended into heaven, so that the members of his body may hope to follow where their head has gone before.
    He made us one with him when he chose to be tempted by Satan. We have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil. In Christ you were tempted, for Christ received his flesh from your nature, but by his own power gained salvation for you; he suffered death in your nature, but by his own power gained glory for you; therefore, he suffered temptation in your nature, but by his own power gained victory for you.
    If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcome the devil. Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of his victory? See yourself as tempted in him, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.

HEBDOMADA PRIMA IN QUADRAGESIMA - 1st WEEK OF LENT

5) Dominica I in Quadragesima – 1st Sunday of Lent
a) Collect (article from 2001)
b) Super oblata (article from 2002)
c) Post Communion (article from 2003)
d) Collect (article from 2005)
e) Super oblata (article from 2006)

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  1st Sunday of Lent – Roman Station: Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior “St. John Lateran”

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2007

The clock of life continues its incessant tick.  The liturgical cycle of Lent and Easter has returned. Penance and introspection are proper before a great feast.  Holy Church is decked in penitential purple.  The meaning of the season requires austerity.  In church, no flowers.  No instrumental music except on feasts or to support singing.   We shall fast and pray, give alms and examine our consciences in this liturgical desert.

...

The season Lent (Quadragesima) is so important that each day has its own proper prayers for Mass and its own “station” church in Rome, a very ancient tradition. From time immemorial on 84 days of the Church’s year (including Ember Days, Sundays of Advent, pre-Lenten Sundays, Lent/Easter and its Octave and Pentecost) the clergy and Roman people “collected” at an appointed church (ecclesia collecta) for preliminary prayers, which was perhaps the origin of Collect, the opening prayer of Mass.  Then they would march in procession singing litanies and chants to meet the Bishop of Rome or his deputy for Mass at the “stopping” church (statio).  A confraternity in Rome dedicated to the cult of martyrs has maintained this beautiful tradition.  Seminarians and priests from the North American College have the custom of participating at Mass at every station during Lent. 

The names of the Roman Stations were printed in the pre-Conciliar Missal on all the appropriate days.  They are still printed on the calendars for offices of the Roman Curia.  Often the prayers and texts for a day’s Mass subtly referred to the patron saint of the church where they were said, or to some historical event associated with the place.  The station tradition was revered throughout the world and people could gain indulgences by visiting churches designated by the bishop of the place where they lived.  The little book published every year called the Ordo, containing practical information about what Mass is to be said each day, still cites the custom of stations and recommends its observance.  The post-Conciliar Missale Romanum strongly recommends (valde commendatur) that this Roman custom be fostered, at least in larger cities.  The manner of observance is described (2002MR, p. 396).  The 2002 Missale Romanum has revived the ancient “prayer over the people” or Oratio super populum after the Post Communion.  We looked at these prayers last year but we should see them again.

This week’s Post Communion is a new composition for the Novus Ordo containing echoes of Matthew 4:4 and John 6:51.

POST COMMUNION (2002 Missale Romanum):
Caelesti pane refecti,
quo fides alitur, spes provehitur et caritas roboratur,
quaesumus, Domine,
ut ipsum, qui est panis vivus et verus, esurire discamus,
et in omni verbo, quod procedit de ore tuo,
vivere valeamus.

Our The Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary, oozing with Latin learning, says reficio (whence derives refecti) means, “to make again, make anew, put in condition again; to remake, restore, renew, rebuild, repair, refit, recruit” and thence refectus , a, um, is “refreshed, recruited, invigorated”.   In an ecclesiastical institution a dining room is called a “refectory”.  The verb proveho signifies “to carry or conduct forwards, to carry or convey along, to conduct, convey, transport, etc., to a place”.  Alo is “to feed, to nourish, support, sustain, maintain” and esurio “to desire to eat, to suffer hunger, be hungry, to hunger.”

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Father,
you increase our faith and hope,
you deepen our love in this communion.
Help us to live by your words
and to seek Christ, our bread of life.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Having been renewed by heavenly bread,
by which faith is nourished, hope advanced and charity strengthened,
we entreat You, O Lord,
that we may learn to hunger for Him who is bread living and true,
and that we may be able to live
by every word which proceeds from Your mouth.

