Dark Night Again....

Matthew 27:46 Douay-Rheims 

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

One of the few "lights"of Holy Week for the person in the Dark Night. is that Christ joins us in His Own darkness. Christ allowed Himself to take our sins upon Himself and experience the type of suffering we suffer daily because of our sins and the sins of others.

Joining us in humanity, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became Incarnate specifically to free us from Original, mortal and venial sins.

Christ enters liturgically into His Dark Night of the Spirit, not because of His sin, as He is Perfect, Innocence, Good, but because of our sins. We join His sacrifice in the Masses we attend, but especially this week in the climax of Lent,  in this Passion Week and in the Triduum.

As I enter this week, I am grateful to God for His Sacrifice, when He chose suffering, both spiritual and bodily, so that I do not have to go to hell. Grace upon grace is given to us through His Passion and Death on the Cross, and through His Resurrection. Christ overcame death and sin, conquering Satan, undoing the damage done by our First Parents.

This is the week of Christ's joining with us as we see on Good Friday in the terrible words of pain and faith as noted above.

We neither despair, nor do we pretend to be something other than we are--sinners standing at the foot of the Cross. And, if we love Christ, we are on Calvary not merely for ourselves, but for Him. But, there is no consolation on this Place of the Skull, only the agony which brings victory over sin and death.

The Mass is the real, not symbolic, recreation of Calvary in an unbloody manner. Everytime we go to Mass, we are standing, again, at the foot of the Cross.

Let us all pause and thank God for His Goodness shown to us most clearly in Holy Week.

Will The Cross

Suffering forms the theme of many posts on this blog. Just follow the tags.

But, this week, the holiest week of the year, one follows Christ on His terrible journey to the Cross.

Years ago, when I read that the great saints encouraged meditating on the Crucifixion, I could not accept that looking at the Cross was a credible exercise. Thankfully, God has been patient with me, and now, I can say truly that meditating on the Passion brings one into the reality of self-knowledge and love of God.

When one gets to the point where one asks God the Father to join in the suffering of Christ, one has embraced the purgation of the soul and body.

This purgation, this accepting of the Cross in any way God presents it to one, marks the real beginning of purification.

One begins to want to suffer, for one's sins, for reparation, for intercession, for the glory of God.

The more humble one becomes, the easier the acceptance of suffering becomes.

Follow Christ this week, not only in the Scriptures, but in the heart, mind, imagination, will.

Will the Cross.

Thoughts on Victory in Christ

Christ's Crucifixion is the culminating event for the Redemption of all the sins of mankind. The Resurrection is the reality and sign of Christ's victory over death and sin. He shares that with us in and through the Catholic Church.

St. Paul's eloquent statement follows:

 O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.1 Corinthians 15:55-57 Douay-Rheims 

This victory is over sin and the consequence of sin, which is death. Death is not merely physical, but spiritual. Until Christ's Victory, all humans waited for the release from Original Sin-those alive and those dead.

In our time here on earth and in the Church, we must recognize that sin and death surround us. Most of us can see this in the culture of death, which is growing daily, like a poisonous mist across the globe. 

But, the culture of death which we see is a result of the deaths of so many souls, even those of Catholics who have not been obedient for whatever reason to the call to life.

I pray for my fellow Catholics caught in disobedience and, therefore, in death.

We must allow God to purge us of every rebellion against the Church either in matters of Faith or matters of  Morals.

The greatest danger is spiritual pride. In this sin, one thinks one is holier and more gifted than others.

God cannot work through this clogging of the soul with self-love.

Keep focused on Christ and His Church and avoid any ministry or person who calls you away from obedience. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You, by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

Lenten Thoughts on Vocations

For my friends who are new converts and my Protestant friends:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.

Words: At­trib­ut­ed to Al­ex­an­der Means.

Music: From The South­ern Har­mo­ny and Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion, by Will­iam Walk­er (New York: Hast­ings House, 1835)

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This Lent, I pray especially for men and women who do not know their vocation, their call from God. Look at the young John in this painting. He is so innocence, so open, so loving.  I pray for all of you, young and old, who love God with your whole heart and whole mind and whole soul, but do not know what to do.

Pray for discernment and peace. Christ's blood is flowing over Mary and John here, as a symbol of His Life in them. The Immaculate Conception was redeemed from the moment of her creation. John was led to a hard but love-filled life. What more can we want than this Wondrous Love? The serenity of this painting strikes me as the Truth of Calvary-a perfect act of Divine Love.

http://www.conceptionabbey.org/basilica/beuronese-murals?start=18

I heard a fantastic sermon today on the Cross

It was not given by my PP. A little, almost tiny Benedictine portress told me today that the Cross is always with us. She did a little "street drama" in the receiving room of the monastery. She told me that if we look left, the Cross is there, and she turned to the left. "And, if the Cross is here," she said facing the right, "the Cross is there as well." She put her hands out as well each time. Her face was lit up with the love of Christ.

She continued, "As long as we are with Christ, nothing matters."

