Monday, 24 June 2013
Waiting for God and Waiting on God vs. the Self-Hug of Indulgence: Weil and Jones
I also attended, over thirty years ago, a superb conference on her at Notre Dame. I had already read her books but the conference presenters were top-drawer. Sadly, it was not well attended.
Already, the need to listen to spirituality of love and suffering was becoming too tedious for most young people.
Suffering is part of the journey to God and cannot and should not be avoided. Weil has a few points I would like to highlight today.
The first is that she says that Christianity is the religion of slaves. What she means is that only those who are humbled in this world can appreciate this religion. She couples this with the extreme poverty of St. Francis. Her desire to be a vagabond was born of the ideal of purity, separating herself out from the world, and being totally dependent on God.
A slave is totally dependent on his or her master. Louis de Montfort uses this imagery in his consecration to Mary. We are repealed by the idea of slavery, as we identify ourselves as sons and daughters of God.
However, those of us who have had the good fortune of being in love understand the ideal of waiting on a person's every need or desire. Indeed, in the Scriptures, we have this phrase from Psalm 132:2 DR:
Behold as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
The second idea I want to note is that Weil experienced a personal love relationship with God, which even in the midst of great suffering, sustained her. The mystery of His Presence was given to her, and she notes that His Presence of Love was there even in suffering. I understand this. One can be suffering intensely and know all the time that Christ is with one. This Presence is Love, but He is not the Comforter at this point.
The third point is key. Weil notes that Christ wants us to prefer Truth to Him. What she means it that if we seek Truth, and Christ is Truth, we shall find Him. But, if we stray from Truth, we lose Him.
Those who seek consolations are not seeking Truth. These people kid themselves that they are seeking God, but in reality, they are seeking only themselves, in a self-hug of indulgence.
Another point to highlight for today, and I shall come back to her another day, is that one can meditate and contemplate using the Our Father alone. For years, Weil contemplated the Our Father daily, and from that prayer came great graces for her. We do not have to be complicated in our prayers. Christ Himself gave us the Our Father, and in that prayer is all we need for Love to blossom.
I read Weil over and over as a young woman, and her love for and in Christ is ever new. The greatest sadness to me is that she could not bring herself to be baptized, although Christ met her again and again. She decided for the sake of her Jewish brothers and sisters, to stay outside in the vestibule of the Church.
One more last point is key. Weil states that God uses rejects, castaways, wastes. I can identify with that for many reasons. God shines forth most clearly in those who are low and lowly. But, the world does not see this. Neither do some Catholics, who are so bent on middle-class spirituality, that they miss God, who is waiting for them. They miss Him, as David Jones writes, "For it is easy to miss him, at the turn of a civilisation."
(If and when I eventually get to heaven, after seeing Christ, Mary and Bernard of Clairvaux, I want to see David Jones. I am sad I never met him, but he died in 1974, six years before I came to England.)
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| Thanks to Wiki for Photo |
A, a, a, DOMINE DEUS
The 70th anniversary of Simone Weil's death is on August 24th.
to be continued....
Catholic Priest Killed in Syria by Rebels
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/nel-mondo/dettaglio-articolo/articolo/siria-syria-siria-25916/
Were they armed by the United States?
Were they armed by the United States?
Thomas Aquinas Series Continued on Virtues and Perfection
from 1:2;61 http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm
Reply to Objection 1. The Philosopher (Aristotle-supert) is speaking of these virtues according as they relate to human affairs; for instance,justice, about buying and selling; fortitude, about fear; temperance, about desires; for in this sense it is absurd to attribute them to God.
Reply to Objection 2. Human virtues, that is to say, virtues of men living together in this world, are about the passions. But the virtues of those who have attained to perfect bliss are without passions. Hence Plotinus says (Cf. Macrobius, Super Somn. Scip. 1) that "the social virtues check the passions," i.e. they bring them to the relative mean; "the second kind," viz. the perfecting virtues, "uproot them"; "the third kind," viz. the perfect virtues, "forget them; while it is impious to mention them in connection with virtues of the fourth kind," viz. the exemplar virtues. It may also be said that here he is speaking of passions as denoting inordinate emotions.
One must be moving into the perfecting virtues, as the true flowering of the virtues happens at the Illuminative State; before that state, there is too much "me" and not enough Christ.