The ancient origins of the “prayer over the people”, the Oratio super populum, are quite complex, rooted in the Eastern liturgies of Syria and Egypt and also of the West.  In his monumental The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (II, pp. 427ff) Joseph A. Jungmann emphasizes that we are at a “frontier” moment at this point of Holy Mass.  We are at the threshold of the sacred precinct, between the church and the world.  We want the influence of our intimate contact with the divine to carry over into the outside world. 

In a Post Communion the priest prays for the people, himself included.  In a “prayer over the people” he prays for the people, but does include himself in the prayer.  By the time of Pope Gregory the Great this prayer was used only during Lent, a time of greater spiritual combat requiring more blessings. Keep in mind that people doing public penance (ordo poenitentium) could not receive Holy Communion, but they urgently wanted blessings in their trial.   Thus, this prayer was very important to the Roman people.  In 545 Pope Vigilius was celebrating the station Mass at St. Cecilia in Trastevere (trans Tiberim – across the Tiber River).  The soldiers of the pro-Monophysite Byzantine Emperor Justinian arrived after Communion to arrest Vigilius and conduct him to Constantinople.  The people followed them to the ship demanding “ut orationem ab eo acciperent… that they should receive the blessing from him”.  The Pope prayed over them.  The people said “Amen”.  Away went Vigilius.  He returned to Rome only after his death. 

ORATIO SUPER POPULUM (2002MR):
Super populum tuum, Domine, quaesumus,
benedictio copiosa descendat,
ut spes in tribulatione succrescat,
virtus in tentatione firmetur,
aeterna redemptio tribuatur.

This Sunday’s prayer has roots in the first of three “thanksgiving” prayers of the so-called pre-Conciliar “Mass of the Pre-sanctified” on Good Friday: Super populum tuum, quaesumus, Domine, qui passionem et mortem Filii tui devota mente recoluit, benedictio copiosa descendat, indulgentia veniat, consolatio tribuatur, fides sancta succrescat, redemptio sempiterna firmetur.

When first I saw tentatione I assumed the influence of Italian had produced an error.  But we dig deep to learn what the prayer really says!  Latin tento is tempto, “to handle, touch, feel a thing”.  It also means “to try the strength of, make an attempt upon, i.e. to attack, assail” and then “to try; to prove, put to the test; to attempt, essay a course of action”.  The rare succresco signifies “to grow under or from under any thing; to grow up”.  In virtus, we have “manliness, manhood, i.e., the sum of all the corporeal or mental excellences of man, strength, vigor; bravery, courage; aptness, capacity; worth, excellence, virtue” which also means “moral perfection, virtuousness, virtue” and “military talents, courage, valor, bravery, gallantry, fortitude”.

MY LITERAL RENDERING:
Upon thy people, O Lord, we beg thee,
let a plentiful blessing descend,
so that hope in time of trouble may grow up,
valor in time of temptation may be strengthened,
and eternal redemption may be granted.

Vocabulary like tribulatio, te(mp)tatio, redemptio juxtaposed with virtus remind us that we depend on God’s grace for the virtuous strength and courageous fortitude befitting soldiers of Christ in this Church Militant.  Lent is spiritual combat. 

Be bold.  Be ready.

Sometimes one person an make a big difference.  His influence though subtle at the moment can begin a trend or influence future events for good or evil.

Fr. Robert F. Drinan, SJ, died recently.  It may be that younger people don’t know who he was or what he did.  Here is an article from the The Catholic Times of the Diocese of LaCrosse (WI).  The editor is an old friend with a razor sharp mind and very good training in philosophy.  Here is the 8 February obituary essay for Fr. Drinan.  It merits a close reading.  My emphasis.

Father Drinan, ex-congressman, Jesuit and law professor, dead at 86.
 
