Posted on 04/20/2014 8:46:52 PM PDT by Salvation
April 21, 2014
Monday in the Octave of Easter
Reading 1 Acts 2:14, 22-33
On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
“You who are children of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
R. (1) Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel Mt 28:8-15
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”
While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
He had RISEN!!
Feast Day: April 21
Born: 1033 at Aosta, Piedmont, Italy
Died: 21 April 1109 at Canterbury, England
Canonized: 1492 by Pope Alexander IV
Major Shrine: Canterbury Cathedral
Saint Anselm,
Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Optional Memorial
April 21st
Crowning of the Virgin with Saint Anselm and other saints .
Francesco Francia (v. 1450-1517/18)
Saint Anselm was born in Aosta, Italy, and died in England. He was in the Benedictine monastery of LeBec in Normandy for around thirty years. In 1093, he became the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England. He is called the Father of Scholastic Theology. In his defense of the Church he suffered much, including exile. His doctrinal works are among the most noteworthy examples of theology and medieval mysticism.
Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003
Collect:
O God, who led the Bishop Saint Anselm
to seek out and teach the depths of your wisdom,
grant, we pray,
that our faith in you may so aid our understanding,
that what we believe by your command
may give delight to our hearts.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns wiht you in the unity of the Holy Spiri,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.First Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:21-29
"Not every one who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers.'"Every one then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
COMMUNIUM RERUM, ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON ST. ANSELM OF AOSTA, Given at Rome at St. Peter's on the Feast of St. Anselm, April 21, 1909, in the eighth year of Our Pontificate.
BENEDICT XVI, GENERAL AUDIENCE, Paul VI Audience Hall, Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saint Anselm
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Anselmo [St Anselm] is located on the Aventine Hill in Rome. As the headquarters of an academic institute of higher studies and of the Abbot Primate of the Confederated Benedictines it is a place that unites within it prayer, study and governance, the same three activities that were a feature of the life of the Saint to whom it is dedicated: Anselm of Aosta, the ninth anniversary of whose death occurs this year. The many initiatives promoted for this happy event, especially by the Diocese of Aosta, have highlighted the interest that this medieval thinker continues to rouse. He is also known as Anselm of Bec and Anselm of Canterbury because of the cities with which he was associated. Who is this figure to whom three places, distant from one another and located in three different nations Italy, France, England feel particularly bound? A monk with an intense spiritual life, an excellent teacher of the young, a theologian with an extraordinary capacity for speculation, a wise man of governance and an intransigent defender of libertas Ecclesiae, of the Church's freedom, Anselm is one of the eminent figures of the Middle Ages who was able to harmonize all these qualities, thanks to the profound mystical experience that always guided his thought and his action.
St Anselm was born in 1033 (or at the beginning of 1034) in Aosta, the first child of a noble family. His father was a coarse man dedicated to the pleasures of life who squandered his possessions. On the other hand, Anselm's mother was a profoundly religious woman of high moral standing (cf. Eadmer, Vita Sancti Anselmi, PL 159, col. 49). It was she, his mother, who saw to the first human and religious formation of her son whom she subsequently entrusted to the Benedictines at a priory in Aosta. Anselm, who since childhood as his biographer recounts imagined that the good Lord dwelled among the towering, snow-capped peaks of the Alps, dreamed one night that he had been invited to this splendid kingdom by God himself, who had a long and affable conversation with him and then gave him to eat "a very white bread roll" (ibid., col. 51). This dream left him with the conviction that he was called to carry out a lofty mission. At the age of 15, he asked to be admitted to the Benedictine Order but his father brought the full force of his authority to bear against him and did not even give way when his son, seriously ill and feeling close to death, begged for the religious habit as a supreme comfort. After his recovery and the premature death of his mother, Anselm went through a period of moral dissipation. He neglected his studies and, consumed by earthly passions, grew deaf to God's call. He left home and began to wander through France in search of new experiences. Three years later, having arrived in Normandy, he went to the Benedictine Abbey of Bec, attracted by the fame of Lanfranc of Pavia, the Prior. For him this was a providential meeting, crucial to the rest of his life. Under Lanfranc's guidance Anselm energetically resumed his studies and it was not long before he became not only the favourite pupil but also the teacher's confidante. His monastic vocation was rekindled and, after an attentive evaluation, at the age of 27 he entered the monastic order and was ordained a priest. Ascesis and study unfolded new horizons before him, enabling him to rediscover at a far higher level the same familiarity with God which he had had as a child.
