Recta Ratio

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, meaning at least six more weeks of winter weather.

Oh well. It is rare that he doesn't see the shadow anyway. And today is a mild day, anyway, with temps in the mid-40s. enjoy it while it lasts, as we are in the midst of what is historically the worst part of the winter (January 10th-February 20th). And the afternoon daylight is getting notably longer every day.

Labels: Annual Cycles

Candlemas Day
by Robert Herrick

Kindle the Christmas brand, and then
Till sunset let it burn;
Which quench'd then lay it up again
Till Christmas next return.

Part must be kept wherewith to tend
The Christmas log next year;
And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischief there.

This poem describes the custom of taking down the last of the Christmas holly on Candlemas, and burning it. It should certainly be dry enough by now.

However, an alternate custom was to reserve the last of the holly and use it as kindling for the fire for the Shrove Tuesday pancakes.

This is the feast of the Purification of the Virgin, which, under Jewish Law comes 40 days after childbirth. And Candlemas is 40 days after Christmas.

The Church also (rather oddly, I think) adds the Feast of the Presentation. Odd, because under Jewish Law, the baby Jesus would have been presented and circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, or the Octave of Christmas. So, there were two Temple-related events after the Nativity, the Presentation on January 1st, and the Purification or Churching of Mary, on February 2nd. The Holy Family must have remained in Bethlehem (though they probably moved out of the stable, as the Magi story speaks of a "house") to be close to Jerusalem and the Temple for these two events. It can only be after this that the Flight to Egypt and the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents took place.

How did Candlemas get its name? Today was the day to bring to church for blessing the year's supply of candles, especially candles with a semi-sacramental nature, like the candles placed in the window on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years, and Epiphany in Irish homes, candles for the Advent wreath, candles for the home sick visit kit, or candles used in home shrines.

One of the European superstitions connected with Candlemas was that a fair, clear Candlemas meant a longer winter, where a cloudy Candlemas would mean the end of winter was at hand. In Europe, the end of February is often quite spring-like, where here in the US (especially here in New England), it tends to be more wintery, as our seasons run about 3 weeks behind the European seasons.

Here is a German saying:

When it storms and snows on Candlemas Day,
Spring is not far away;
if it's bright and clear,
Spring is not yet near.

This gave rise to the legend here in the US that if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd (now better known as Groundhog Day) it means 6 more weeks of winter (as opposed to only 4 more weeks if he does not see it).

Check out our friends at Fish Eaters for more on Candlemas customs.

Also, see The Golden Legend on the Purification of Our Blessed Lady.

Labels: Restorationists

O Beata Virgo Maria
(Attributed to St. Augustine)


O Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay thee thy just dues of praise and thanksgiving, thou who by the wondrous assent of thy will didst rescue a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in thy honor, since it is by thy intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration? Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have here to offer, though they be unequal to thy merits; and, receiving our vows, obtain by thy prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry thou our prayers within the sanctuary of the Heavenly audience, and bring forth from it the antidote of our reconciliation.

May the sins we bring before Almighty God through thee, become pardonable through thee; may what we ask for with sure confidence, through thee be granted. Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for thou art the sole hope of sinners. Through thee we hope for the remission of our sins, and in thee, O blessed Lady, is our hope of reward. Holy Mary, succour the miserable, help the faint-hearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for thy people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God; may all who keep thy holy commemoration feel now thy help and protection. Be thou ever ready to assist us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it thy continual care to pray for the people of God, thou who, blessed by God, didst merit to bear the Redeemer of the world, Who liveth and reigneth, world without end.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

Here is a website on the beloved patroness of Ireland. Included on a page, are 3 different methods for making a St. Brigid's Cross. I notice that the website has been moved since the last year, and the link for the directions on how to make the cross are now either not working accidentally, or deliberately omitted to get people to buy a book with the directions. I always wanted to try making this type of cross, but I doubt my skills at that sort of thing are equal to the task.

Interestingly. on another page of the site (scroll down, but take the time to peruse the entire page of seasonal customs, much of the information derived from the excellent The Year In Ireland by Kevin Danaher), there is yet another Luck Visit custom associated with St. Brigid's Eve.