   Jesuit Father Robert F. Drinan, the first Catholic priest to vote in the U.S. Congress, died Jan. 28 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where he had been treated for pneumonia and congestive heart failure for the past 10 days.
   Although recognized as a brilliant civil law scholar at Georgetown University and praised as an anti-war and human rights activist, Father Drinan generated controversy for pursuing elected office without Church approval andfor his support for legalized abortion while in Congress.
   Like current Church law, the law in effect when Father Drinan made his first congressional run in 1970 forbade a cleric to hold political office-unless he received permission ftom his local ordinary.
   Fr. Drinan had not obtained the permission of either Boston’s Cardinal Richard Cushing or Worcester’s Bishop Bernard Flanagan when he successfully ran for Massachusetts’ 3rd Congressional seat, nor did he get approval from Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe. Though Father Drinan was re-elected four times during the 1970’s, he never acquired the necessary permissions.  [One could argue that the superiors who did nothing to discipline Fr. Drinan were complicit in his actions.]
   Soon after Father Drinan’s 1970 election, the head of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia, publicly announced that Father Drinan’s holding,public office went against both the law of the Church and the express wishes of the U.S. bishops.
   It was only after a general order from the Holy see [given early in the Pontificate Of Pope John Paul II] that required all priests to withdraw from politics that Father Drinan announced "with regret and pain that he would not seek re-election for a sixth term. " Father Arrupe said at the time that the 1980 order to resign reflected "the express wish" of Pope John Paul II. ["With regret and pain".  Jesuit spirituality suggests that it should have been a joy for him to obey from the beginning.]
   At the press conference announcing his withdrawal from the race, Father Drinan said his goal in Congress had been to work for justice in America and for peace throughout the world."
   Among Father Drinan’s historic moments in Congress was his July 31, 1973, introduction of the first formal resolution to impeach President Nixon. "The time has arrived when the members of the House must seek to think the unthinkable," he said from the House floor.
   He served on House committees on the Judiciary, Internal Security, and Government Operations and on the House Select Committee on Aging, and chaired the Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice from 1979 to 1981.
   He was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War, and in a 1974 speech to the American Academy of Religion he criticized the churches of the United States for failing to speak out on such political issues as the threat of genocide from nuclear weapons and the danger of worldwide famine.
   Senator John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who ran for president in 2004, told the Boston Globe that Father Drinan "lived out in public life the whole cloth of Catholic teaching."  [With a few excisions!  Indeed, "out" of whole cloth is just about right.]  Kerry, who served as the priest’s campaign manager during his first election run in 1970, called him "a forever gentle, resilient, tenacious advocate for social justice and fundamental decency. "
   But George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington and a syndicated columnist, told Catholic News Service January 29 that Father Drinan’s reputation as a fighter for human rights was tainted by the fact that he was "on the wrong side" of the abortion issue and played "a pivotal role in the transition of  the Democratic Party"from a pro-life party to one that ardently supported keeping abortion legal.
   That role "cannot be ignored in assessing his record in general or the claims made about him as a great advocate of human rights," Weigel said.
   As a legislator in the years following the Roe v. Wade decision, Father Drinan had a near-perfect anti-life voting record and was a vocal supporter of what he passionately termed a woman’s "constitutional right" to abortion, which he considered a separate issue from his "personal opposition" to the practice.
   After leaving congress in 1981, Father Drinan returned to Georgetown, and also became President of Americans for Democratic Action, on whose behalf he urged the moral necessity of electing abortion "rights " candidates to Congress.
   Notably, in 1996, Father Drinan spoke in favor of President Clinton’s veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act. His celebration of a January 3 Mass at Trinity University in honor of new speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who supports legal  abortion, brought new criticism
   In his Web log or blog for First Things magazine January 19, Father Richard John Neuhaus called him "a Jesuit who, more than any other single figure, has been influential in tutoring Catholic politicians on the acceptability of rejecting the Church’s teaching on the defense of human life."

How would you like that for a legacy? 

A priest friend commented in his parish bulletin about Drinan’s death:

The words of Psalm 55 (54) could serve as his epitaph, harsh. to be sure, but apt: "His speech was smoother than butter, yet war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil. yet they were drawn swords!" Let us pray that he received from God’s mercy, if only at the very last moment, the grace of conversion of heart! 

We are moving.   No, our address is not changing.

The blog has been on a server with a remote mysql service which created some instability problems.

This should take place pretty soon.  I don’t think we will have any significant downtime.

Yesterday’s favorite so far, though I haven’t really looked at all of them yet.

The uncompressed version sucks the oxygen out of the room.