When Lanfranc became Abbot of Caen in 1063, Anselm, after barely three years of monastic life, was named Prior of the Monastery of Bec and teacher of the cloister school, showing his gifts as a refined educator. He was not keen on authoritarian methods; he compared young people to small plants that develop better if they are not enclosed in greenhouses and granted them a "healthy" freedom. He was very demanding with himself and with others in monastic observance, but rather than imposing his discipline he strove to have it followed by persuasion. Upon the death of Abbot Herluin, the founder of the Abbey of Bec, Anselm was unanimously elected to succeed him; it was February 1079. In the meantime numerous monks had been summoned to Canterbury to bring to their brethren on the other side of the Channel the renewal that was being brought about on the continent. Their work was so well received that Lanfranc of Pavia, Abbot of Caen, became the new Archbishop of Canterbury. He asked Anselm to spend a certain period with him in order to instruct the monks and to help him in the difficult plight in which his ecclesiastical community had been left after the Norman conquest. Anselm's stay turned out to be very fruitful; he won such popularity and esteem that when Lanfranc died he was chosen to succeed him in the archiepiscopal See of Canterbury. He received his solemn episcopal consecration in December 1093.
Anselm immediately became involved in a strenuous struggle for the Church's freedom, valiantly supporting the independence of the spiritual power from the temporal. Anselm defended the Church from undue interference by political authorities, especially King William Rufus and Henry I, finding encouragement and support in the Roman Pontiff to whom he always showed courageous and cordial adherence. In 1103, this fidelity even cost him the bitterness of exile from his See of Canterbury. Moreover, it was only in 1106, when King Henry I renounced his right to the conferral of ecclesiastical offices, as well as to the collection of taxes and the confiscation of Church properties, that Anselm could return to England, where he was festively welcomed by the clergy and the people. Thus the long battle he had fought with the weapons of perseverance, pride and goodness ended happily. This holy Archbishop, who roused such deep admiration around him wherever he went, dedicated the last years of his life to the moral formation of the clergy and to intellectual research into theological topics. He died on 21 April 1109, accompanied by the words of the Gospel proclaimed in Holy Mass on that day: "You are those who have continued with me in my trials; as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom..." (Lk 22: 28-30). So it was that the dream of the mysterious banquet he had had as a small boy, at the very beginning of his spiritual journey, found fulfilment. Jesus, who had invited him to sit at his table, welcomed Anselm upon his death into the eternal Kingdom of the Father.
"I pray, O God, to know you, to love you, that I may rejoice in you. And if I cannot attain to full joy in this life may I at least advance from day to day, until that joy shall come to the full" (Proslogion, chapter 14). This prayer enables us to understand the mystical soul of this great Saint of the Middle Ages, the founder of scholastic theology, to whom Christian tradition has given the title: "Magnificent Doctor", because he fostered an intense desire to deepen his knowledge of the divine Mysteries but in the full awareness that the quest for God is never ending, at least on this earth. The clarity and logical rigour of his thought always aimed at "raising the mind to contemplation of God" (ibid., Proemium). He states clearly that whoever intends to study theology cannot rely on his intelligence alone but must cultivate at the same time a profound experience of faith. The theologian's activity, according to St Anselm, thus develops in three stages: faith, a gift God freely offers, to be received with humility; experience, which consists in incarnating God's word in one's own daily life; and therefore true knowledge, which is never the fruit of ascetic reasoning but rather of contemplative intuition. In this regard his famous words remain more useful than ever, even today, for healthy theological research and for anyone who wishes to deepen his knowledge of the truths of faith: "I do not endeavour, O Lord, to penetrate your sublimity, for in no wise do I compare my understanding with that; but I long to understand in some degree your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, that unless I believed, I should not understand" (ibid., 1).
