The Meditation. The Third Sunday After the Epiphany January 21 st, 2018 A.D.

Transcription

1 The Meditation The Third Sunday After the Epiphany January 21 st, 2018 A.D. The Conversion of St. Paul (1430) Missal Illumination for the Acts of the Apostles By Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro): Early Italian Renaissance painter & Illuminator Note how Fra Angelico includes the symbolic sword for St. Paul.

2 2. The Collect for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle O God, through the preaching of the Blessed Apostle Saint Paul, has caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: grant, we beseech thee; that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, throughout all ages of ages. World without end. Amen. Followers & Children of God When God, through the mouth of His Apostle Paul commanded us to be like him (another translation says; to be his followers), He had already done all that lay within His almighty power to enable us to do so. We may in confidence, hope that we shall find the strength we need in Him (Christ), Who came to earth to make us effectively one with Him in our love of God and of His children. It s no small thing that St. Paul tells us, (in his letter to the Ephesians): Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour*. (Ephesians; Chap. 5, Vss. 1 & 2). The only reason for such a claim is that Christ loved us and sacrificed Himself for us. We could never have been God s children and followers if Jesus had not died for us on the Cross. We would have been just like plants growing in the dark, bringing forth no flowers nor fruit. Now, we are of Christ s very own vine, planted by Him in the glow of His loving, fostering warmth. Provided that our souls lie open to Him, that the most secret places of our hearts are exposed to the rays of His Light... our vines will flower, and bring forth fruit worthy of Him. We are of Christ s vine and He has planted us in His Church s fertile soil, and has watered us with His grace, fed us with His Flesh and Blood. He is the Vine; we are the branches. There is only one sap that flows, that of the Stem, and it passes through the branches and swells the purple grapes. Stem, branches, and fruit are all one. We are so much one with Christ that any fruit of good works that we may bear comes from His Heart. The good that we do has its roots in Him He performs it. It is His act, the reward of which all justice is His. Yet, in His loving-kindness he condescends to attribute to us, for love of us, that which really is His. As long as Christ lives and works in us, we are His followers, and union with Him makes us God s favored children; He has done all that is possible to make us so.

3 3. Our friend, St. John Chrysostom (whose feast day we celebrate this week) has this to say: Let us give thanks then to God always, not merely for our own blessings, but also for those granted to others, first, because this destroys envy and increases our charity; secondly because in this way we shall become like the angels, who love us so much that they consider our good as being theirs also... Even though the gift may seem small, it will always be a great thing, because it comes from God; or perhaps it would be better to say that there is nothing which comes from God that is small. No one has done more to make us grateful to him than God Himself. For that reason, at times even against our will, he heaps benefits upon us. Thus, we see Him providing graces for St. Paul, even before the latter was even aware of it, since he said to him that His grace was enough to overcome temptations, and that virtue was made perfect in infirmity. That is why the apostle tells us that we should give thanks always. (St. John Chrysostom; Opus Imperfectum, PG. 56, 747) If, on our side, we remain true to St. Paul s charge to us, then we must respond to God s gift of Himself by a complete abandonment of our will to His and being grateful for what He gives us in that abandonment! When it should occur through a special grace, that we are granted a vision to see ourselves as we really are; we realize our limitations, and the feebleness of our human struggles, our attachment to passing satisfactions; bits and pieces that we cling to as though they were life rings. It becomes somewhat easier for us to realize the burden that is self (i.e. ego). Self is at the root of all our difficulties, especially in our relations with others; it is self that makes us rebellious and discontented in all facets of our lives. Jesus bids us to deny ourselves and follow Him. We, in doing so, free ourselves from the tyranny of self. We become free as soon as we put ourselves voluntarily into His Hands. Selfconfidence becomes confidence in Him as soon as we accept whatever His love has decided for us. We, as His dear children, at one with His Sacrifice, are his followers to whom He has a given task that we may fulfill for Him. Much like the great conversion St. Paul experienced, Christ brings us out of the darkness, and makes the Light shine within ourselves. Like St. Paul, full of love for Christ, we bring Jesus deep into our hearts, which have become embittered during the times of our lives. We, like St. Paul, desire to help win souls for Christ. Our light and love will help to produce a hatred for darkness and the works that are perpetrated in it. The Light of Christ shining from His children must shine upon the world, and not be hidden under a basket if there is to be any salvation at all. The Holy Church, which we form, must be God s city set upon a hill, which all those who dwell in error and sin must aspire to reach. We pray, as children and followers of God, that we may all become one in the strength of His all-powerful Light! *Savour - def.: suggestion, or air of.