In my various researches, I have come across numerous luck visit rituals (mostly) from the British Isles, and mostly associated with what we now call "the holidays," the period from Halloween through Candlemas. To jog the memory, I have discussed here Soulling, Trick-or-Treat, A Penny For the Guy, Something For Thanksgiving (apparently entirely American, though derived from British precedents), wassailling, carolling, John Canoe (again American, and particular to the slave population on Southern plantations), and the Plough Monday Ritual and play.

Irish folk used to go about with an effigy of Saint Brigid dressed in white, and offer this song in exchange for a gift of food, drink, or coin:

Something for poor Biddy!
Her clothes are torn
Her shoes are worn
Something for poor Biddy!

or

Here is Brigid dressed in white,
Give her a penny for her night
She is deaf, she is dumb
She cannot talk without a tongue.

or

Here comes Brigid dressed in white
Give her something for the night
She is deaf, she is dumb
For Gods sake give her some.

Note that among the Celts, and in Europe generally, February 1st is considered the beginning of Spring, where here in the Northeastern US, it is very much a cold, snowy winter month, with the first real hope for nice weather at least 6 weeks off, often longer.

I should also note that, this year, St. Patrick's Day falls during Holy Week, and that, therefore the annual celebration of Irishness in March, despite whatever dispensations might be granted by local bishops, is not so appropriate as it is commonly celebrated. Were it to fall on a Lenten ferial day, none would mind a little drunken meat-filled relief from Lenten austerity. But during Holy Week is another matter altogether.

But take heart! St. Brigid is our patroness, and her feast this year falls squarely during Carnival (albeit on a penitential Friday). So we can celebrate our Irishness with our patroness today!

Labels: Restorationists

The Litany of the Passion
For Private Devotion Only.


Lord, Have mercy on us.
Christ, Have mercy on us.
Lord, Have mercy on us.
Christ, Hear us.
Christ, Graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, brought before Annas and Caiphas,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck in the face by a servant,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, accused by false witnesses,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, declared guilty of death,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, spat upon,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, blindfolded,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, smitten on the cheek,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, thrice denied by Peter,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, delivered up to Pilate,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, despised and mocked by Herod,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, clothed in a white garment,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rejected for Barabbas,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, torn with scourges,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bruised for our sin,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, esteemed a leper,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, covered with a purple robe,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, crowned with thorns,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck with a reed upon the head,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, demanded for crucifixion by the Jews,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, condemned to an ignominious death,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, given up to the will of Thine enemies,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, loaded with the heavy weight of the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, led like a sheep to the slaughter,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, stripped of Thy garments,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, fastened with nails to the cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, reviled by the malefactors,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, promising Paradise to the penitent thief,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending St. John to Thy Mother as her son,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, declaring Thyself forsaken by Thy Father,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, in Thy thirst given gall and vinegar to drink,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, testifying that all things written concerning
Thee were accomplished,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending Thy Spirit into the hand of Thy Father,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, obedient even to the death of the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, made a propitiation for us,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, taken down from the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, laid in the sepulcher,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rising gloriously from the dead,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, ascending into Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, our advocate with the Father, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, sending down on Thy disciples the Holy Ghost,
the Paraclete, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, exalting Thy Mother above the choirs of Angels,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, Who shalt come to judge the living and the dead,
Have mercy on us.
Be merciful, Spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

From all evil, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
From all sin, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
From anger, hatred, and every evil will, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
From war, famine, and pestilence, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
From all dangers of mind and body, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
From everlasting death, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy most pure Conception, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy miraculous Nativity, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy humble Circumcision, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy Baptism and holy fasting, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy labors and watchings, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy cruel scourging and crowning, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy thirst, and tears, and nakedness, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy precious death and Cross, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension,Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
Through Thy sending forth the Holy Ghost,
the Paraclete, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
In the day of judgment, Lord Jesus,
Deliver us.
We sinners beseech Thee, hear us.

That Thou would spare us,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would pardon us,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to bring us to true penance,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe mercifully to pour
into our hearts the grace of the Holy Spirit,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to defend and propagate Thy holy Church,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to preserve and increase
all societies assembled in Thy Holy Name,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to bestow upon us true peace,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to give us perseverance
in grace and in Thy holy service,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to deliver us from unclean thoughts,
the temptations of the devil, and everlasting damnation,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to unite us to the company of Thy Saints,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe graciously to hear us,

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Christ, hear us; Christ, graciously hear us.