Dear brothers and sisters, may the love of the truth and the constant thirst for God that marked St Anselm's entire existence be an incentive to every Christian to seek tirelessly an ever more intimate union with Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. In addition, may the zeal full of courage that distinguished his pastoral action and occasionally brought him misunderstanding, sorrow and even exile be an encouragement for Pastors, for consecrated people and for all the faithful to love Christ's Church, to pray, to work and to suffer for her, without ever abandoning or betraying her. May the Virgin Mother of God, for whom St Anselm had a tender, filial devotion, obtain this grace for us. "Mary, it is you whom my heart yearns to love", St Anselm wrote, "it is you whom my tongue ardently desires to praise".
Source: Vatican Website
St. Anselm
Feast Day: April 21
Born: 1033 :: Died: 1109
Anselm was born at Aosta, Piedmont in Italy to wealthy parents. He could see the Alpine Mountains from his home. As a child he was taught how to be holy and study well. When he was fifteen, Anselm tried to join a monastery in Italy but his father would not let him.
Then Anselm became sick. Soon after he got better, his mother died. He was still young and rich and clever and began to think only of having good times. He had forgotten God. But soon Anselm became bored and wanted something better, something more important.
He argued with his father and ran away to France. There he visited the holy Abbot Lanfranc of the famous monastery of Bec. Anselm became Lanfranc's very close friend and the abbot brought him to God. Then at the age of twenty-seven, Anselm decided to become a Benedictine monk.
Anselm was a warm-hearted man who loved his brother monks dearly. Even those who first disliked him soon became his friends. When he was forty-five years old he was made the abbot of Bec.
He finally had to leave Bec to become archbishop of Canterbury in England, but he told the monks that they would always live in his heart. The people of England loved and respected Anselm. But King William II treated him badly.
Anselm had to leave the country and flee into exile in 1097 and again in 1103. King William even refused to let Anselm go to Rome to see the pope for advice. But Anselm went anyway. He stayed with the pope until the king died. Then he went back to his parish in England.
Even though he had many duties that kept him very busy, St. Anselm always found time to write important books of philosophy and theology. He also wrote down the many wonderful instructions he had given the monks about God.
They were very happy about that. He used to say: "Would you like to know the secret of being happy in the monastery? Forget the world and be happy to forget it. The monastery is a real heaven on earth for those who live only for Jesus."
St. Anselm died on April 21, 1109. He was declared a great teacher or Doctor of the Church.
Catholic
Almanac:
Sunday, April 21 |
Liturgical Color: White |
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How does the liturgy affect the spaces in which we live?
By his victory, Christ has penetrated all places in the world. He himself is the true Temple, and the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:24) is no longer bound up with a particular place. Nevertheless, the Christian world is filled with churches and sacred signs, because men need specific places in which to meet and signs to remind them of this new reality. Every house of God is a symbol for our heavenly Father's house, to which we are journeying.
Certainly one can pray anywhere - in the forest, on the beach, in bed. But since we men are not merely spiritual but also have a body, we need to see, hear, and feel one another; we need a specific place if we want to meet so as to be the Body of Christ; we must kneel down if we want to worship God; we must eat the transformed bread when it is offered; we must set our bodies in motion when he calls us. And a cross on the roadside will remind us of who owns the world and where our journey is taking us. (YOUCAT question 189)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1179-1181) and other references here.
Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)
Section 1: The Sacramental Economy (1076 - 1209)
Chapter 2: The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery (1135 - 1209)
Article 1: Celebrating the Church's Liturgy (1136 - 1199)
IV. WHERE IS THE LITURGY CELEBRATED? ⇡
The worship "in Spirit and in truth"53 of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house."54 For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, "we are the temple of the living God."55
53.
54.
55.
When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted,56 Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ.
56.
Cf. DH 4.
A church, "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial."57 In this "house of God" the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place.58
57.
