Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy
Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, scribe
1684
Egypt, presently at Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Posted on 02/23/2014 11:42:19 PM PST by Salvation
February 24, 2014
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 Jas 3:13-18
Beloved:
Who among you is wise and understanding?
Let him show his works by a good life
in the humility that comes from wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not boast and be false to the truth.
Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above
but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure,
then peaceable, gentle, compliant,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without inconstancy or insincerity.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
for those who cultivate peace.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15
R. (9a) The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart
find favor before you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
Gospel Mk 9:14-29
As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
Immediately on seeing him,
the whole crowd was utterly amazed.
They ran up to him and greeted him.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him,
“Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit.
Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down;
he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”
He said to them in reply,
“O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.”
They brought the boy to him.
And when he saw him,
the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around
and foam at the mouth.
Then he questioned his father,
“How long has this been happening to him?”
He replied, “Since childhood.
It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering,
rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it,
“Mute and deaf spirit, I command you:
come out of him and never enter him again!”
Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out.
He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!”
But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
Part 1: The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)
Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)
Chapter 2: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God (422 - 682)
Article 4: "Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried" (571 - 630)
Paragraph 2: Jesus Died Crucified (595 - 623)
III. CHRIST OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS ⇡
The agony at Gethsemani ⇡
The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani,434 making himself "obedient unto death". Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me..."435 Thus he expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death.436 Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine person of the "Author of life", the "Living One".437 By accepting in his human will that the Father's will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree."438
434.
435.
Phil 2:8; Mt 26:39; cf. Heb 5:7-8.
436.
437.
Cf. Acts 3:15; Rev 1:17; Jn 1:4; 5:26.
438.
1 Pet 2:24; cf. Mt 26:42.
| Mark | |||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| Mark 9 |
|||
| 14. | 9:13 And coming to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes disputing with them. | 9:13 Et veniens ad discipulos suos, vidit turbam magnam circa eos, et scribas conquirentes cum illis. | και ελθων προς τους μαθητας ειδεν οχλον πολυν περι αυτους και γραμματεις συζητουντας αυτοις |
| 15. | 9:14 And presently all the people seeing Jesus, were astonished and struck with fear; and running to him, they saluted him. | 9:14 Et confestim omnis populus videns Jesum, stupefactus est, et expaverunt, et accurrentes salutabant eum. | και ευθεως πας ο οχλος ιδων αυτον εξεθαμβηθη και προστρεχοντες ησπαζοντο αυτον |
| 16. | 9:15 And he asked them: What do you question about among you? | 9:15 Et interrogavit eos : Quid inter vos conquiritis ? | και επηρωτησεν τους γραμματεις τι συζητειτε προς αυτους |
| 17. | 9:16 And one of the multitude, answering, said: Master, I have brought my son to thee, having a dumb spirit. | 9:16 Et respondens unus de turba, dixit : Magister, attuli filium meum ad te habentem spiritum mutum : | και αποκριθεις εις εκ του οχλου ειπεν διδασκαλε ηνεγκα τον υιον μου προς σε εχοντα πνευμα αλαλον |
| 18. | 9:17 Who, wheresoever he taketh him, dasheth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with the teeth, and pineth away; and I spoke to thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. | 9:17 qui ubicumque eum apprehenderit, allidit illum, et spumat, et stridet dentibus, et arescit : et dixi discipulis tuis ut ejicerent illum, et non potuerunt. | και οπου αν αυτον καταλαβη ρησσει αυτον και αφριζει και τριζει τους οδοντας αυτου και ξηραινεται και ειπον τοις μαθηταις σου ινα αυτο εκβαλωσιν και ουκ ισχυσαν |