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and praise Thee:
R. Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

Let Us Pray.
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast appointed Thine only-begotten
Son the Savior of the world, and hast willed to be appeased with
His blood, grant that we may so venerate this price of our salvation,
and by its might be so defended upon earth from the evils of this
present life, that in Heaven we may rejoice in its everlasting fruit. Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

Father Marciel Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, has died. He had recently been removed from public ministry by the Vatican because of apparently well-founded allegations of sexual abuse by him of seminarians of the Legionaries. God have mercy on him. Requiescat in pace.

Labels: Requiescat In Pace

1st St. Brigid
2nd Candlemas, Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mother
3rd St. Blaise
5th St. Agatha
6th St. Vaast
7th Bl. Pope Pius IX
8th St. John of Matha
9th Bl. Anna Catherine Emmerich
10th St. Scholastica
11th St. Benedict of Aniane
12th Our Lady of Lourdes, Bl. James Fenn, John Nutter, John Munden, & Thomas Benstead (martyrs)
14th SS. Valentine, SS Cyril and Methodius
16th St. Gilbert of Sempringham & St. Julian of Nicomedia
17th St. Finan of Iona
18th St. Bernadette of Lourdes
21st St. Peter Damian & Bl. Noel Pinot (martyr)
23rd St. Polycarp & St. Milburga
27th Bl. Mark Barkworth and Roger Filcock (martyrs)
28th SS. Gregory II & Hilary (Popes)

The First Friday of February is Friday, February 1st (today).
The First Saturday of February is Saturday, February 2nd (tomorrow).

The month begins in the season after Epiphany. Quinquegesima Sunday, or Sunday in Shrovetide is the first Sunday of the month, February 3rd.
Collop Monday is Monday, February 4th.
Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) is Tuesday, February 5th. Ash Wednesday falls on February 6th, ushering the penitential season of Lent.

The Lenten Embertide begins Wednesday February 13th and continues on Friday, February 15th and Saturday, February 16th.

The remainder of the month is part of the season of Lent.

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI's published prayer intentions for the month of February, 2008 are:

General:
That the mentally handicapped may not be marginalized but respected and lovingly helped to live in a way worthy of their physical and social condition.
Mission:
That Institutes of Consecrated Life, so flourishing in mission countries, may rediscover the missionary dimension and, faithful to the radical choice of Gospel counsels, be generous in bearing witness to Christ and proclaiming Him to the ends of the earth.

The novena to Saint Blaise is traditional for the end of January and early February.

Labels: Restorationists

McCain's win in Florida is likely to drive Guiliani out of the race. That erases one RINO from the list of contenders.

On the Democrat side, John "Was That An Ambulance Siren" Edwards is about to drop out, leaving Eva Peron and Barak Obama bin Laden on the ticket.

What great choices we have!

Well, McCain is certainly better for the country than either of the other two. A far more admirable personal history, a sterling anti-abortion voting record. One gets the sense that there is actually a person there somewhere, not just an empty suit proclaiming platitudes, or Lady MacBeth scheming for a return to power.

Labels: American Patriotism Is Not A Sin

While there isn't currently a dearth of images on my site, I might start running into a problem soon. I noticed that my capacity on Photobucket, where I have some 9800 images stored, is at 90%. That means I can add just about 900 more, before I have no more room at the inn. Then what?

Bandwith isn't a problem, since nobody reads me anymore, anyway. I am only using 8% of the allowed bandwith.

I have other Photobucket accounts floating around back from the days before they increased the monthly bandwith allowance and I needed to spread things out more, and might have to start using them again. The problem is that I wanted all my images, except the very large ones that appear at the bottom of the page, to be in one account. Makes it easy to find things.

Labels: Recta Ratio Housekeeping

My gosh, it came fast this year, because Easter is so early. Ash Wednesday is next Wednesday. We knew it was coming, as we noted Septuagesima and Sexagesima Sundays, but still, when the thing is upon you suddenly, it is something of a shock.

Just a week to pig out on meat and other things that will be given up. This is the true Carnival, the good-bye to the flesh. In Lent, the things of the soul take precedence as we prepare for Easter.

Tomorrow, I plan to post my suggestions for a Lenten reading program that will help you get things in order and set things right.