PO 5; Cf. SC 122-127.
58.
Cf. SC 7.
Daily Readings for:April 21, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
o Easter Soup with Leftover Lamb
ACTIVITIES
o Liturgy of Easter Sunday and the Octave of Easter
PRAYERS
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Easter Season (2nd Plan)
o Easter Prayers (for the Octave of Easter)
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Easter Week (1st Plan)
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Easter (1st Plan)
o Victimae Paschali: The Easter Sequence
LIBRARY
o None
» Enjoy our Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!
Old Calendar: Easter Monday
The Lord has risen from the dead, as he foretold. Let there be happiness and rejoicing for he is our King forever, alleluia. According to Moses and the prophets Christ was to suffer all "these things and so to enter into His glory". And what was this "glory" which Christ merited by His sufferings and death? It was His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His sitting at the right hand of the Father, the homage of all the nations. It was especially the glorification of His body which only a few days ago hung mangled and lifeless on the cross.
Meditation
"In those days: Peter standing up in the midst of the people, said: You know the word that hath been published through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things that He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed hanging Him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose again from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. To Him all the prophets give testimony, that through His name all receive remission of sins who believe in Him." — Acts 10
St. Peter spoke these words to Cornelius, the centurion, and to the household and friends of this gentile, who had called them together to receive the Apostle whom God had sent to him. He had come to prepare them for Baptism, and thus make them the first-fruits of the gentile world, for up to this time the Gospel had been preached only to the Jews. Let us take notice how it is St. Peter, and not any other of the Apostles, who throws open to us gentiles the door of the Church, which Christ has built upon him as upon the impregnable rock.
This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is an appropriate Lesson for this day, whose Station is in the basilica of St Peter: it is read near the confession of the great Apostle. Let us observe, too, the method used by the Apostle in the conversion of Cornelius and the other gentiles. He begins by speaking to them concerning Jesus. He tells them of the miracles He wrought; then, having related how He died the ignominious death of the Cross, He insists on the fact of the Resurrection as the sure guarantee of His being truly God. He then instructs them on the mission of the Apostles, whose testimony must be received—a testimony which carries persuasion with it, seeing it was most disinterested, and availed them nothing save persecution. He, therefore, that believes in the Son of God made Flesh, who went about doing good, working all kinds of miracles; who died upon the Cross, rose again from the dead, and entrusted to certain men, chosen by Himself, the mission of continuing on earth the ministry he had begun—he that confesses all this, is worthy to receive, by holy Baptism, the remission of his sins. Such is the happy lot of Cornelius and his companions.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
At Rome, the Station for today is at the basilica of St. Peter. On Saturday, the catechumens received the Sacrament of regeneration in the Lateran basilica of our Savior; yesterday, they celebrated the Resurrection in the magnificent church of St. Mary; it is just that they should come, on this third day, to pay their grateful devotions to Peter, on whom Christ has built his whole Church.
Monday within the Octave of Easter
Go tell my brothers. (Matthew 28:10)
Even though your celebration of Easter probably took place in a packed church, that’s not how it all started two thousand years ago. It began when two women ran from an empty tomb to tell their friends that Jesus had been raised from the dead. It began with the announcement of the good news—first to Mary Magdalene and her companion, and then to the eleven apostles. In fact, the angel’s instructions to share the good news were so important that Jesus himself appeared and gave the same command: “Go tell my brothers” (Matthew 28:10).
What if the women had kept the news to themselves? What if fear of the authorities had trumped their excitement? Your life would be quite different today, wouldn’t it?
Think back to your first encounter with Jesus. Didn’t another person play some part in introducing you to him? That person was following the angel’s words! In his apostolic exhortation On Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI made the same point: “In the long run, is there any other way of handing on the gospel than by transmitting to another person one’s personal experience of faith?” (46). Everything depends on evangelization!
Of course, we need to have that personal experience before we can pass it on. We need to be able to demonstrate a life filled with the hope and joy of the resurrection. We need to be just different enough to prompt people to ask us, “Why are you so peaceful? What’s your secret?” Then, as St. Peter said, we can “be ready” to answer these questions with humility and enthusiasm
(1 Peter 3:15).