Reply to Objection 3. To neglect human affairs when necessity forbids is wicked; otherwise it is virtuous. Hence Cicero says a little earlier: "Perhaps one should make allowances for those who by reason of their exceptional talents have devoted themselves to learning; as also to those who have retired from public life on account of failing health, or for some other yet weightier motive; when such men yielded to others the power and renown of authority." This agrees with what Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xix, 19): "The love of truth demands a hollowed leisure; charity necessitates good works. If no one lays this burden on us we may devote ourselves to the study and contemplation of truth; but if the burden is laid on us it is to be taken up unde r the pressure of charity."
I smile, because sometimes this "hallowed leisure" is unemployment, serious illness, such as cancer, or alienation from family. God has his ways of perfecting our intellect if we let him do this.
Charity demands that I write this blog, not my own desires, although the two can coincide. Charity demands that to whom something is given it must be given back freely, even in the face of poverty, which is the Face of Christ on the road to Calvary, as Veronica knew.
Reply to Objection 4. Legal justice alone regards the common weal directly: but by commanding the other virtues it draws them all into the service of the common weal, as the Philosopher declares (Ethic. v, 1). For we must take note that it concerns the human virtues, as we understand them here, to do well not only towards the community, but also towards the parts of the community, viz. towards the household, or even towards one individual.
The socialist and communist agendas deny the good of the one. But, the virtues never forget the community, the household, the one.
To be continued...
To be baptized means this....and how to spot spiritual charlatans
Some preach, some fight, some do both....but none preach but Christ Jesus and His Resurrection and His Church...
For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord; and ourselves your servants through Jesus. 2 Cor:4:5. DR
From Edmund Campion:
My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to minister the Sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reforme sinners, to confute errors– in brief, to crie alarme spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance wherewith many my dear Countrymen are abused.
How to spot spiritual charlatans:
1) If they charge for spiritual direction or spiritual counseling or spiritual healing;
2) If they work outside the Sacramental Life of the Church;
3) If they are not interested in instruction in the doctrines of the Church;
4) If they do not demand personal responsibility, reformation; and if they do not talk of sin as a reality, and instead dwell on victimization;
4) If they permit any vice, any;
5) If they do not address, as Campion notes, proud ignorance, which is another phrase for the stubborn refusal to learn the teaching of the Catholic Church. And, to benefit from that refusal, as did those who benefited in the Protestant Revolt in England with money and status.
And the great Archbishop Chaput has something to say concerning this theme.
http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=7918
Thomas Aquinas Series--
Questions have come to me on the perfection series regarding the flowering of the virtues.
Thomas Aquinas clarifies this issue, and of course, Garrigou-Lagrange is a great Thomist.
Here is one section to chew on today. Unpacking follows in blue. More to come later....
As Augustine says (De Moribus Eccl. vi), "the soul needs to follow something in order to give birth to virtue: this something is God: if we follow Him we shall live aright." Consequently the exemplar of human virtue must needs pre-exist in God, just as in Him pre-exist the types of all things. Accordingly virtue may be considered as existing originally in God, and thus we speak of "exemplar" virtues: so that in God the Divine Mind itself may be called prudence; while temperance is the turning of
God's gaze on Himself, even as in us it is that which conforms the appetite to reason. God's fortitude is His unchangeableness; His justice is the observance of the Eternal Law in His works, as Plotinus states (Cf. Macrobius, Super Somn. Scip. 1).
How extraordinarily beautiful this above section is. God's Divine Mind is Prudence and Temperance is His Looking on Himself. God's Fortitude is His Absolute Unchangeableness (in contradistinction from Islam, where Allah does change), and His Justice is His Eternal Law, and may I add, His Order for the Universe.
Again, since man by his nature is a social [See above note on Chrysostom] animal, these virtues, in so far as they are in him according to the condition of his nature, are called "social" virtues; since it is by reason of them that man behaves himself well in the conduct of human affairs. It is in this sense that we have been speaking of these virtues until now.
Without social virtues, we sink either into tyranny or into anarchy, which both we see coming in greater strength as the Catholic Church weakens from within owing to a lack of holiness.
But since it behooves a man to do his utmost to strive onward even to Divine things, as even the Philosopher declares in Ethic. x, 7, and as Scripture often admonishes us--for instance: "Be ye . . . perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), we must needs place some virtues between the social or human virtues, and the exemplar virtues which are Divine. Now these virtues differ by reason of a difference of movement and term: so that some are virtues of men who are on their way and tending towards the Divine similitude; and these are called "perfecting" virtues.
