Monthly Archives: May 2006

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

What is Romans 5:5? Continue reading →

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COLLECT: Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens et misericors Deus, ut Spiritus Sanctus adveniens templum nos gloriae suae dignanter inhabitando perficiat. LITERAL VERSION: Grant, we beseech You, Almighty and merciful God, that the Holy Spirit, now coming, will by the indwelling of His … Continue reading →

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

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It is immediately after this prayer that we launch into the Euchrist Prayer beginning with the Preface and Sanctus. You all know the phrase, “Sursum corda! Lift up your hearts!” In 418 St. Augustine (s. 261) declared to his flock:

“The resurrection of the Lord is our hope, the Lord’s ascension our glorification. … So if we are to celebrate the Lord’s ascension in the right way, with faith, with devotion, with reverence as godfearing people, we must ascend with him, and lift up our hearts. In ascending, however, we mustn’t get above ourselves. Yes, we should lift up our hearts, but to the Lord. Hearts, you see, lifted up, not to the Lord – that’s pride; while hearts lifted up to the Lord, that’s called taking refuge. After all, we say to the one who has ascended, Lord, you have become a refuge for us (Ps 90:1).” Continue reading →

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EXCERPT:
In the Incarnation, God the Son, the Second Person, took our humanity, our substantia into an indestructible bond with His divinity, His substantia. In the Resurrection, our substantia rose from death in Christ. In His Ascension, the God Man took our human nature to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Our humanity is at this very moment already seated in bliss with the Father in the Person of the risen Christ. By living in friendship with Him in the state of grace and striving with real single-minded focus (devotio) to bend all that we say, do, think and desire toward that final end of heaven, God will give us the help we need to get there. He already gives us, in anticipation of that great homecoming in heaven (for our humanity is already home in Him), the greatest help of all: spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist. He permits us here in this fading and passing vale of tears to make loving use of unfading and eternal mysteries. Continue reading →

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What Does the Prayer Really Say?  Seventh Sunday of Easter/Ascension of the Lord ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2002 In many places where WDTPRS is read, Ascension Thursday is transferred and celebrated on the following Sunday, the Seventh of … Continue reading →

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EXCERPT:
The author of the prayer was probably trying to make the prayer more interesting by using both donum and munus to express the concept of “gift”. However, there are subtle lessons to learn from the vocabulary. When we receive something (percipio) as a gift and then come to “perceive” what the content of the gift is, we are obliged to express outwardly both gratitude and also subsequent care for the gift so as to honor the giver. If you receive a beautiful and precious present from someone of high station you do so with humility. You express wonder, gratitude. You examine it carefully. You position it in a place of honor in your home, on display for others to see and to help you remember kindly the giver. You probably will try to learn more about the thing, its history, and so forth. You explain to others the story of how you got it and what it is. Continue reading →

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COLLECT: Deus, qui ad aeternam vitam in Christi resurrectione nos reparas, erige nos ad consedentem in dextera tua nostrae salutis auctorem, ut, cum in maiestate sua Salvator noster advenerit, quos fecisiti baptismo renasci, facias beata immortatlitate vestiri. LITERAL VERSION: O … Continue reading →

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