Labels: Restorationists

Perhaps, this will lead to the excellent Prime Minister Berlusconi returning to power with a Center-Right coalition. The European government situation has taken on a much more positive aspect, with the election of Sarkozy in France, and Merkel in Germany. If Italy comes back into the fold, will Spain, where the leftist government is genuinely anti-Catholic, long remain in the column of the "progressive" anti-Christian leftists?

Elsewhere, the excelelnt John Howard has been out of power in Australia for some time, but his return is not out of the question. And in the UK itself, the Tories might have their act together enough to prevail in the next general election.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, with the rest of the world getting over its second-term malaise, anti-Americanism, and anti-Christian positions, the US turned around and elected either Clinton or Obama?

Labels: Restorationists

Beginning Sunday, February 10th, at 9 am.

Without the Holy Father's motu proprio document Summorum Pontificum, and his active, ongoing support for embattled Traditional Mass communities, this would not have been possible.

Deo Gratias!

Labels: Restorationists

From The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Prosper Gueranger, OSB:

The Church offers to our consideration, during this week of Sexagesima, the history of Noah and the deluge. Man has not profited by the warnings already given him. God is obliged to punish him once more, and by a terrible chastisement. There is found out of the whole human race one just man; God makes a covenant with him, and with us through him. But, before He draws up this new alliance, He would show that He is the sovereign Master, and that man, and the earth whereon he lives, subsist solely by His power and permission.

As the ground-work of this week's instructions, we give a short passage from the Book of Genesis: it is read in the Office of this Sunday's Matins.

From the Book of Genesis.
Ch. vi.
And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times, it repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart, he said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air. For it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace before the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations: he walked with God. And he begot three sons: Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity. And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth), he said to Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me: the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.

This awful chastisement of the human race by the deluge was a fresh consequence of sin. This time, however, there was found one just man; and it was through him and his family that the world was restored. Having once more mercifully renewed His covenant with His creatures, God allows the earth to be repeopled, and makes the three sons of Noah become the fathers of the three great families of the human race.

This is the mystery of the Divine Office during the week of Sexagesima. The mystery expressed in to-day's Mass is of still greater importance, and the former is but a figure of it. The earth is deluged by sin and heresy. But the word of God, the seed of life, is ever producing a new generation: a race of men, who, like Noah, fear God. It is the word of God that produces those happy children, of whom the beloved disciple speaks, saying: 'They are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'1Let us endeavour to be of this family; or, if we are already numbered among its members, let us zealously maintain our glorious position. What we have to do, during these days of Septuagesima, is to escape from the deluge of worldliness, and take shelter in the Ark of salvation; we have to become that good soil, which yields a hundred-fold from the heavenly seed. Let us flee from the wrath to come, lest we perish with the enemies of God: let us hunger after that word of God, which converteth and giveth life to souls.

With the Greeks, this is the seventh day of their week Apocreos, which begins on the Monday after our Septuagesima Sunday. They call this week Apocreos, because they then begin to abstain from flesh-meat, which abstinence is observed till Easter Sunday.

MASS
At Rome the Station is in the basilica of St. Paul outside the walls. It is around the tomb of the Doctor of the Gentiles, the zealous sower of the divine seed, the father by his preaching of so many nations, that the Roman Church assembles her children on this Sunday, whereon she is about to announce to them how God spared the earth on the condition that it should be peopled with true believers and with faithful adorers of His name.

The Introit, which is taken from the Psalms, cries out to our Lord for help. The human race, all but extinct after the deluge, is here represented as beseeching its Creator to bless and increase it. The Church adopts the same prayer, and asks her Saviour to multiply the children of the Word, as He did in former days.

INTROIT
Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, and cast us not off to the end. Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our tribulation? Our belly cleaveth to the earth. Arise, O Lord, help us, and deliver us.

Ps. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us thy wonders. V. Glory. Arise.

In the Collect, the Church expresses the confidence she puts in the prayers of the great apostle St. Paul, that zealous sower of the divine seed, who laboured more than the other apostles in preaching the word to the Gentiles.

COLLECT
O God, who seest that we place no confidence in anything we do: mercifully grant that, by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles, we may be defended against all adversity. Through, etc.

Then are added two other Collects, as in the Mass of Septuagesima Sunday...