I cannot emphasize enough that these are given in baptism for our individual perfection, which in turn, if acquired, strengthens the Church. I think Fortitude is what is lacking in many Catholics or fallen-away Catholics who state Catholicism is "just too hard". Sadly, some priests give into lowering the bar on holiness and accepting the status quo for so-called "pastoral reasons."
Thus prudence, by contemplating the things of God, counts as nothing all things of the world, and directs all the thoughts of the soul to God alone: temperance, so far as nature allows, neglects the needs of the body; fortitude prevents the soul from being afraid of neglecting the body and rising to heavenly things; and justice consists in the soul giving a whole-hearted consent to follow the way thus proposed. Besides these there are the virtues of those who have already attained to the Divine similitude: these are called the "perfect virtues." Thus prudence sees nought else but the things of God; temperance knows no earthly desires; fortitude has no knowledge of passion; and justice, by imitating the Divine Mind, is united thereto by an everlasting covenant. Such as the virtues attributed to the Blessed, or, in this life, to some who are at the summit of perfection. I:2;61
The beauty of the words challenge us today to pursue perfection, cooperating with the myriad graces God gives us daily. To me, the imitation of the Divine Mind, the process and the goal, is paramount. What is not known cannot be loved.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm
To be continued...
Super Moon Photos
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346857/Supermoon-June-2013-Amazing-pictures-solar-systems-best-lunar-weekend.html
I saw the moon this morning early, as it was cloudy when I went to bed. It was not large at that time, but very, very bright.
I saw the moon this morning early, as it was cloudy when I went to bed. It was not large at that time, but very, very bright.
The Birthday of St. John the Baptist-Two Readings
Acts 13:22-26
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
22 And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king: to whom giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills.
23 Of this man's seed God according to his promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
24 John first preaching, before his coming, the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel.
25 And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: I am not he, whom you think me to be: but behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
26 Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
22 And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king: to whom giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills.
23 Of this man's seed God according to his promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
24 John first preaching, before his coming, the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel.
25 And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: I am not he, whom you think me to be: but behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
26 Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent.
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| Thanks to Wiki and Caravaggio |
Luke 1:57-80
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
57 Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name Zachary.
60 And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered.
64 And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65 And fear came upon all their neighbours; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea.
66 And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost; and he prophesied, saying:
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant:
70 As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
71 Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us:
72 To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament,
73 The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,
74 That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
77 To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins:
78 Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
79 To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
80 And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
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| Thanks to Wiki and Caravaggio |
Continuing the discussion of sloth and industry
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-sin-of-sloth
An excellent article on Sloth...and our lady above is studying, training the mind against laziness and cupidity...
UPDATE: see Michael Voris' video on the Angel of Death, who is Gabriel, according to the Judaic tradition. His video overlaps on these posts on sloth and greed (that one to come). When I hear priests say they do not like the Latin Mass, I know there is a serious problem of heresy, sloth, greed.
From Prudentius on Heresy
I am known as Discord and sometimes men call me Heresy. I see God in various ways: now smaller and now greater, now in a twofold manner, now in a single. When I desire, he lacks- substance and is a ghost, or he is my soul when I decide to mock him. Belial is my teacher, the world is my home.'
Faith will tolerate no more of such blasphemy. In a single thrust the queen of the virtues pins with a spear the tongue of Discord and stops her breath. Countless hands tear the deadly body of Discord and each of the virtues throws a bit of her flesh into the breeze or to the dogs or to the crows; pieces of her body are dropped in the sewers and flushed out to sea to be devoured by monsters. At last the entire corpse is fed to unclean beasts. Dreadful Heresy, torn limb from limb, has perished. With this last skirmish all men become free to live in the peace that has been given to all mankind.
And the opposite of Heresy is................Concord, which encompasses all the virtues and brings Peace. And, without rational discourse and reflection, heresy becomes rife.
Faith will tolerate no more of such blasphemy. In a single thrust the queen of the virtues pins with a spear the tongue of Discord and stops her breath. Countless hands tear the deadly body of Discord and each of the virtues throws a bit of her flesh into the breeze or to the dogs or to the crows; pieces of her body are dropped in the sewers and flushed out to sea to be devoured by monsters. At last the entire corpse is fed to unclean beasts. Dreadful Heresy, torn limb from limb, has perished. With this last skirmish all men become free to live in the peace that has been given to all mankind.