Have you encountered the risen Lord? Then “run,” just as Mary Magdalene did, to tell people about him. The fact that people still deny Jesus’ resurrection, as the chief priests did, shouldn’t scare you. Before he gave his command to Mary Magdalene, Jesus told her, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10). Let the good news of the empty tomb empower you. Let your own experience of his love give you confidence. You have the light of the gospel within you. Now, go!
“Lord, I praise you for sharing with me the greatest good news there is: the message of new life now and eternal life with you forever. Give me the courage and zeal to share that message with everyone I meet.”
Acts 2:14, 22-33; Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
Daily Marriage Tip for April 21, 2014:
Reminder: Easter lasts for 50 days! (Lent was only 40.) A lesson that joy will have the last word. How can you and your spouse practice being joyful this Easter season?
Days of Milk and Honey
Monday, 21 April 2014 07:03
Health, Life, and Resurrection
Today we continue our uninterrupted celebration of the Pasch in the Resurrection of the Lord. A number of motifs begin to emerge. On Maundy Thursday evening at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we recalled the promises of the Father that, since the First Sunday of Lent, we had carried in our hearts, promises that came into sharper focus for us as we sang that night in the Introit, of the health, life, resurrection, and deliverance that are ours in the glorious Cross of Jesus Christ.
The Cross and the Supper of the Lamb
Friday passed: the Word of the Cross reducing us to silence; the mystery of the Cross compelling us to place our faces in the dust from which we came. Saturday too passed: the great and solemn Sabbath of a silence holding fast the secret of our hope. It was in that silence that we began to hear, faintly at first, the call ad mensam, the call ad coenam, the call to the wedding feast of the Lamb in which every promise of the Father is fulfilled.
Instruction in Prayer
In the great and solemn Vigil, we sat in the dark like the catechumens of old assembled around their bishop awaiting full initiation into the holy mysteries. A God faithful to His promises revealed Himself in the long series of readings, psalms, and collects. This too was the Church’s own instruction of those about to be baptized, her final and urgent teaching in the way of Christian prayer. Again and again, with a patient pedagogy, the rhythm repeated itself — lectio, meditatio, oratio — until at length, it was time to go to the font, time to descend into the womb, time to come forth from the tomb.
The Most Holy Eucharist
The newborn came up, dripping with a holy wetness, shining with the brightness of new life. Clothed in white garments, and with lighted candles in their hands they were led to the bishop to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, the last station on the way to the sacrificial banquet to taste for the first time of the sweetness of the Lord. Here, ad mensam, in the adorable, awesome, and life-giving mystery of the Eucharist was the fulfillment of every promise made by the Father!
The Paschal Sacraments
The full sequence of the Paschal sacraments of initiation is really, if ever, experienced in a monastery. It is nonetheless, the very essence of the monastic life to remember, to dwell on, to plumb, to deepen, and to probe the paschal sacraments. There is no other pattern of holiness, no higher experience of all the promises of the Father fulfilled.
The ancient and ever-living practice of the Church is to begin the mystagogical catecheses almost immediately after the experience of the paschal sacraments. The neophytes have barely enough time to catch their breath when the mystagogical catecheses begin in earnest.
The mystagogical catecheses are the completion of the pre-baptismal catecheses that led up to the great Paschal Vigil. Everything was not explained before, and for good reason. The Church, in her wisdom, knows that, all too easily, rational knowledge about something is mistaken for experiential knowledge of it. When it comes to the mysteries of the faith, the distinction is crucial. The mysteries of the faith must be experienced in the power of Word and Sacrament before they can be proposed to the intelligence. For the Christian, salvation comes, not through gnosis (i.e. knowledge) but through experience. Again and again, the verb to taste is used in reference to gift of salvation. Once the sweetness of the Lord has been tasted, all the gifts of human intelligence and creativity are called into play to describe it, to reflect upon it, to bring into greater light.
