O Wisdom

O Wisdom, Which camest out of the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come and teach us the way of prudence (Ecclus. 24:5; Wis. 8:1).

We recently found an exquisite hymn that we never knew existed which was/is used during the Octave leading up to Christmas (17-24 Dec). It is called Stabat Mater speciosa and is sung to the same melody as its Lenten counterpart Stabat Mater dolorosa.

From Treasury of Latin Prayers: "Stabat Mater speciosa is considered one of the seven greatest Latin hymns of all time and one of the tenderest. It is based upon the Gospel account of the birth of Jesus. The hymn originated in the 13th century and has been attributed to Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306). There is a mirror image to this hymn, Stabat Mater dolorosa, which echoes the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the crucifixion and death of Jesus."

GAUDETE in Domino semper

On this day the Church urges us to gladness in the middle of this time of expectation and penance. The coming of Jesus approaches more and more. St. John, the holy precursor, announces to the Jews the coming of the Savior. "The Savior," he says to them, "lives already among us, though unknown. He will soon appear openly." Now is the time for fervent prayers and for imploring Jesus to remain with us by His mercy. Let us prepare the way for Him by repentance and penance and by a worthy reception of the Sacraments. All of the prayers of this Mass are filled with what the Church wishes our souls to possess at the approach of the Savior.

INTROIT:

Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in everything by prayer let your petitions be made known to God. (Psalm) Lord, Thou hast blest Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. Gloria Patri. Gaudete...

Today we upheld my family's tradition of decorating the Christmas tree on Gaudete Sunday. I attempted to also follow the tradition of dipping chocolates, and they turned out very tasty, but not nearly as pretty as my mom's. Maria sure was excited about eating them though!

Soteriology and some Cute Pictures

Well, it's not due until Monday at noon but I more or less finished my last paper this afternoon. Comments, critiques are especially welcome before Monday! The Redemptive Suffering of Christ in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger.

After dinner while Lisa was cleaning up in the living room and I in the kitchen, Maria suddenly emerged from the hall wearing my winter attire. She is getting rather clever it seems, but perhaps not so much as she thinks (see the last picture!)

They'll never notice the missing chocolate pretzel...

Advent Music

I just wrote something in one of the comment boxes and then thought it would fun to put up for all to see. We had a fun idea to help maintain a proper Advent mood of preparation and penitence mingled with joy and hope in our flat. We designed a playlist on Windows Media Player that plays the first 12 tracks of Handel's Messiah, the words of which are taken from the O.T. prophesies of the coming Redeemer.

1. Overture
2. Comfort Ye My People (Isaiah 40:1-3)
3. Every Valley Shall Be Exalted (Isaiah 40:4)
4. And the Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 40:5)
5. Thus Saith the Lord (Haggai 2:6,7)
6. But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming? (Malachi 3:2)
7. And He Shall Purify (Malachi 3:3)
8. Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive (Isaiah 7:14)
9. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion (Isaiah 40:9)
10. For, Behold, a Darkness Shall Cover the Earth (Isaiah 60:2,3)
11. The People that Walked in Darkness (Isaiah 9:2)
12. For Unto Us a Child Is Born (Isaiah 9:6)

After this the playlist continues with other traditional Advent chants and hymns including:

On Jordan's Banks
Rorate coeli (see sidebar)
Verbum supernum
Angelus ad virginem
Vox clara
Veni, Redemptor gentium
Creator alme siderum
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Veni, veni Emmanuel

It would be fun to hear what anyone else is doing for Advent!

St. Lucy, Virgin, Martyr

Born at Syracuse in Sicily of noble parents, St. Lucy gave herself to Jesus and chose death rather than lose the incorruptible treasure of her virginity, in 303. Her name occurs in the Canon of the Mass.

Today we ran into Dan Hilker! He came over for dinner and we had some delicious hamburgers with pseudo-American buns. It was really great to see him; he'll be here for a couple more days before heading off to Roma.

Anselmian Pontifications

Speaking of Christ's vicarious atonement...

There seem to be at least five principal Old Testament texts to be considered. There are two great Jewish liturgical feasts that are particularly important: The Day of Atonement, and The Passover. Then there are two detailed prophesies of the crucifixion: Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 (this latter being connected to Christ's prayer from the Cross). Finally there is the theme of the cup of God's wrath throughout the prophets which must be considered in relation to Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Let this cup pass from me..." Have I missed any really important texts here?

Then there are the ways in which Christ's passion effects our salvtion, which Aquinas numbers as four: Christ makes satisfaction inasmuch as the positive value of his self gift outwieghs and thus counterbalances the negative value of all men's sins. Christ offers a sacrifice to God, the proper effect of which is to appease God's wrath (this makes nonsense out of the typically Protestant notion that God's wrath was vented upon Christ). Christ's death redeemed us inasmuch as his death paid the price of our punishment (N.B. this means that he paid a price so that punishment be not meted out, not that he accepted the punishment). And Christ's death effected our salvtion by way of merit (often overlooked it seems) inasmuch as Christ is rewarded head and members for his infinitely meritorious work.