And the opposite of Heresy is................Concord, which encompasses all the virtues and brings Peace. And, without rational discourse and reflection, heresy becomes rife.
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Pat Buchanan on the Balkanization of America
We did not last long as a nation, did we?
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/23/buchanan-hispanic-influx-from-immigration-bill-could-break-us-into-two-countries/
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/23/buchanan-hispanic-influx-from-immigration-bill-could-break-us-into-two-countries/
A Strange Question and a Clarification on Waters
"The episcopal blessing, the aspersion of holy water, every sacramental unction, prayer in a dedicated church, and the like, effect the remission of venial sins, implicitly or explicitly" (Summa III, Q. lxxxvii, a. 3, ad 1um).
Is Lourdes or Walsingham water holy water?
The answer is NO.
Only water blessed by a Catholic priest is holy water, which is a sacramental and gives a partial indulgence.
Sacramentals help us daily, and remit venial sin, but only as ordered by the Church. Sacramentals can also drive away demons, as holy water, for example, is exorcised by the priest and added with exorcised salt. But, it is forbidden for the laity to exorcise or cast out demons with holy water in any sort of prayer without being with a priest who is an exorcist and unless those lay people are appointed by a bishop as part of an exorcist team. The holy water keeps demons away and my parents, for example, had holy water fonts in each child's bedroom on the wall.
Mary is not a priest. Priests have powers Mary does not have, like changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ or forgiving sins and granting absolution. She gave us the Bread from Heaven in the Child Christ, but Christ instituted the Eucharist and Confession and all the sacraments for the priesthood alone.
Sometimes Catholics and Anglicans do not understand Mary's role in the Church. She is the Mother of God, not a priest. She cannot bless water to make it holy. The priest is the Alter Christus, the Other Christ.
Mary cannot and does not bless water. Her water at Lourdes, and some say there is Fatima water, is not holy water, not sacramental.
Lourdes water was given for healing purposes only and is her gift for healing. This water is not a sacramental, which like all sacramentals, comes under the jurisdiction of the Vatican, through the Pope, to the bishops and priests.
In cases of emergency, ordinary water may be used for baptism and if you have Lourdes water around, that would be ordinary water not holy water.
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| Thanks to Wiki for photo |
The wells at Walsingham, according to my research of old sources, were dug by Richeldis' son for the use of the pilgrims. The springs were already there and people knew about them. Even if Mary has something to do with the waters, which I cannot determine by sources, it still would not be holy.
Therefore, there is nothing holy about the water in the Anglican Shrine in Walsingham and remember, Anglican priests do not have Holy Orders and therefore, the water is not blessed if they bless it. They have no more power to bless water than I do. Pray for Walsingham, as there is much confusion there.
I add the rite for the blessing of holy water from
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/48-blessings-for-special-days-and-feasts.html
1. RITE FOR PROVIDING HOLY WATER
Some minor changes have been made in this rite, such as the omission of certain words, putting salt into the water only once, and the use of the short conclusion for the orations (see "Ephemerides Liturgicae" 75 [1961] 426). The holy-water font is a counterpart of the baptismal font; and the sacramental use of holy water is related to the great sacrament of water, baptism. Easter is the day par excellence for baptism, and every Sunday is a little Easter. Consequently, on the Lord's day the Church blesses water to be used in the ceremony of renewal of baptism, for as often as she sprinkles us with the blessed water a sign is given us of that sacrament which once bestowed the gift of life. The rubrics direct that the water may be blessed either in the church proper or in the sacristy. For the edification of the people it might be well to perform this blessing in the sight of the people, at least occasionally. The practice of putting salt into the water comes no doubt from the incident of the miraculous cure of the poisonous well (see 4 Kings 2.19-21), where the prophet Eliseus used salt to purify the water of the well.
