[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Rosary Mysteries of the Epiphany

Monday, 13 January 2014 08:00

The Mystery–Events of Christ and the Rosary

For many years now, I have “mined” the Holy Gospels, as given to us by the Church in the Sacred Liturgy, following the cycle of feasts and seasons, and found therein a rich sequence of Mystery-Events suited to meditation and contemplation in the sublime and simple prayer of the Rosary.

Those who recite a third of the Rosary sometimes assign the various mysteries to particular days: joyful (Monday and Thursday), sorrowful (Tuesday and Friday), glorious (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday).

Where this system is rigidly adhered to, conflict can arise between the content of the mysteries and that of the Liturgy of the day: the recitation of the sorrowful mysteries on Christmas day, should it fall on a Friday. In cases such as this it can be reckoned that “the liturgical character of a given day takes precedence over the usual assignment of a mystery of the Rosary to a given day; the Rosary is such that, on particular days, it can appropriately substitute meditation on a mystery so as to harmonize this pious practice with the liturgical season”(242). Hence, the faithful act correctly when, for example, they contemplate the arrival of the three Kings on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, rather than the finding of Jesus in the Temple. Clearly, such substitutions can only take place after much careful thought, adherence to Sacred Scripture and liturgical propriety.

Article 200, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, 2001

In private prayer, at least, the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary need not be limited to The Fifteen Mysteries familiar to most Catholics, or even to the expansion of The Fifteen Mysteries brought about by Blessed Pope John Paul II’s proposal of Five Mysteries of Light. There must be, all the same, certain objective criteria by which other Mysteries can be prudently introduced and meditated. What might these criteria be? I can think of at least two.

• The Rosary is based on the meditation of Mystery-Events found in the Holy Gospels or recognized by the Church as part of the corpus of Sacred Tradition.

• The choice of these Mystery-Events must be guided by a docile adherence to the Sacred Liturgy. A rule of thumb might be that any Mystery-Event celebrated by the Church in the Liturgy can also serve in the prayer of the Rosary.

The Mysteries of the Epiphany

This being said, I thought it might be useful, at least to some readers, if I shared the Mysteries of the Epiphany that we pray at Silverstream Priory during Epiphanytide.

The Five Mysteries of the Epiphany correspond to the five great Epiphany Gospels given us by the Church (in the traditional calendar and Liturgy) on the day of the Epiphany, 6 January; on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 13 January; and on the Second, Third, and Fourth Sundays after Epiphany. Each of these Gospels presents a particular manifestation of the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Matthew 2:1-12, Our Lord makes himself known to the Magi by means of a star, and receives their adoration in Bethlehem.

And behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him. (Mt 2:9-11)

2. John 1:29-34 — At His Baptism in the Jordan by John, the Holy Ghost descends in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father reveals Jesus as His Beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased.

Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, heaven was opened; And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Lk 3:21-22)

3. John 2:1-11 — At the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, Jesus, at His Mother’s bidding, changes water into wine.

And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. (Jn 2:3-5)

4. Matthew 8:1-13 — Jesus, with a word, cleanses a leper.

And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. (Mt 8:2-3)

5. Matthew 8:23-27 — Jesus calms the raging sea.

And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm. (Mt 8:24-25)

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Cum transieris per aquas, tecum ero

Wednesday, 15 January 2014 15:47

When Thou Passest through the Waters

Today’s feast of Saint Maurus brings with it a particular grace of consolation to souls passing through danger and affliction. Last evening at First Vespers of the feast as I chanted the capitulum (short lesson) at Vespers, I was struck by its relevance to the lives of many who are dear to me:

Noli timere, quia redemi te,
et vocavi te nomine tuo: meus es tu.  
Cum transieris per aquas, tecum ero,
et flumina non operient te;
cum ambulaveris in igne, non combureris, et flamma non ardebit in te.
Quia ego Dominus Deus tuus,
Sanctus Israël, salvator tuus.

Fear not, for I have redeemed thee,I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
for I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. (Isaias 43:1–3).

A Child Offered to God

Saint Maurus’ parents, wealthy Romans, presented him to Saint Benedict to be raised in the monastery. Saint Maurus, together with his younger companion, Saint Placid, would be considered the first Benedictine Oblates. In Saint Benedict’s time it would not have been uncommon for small boys to be offered to God as a pure and spotless oblation.

The prophet Samuel’s mother did as much in the days of Heli, the priest of Shiloh. You will recall the distress of the childless Hannah, and her pilgrimage to the sanctuary at Shiloh to beg for the gift of a child:

Sad at heart, she prayed to the Lord with many tears, and made a vow: Lord of hosts, if thou wilt take good heed of this sorrow I bear, if thou wilt keep this handmaid of thine ever in remembrance, and grant her a son, then he shall be my gift to the Lord all his life long, a Nazirite unshorn. Such was the prayer she went on repeating, there in the Lord’s presence. (1 Samuel 1:10–12)

Rite of Oblation

The rite by which a boy becomes an Oblate — literally, an offering made over to God — is wonderfully eloquent. Once it is certain that the boy’s parents have renounced all claim over him, and will not seek to entice him out of the cloister back into the world by offering him an inheritance, the boy is led to the altar of the Oratory of the monastery.  There, the boy’s little hand is wrapped in the altar linen, the ample corporal upon which rest the oblata of bread and wine set apart for the Holy Sacrifice. The child, together with the offerings of the Mass, is made over to God in an irrevocable manner.

A Sacrificial Victim

This rite is extremely important, not only for Oblates of all times and ages, but also for monks, because its casts a theological light over the mystic significance of monastic profession. When a man “makes himself over to God” by monastic profession, he is identifying himself with the offering of bread and wine that will become, as the Roman Canon puts it, the hostia pura, hostia sancta, hostia immaculata, the pure victim, the holy victim, the spotless victim who offers Himself in sacrifice to the Father. Mother Mectilde de Bar’s emphasis on the monastic life as a state of victimhood is not, as some have contended, a marginal development in 17th century piety; it is, rather, deeply rooted in Saint Benedict’s own Eucharistic understanding of monastic profession.  In his commentary on the Holy Rule. Dom Paul Delatte (1890-1921), abbot of Solesmes explains the significance of the prostration of the newly professed monk before the altar after singing the Suscipe. The abbot writes:

There lies there . . . a living victim, a “pure, holy, and unspotted victim,” reunited to the Victim on the altar, offered and accepted with that Victim, and enwrapped by the deacon in the fragrance of the same incense. Then the Mass continues. Motionless and silent, like the Lamb of God, the newly-professed suffers himself to be immolated and consumed mystically by the Eternal High Priest. How sweet that Mass and that Communion! Our whole monastic life should resemble this profession Mass. (Commentary on the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict)

One cannot reflect on the import of the feast of Saint Maurus without taking these reflections on oblation and victimhood into account. The monastic vocation of Saint Maurus began at the altar; it was entirely Eucharistic in origin and in its ultimate realisation.