| 19. | 9:18 Who answering them, said: O incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. | 9:18 Qui respondens eis, dixit : O generatio incredula, quamdiu apud vos ero ? quamdiu vos patiar ? afferte illum ad me. | ο δε αποκριθεις αυτω λεγει ω γενεα απιστος εως ποτε προς υμας εσομαι εως ποτε ανεξομαι υμων φερετε αυτον προς με |
| 20. | 9:19 And they brought him. And when he had seen him, immediately the spirit troubled him; and being thrown down upon the ground, he rolled about foaming. | 9:19 Et attulerunt eum. Et cum vidisset eum, statim spiritus conturbavit illum : et elisus in terram, volutabatur spumans. | και ηνεγκαν αυτον προς αυτον και ιδων αυτον ευθεως το πνευμα εσπαραξεν αυτον και πεσων επι της γης εκυλιετο αφριζων |
| 21. | 9:20 And he asked his father: How long time is it since this hath happened unto him? But he said: From his infancy: | 9:20 Et interrogavit patrem ejus : Quantum temporis est ex quo ei hoc accidit ? At ille ait : Ab infantia : | και επηρωτησεν τον πατερα αυτου ποσος χρονος εστιν ως τουτο γεγονεν αυτω ο δε ειπεν παιδιοθεν |
| 22. | 9:21 And oftentimes hath he cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do any thing, help us, having compassion on us. | 9:21 et frequenter eum in ignem, et in aquas misit ut eum perderet : sed si quid potes, adjuva nos, misertus nostri. | και πολλακις αυτον και εις το πυρ εβαλεν και εις υδατα ινα απολεση αυτον αλλ ει τι δυνασαι βοηθησον ημιν σπλαγχνισθεις εφ ημας |
| 23. | 9:22 And Jesus saith to him: If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. | 9:22 Jesus autem ait illi : Si potes credere, omnia possibilia sunt credenti. | ο δε ιησους ειπεν αυτω το ει δυνασαι πιστευσαι παντα δυνατα τω πιστευοντι |
| 24. | 9:23 And immediately the father of the boy crying out, with tears said: I do believe, Lord: help my unbelief. | 9:23 Et continuo exclamans pater pueri, cum lacrimis aiebat : Credo, Domine ; adjuva incredulitatem meam. | και ευθεως κραξας ο πατηρ του παιδιου μετα δακρυων ελεγεν πιστευω κυριε βοηθει μου τη απιστια |
| 25. | 9:24 And when Jesus saw the multitude running together, he threatened the unclean spirit, saying to him: Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him; and enter not any more into him. | 9:24 Et cum videret Jesus concurrentem turbam, comminatus est spiritui immundo, dicens illi : Surde et mute spiritus, ego præcipio tibi, exi ab eo : et amplius ne introëas in eum. | ιδων δε ο ιησους οτι επισυντρεχει οχλος επετιμησεν τω πνευματι τω ακαθαρτω λεγων αυτω το πνευμα το αλαλον και κωφον εγω σοι επιτασσω εξελθε εξ αυτου και μηκετι εισελθης εις αυτον |
| 26. | 9:25 And crying out, and greatly tearing him, he went out of him, and he became as dead, so that many said: He is dead. | 9:25 Et exclamans, et multum discerpens eum, exiit ab eo, et factus est sicut mortuus, ita ut multi dicerent : Quia mortuus est. | και κραξαν και πολλα σπαραξαν αυτον εξηλθεν και εγενετο ωσει νεκρος ωστε πολλους λεγειν οτι απεθανεν |
| 27. | 9:26 But Jesus taking him by the hand, lifted him up; and he arose. | 9:26 Jesus autem tenens manum ejus elevavit eum, et surrexit. | ο δε ιησους κρατησας αυτον της χειρος ηγειρεν αυτον και ανεστη |
| 28. | 9:27 And when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why could not we cast him out? | 9:27 Et cum introisset in domum, discipuli ejus secreto interrogabant eum : Quare nos non potuimus ejicere eum ? | και εισελθοντα αυτον εις οικον οι μαθηται αυτου επηρωτων αυτον κατ ιδιαν οτι ημεις ουκ ηδυνηθημεν εκβαλειν αυτο |
| 29. | 9:28 And he said to them: This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. | 9:28 Et dixit illis : Hoc genus in nullo potest exire, nisi in oratione et jejunio. | και ειπεν αυτοις τουτο το γενος εν ουδενι δυναται εξελθειν ει μη εν προσευχη και νηστεια |
Monday, February 24
Liturgical Color: Violet
Pope John XXIII approved the Litany of
the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord
Jesus Christ on this day in 1960. St.
Gaspar Bufalo began devotion to Jesus
in His Most Precious Blood in 1808,
when he co-founded the Confraternity of
the Precious Blood.
>
Daily Readings for:February 24, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry out in both word and deed that which is pleasing to you. 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 Pretzels
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
o Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 3
· Ordinary Time: February 24th
· Monday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Matthias, apostle
But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate" (Mark 10:5-9).