1. On Sundays, or whenever this blessing takes place, salt and fresh water are prepared in the church or in the sacristy. The priest, vested in surplice and purple stole, says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
2. The exorcism of salt follows: God's creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you by the living 
God, by the true God, by the holy God, by God who ordered you to be thrown into the water- spring by Eliseus to heal it of its barrenness. May you be a purified salt, a means of health for those who believe, a medicine for body and soul for all who make use of you. May all evil fancies of the foul fiend, his malice and cunning, be driven afar from the place where you are sprinkled. And let every unclean spirit be repulsed by Him who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen. God, by the true God, by the holy God, by God who ordered you to be thrown into the water- spring by Eliseus to heal it of its barrenness. May you be a purified salt, a means of health for those who believe, a medicine for body and soul for all who make use of you. May all evil fancies of the foul fiend, his malice and cunning, be driven afar from the place where you are sprinkled. And let every unclean spirit be repulsed by Him who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, we humbly appeal to your mercy and goodness to graciously bless this creature, salt, which you have given for mankind's use. May all who use it find in it a remedy for body and mind. And may everything that it touches or sprinkles be freed from uncleanness and any influence of the evil spirit; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen. this creature, salt, which you have given for mankind's use. May all who use it find in it a remedy for body and mind. And may everything that it touches or sprinkles be freed from uncleanness and any influence of the evil spirit; through Christ our Lord.
Exorcism of the water:
God's creature, water, I cast out the demon from you in the name of God the Father almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. May you be a purified water, empowered to drive afar all power of the enemy, in fact, to root out and banish the enemy himself, along with his fallen angels. We ask this through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.
All: Amen. the Father almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. May you be a purified water, empowered to drive afar all power of the enemy, in fact, to root out and banish the enemy himself, along with his fallen angels. We ask this through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire.Let us pray.
O God, who for man's welfare established the most wonderful mysteries in the substance of water, hearken to our prayer, and pour forth your blessing on this element now being prepared with various purifying rites. May this creature of yours, when used in your mysteries and endowed with your grace, serve to cast out demons and to banish disease. May everything that this water sprinkles in the homes and gatherings of the faithful be delivered from all that is unclean and hurtful; let no breath of contagion hover there, no taint of corruption; let all the wiles of the lurking enemy come to nothing. By the sprinkling of this water may everything opposed to the safety and peace of the occupants of these homes be banished, so that in calling on your holy name they may know the well-being they desire, and be protected from every peril; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen. on this element now being prepared with various purifying rites. May this creature of yours, when used in your mysteries and endowed with your grace, serve to cast out demons and to banish disease. May everything that this water sprinkles in the homes and gatherings of the faithful be delivered from all that is unclean and hurtful; let no breath of contagion hover there, no taint of corruption; let all the wiles of the lurking enemy come to nothing. By the sprinkling of this water may everything opposed to the safety and peace of the occupants of these homes be banished, so that in calling on your holy name they may know the well-being they desire, and be protected from every peril; through Christ our Lord.
3. Now the priest pours the salt into the water in the form of a cross, saying:
May this salt and water be mixed together; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen. and of the Holy Spirit.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
God, source of irresistible might and king of an invincible realm, the ever-glorious conqueror; who restrain the force of the adversary, silencing the uproar of his rage, and valiantly subduing his wickedness; in awe and humility we beg you, Lord, to regard with favor this creature thing of salt and water, to let the light of your kindness shine upon it, and to hallow it with the dew of your mercy; so that wherever it is sprinkled and your holy name is invoked, every assault of the unclean spirit may be baffled, and all dread of the serpent's venom be cast out. To us who entreat your mercy grant that the Holy Spirit may be with us wherever we may be; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.
4. On Sundays after the water is blessed and before Mass begins the celebrant sprinkles the altar, himself, the ministers, and the people as prescribed in the Missal and in the ceremony of the Ritual given below.
5. Christ's faithful are permitted to take holy water home with them to sprinkle the sick, their homes, fields, vineyards, and the like. It is recommended too that they put it in fonts in the various rooms, so that they may use it to bless themselves daily and frequently.
For a discussion on the new and old rites of holy water, see Fr. Z's blog here.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/06/quaeritur-is-water-blessed-with-the-newer-rites-really-holy-water/
Readings for the Vigil Mass of the Birth of John the Baptist
As Catholics, we only celebrate the birthdays of three important people in the liturgical year: Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, Mary His Mother, and John the Baptist. Here are only two of the readings for the Vigil Mass, which could have been said this evening after Vespers...
I am sorry my parish is not having a Mass tomorrow, as I love John the Baptist very much. I shall post some of the readings for his birthday tomorrow.
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.
7 And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth:
10 Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root up, and pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant
Luke 1:5-17
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.
6 And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame.
7 And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.
8 And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God,
9 According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord.
10 And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the alter of incense.
12 And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John:
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity.
15 For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
16 And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
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