Category Archives: WDTPRS

COLLECTDa, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus,ut, sacro nos purificante paenitentiae studio,sinceris mentibus ad sancta venturafacias pervenire.In the so-called "Tridentine" Missale Romanum until the Novus Ordo issued forth, this prayer on Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent said sacro nos purificante ieiunio.  … Read More →

EXCERPT:
There are may things in this changing and shifting world which can erode the steadfastness of a human heart. This world by its very nature is passing. If we give our hearts to these passing things, or set them in the place that belongs to the One who is eternal and ever faithful, we will be lost forever. When we are attached overly to the passing things of this world we cannot be effective in our work, in the vocation God conceived for us from before the creation of the universe. Read More →

EXCERPT:
The prayer brings to mind several images. Ut brevis sim, we can hear in it the abovementioned theme of the household of servants which has been prepared and trained both for and by good works. Think of someone who has been brought in to a new environment and needs training. In the ancient world perhaps some rough bumpkin brought to the villa and then taught many things so that he or she might serve properly in the house, as opposed to the field hands. On the other hand, those same field hands has a lot to learn. Read More →

COLLECTCustodi, Domine, quaesumus,Ecclesiam tuam propitiatione perpetua,et quia sine te labitur humana mortalitas,tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxis,et ad salutaria dirigatur.Propitiatio in its fundamental meaning meanings and "an appeasing, atonement,  propitiation".  The dictionary of liturgical Latin Blaise also gives us … Read More →

EXCERPT:
Today’s prayer introduces the concept of healing in medela. Also we have command vocabulary in praecepisti and mandata. The mandata refer more than likely to the two-fold command of love of God and neighbor, which must lead us to forgiveness of our neighbor when we are wronged and also spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Remember that a meaning of pietas is “dutifulness”. This ties together with the command vocabulary. At the same time we gain from pietas God’s manifold mercies, which is is faithful in giving when we ask for them. In an Augustinian sense, we could render pietas as “knowledge and love of the true God”. Read More →

EXCERPT:
Sure, it happens all the time that the priest’s all too human flaws make it difficult to see in him what God has placed upon his soul. I get complaints about priests constantly via e-mail and snail-mail. Sometimes they are about me! Regardless of how inadequate some of you might think Father is, his blessings are effective. His consecrations and absolutions are valid. And rarely, rarely, despite how it might seem in the moment, or how ignorant or thick or lazy or given to less than edifying things you think he may be, does he act in such a way that his blessings or celebrations of sacraments are not guaranteed by the Church’s authority and God’s own promises. As spotless as Holy Mother Church is, we do not belong to a Church of the pure only. The priest, however inadequate you might think yours to be, is mysteriously alter Christus. He remains the fundamental figure in the formation of the Christian faithful. Read More →

EXCERPT:
The Word of God, from all eternity, is the perfect image of the invisible Father. We are made according to that image. In the Incarnation the Word became the perfect visible image of the invisible God. This perfect image, Jesus, came into the world to save us from our sins and to reveal us more fully to ourselves. He gives us the ultimate “view” or “insight” of who we are and what we are to do. In the Transfiguration the three apostles see something more of Jesus’ perfect image and it is a sight that transforms them. Remembers how Moses was transformed by and how his face shown with light after his encounters with God in the cloud of His glory (Heb. shekina) when it descended on Mt. Sinai or the tent/tabernacle (cf. Exodus 33:7ff; 34:29ff). A symbolic shekina remains in our churches even now: more than a red presence lamp a baldachin or a veil covering the tabernacle is the true sign of the Real Presence! Read More →

EXCERPT:
Paul admonishes us in 2 Timothy 4:6-8:

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. Read More →

EXCERPT:
One of the purposes of a season of penance is interior purification. By giving up things that are good, we take control of our appetites and passions in preparation for what is to come. We experience a liturgical diminishing in Lent so that Easter can be more joyful. Since only the pure may enter into the Beatific Vision, in order to have the joy of heaven, we must be purified of our attachments to sin and perfected in love. This purification must begin in our earthly lives and, provided we die in the state of grace, may continue purgatory. In our collect we acknowledge this necessity of purity before seeing the face of God. Our collect today points to the reason why we are taking on ourselves the yoke of penance. At the same time, our seeing the Lord and the Lord’s own image (intuitus/aspectus) transform us and make us better able to bear the burden. Perhaps a good supplement to a lenten discipline this year would also be frequent visits to a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for perpetual adoration. As Richard of St. Victor said: “Love is the eye and to love is to see.” Look upon Him who was pierced for us and let Him transform your spiritual landscape. He is waiting for us both within and without. Read More →

EXCERPT:
So, why substitute ieiunium with observatio?? What is going on?

It just occurred to me that Pope Paul VI in 1966 published an Apostolic Constitution (the most weighty legal document a Pope promulgates). It was called “Paenitemini” and it concerned how and why Catholics were to practice penance and mortifications. With Paenitemini Paul VI shifted the emphasis of penance from mere physical practices to also an interior spirit of penance. Read More →