4 4. Priory Kalendar For the week of: January 21 st to January 28 th - A.D In Epiphany-tide & Gessima - tide Sunday, January 21 st..... Third Sunday After the Epiphany Comm. St. Agnes; V. & Myr. - 4 th cent. Rome Monday, January 22 nd.... St. Vincent: Dcn & Myr. - 4 th cent. Pray for all Deacons today. Tuesday, January 23 rd... Monthly Requiem (Mass & Office for the Departed suggested) Wednesday, January 24 th. St. Timothy; Bp. & Myr - 1 st. cent. Ephesus Thursday, January 25 th... Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity concludes today. Friday, January 26 th..... St. Polycarp; Bp. & Myr. - 2 nd Cent. Smyrna, Asia Minor Saturday, January 27 th... St. John Chrysostom; B. Conf. & Doct. - 4 th cent. We bid farewell to the Alleluia today at None as the Pre-Lenten Season (Gessima-tide) begins at First Vespers this evening. See Br. Chip s article for this week for details! Sunday, January 28 th..... Septuagesima Kalendar Note(s): None for this week! January 22 nd January 25 th January 27 th St. Vincent the Deacon Conversion of St. Paul St. John Chrysostom

5 KALENDAR KEY: 5. Abt. = Abbot, Abs. = Abbess, Abp = Archbishop, Anc. = Anchorite, Ancs. = Anchoress, Ap. = Apostle, Bl. = Blessed, Br. = Brother, Bp. = Bishop, Card. = Cardinal, C. or Conf. = Confessor, Comm. = Commemoration/Commemorate, Dcn. = Deacon, Doct. = Doctor of the Church, Ev. = Evangelist, H. = Hermit, LBr. = Lay Brother, LSr. = Lay Sister, K. = King, Mat. = Matron, M. = Monk, M.M. = Month s Mind ( Requiem for the recently departed on the 30 th day after death or burial). Myr. = Martyr, N. = Nun, Obl. = Oblate, P. = Priest, Po. = Pope, Pr. = Prior, Prs. = Prioress, R. = Recluse, RM = Requien Mortuorum, ( Mass and Offices for the departed once a month as designated on Kalendar). SDcn. = Sub Deacon, Q. = Queen, Ven. = Venerable, Vir.=Virgin, W. = Widow. FASTING KEY: A = Abstinence, F = Fast, F & A = Fast and Abstinence RELIGIOUS ORDER ABBREVIATIONS: C.O = Congregation of the Oratory (Oratorians), C.P. = Congregation of the Passion (Passionists), C.S.J. = Congregation of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Er. Cam. = Camaldolese Hermits, F.P. O. = Franciscans of the Primitive Observance, O. Car. = Carmelite Order, O. Cart. Carthusian Order, O.C.D. = Order of Discalced Friars (Carmelites), O.F.A. = Augustinian Order, O.F.M = Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), O.F.M. Cap = Capuchin Order, O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans also called Blackfriars ), O. Praem. = Order of Cannons Regular (Norbertines), O.S.B. = Order of St. Benedict (Benedictines), O.Ss. S. = Bridgettines, O.S.U = Ursulines, O.C.O. = Order of the Cistercian Observance (Trappists/Trappistines), O.C.S.O. = Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (Trappists/ Trappistines). Tert. = Tertiary (Third Order religious). About the Meditation and About Us The Meditation is an online apostolate of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory in Raymond, Maine, USA. We are an Anglican-Catholic Benedictine contemplative community that follows the Holy Rule of St. Benedict, the 5 th century Father of Western Monasticism. We are resident within the Diocese of the Northeast (DNE), of the Anglican Church in America (ACA), a member of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). The Meditation is a weekly online offering that is sent out free of charge to anyone who desires to receive it. Subscribers may copy and pass along The Meditation to their families and friends, or send us their e-address (with their permission) to add to our subscription list so they may receive it directly from us. Each issue is sent out as a BCC (Blank Copy) in respect to subscriber privacy and online security. To subscribe, contact us at: klamarre@maine.rr.com To read past issues of the Meditation, please go to our website at: and you can find them in the section marked Meditations on the homepage. PLEASE NOTE: In respect to our contemplative vocation and the animals in our rescue and rehab center, we do not have guest or bathroom facilities and do not regularly receive visitors. Fr. Kevin is available to hear confessions and give spiritual direction by appointment only. Please contact via to make an appointment.