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Matthias, apostle. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on May 14.
From the Beginning of Creation Marriage Was Sacred
The link between secularization and the crisis of marriage and of the family is only too clear. The crisis concerning the meaning of God and that concerning moral good and evil has succeeded in diminishing an acquaintance with the fundamentals of marriage and of the family which is rooted in marriage. For an effective recovery of the truth in this field, it is necessary to rediscover the transcendent dimension that is intrinsic to the full truth of marriage and the family, overcoming every dichotomy that tends to separate the profane aspects from the religious as if there were two marriages: one profane and another sacred.
"God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gn 1,27). The image of God is found in the duality of man and woman and in their interpersonal communion. For this reason, transcendence is inherent in the existence of marriage, right from the start, because it belongs to the natural distinction between man and woman in the order of creation. In their being "one flesh" (Gn 2,24), the man and the woman, in their mutual assistance and fruitfulness, participate in something sacred and religious, as the Encyclical Arcanum divinae sapientiae of my Predecessor Leo XIII emphasized, pointing to the understanding of marriage held in ancient civilizations (10 Feb. 1880, Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, vol. II, p. 22). In this regard, he observed that marriage "from the very beginning was a figure (adumbratio) of the Incarnation of the Word of God" (ibid.). In the state of original innocence, Adam and Eve already had the supernatural gift of grace. In this way, before the Incarnation of the Word took place historically, its effective holiness was already being bestowed on humanity.
Excerpted from Natural Marriage Already Has Sacred Dimension, John Paul II, February 5, 2003
7th Week in Ordinary Time
This kind can only come out through prayer. (Mark 9:29)
Like noisy gulls screeching and squawking over picnic remains, the disciples and the scribes argued. Possibly the contention centered on the disciples’ inability to drive out demons or whether they even had the right to try. Either way, the scene was messy. Try to picture grown men disputing with one another, while a crowd forms and a father pleads frantically for help as an evil spirit tosses his son about. It’s ugly and noisy—definitely not peaceable or inspiring!
Then Jesus wades in. The mess doesn’t get in his way. He remains focused on the one who is suffering, not the diversion caused by crowds and controversies.
And that, in part, is why Jesus said prayer is necessary. Through prayer, we put aside the noise of the world so that we can see more clearly what needs to be done. When we come into contact with the Lord, we allow him to influence us and guide us. We don’t get bogged down in distractions or needless controversies.
Do you believe that this is possible for you? It is! You have the Spirit in you, ready to give you his wisdom. You even have Jesus’ promise that everyone who comes to him finds rest (Matthew 11:28). God has poured his love into your heart through the Spirit, and he longs for you to encounter that love in prayer.
It all begins in prayer, but it certainly doesn’t end there! Prayer is not a moment of time with Jesus, followed by many more moments of thinking and acting the same old way. Prayer is meant to change us so that we think and act like Jesus. Prayer opens our eyes and makes us aware of things that we used to overlook, like the suffering of the poor or the marginalizing of those who don’t measure up to society’s standards. Prayer makes us more loving and considerate.
In prayer, the Lord shows us how to live and how to love. So let him quiet the noise around you. Come away with him, and listen. He has something he wants to say to you today.
“Holy Spirit, fill me with your peace and gentleness. Help me bear good fruit wherever I go today.”
James 3:13-18; Psalm 19:8-10, 15
Daily Marriage Tip for February 24, 2014:
Lent is approaching. Is there a bad habit that you would like to eliminate? Anything you wouldn’t want to teach your children to do? Lent and your children can give you the motivation to let go of it. Ask your spouse for help.
The Propers of the Mass, Then and Now
Monday, 24 February 2014 16:28
I wrote this essay in 2011 and delivered it at a symposium on the s0–called interim Missals held in Phoenix, Arizona. At that time, I concluded that, “that a wider use of the Missal of 1962, and a retrieval of the so–called interim Missals published prior to 1969, in whole or in part, would be among the most effective means to the rehabilitation and reappropriation of the Proper Chants as indispensable theological and structural elements of the Mass of the Roman Rite.”
I would argue today that the 1962 and 1965 Missals, being structurally sound, and maintaining the Propers of the Mass as integral supporting elements — rather than as mere decorative bits to be moved about or even cast aside — constitute the correct point of departure for the organic development of what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council really envisaged in Sacrosanctum Concilium.