Mystagogical Teaching
This then is the purpose of the mystagogical catechesis: to go back over the saving events of the Paschal Triduum, and especially the holy mysteries of the great Vigil, and to unfold their hidden meaning to the neophytes. This mystagogical teaching will shape and colour our prayer throughout the coming week.
The Psalter
Yesterday morning, with entrance chant Resurrexi, the neophytes, and we with them, were reminded that, for the Church, the psalter is indeed a sacrament of holy communion with the prayer of Christ to the Father. Through the liturgical and solitary prayer of the psalter, the Christian enters, by this communion under the species of human words, into the ineffable and eternal dialogue of the Son with the Father in the Holy Spirit. It is as if, in the day Mass of Pascha, the Church is saying: “Last night, beloved newborns, you were brought into the circle of Trinitarian life and love. Grow ever more deeply into that life and into that love by speaking to the Father in the very words prepared by the Holy Spirit in Israel for the Word made flesh.”
When the psalter, or the book of the Liturgy of the Hours is given to a monastic neophyte, a newly professed monk, on the day of his profession, it has the same significance. “Here, my son, is the very form and pattern of your prayer to the Father, with Christ, in the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Altar
Although a monastery church has no font and no chapel of chrismation, it has the mensa sancta, the holy altar. The “Glorious Vespers” of Easter Day, with the procession from the font to the altar, serve to remind us that we have come, all of us, ad mensam –to the holy altar table of the sacrificial banquet– by way of the regenerating water of the font, and the sealing with the gift of the Holy Spirit in chrismation.
Today’s Introit
And so, we, sharing in the whole experience of the neophytes and reliving our own, come to today’s Holy Sacrifice. The Introit, appropriately drawn from the book of Exodus, is addressed first of all to the neophytes, without however excluding the older and more seasoned faithful. It is, in a fact, a discrete invitation on the part of the liturgy, to become, all of us, neophytes again. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:2).
Just as it is salutary for the seasoned veterans of the monastic struggle, the venerable fathers and mothers of thirty, forty, and fifty or more years of profession, to return in spirit to the day and hour of their profession, so too, does the Church want all of us to return, in spirit, to the day and the hour of our baptism, chrismation, and first taste of the precious, holy, and life-giving Body and Blood of Christ. And so, today’s Introit speaks to neophytes and “oldophytes” as well: “The Lord has led you forth into a land flowing with milk and honey, alleluia: so that the law of the Lord might be ever in your mouth, alleluia, alleluia” (Ex 13:5, 9).
Our New Moses Speaks
In the book of Exodus these words are spoken by Moses to the people; in the liturgy, they are spoken by our new Moses, our leader and true liberator, Christ. They hearken back to the events of the great Vigil. The passover, the cross-over, the transitus, the liberation has indeed taken place. The promised land flows with milk and honey! The milk is the Word of God by which the neophytes are to grow strong and solid in the faith. In the honey, they recognize an allusion to the psalm that, in the ancient Church, always accompanied the Communion procession, “O taste and see that the Lord is sweet” (Ps 33:8). Thus do we find, in today’s Introit, just as in the Gospel of Emmaus, the fundamental pattern of Christian worship: word (milk) and sacrament (honey).
Always in Your Mouth
But there is still more. Et ut lex Domini semper sit in ore vestro — “That the law of the Lord may be always in your mouth” (Ex 13:9). Something held in the mouth for a long time leaves its fragrance and its taste. On this second day of Pascha, the neophytes are told to hold the Word of God in their mouths, to savour it with the palate of the soul. The emphasis is clearly on using the spiritual sense of taste. The lex Domini, the law of the Lord, is fulfilled and perfected in Christ. Lest we forget too quickly the taste of his milk and honey, we are instructed in this mystagogical catechesis of the liturgy to hold them in our mouth, not just for a few moments or a few hours but, semper. Always. Is this not the essential work of the monastic life?
But it is time to go ad mensam! “I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink: drink deeply, O lovers” (Ct 5:1). “Your lips distil nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue” (Ct 4:11).
