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

Today’s PODCAzT features a reading from St. Augustine of Hippo’s commentary on Ps. 85 (en. ps. 85.1), the second reading from the Office of Readings for Wednesday in the 5th Week of Lent in the Liturgy of the Hours. 
This is a fabulous crowbar for prying open how we all participate at Holy Mass, each in our own roles.

Here is the text of Augustine commentary:

God could give no greater gift to men than to make his Word, through whom he created all things, their head and to join them to him as his members, so that the Word might be both Son of God and son of man, one God with the Father, and one man with all men. The result is that when we speak with God in prayer we do not separate the Son from him, and when the body of the Son prays it does not separate its head from itself: it is the one Saviour of his body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us and in us and is himself the object of our prayers.
He prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, he is the object of our prayers as our God.
Let us then recognise both our voice in his, and his voice in ours. When something is said, especially in prophecy, about the Lord Jesus Christ that seems to belong to a condition of lowliness unworthy of God, we must not hesitate to ascribe this condition to one who did not hesitate to unite himself with us. Every creature is his servant, for it was through him that every creature came to be.
We contemplate his glory and divinity when we listen to these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. Here we gaze on the divinity of the Son of God, something supremely great and surpassing all the greatness of his creatures. Yet in other parts of Scripture we hear him as one sighing, praying, giving praise and thanks.
We hesitate to attribute these words to him because our minds are slow to come down to his humble level when we have just been contemplating him in his divinity. It is as though we were doing him an injustice in acknowledging in a man the words of one with whom we spoke when we spoke when we prayed to God; we are usually at a loss and try to change the meaning. Yet our minds find nothing in Scripture that does not go back to him, nothing that will allow us to stray from him.
Our thoughts must then be awakened to keep their vigil of faith. We must realise that the one whom we were contemplating a short time before in his nature as God took to himself the nature of a servant; he was made in the likeness of men and found to be a man like others; he humbled himself by being obedient even to accepting death; as he hung on the cross he made the psalmist’s words his own: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
We pray to him as God, he prays for us as a servant. In the first case he is the Creator, in the second a creature. Himself unchanged, he took to himself our created nature in order to change it, and made us one man with himself, head and body. We pray then to him, through him, in him, and we speak along with him and he along with us.

Everyone… there is a matter of CRITICAL importance to discuss.  

In another entry, participant Henry raised the question:

Do you think just a celebratory sip of fine champagne is ok while reciting a joyful Te Deum?

"JUST A SIP"??? 

This is the edge of the slippery slope into DOOM.

It takes us into a looooong debate known among wiser clergy, which take various forms.  For example,

QUAERITUR:

Is it okay to smoke a cigar while praying the Office?

Most intelligent clergy know that it is definitely NOT okay to smoke cigars while praying the Office.  However, it is okay to pray while smoking. 

See?

So, it is NOT permissible to sip champagne while saying the Te Deum. 

It is, however, alright to say the Te Deum while drinking champagne!

You need to know this for when the Motu Proprio comes out. 

I can hear you whiners out there.  The NAYSAYERS.  "But Father!  But Father!", you are sputtering, "Yoooou can’t tell us what is right or wrong!  Who do you think you are?!?  I want to drink Veuve Clicquot while I pray!  I don’t want to pray when I drink the Widow!"

Okay, you naysayers.  Since we are living in a post-modern, post-Christian world, we should put this moral question to a vote, just as YOU naysayer people do with other moral questions!

I am forcing the debate over the Luminous Mysteries over here.

Two rules:

Be nice

Be reasonable.

Be focused.

Okay… that’s Three rules.   You get my idea.

Violate them, I will turn off comments.

Biretta tip to the Cafeteria for a story in the German daily Die Welt.   Biretta tip  o{]:¬)  Here is the important part of the article in the translation from the Cafeteria:

An accompanying letter to all bishops has already been prepared. The matter has been decided. There will be no "system reboot" like with a crashed computer. Benedict XVI. gives back to the Catholic liturgy its original standard, by which the rite of 1969, which had frequently lost its orientation, can measure itself, new and decisively.

Folks: There is speculation about the date of the release.  Right now the Pope and the new head of the Italian Bishop’s conference are heavily engaging certain moral issues being hotly debated in the public square in Italy.  I am lead to wonder if, given the proximity to Holy Week and the hot debate, he might not wait for a more serene moment to release the Motu Proprio.  On the other hand, the Pope has been accused of not wanting to still thing up too much after the famous Regensburg Address and then he makes strong statement about Europe’s continuing desire to kill itself.

Anything is possible.