The Epistle is that admirable passage from one of St. Paul's Epistles, in which the great apostle, for the honour and interest of his sacred ministry, is necessitated to write his defence against the calumnies of his enemies. We learn from this his apology what labours the apostles had to go through, in order to sow the word of God in the barren soil of the Gentile world, and make it Christian.

EPISTLE
Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

2 Ch. xi.
Brethren, you gladly suffer the foolish, whereas yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be lifted up, if a man strike you on the face. I speak according to dishonour, as if we had been weak in this part. Wherein if any man dare (I speak foolishly) I dare also. They are Hebrews: so am I. They are Israelites: so am I. They are the seed of Abraham: so am I. They are the ministers of Christ: (I speak as one less wise) I am more: in many more labours, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren. In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed), but I will come to the visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ about fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth), such an one rapt even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth), that he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter. For such an one I will glory; but for myself I will glory nothing, but in my infirmities. For though I should have a mind to glory, I shall not be foolish: for I will say the truth. But I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from me. And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me: and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
In the Gradual, the Church beseeches her Lord to give her strength against those who oppose the mission He has entrusted to her, of gaining for Him a new people, adorers of His sovereign Majesty.

GRADUAL
Let the Gentiles know that God is thy name: thou alone art the Most High over all the earth.

V. O my God, make them like a wheel, and as stubble before the wind.

Whilst the earth is being moved, and is suffering those terrible revolutions which, deluge-like, come first on one nation and then on another, the Church prays for her faithful children, in order that they may be spared, for they are the elect, and the hope of the world. It is thus she prays in the following Tract, which precedes the Gospel of the word.

TRACT
Thou hast moved the earth, O Lord, and hast troubled it.

V. Heal the breaches thereof, for it is moved.

V. That they may flee from before the bow: that thy elect may be delivered.

GOSPEL
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Ch. viii.
At that time, when a very great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of the cities to meet Jesus, he spoke by a similitude. The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns; and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground, and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundred-fold. Saying these things he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables: that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the wayside are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they, who in a good and very good heart hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

St. Gregory the Great justly remarks, that this parable needs no explanation, since eternal Wisdom Himself has told us its meaning. All that we have to do, is to profit by this divine teaching, and become the good soil, wherein the heavenly seed may yield a rich harvest. How often have we, hitherto, allowed it to be trampled on by them that passed by, or to be torn up by the birds of the air! How often has it found our heart like a stone, that could give no moisture, or like a thorn plot, that could but choke! We listened to the word of God; we took pleasure in hearing it; and from this we argued well for ourselves. Nay, we have often received this word with joy and eagerness. Sometimes, even, it took root within us. But, alas! something always came to stop its growth. Henceforth, it must both grow and yield fruit. The seed given to us is of such quality, that the divine Sower has a right to expect a hundred-fold. If the soil, that is, our heart, be good; if we take the trouble to prepare it, by profiting by the means afforded us by the Church; we shall have an abundant harvest to show our Lord on that grand day, when, rising triumphant from His tomb, He will come to share with His faithful people the glory of His Resurrection.

Inspirited by this hope, and full of confidence in Him who has once more thrown this seed into this long ungrateful soil, let us sing with the Church, in her Offertory, these beautiful words of the royal psalmist: they are a prayer for holy resolution and perseverance.

OFFERTORY
Perfect thou my goings in thy paths; that my footsteps be not moved. O incline thy ear unto me and hear my words. Show forth thy wonderful mercies; who sayest them that hope in thee, O Lord.

SECRET
May the sacrifice we have offered to thee, O Lord, always quicken us and defend us. Through, etc.

To this are added the other Secrets, as on Septuagesima Sunday...

The visit, which our Lord makes to us in the Sacrament of His love, is the grand means whereby He gives fertility to our souls. Hence it is that the Church invites us, in the Communion antiphon, to draw nigh to the altar of our God; there, our heart shall regain all the youthful fervour of its best days.

COMMUNION
I will go up to the altar of God; to God, who rejoiceth my youth.

POSTCOMMUNION
Grant, we humbly beseech thee, O almighty God, that those whom thou refreshest with thy sacraments, may, by a life well pleasing to thee, worthily serve thee. Through, etc.

Labels: Restorationists