The Supreme Measure of Paschal Joy | ||
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Easter Monday
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Matthew 28:8-15 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, some of the guards went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. They assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You are to say, ´His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.´ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day. Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the source of all life because you are life itself. Your resurrection from the dead gives me the hope of being raised from the dead to rejoice with you forever in heaven. I need to dwell more often on the good you have done for us and on your promises to those who put their trust in you. Thank you, Jesus, for taking up your life again and leading the way home to heaven. I love you, and I want to follow after you with all my heart. I want to cooperate more fully with you in bringing many others there with me. Petition: Lord, as a fruit of my experiencing your love, grant me the grace of witnessing to you. 1. Coming into the Light of the Resurrection: Contemplate the women at the tomb. Feel their distress upon entering an open and empty tomb. Experience their fears for where the body might be. Share in their joy because their faith, and ours, awakens to the reality of Our Lord’s resurrection. Indeed, it is true! He has truly risen! Alleluia! Approach him and bow down, then adore and embrace the loving feet of Our Lord. He wants to be our strength, our light, and our love. He wants to be our Lord. 2. From Contemplatives to Missionaries: From our contemplation we must become missionaries. This is the instruction Our Lord gives these privileged women: “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”From their adoration, Our Lord calls them to be witnesses to the world, beginning first with the apostles. These women, insignificant in the eyes of the world, have become irreplaceable heralds of the Gospel. Why? It is not because of any social class or role they had had. Rather, it is because of the faith and love with which they would live and accomplish the mission entrusted to them. They were faithful to Our Lord in spreading the Good News of the Resurrection to the apostles and the world. 3. Obedience of Faith Allows Us to See: Our Lord asks the apostles to obey his command: “Go to Galilee … there they will see me.” Christ requires our obedience in order for us to see him in faith and experience his resurrection. Without obedience, we might not recognize him. The guards at the tomb were obedient to the orders of the chief priests. Yet the guards lacked faith, so they did not believe what they saw and thus did not adore. We all obey someone. However, it is obedience to Christ that leads to faith which leads to life: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for this time I have spent with you in prayer and contemplation of your resurrection. Help me always grow and mature in my faith. Without it I am lost. Without it I am unable to see you, and if I cannot see you, how will I be able to follow you? I place my trust in you and your promise of eternal life. Resolution: I will make a special effort to speak well of others today, especially those with whom I may disagree. |
April 21, 2014
When we read the apparition stories, we are assured that one day we too will be raised from death. But to the people of Jesus’ time, his apparition to his apostles after his death attested to the truth of his statement. After the raising of Lazarus from the dead, he told the people that he would be killed and after three days, he would rise from the dead for the life of the world
He rewarded the women who got the news of his resurrection from the angel and obeyed the angel’s instruction to go and tell his apostles to go to Galilee where he would meet them. Jesus met these women with his greeting of “PEACE” According to the evangelist he even allowed them to kiss his feet. On the other hand the evangelist Matthew recounts that the guards at the tomb went to inform the chief priest what happened. The chief priest told the guards to tell a different story to save themselves from the wrath of Pilate. And this is what is being circulated up to this time – that the disciples went to steal the body of Jesus at night. Yes, such things can happen and the liars are still telling lies. May we not fall into the same action of telling lies just to save ourselves.
Now, Jesus completes his mission. Through his apostles and us as followers of Jesus, his mission of making the Father known continues to be preached. This is the mission he has left to all believers – to tell the world about God’s love and his Fatherhood to all creation.
As Jesus rewarded the women who believed in him, he rewards us too with the gift of the Holy Eucharist.
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Born to the Italian nobility. After a childhood devoted to piety and study, at age 15 Anselm wanted to enter religious life, but his father Gondulf prevented it, and Anselm became rather worldly for several years. Upon the death of his mother, Ermenberge, Anselm argued with his father, fled to France in 1056, and became a Benedictine monk at Bec, Normandy in 1060. He studied under and succeeded Lanfranc as prior of the house in 1063. Abbot of the house in 1078.