Then there is Ratzinger's idea that I am working with right now, Christ suffers through our sin in order to heal it from the inside. Ack! It's 2:11 AM; Deus miserere me!

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 9, 1531, the Blessed Virgin appeared on one of the hills of the Guadalupe range, to Juan Diego, a Mexican Indian. Our Lady told him to build a chapel in her honor on the place of her apparition, and left him with a picture of herself impressed upon his mantle, and caused a miraculous spring to arise, in the waters of which many people were cured. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimage in the New World.

O Holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God, who as Our Lady of Guadalupe didst aid in the conversion of Mexico from paganism in a most miraculous way, we now beseech thee to bring about in these our times the early conversion of our modern world from its present neo-paganism to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of thy Divine Son Jesus Christ, starting in the Americas and extending throughout the entire world, so that soon there may be truly "one fold and one shepherd," with all governments recognizing the reign of thy Son, Jesus Christ the King.

This we ask of the Eternal Father through Jesus Christ His Son our Lord and by thy powerful intercession - all for the salvation of souls, the triumph of the Church, and peace in the world. Amen.

St. Damasus, Pope, Confessor

St. Damasus became pope in 366, after the persecutions were over. He condemned Arianism, commanded St. Jerome to translate the Holy Scriptures into Latin, and composed inscriptions for the sepulchres of the Roman martyrs. He died in 384.

Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000 Year History

So, I'm reading a really great book about the history of the Catholic Church from Christ to John Paul II. Covering that much ground in only 512 pages it moves quickly, but it's good for Catholics to know the real history of, for example, the Greek schism, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Spanish conquest of Mexico, etc. For a long time I was personally ashamed of things like the 4th Crusade, but no longer! This is a great antidote to the modern history books that present the Catholic Church as always having been in the wrong. A Church that never went right, according to Chesterton, would be even more incredible than one that never went wrong! Yet, that's precisely how even many Catholics view the history of the Church. I highly recommend it.

Commemoration of St. Melchiades, Pope, Martyr

St. Melchiades died peacefully, after undergoing great suffering in the persecution of Maximian, in 314.

Last week of classes; less and less sleep; more and more coffee; halfway through the last paper: The Cross of Christ in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger; Right now I'm working on Christ's descent into hell (not to suffer the punishment of hell mind you - a Protestant heresy!); it's been a fun one so far, although Ratzinger's take on the atonement in Introduction to Christianity is a curious one to say the least.

Second Sunday of Advent

Numerous allusions appear in the Liturgy of this day to Jerusalem and her people. Let us be filled with sentiments of hope and of joy, for the coming of Jesus is near. Let us prepare the way in our hearts for the Messias, our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

Today was another busy day. After Divine Liturgy we had brunch at the Waldstein's home, which is on top of one of the nearby mountains - what a spectacular view from their living room windows! Maria had time for only a short nap before we were off again to a party to celebrate the Immaculate Conception and the 60th anniversary of the consecration to Christ of one of the professors here. None other than St. Nicholas (a.k.a. Brother Basil of the Benedictine monastery in Nursia) made a reappearance to present some gifts to the honoree. Needless to say, Maria was delighted, although you can hardly tell so engaged is she in chewing on a gummy bear.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"I will put enmity between thee and the woman." In these words the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was announced to our first parents. It was to be the reversal of the friendship with the serpent contracted by Eve, when she listened to his voice and fell under his power. The second Eve was never to be under the power of the devil; the enmity between them was to admit of no possible exception. This involved the grace of being conceived immaculate. Mary's Immaculate Conception was the foundation of all her graces. The absence of any stain or spot of sin distinguished her from all the rest of mankind. It distinguished her from the holiest of the saints, since they, one and all, were sinners. Her perfect sinlessness was the source of all her glory and all her majesty; it was this which opened the door to the unlimited graces that she received from God; it was this that qualified her for her divine maternity, and raised her to the throne as Queen of heaven. "O Queen, conceived without original sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee."

St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church

This Bishop of Milan was one of the four great doctors of the Western Church. As an orator he opposed the heretics, as a writer he enshrined Latin literature with his sacred hymns. He died in 397.

Tonight we met with our "Teams of our Lady" group. "Teams of our Lady," or simply "Teams," is a program where couples get together to pray and support one another. Our group has been somewhat, shall we say, awkward, because no one really knows what's going on, except that we have an outline that we are supposed to follow, for instance, when we should eat and for how long, what we should talk about and for how long...and the priest who leads the group has somewhat of a hard time with English...

Anyways, tonight Fr. Francis was busy, and our Team Leaders had a sick child, and two couples were in Vienna, so there were only three couples there, and it was quite informal. But it was lovely, we got to know Viera and Juraj from Slovakia, and Marlene (John's German teacher) and her husband Slava from Siberia were also there.

Oh, by the way, John turned in his next to last paper, a short one called Form and Matter in Aristotle's Physics. It was a hasty piece of work and he's not very proud of it, but you're welcome to read it and comment as always. It will also be linked on the sidebar with his other essays from this semester. Only one more paper to go!