The Propers of the Mass, Then and Now
Introduction
Until the approval of The New Roman Missal by Pope Paul VI on 3 April 1969, there existed a substantial unity between the texts of the Proper of the Mass contained in the Graduale Romanum and those contained in the Roman Missal. The Missal, in effect, provided the complete texts of those sung parts of the Mass that in the Graduale Romanum are fully notated.
The Missal takes the text of the Chants of the Proper of the Mass from the Graduale Romanum, and not the Graduale Romanum from the Missal. The Missal, in fact, contains the very same texts found in the Graduale, but in the Missal they are shorn of the musical notation that allows them to be brought to life in song and, in a certain sense, interprets them in the context of the liturgy.
Originally Mass was always sung. Not until the eighth or ninth century did the so called Low Mass or missa privata come to be celebrated at the lateral altars and private chapels of abbatial and collegiate churches. The Chants of the Proper of the Mass were not omitted at these Low Masses; they were recited by the priest alone. This fact, of itself, suggests that well before the eighth century, the Proper Chants were, in effect, considered to be constitutive elements of the Mass, deemed indispensable to the very shape of the liturgy.
What are the Propers?
Let us, then, review what the Proper Chants of the Mass are:
Introit
Were one to open the Roman Missal at the first page, finding there the Mass of the First Sunday of Advent, the very first element proper to that Mass, and to all others, is the Introit.
The Introit is composed of an antiphon, a verse taken from the psalm corresponding to the antiphon or, occasionally, from another, the Gloria Patri, and the repetition of the antiphon.
The Introit as presented in the Roman Missal appears in a somewhat truncated form, though all the essential elements — antiphon, psalmody, and doxology — are present. Until about the eighth century the entire psalm would have been chanted, or at least the greater part of it, with the antiphon repeated after every verse, and this until the celebrant reached the altar, at which point the cantors would intone the Gloria Patri, and after the final repetition of the antiphon, end the Introit.
The purpose of the Introit in the tradition of the Roman Rite is not didactic; it is contemplative. The Introit ushers the soul into the mystery of the day not by explaining it, but by opening the Mass with a word uttered from above. The text of the Introit signifies that, in every celebration, the initiative is divine, not human; it is a word received that quickens the Church–at–Prayer, and awakens a response within her.
Concerning the Introit, Maurice Zundel writes:
[The soul] has but to listen, her sole preparation an eager desire for light, to catch the interior music of the words, and understand that Someone is speaking to her who was waiting for her.
He calls the Introit,
. . . a triumphal arch at the head of a Roman road, a porch through which we approach the Mystery, a hand outstretched to a crying child, a beloved companion in the sorrow of exile. The Liturgy is not a formula. It is One who comes to meet us.[1]
Gradual
The Gradual received its name from the Latin word gradus, meaning a step, because a cantor would sing it, standing on a step leading up to ambo. The structure of the Gradual is an initial text, nearly always from the Psalter, followed by a verse entrusted to one or several cantors. The first part may be repeated.
The musical treatment of the Gradual is melismatic, that is to say, lavish and characterized by great flights and cascades of notes that stretch and embellish the sacred text.
Maurice Zundel writes:
What really matters about words is not their strictly defined meanings which we find in the dictionary, but the imponderable aura wherein the unutterable Presence in which all things are steeped, is faintly perceptible. It is in the silent spaces which poetry and music open within us that the doctrinal formulae can be heard with their amplest resonance. It was therefore natural to invoke their aid after the reading of the Epistle. For its message must be allowed to bear fruit in our personal meditation until we make contact with the Presence with which the texts are filled. We must hear this single Word which is their true meaning and which no human word can express. The chanting of the Gradual provides this interval of silence and this time of rest in which the teaching just received can unfold in prayer, in the sweet movement of the Cantilena distilling in neums of light a divine dew.[2]
Alleluia
The Alleluia, a cry of jubilation at the approach of the Bridegroom King who will arrive in the proclamation of the Holy Gospel, is a chant full of mystery, in that it quits the zone of mere concepts and words, and takes flight to soar into the ecstatic vocalisations of one seized by an ineffable mystery.
Saint John relates that the Alleluia is a heavenly hymn. It is the song of the saints in praise of God and of the Lamb. The Alleluia is universal; it is found in all the liturgies of East and West. This universal presence of the Alleluia in Christian worship attests to its great antiquity.