One of the best sermons I have ever heard on the Cross in our lives...

God chooses our Cross for us. We cannot escape it, but therein is His Love.

A pot of basil

Father Z reminded us to get basil blessed today and go to his blog for a great history of that custom. I got the communal pot of basil blessed this morning.  In the meantime, I share here one of my favourite paintings of William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, which is connected to a poem of John Keat's and an ancient story from Boccaccio's The Decameron, (IV, 5), which is you have not read either, you should.

A Relic of the True Cross

As I mentioned below, this day is special to me. At Notre Dame University, in the Basilica, there is a relic of the True Cross which we would honour today on the patronal feast of the order.

Today, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Church where I attended Mass has a relic of the True Cross. The congregation honoured this after Mass by going up and kissing the fantastically beautiful reliquary.

I did not get a very detailed look at the three relics which are in the smallish hand-held reliquary, but three different pieces of something are there. Only one has a label and that was the small piece of the Cross. The other two relics, beneath one another in the gold and silver cross which is about twelve inches long and maybe eight across, did not have label that I could see, but one was not wood.

I wish I could have examined it longer.

The sacristan told me the Oblates of St. Charles, who built the Church and were the order of secular priests, (which included Cardinal Vaughan and earlier, one of the founders, Cardinal Manning), given the relics.

The original donor of the church, an English woman, first had the small chapel on the right hand side built as a chapel to St. Helena. That little chapel is beautiful, with symbols of the Crucifixion, carved angels, and two windows, one of St. Mary Magdalene and one of St. Helena. The donor, I was told, wanted the entire church to be dedicated to St. Helena, but it was dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels instead. The little chapel is a mishmash of foci, which is disconcerting to one with an aesthetic eye. There are two non-matching statues which are life-size of St. Joan of Arc and St. Therese of Lisieux and a large cheap poster of the Divine Mercy. On the side in a large niche, is a little statue of The Infant of Prague. The entire thing needs to be re-done.

The donor is buried in the church in the Lady Chapel in the left aisle. I have not seen the archives, but some parishioners talked to me about the history.

How wonderful that such things are in England, the Dowry of Mary. May Mary bring this country back to the one, true religion, through the Cross of Christ, to Rome.

One of my favourite David Jones' Works and a Great Hymn

Vexilla Regis (pencil & watercolour) by David Jones VEXILLA Regis prodeunt; fulget Crucis mysterium, quo carne carnis conditor suspensus est patibulo.1	ABROAD the regal banners fly, now shines the Cross's mystery: upon it Life did death endure, and yet by death did life procure.
Confixa clavis viscera tendens manus, vestigia, redemptionis gratia hic immolata est hostia.	-
Quo vulneratus insuper mucrone diro lanceae, ut nos lavaret crimine,2 manavit unda et sanguine.	Who, wounded with a direful spear, did purposely to wash us clear from stain of sin, pour out a flood of precious water mixed with blood.
Impleta sunt quae concinit David fideli carmine, dicendo nationibus: regnavit a ligno Deus.	That which the prophet-king of old hath in mysterious verse foretold, is now accomplished, whilst we see God ruling the nations from a Tree.
Arbor decora et fulgida, ornata Regis purpura, electa digno stipite tam sancta membra tangere.	O lovely and refulgent Tree, adorned with purpled majesty; culled from a worthy stock, to bear those limbs which sanctified were.
Beata, cuius brachiis pretium pependit saeculi: statera facta corporis, praedam tulitque tartari. 3	Blest Tree, whose happy branches bore the wealth that did the world restore; the beam that did that Body weigh which raised up Hell's expected prey.
Fundis aroma cortice, vincis sapore nectare, iucunda fructu fertili plaudis triumpho nobili.	-
Salve, ara, salve, victima, de passionis gloria, qua vita mortem pertulit et morte vitam reddidit.	-
O Crux ave, spes unica, hoc Passionis tempore! * piis adauge gratiam, reisque dele crimina.	Hail Cross, of hopes the most sublime! Now, in the mournful Passion time; * grant to the just increase of grace, and every sinner's crimes efface.
Te, fons salutis Trinitas, collaudet omnis spiritus: quos per Crucis mysterium salvas, fove per saecula. Amen. 4	Blest Trinity, salvation's spring may every soul Thy praises sing; to those Thou grantest conquest by the Holy Cross, rewards supply. Amen.
*In Festo Exaltationis Sanctae Crucis: in hac triumphi gloria!	*Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross: On this triumphant day.

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http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/Vexilla.html

The Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross

This feast day is very personal to me for several reasons. One, I was taught for eight years by excellent Holy Cross Nuns. I spent six years of my life or so at Notre Dame, and this is the patronal feast of the Order.

I love this feast, also called the Exaltation of the Cross, commemorating the day that St. Helena found the true Cross of Christ. The feast day dates at least to the 7th century and in this week, when so many things are happening, let us pray for more veneration and love of the Cross of Christ.

We adore Thee, O Christ and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou has redeemed the world.

The Holy Trinity by Botticelli