Because of the physical closeness and political connections, there was frequent travel and communication between Normandy and England, and Anselm was in repeated contact with Church officials in England. He was chosen as reluctant Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 1092; officials had to wait until he too sick to argue in order to get him to agree.
As bishop he fought King William Rufus’s encroachment on ecclesiastical rights and the independence of the Church, refused to pay bribes to take over as bishop, and was exiled for his efforts. He travelled to Rome, Italy and spent part of his exile as an advisor to Pope Blessed Urban II, obtaining the pope‘s support for returning to England and conducting Church business without the king‘s interference. He resolved theological doubts of the Italo-Greek bishops at Council of Bari in 1098.
In 1100 King Henry II invited Anselm to return to England, but they disputed over lay investiture, and Anselm was exiled again only to return in 1106 when Henry agreed not to interfere with the selection of Church officials. Anselm opposed slavery, and obtained English legislation prohibiting the sale of men. He strongly supported celibate clergy, and approved the addition of several saints to the liturgical calendar of England.
Anselm was one of the great philosophers and theologians of the middle ages, and a noted theological writer. He was far more at home in the monastery than in political circles, but still managed to improve the position of the Church in England. Counsellor to Pope Gregory VII. Chosen a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI.
Born
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Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 28 |
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8. | And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. | Et exierunt cito de monumento cum timore et gaudio magno, currentes nuntiare discipulis ejus. | και εξελθουσαι ταχυ απο του μνημειου μετα φοβου και χαρας μεγαλης εδραμον απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου |
9. | And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him. | Et ecce Jesus occurrit illis, dicens : Avete. Illæ autem accesserunt, et tenuerunt pedes ejus, et adoraverunt eum. | ως δε επορευοντο απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου και ιδου ιησους απηντησεν αυταις λεγων χαιρετε αι δε προσελθουσαι εκρατησαν αυτου τους ποδας και προσεκυνησαν αυτω |
10. | Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me. | Tunc ait illis Jesus : Nolite timere : ite, nuntiare fratribus meis ut eant in Galilæam ; ibi me videbunt. | τοτε λεγει αυταις ο ιησους μη φοβεισθε υπαγετε απαγγειλατε τοις αδελφοις μου ινα απελθωσιν εις την γαλιλαιαν και εκει με οψονται |
11. | Who when they were departed, behold some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all things that had been done. | Quæ cum abiissent, ecce quidam de custodibus venerunt in civitatem, et nuntiaverunt principibus sacerdotum omnia quæ facta fuerant. | πορευομενων δε αυτων ιδου τινες της κουστωδιας ελθοντες εις την πολιν απηγγειλαν τοις αρχιερευσιν απαντα τα γενομενα |
12. | And they being assembled together with the ancients, taking counsel, gave a great sum of money to the soldiers, | Et congregati cum senioribus consilio accepto, pecuniam copiosam dederunt militibus, | και συναχθεντες μετα των πρεσβυτερων συμβουλιον τε λαβοντες αργυρια ικανα εδωκαν τοις στρατιωταις |
13. | Saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep. | dicentes : Dicite quia discipuli ejus nocte venerunt, et furati sunt eum, nobis dormientibus. | λεγοντες ειπατε οτι οι μαθηται αυτου νυκτος ελθοντες εκλεψαν αυτον ημων κοιμωμενων |
14. | And if the governor shall hear this, we will persuade him, and secure you. | Et si hoc auditum fuerit a præside, nos suadebimus ei, et securos vos faciemus. | και εαν ακουσθη τουτο επι του ηγεμονος ημεις πεισομεν αυτον και υμας αμεριμνους ποιησομεν |
15. | So they taking the money, did as they were taught: and this word was spread abroad among the Jews even unto this day. | At illi, accepta pecunia, fecerunt sicut erant edocti. Et divulgatum est verbum istud apud Judæos, usque in hodiernum diem. | οι δε λαβοντες τα αργυρια εποιησαν ως εδιδαχθησαν και διεφημισθη ο λογος ουτος παρα ιουδαιοις μεχρι της σημερον |
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