A verse or phrase, generally, but not always, from the Psalter, follows the Alleluia. After the verse, the Alleluia is repeated.
Sequence
The sequence prolongs the jubilation of the Alleluia, by gathering up the neums that cascade from it to organize them into a syllabic melody, and by giving free reign to a poetic expression of the mystery being celebrated.
Five sequences remain in the Roman Missal: the Victimae Paschali Laudes of Easter; the Veni Sancte Spiritus of Pentecost, the Lauda Sion Salvatorem of Corpus Domini; the Stabat Mater of September 15th; and the Dies Irae of the Requiem Mass.[3]
Tract
Whereas the Alleluia is the expression of a joy defying all expression, the Tract is characteristic of a liturgy marked by godly sorrow and compunction. It is found in the Mass, notably, from Septuagesima until Easter. Originally the Tract was sung by the deacon from the ambo, in the manner of a lesson. It was rendered from beginning to end without the interjection of a refrain by the choir; it is from this mode of execution that its name appears to be derived.
The Tract prepares the congregation for the hearing of the Gospel, not by inviting it to stand on tip–toe, as it were, at the arrival of the Bridegroom, but by inviting to a profound recollection. The Tract, more than any other Chant of the Proper of the Mass, illustrates that the Roman Rite is a school of audientes, a school forming listeners to the Word.
Offertory
The Offertory Antiphon, already at the time of Saint Augustine, was sung to accompany the offering of bread and wine by the faithful and clergy. Pope Saint Gregory the Great gave to the chant at the Offertory a form not unlike that of the Introit: an antiphon and several verses from the Psalter. The antiphon was repeated before each verse; the singing lasted until the priest signaled to the cantors that they should stop, after which he would turn to the faithful for the Orate Fratres.
Even after the Offertory procession, as such, fell into disuse, the Offertory Antiphon continued to be sung, shorn of its verses. The Offertory Antiphon is, as a rule, taken from the Psalter, although occasionally it is taken from other Books of Sacred Scripture. In a few cases as, for instance, in the Requiem Mass, it is an ecclesiastical composition.
As for its musical characteristics, the Offertory is one of the richest and most expressive pieces in the Gregorian repetoire. Dom Eugène Vandeur, a Benedictine monk of the first half of the last century writes:
More mystical and profound than either the Introit or the Gradual, it disposes our souls to recollection that thus they may fittingly assist at the Adorable Sacrifice about to be renewed. The Offertory [Antiphon], then, more than any other part of the Mass, is a sublime and inspired prayer rising to the throne of God.[4]
Communion
The Communion Antiphon with its psalm, structured like the Introit, accompanies the distribution of Holy Communion. The communion of the faithful ended, the Gloria Patri is sung, after which the antiphon is repeated.
While the greater part of Communion Antiphons are drawn from the Psalter, a certain number are taken from the Gospel of the day. These particular Communion Antiphons, sung especially during Lent and Paschaltide, signify that the same Lord Jesus Christ who speaks and acts in the power of the Holy Ghost in the Gospel of the Mass, gives Himself to the communicants to fulfill in them what the Gospel proclaimed and announced.
The 1965 Missale Romanum
The 1965 revision of the Roman Missal maintained the Chants of the Proper in their integrity as found in the Graduale Romanum. Even as The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, was being implemented, the place of the Propers was not called into question. They remained constitutive elements of the Mass, having a structural and theological rather than a merely decorative or didactic function within the overall architecture of the Mass.
The Missal of 1969
Four years later however, the fate of the Chants of the Proper of the Mass appears signed and sealed. Concerning the Proper Chants, the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Missale Romanum (3 April 1969) is curiously misleading. It says;
The text of the Graduale Romanum has not been changed as far as the music is concerned. In the interest of their being more readily understood, however, the responsorial psalm (which St Augustine and St Leo the Great often mention) as well as the entrance and communion antiphons have been revised for use in Masses that are not sung.[5]
What the Apostolic Constitution neglects to say is:
1. that the very form of the Introit has been changed to correspond to the Opening Sentence common in Protestant orders of worship;
2. that the text itself of the revised Entrance Antiphon will no longer correspond to the text of the Graduale Romanum and, in some instances, will be an entirely new text susceptible of being integrated into the didactic opening remarks that, in the new Ordo Missae, may follow the salutation.