6 6. Feasts, Fasts, and Other Things By Br. A. Chip Munk, O.S.B. Farewell to the Alleluia I was surprised while taking a quick look at the Kalendar this week, to see that we will be entering the Pre-Lenten Season, also called Gessima-tide so soon! Even though we immerse ourselves in the monastic liturgy here at the Priory, we still get hit with a gotcha from time to time! That being the case, I would like to share a topic pertinent to the up-coming change in the season and a little-known and practiced tradition that is being rediscovered. The Farewell to the Alleluia Alleluia or hallelujah is one of the few Hebrew words adopted by the Christian Church from Apostolic times. It simply means: Praise the Lord! This ancient and hallowed exclamation of joy and praise in the Christian liturgy is, on Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday (the Third Sunday before Lent), officially discontinued in the Western Church, to signify the approach of the solemn season of Lent. Pope Alexander II, in 1073, decreed the suppression of the Alleluia during the Penitential Season. The Alleluia is to be sung twice after the Afternoon Office of None and will not be heard again until the solemn Vigil service of Easter, when it will once more be

7 7. used as the glorious proclamation of Easter joy. The Eastern Church, however, retained the Alleluia even in Lent. FAREWELL CUSTOMS The depositio (discontinuance) of the Alleluia on the eve of Septuagesima assumed in medieval times, a solemn and emotional note saying farewell to the beloved song. Despite the fact that Pope Alexander had ordered a simple and somber way of deposing the Alleluia, a form of ritual developed, and by the sixteenth century, a variety of farewell customs prevailed in countries throughout Europe. England, perhaps being the among most creative regarding ritual and solemnity. This development may be owed to a sentiment which Bishop William Duranti in 1296 had written in his commentaries on the Divine Office: We part from the Alleluia as from a beloved friend, whom we embrace many times, before we leave him. The liturgical office on the eve of Septuagesima was performed in many churches with a special solemnity, and Alleluias were freely inserted into the sacred texts, as many as twenty-eight final Alleluias in the church of Auxerre in France! Extant English monastic texts show some Benedictine abbeys in both France and England running a close second with Alleluias! This custom inspired some tender poems which were sung and recited during None or Vespers in honor of the sacred word. One of the best known of these hymns is Alleluia, dulce carmen (Alleluia, song of Gladness), composed by an unknown author in the tenth century. It was translated into English by John Mason Neale in 1866 and may still be found in Anglican hymnals. The 1940 Hymnal (Hymn # 54) in fact, the Official hymnal of many Continuing Anglican jurisdictions contains this hymn which is still widely used during Mass throughout the year. A custom developed in early times, in some French churches, of allowing the congregation to take part in the celebration of a quasi-liturgical farewell ceremony. The clergy abstained from any role in this popular service. Choirboys officiated in their stead as what came to be called The Burial of the Alleluia performed on the Saturday afternoon before Septuagesima Sunday. We find a description of this ceremony in a fifteenth-century statute book of the church of Toul in France: On Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday, all choirboys gather in the sacristy during the prayer of the None, to prepare for the burial of the Alleluia. They process, after the last Benedicamus, [ i.e. at the end of the Office] with crosses and tapers, holy water, and censors; and they carry a small coffin, as in a funeral. Thus, they proceed down the aisle, mourning and moaning, until they reach the cloister. They bury the coffin; they sprinkle it with holy water and incense it; whereupon they then return to the sacristy the same way. In churches in Paris, a straw figure bearing in golden letters, the inscription of the Alleluia was carried out of the choir at the conclusion of the Office of None and burned in the church yard. The tradition of the Farewell to the Alleluia is being restored in parishes that are part of the Anglican Use and the Anglican Ordinariate in the Roman Catholic Church today. It takes the general form of parishoners in attendance inserting small slips of paper on which they have written Alleluia into a small casket which at the end of the service is carried out of the church instead of being buried. Here at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory, we keep things rather sedate in the disposition of the Alleluia, yet at the same time giving it proper observance. No one around here wants to see our Br. Sylvester having anything to do with fire and straw, so, with all due respect to our little Brother, we long ago decided not to try to imitate the old French custom in any way! Here s what we do:

8 8. At None on the Saturday before Septuagesima, the usual Office Hymn is exchanged for the singing of Alleluia dulce carmen... and a special passage from Scripture is read at the Office Reading... An appropriate responsory is added... and at the closing of the Office, the Cantor intones: Benedicamus Domino (Let us Bless the Lord)... and the choir responds by singing 5 Alleluias... There s a long silence and then the signal is given to conclude the office and the chapel is left in silence. And so, the Alleluia is sung for the last time and not heard again until it suddenly bursts forth into glory during the Mass of the Easter Vigil when the celebrant intones this sacred word after the Epistle, repeating it three times, as a jubilant herald of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Stay with us today, Alleluia, And tomorrow thou shalt part. When the morning rises, Thou shalt go thy way. Alleluia, Alleluia. The mountains and hills shall rejoice, Alleluia, While they await thy glory. Thou goest, Alleluia; may thy way be blessed, Until thou shalt return with joy. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. (Excerpted from a Farwell service of the Spanish Mozarabic liturgy of the ninth or tenth century.) Br. Chip Feasts, Fasts, and Other Things from: The Chipmunk s Nutshell Library is presented by Br. A. Chip Monk, O.S.B. A very learned munk of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory in Raymond, Maine, USA

9 9. Animal News by Sr. Mary Francis, O.S.B. Pirate s Progress The time has come to say good- bye to Pirate. He has progressed so much faster than we expected and has now been placed in a great, hopefully forever home. Any animals that are placed from this farm go with a contract and our door is always open for them to come back if things do not work out no matter how short or long they have been away and for whatever reason. If they are returned, they typically live out their lives with us so there is not the revolving door syndrome that plagues so many rescues. Thanks to our generous animal angels Pirate was able to get the copious amount of food and supplements that were necessary for him to gain weight and get a sufficient winter coat. Now Pirate feels much better and needs more stimulating surroundings so he won t be bored. We have worked with his previous owner and found a wonderful home, only 40 minutes away with another horse that we helped to place last year from an internet situation. He will be a companion to a 22 year old Thoroughbred and a few mares boarding at this farm along with several smaller animals. His new owner, a wonderful young girl is already in love with him. We are really sad to see him go and will miss him, but happy that we have found this wonderful opportunity for him to move forward in his journey. He will be leaving us on Sunday. All of you who helped with Pirate s recovery should be very proud of yourselves for what was accomplished with this deserving animal and we thank you for your continued support. ( Check the pictures in previous Meditations, of Pirate when he first came and these photos were taken yesterday.)

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