ADVENTCAzT 2020 03: “Make my heart steadfast, so that troubles may not dismay it.”

8 Comments

1. Mariana2 says:

   1 December 2020 at 2:00 AM

   Thanks, Father!
2. Ms. M-S says:

   1 December 2020 at 4:32 AM

   Thanks, Fr. Z. Listened to it on Soundcloud. And I’m going to just give up thinking these couldn’t possibly get any better because they do.
3. bremersm says:

   1 December 2020 at 8:09 AM

   I use Apple Podcasts (iTune) on my Iphone and none of the podcasts from this year are available. Is Apple censoring your great content?
4. Benedictus says:

   1 December 2020 at 9:13 AM

   Yes, these podcasts still haven’t shown up in iTunes.
5. Semper Gumby says:

   1 December 2020 at 11:42 AM

   Thank you Fr. Z.

   “Many Old Testament figures are numbered among the Saints of the Catholic Church.”

   Excellent.

   “When I think of Nineveh and its destruction, and the Assyrians, sometimes I think of angels, and how some think angels are like girly-men. But in 2 Kings 19 we read: ‘And that night the Angel of the Lord went forth and slew 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.'”

   Ok, important safety tip: stick with the camp of the saints.

   Now, there’s an obscure apocryphal writing known as the Book of Hans and Franz, not part of the biblical canon of course, that reads: “No girly-men.” Exactly.

   Back to Advent…

   Thanks Fr. Z for the Advent songs by the nuns of Gower. Their beautiful voices recall another Advent song “The Cherry Tree Carol” from probably the 15th century. Joseph and a pregnant Mary were traveling, Mary asked Joseph for cherries from a tree, Joseph sulked and told her that the father of her child could get her some cherries, the baby Jesus spoke from the womb and the cherry tree bent down so Mary could have some cherries. Needless to say, Joseph minded his manners after that.

   Here is a wonderful version of the “Cherry Tree Carol” from “Carols from New England and Appalachia”:

   https://youtu.be/LYkR2d4BOgs

   A tip o’ the hat to the lovely lady who suggested this.
6. JimmyD7 says:

   1 December 2020 at 11:43 AM

   glad to know that they are on soundcloud
7. Zephyrinus says:

   1 December 2020 at 1:45 PM

   Thank You, Dear Fr, for these splendid AdventCAzTs.
   Coming through loud and clear on the Plugin on your Post.
   An excellent preparation for the coming Feast of Christmas and, also, a timely reminder of The Second Coming.
   In Domino.
   Zephyrinus.
8. Flos Carmeli says:

   1 December 2020 at 2:17 PM

   The Destruction of Sennecherib
   By George Gordon, Lord Byron
   (note: no “girly-man” angel here)
   The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
   And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
   And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
   When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

   Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
   That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
   Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
   That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

   For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
   And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
   And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
   And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

   And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
   But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
   And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
   And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

   And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
   With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
   And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
   The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

   And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
   And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
   And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
   Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

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