3. That even the vestigial psalmody of the traditional Introit will disappear entirely from the reformed Missale Romanum;
3. that the traditional texts of the Gradual, Tract, and Alleluiatic verses will be found henceforth only in the Graduale Romanum and will disappear completely from the reformed Lectionary;
4. that the Offertory Antiphon will disappear entirely from the new Roman Missal entirely, and will be found henceforth only in the Graduale Romanum;
5. that the Communion Antiphon will, like the Entrance Antiphon, become something akin to a Communion Sentence, and often will no longer correspond to the text of the Graduale Romanum.
Thus began the radical deconstruction of the Mass of the Roman Rite. If one posits that the Chants of the Proper of the Mass are not merely decorative, but constitutive of its architecture, then one must admit that by tinkering with them, or removing them altogether, one is weakening or removing supporting beams of the entire edifice, and risking its collapse.
The General Instruction on the Roman Missal, also promulgated in April 1969, in a single phrase —sive alius cantus— effectively invited the termites to come in and finish the job. Jesting aside, the Latin text of the General Instruction provided three options for the Chants of the Proper of the Mass.[6] These are:
1. The antiphon with its psalm as given in the Graduale Romanum.
2. The antiphon with its psalm as given in the Graduale Simplex.
3. Another chant (alius cantus) suited to the sacred action and to the character of the day or season, the text of which is approved by the Conference of Bishops.
The 2002 American Adaptation of the GIRM
The 2002 American adaptation of the same General Instruction on the Roman Missal broadened the options and, in so doing, caused the text of the Proper Chants of the Roman Mass to appear as remote accessories that are, in any case, not indispensable to the architecture of the celebration.
In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.
The choices are given in order of preference. The Roman Gradual, which hitherto was the primary reference, falls into second place. The first choice is the text of the antiphon given in the revised Roman Missal; the American “adaptors” were assuming that these texts will have been put to music.
The second choice is the antiphon and psalm in the Roman Gradual; the American adaptation adds, rather tellingly, either in the chant setting or in another musical setting.[7]
The third choice is the Simple Gradual. The Council Fathers had, in fact, in Sacrosanctum Concilium, article 117,[8] mandated the preparation of a Simple Gradual, better suited to use in smaller churches.
The fourth choice, a collection of psalms and antiphons approved by the Conference of Bishops or by the Diocesan Bishop, does not, to my knowledge, exist anywhere in the U.S. or elsewhere in the English–speaking world.
The fifth choice — clearly the last resort — is a suitable liturgical song (here, there is a departure from the psalms and antiphons found in choices 1 through 4) similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or by the Diocesan Bishop.
The General Instruction on the Roman Missal continues:
48. If there is no singing at the entrance, the antiphon in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector; otherwise, it is recited by the priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation (cf. above, no. 31).
Article 48, by suggesting five different ways of reciting the antiphon in the Missal, including its mutation by the priest into an introductory explanation — note here the primacy of the didactic — puts the final touches on a insidious operation by which the Proper Chants of the Mass, even in the minimalistic form of texts recited by the celebrant, routinely came to be omitted altogether. The Proper Chants, that in 1964 were still considered to be constitutive elements of the Mass, deemed indispensable to the very shape of the liturgy, were, by 1969, well on their way to being replaced by other compositions alien to the Roman Rite, and erased from the collective liturgical memory.
Conclusion
Allow me to formulate a principle, perhaps even a law of liturgical evolution. It is this: elements of the rite tend to be neglected and, in the end, disappear altogether, in direct proportion to the number of options by virtue of which they may be replaced or modified.
To my mind, one of the most urgent tasks of what has been called The Reform of the Reform is the suppression of the provision for an alius cantus aptus, and the restoration of the traditional texts of the Proper of the Mass, taking care, at the same time, that the texts given in the Missale Romanum correspond to those in the Graduale Romanum. (I would also argue for the restoration of the text of the Offertorium [Offertory Antiphon] to the editio typica of the reformed Missale Romanum.) The replacement, in the current Missale Romanum of the venerable sung texts of the Graduale Romanum with texts destined to be read, was an innovation without precedent, and a mistake with far reaching and deleterious consequences for the Roman Rite.
In conclusion, I would further argue that a wider use of the Missal of 1962, and a retrieval of the so–called interim Missals published prior to 1969, in whole or in part, would be among the most effective means to the rehabilitation and reappropriation of the Proper Chants as indispensable theological and structural elements of the Mass of the Roman Rite.
[1] Maurice Zundel, The Splendour of the Liturgy, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1939, pp. 43–44.
[2] Maurice Zundel, ibid. pp. 77–78.
[3] The Roman Missal of 1969 retains only four of these; the Dies Irae having been removed to the Liturgy of the Hours where it serves as a hymn for the last two weeks per annum.
[4] Eugène Vandeur, The Holy Mass, London: Burnes, Oates & Washbourne, 1923, p. 74.
[5] Documents on the Liturgy, 1963–1979, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1982, p.460.
[6] 48. Peragitur autem a schola et populo alternatim, vel simili modo a cantore et populo, vel totus a populo vel a schola sola. Adhiberi potest (1) sive antiphona cum suo psalmo in Graduali romano (2) vel in Graduali simplici exstans, (3) sive alius cantus, actioni sacræ, diei vel temporis indoli congruus,cuius textus a Conferentia Episcoporum sit approbatus.
Si ad introitum non habetur cantus, antiphona in Missali proposita recitatur sive a fidelibus, sive ab aliquibus ex ipsis, sive a lectore, sin aliter ab ipso sacerdote, qui potest etiam in modum monitionis initialis (cf. n. 31) eam aptare. (Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani 2002, art. 47–48)
[7] To my mind this option within an option only serves to weaken the rightful primacy of Gregorian Chant as the musical expression proper to the Roman Rite.
[8] “The typical edition of the books of Gregorian chant is to be completed; and a more critical edition is to be prepared of those books already published since the restoration by St. Pius X. It is desirable also that an edition be prepared containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches.”
Renounce, adore, and submit to my designs
Monday, 24 February 2014 20:34
Life in an Unsuitable House
On Friday, 24 March 1651, Mother Mectilde de Bar, having returned to Paris, is reunited with her daughters (nuns of Ramerbervillers) in a modest house designated le Bon Amy. Life at le Bon Amy is austere. The menu — mostly peas cooked in water — rarely varies; bread is rationed. There is no convenient place in the house to chant the Divine Office or even to assemble for community reading and conferences. Le Bon Amy has a solitary feeling to it; each of the nuns is obliged to spend long hours alone in her cell for the simple reason that there is nowhere else to go. God makes use of these deprivations and limitations to grace the little community with a greater fidelity to silence and to personal interior prayer.
Solitude: Vocation or Temptation
Entering deeply into the silence, Mother Mectilde begins, from time to time, to experience certain spiritual consolations. She wonders if, after all, she is called to be an anchoress. She thinks of Jean de Bernières in his hermitage in Caen, and wonders if she too may not be called by God to end her life in total solitude. Mother Mectilde is only 37 years old but, weakened by a series of pulmonary infections, she feels much older. She begins to think that her life is drawing to close.
La Sainte Baume, the grotto of Saint Mary Magdalene
God Has Disposed of Her
Mother Mectilde further reflects that she is no longer fit to govern a monastery. It is time, she reasons, to leave her charge to one younger and more capable than she. Meditation on the life of Saint Mary Magdalene — by tradition, a hermit in the Sainte–Baume in southern France — inspires her to yearn for a similar way of life. Mother Mectilde begins, in her mind, to plan for life as an anchoress, in imitation of Saint Mary Magdalene. She will flee to the Sainte–Baume and there finish out her days as a victim of love, making reparation for the outrages and sacrileges committed against the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. She will subsist on nothing other than wild herbs, following the diet attributed to Saint John the Baptist. Mother Mectilde elaborates a secret plan: she will quit le Bon Amy silently and without ceremony. She will go from Paris to Lyon, and from Lyons to Marseille. She will arrange to send an anonymous note to her community in Rambervillers: “A religious named Sister Catherine–Mectilde of the Holy Sacrament passed by this way: God has disposed of her. Pray God for the repose of her soul”.
Abandonment to the Will of God
Mother Mectilde goes so far as to seek permission of her canonical superiors in Toul to carry out her plan. God, however, has another plan. He will not dispose of Mectilde as she wishes but, rather, according to His own plan for her life. In the luminous darkness of Holy Saturday night and the early hours of Easter 1651, while praying over the mystery of Christ’s death, entombment, and resurrection, God shows Mother Mectilde that abandonment to His Will is worth more than the most heroic aspirations for a life hidden in the solitude of a tomb. She sees that Jesus is not at all pleased with her plan to run away to the Sainte—Baume. He speaks to her, saying: Renounce, adore, and submit to my designs.
These words signal the end of her cherished project to live as an anchoress. Mectilde de Bar’s life will be poured out in the service of the souls entrusted to her by Christ: victim–adorers, configured to Him in the mystery of His Eucharistic presence.
| Help My Unbelief! | ||
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Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
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Mark 9:14-29 As Jesus came down the mountain with Peter, James, and John and approaching the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so." He said to them in reply, "O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me." They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He replied, "Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith." Then the boy´s father cried out, "I do believe, help my unbelief!" Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, "Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!" Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, "He is dead!" But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, "Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, "This kind can only come out through prayer." Introductory Prayer:Lord Jesus, I believe in your presence in my life, family and work. I believe that you ask nothing of me that you do not give me the strength to do. I trust in the power of your grace and the care of your love. I love you, Lord, and I wish to love you with this prayer so that I may work according to your will and in your love. Petition: I believe you can change me, Lord. 1. Working Without Faith: The artist Raphael depicts the poor apostles who, awaiting Our Lord’s return from Mount Tabor and the Transfiguration, are waving their arms in frustration and excusing themselves before the desperate father and his family. How often we try to do what clearly seems to be our work, but without including God in any real way. Our work seems “dead” until we let Jesus work with us to “raise it up.” Often we fail even to ask whether what we do is God’s will or not. When we exclude God from our work or family life, we lack faith. He is there—but we just don’t allow him room to work. The apostles exercise little faith, thinking this cure beyond their ability. The father and his family may as well have lacked faith in what these “apostles” could do. To them, and to us, Christ says, “O faithless generation!” When do I show a lack of faith in my work or family life? 2. Jesus’ Ultimate Intention: Instill Faith: When Jesus is out of sight, the people could only argue. Yet when he comes into view, the people are “utterly amazed.” Jesus immediately sees their lack of faith, so he uses every circumstance to inspire faith. What he did for the chosen three apostles through the Transfiguration, he does now for the nine at the foot of the mountain. He allows them to fail so as to teach them faith. He tests the poor father, too: “If you can!” And he instructs all the apostles on the need for prayer. What is Christ doing in my life to invite me to greater faith? Do I respond with that faith or do I simply argue, since Jesus does not appear present? 3. Our Struggle to Believe: The father’s heartfelt cry is all Jesus needs to drive out the unclean spirit. The man reaffirms his faith while admitting his weakness. How often do we assume that our faith is sufficient, all the while blaming God for what happens in our life? Believing is not easy. It requires a constant recognition of our limitations, our inability to understand the “why’s” of so many occurrences, the “how’s” of so many challenges. Jesus does not rebuke the struggle to believe but rather the lack of effort when we stop believing. What the apostles failed to do was done by the father with one intense but short prayer: “Help my unbelief!” This humble confession always comes to rest on the greatness of God’s power and the comprehensiveness of his love. Do I believe that everything is possible if I only believe? Conversation with Christ: Lord, grant me an increase of faith! Help me to see you present and active in my everyday life. May I never undertake any work or responsibility without first determining your will and counting on your assistance. I believe that you can do all things in me, according to your own will. I believe your will is committed to what is best for me. Teach me to pray and work with great faith and trust in you. Resolution: I will reject all worries that I can do nothing about, confidently acting upon those concerns of mine which I can change |
February 24, 2014
When we have a major problem or a lingering illness, we sometimes ask God why. Despite our being faithful followers of Christ, we cannot seem to find a solution. Jesus tells us the same thing that he told the disciples: “Only prayer can drive out this kind, nothing else.” Jesus said it so simply that we may be tempted to think that it is such an easy thing to do. In fact, we do pray every night. But perhaps given the problem in the Gospel – a boy possessed by an evil spirit since childhood– what Jesus meant is a real, honest-to-goodness intimacy with God. This is the kind of prayer that is not just said every night but rather lived every day! The disciples have not reached that level of oneness with God that they do not have the power to drive out the evil spirit. In the same way, while our relationship with God remains shallow, we will not be able to drive out the spirits that hinder us from having peace and joy.
So, let us continue to strive to reach the level of prayer where we no longer just talk to God but rather listen, speak, and act WITH God.
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