A Break from Blogging

A long break, probably. Thank you for visiting my blog.

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When the door of the steam baths is continually left open, the heat inside rapidly escapes through it; likewise the soul, in its desire to say many things, dissipates its remembrance of God through the door of speech, even though everything it says may be good. Thereafter the intellect, though lacking appropriate ideas, pours out a welter of confused thoughts to anyone it meets, as it no longer has the Holy Spirit to keep its understanding free from fantasy. Ideas of value always shun verbosity, being foreign to confusion and fantasy. Timely silence, then, is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts.

- St. Diadochos of Photki, On Spiritual Knowledge

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Holy God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, take from us all that keeps us from You. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.

A Litany in Reparation...

... to Our Lord in the Eucharist

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 Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.

Sacred Host, offered for the salvation of sinners,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, annihilated on the altar for us and by us,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, despised by lukewarm Christians,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, mark of contradiction,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, delivered over to infidels and heretics,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, insulted by blasphemers,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, Bread of angels, given to animals,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, flung into the mud and trampled underfoot,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, dishonored by unfaithful priests,
Have mercy on us.
Sacred Host, forgotten and abandoned in Thy churches,
Have mercy on us.

Be merciful unto us,
Pardon us, O Lord.
Be merciful unto us,
Hear us, O Lord.

For the outrageous contempt of this most wonderful Sacrament,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For Thine extreme humiliation in Thine admirable Sacrament,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For all unworthy Communions,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the irreverences of wicked Christians,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the profanation of Thy sanctuaries,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the holy ciboriums dishonored and carried away by force,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the continual blasphemies of impious men,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the obduracy and treachery of heretics,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the unworthy conversations carried on in Thy holy temples,
We offer Thee our reparation.
For the profaners of Thy churches which they have desecrated by their sacrileges,
We offer Thee our reparation.

That it may please Thee to increase in all Christians
the reverence due to this adorable Mystery,
we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to manifest the Sacrament of Thy Love to heretics,
we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to grant us the grace to atone for their hatred
by our burning love for Thee,
we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee that the insults of those who outrage Thee
may rather be directed against ourselves,
we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee graciously to receive this our humble reparation,
we beseech Thee, hear us.
That it may please Thee to make our adoration acceptable to Thee,
we beseech Thee, hear us.

Pure Host, hear our prayer.
Holy Host, hear our prayer.
Immaculate Host, hear our prayer.

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

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

V. See, O Lord, our affliction,
R. And give glory to Thy Holy Name.

Let Us Pray:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
Who dost deign to remain with us
in Thy wonderful Sacrament
to the end of the world,
in order to give to Thy Father,
by the memory of Thy Passion,
eternal glory,
and to give to us the Bread of life everlasting:
Grant us the grace to mourn,
with a heart full of sorrow,
over the injuries which Thou hast received in this adorable Mystery,
and over the many sacrileges which are committed by the impious,
by heretics and by bad Catholics.

Inflame us with an ardent zeal to repair all these insults
to which, in Thine infinite mercy,
Thou hast preferred to expose Thyself
rather than deprive us of Thy Presence on our altars,
Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit
livest and reignest one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Offered on the Feast of Corpus Christi, AD 2007)

One shouldn't have to wait long...

... for the motu, according to recent comments by Cardinal Bertone. An observant reader of paramedic girl's blog points out that he didn't say won't . While the waiting continues, people have sweetened the bitterness of the delay with some funny pictures. The post just alluded to has one:



The Carolina Cannonball has had two at the top of her blog:

And here are four from the creative mind of Paul Nichols, at Catholic Cartoon blog:

Cunctando regitur mundus
"By delay the world is ruled".

Or, more hopefully:
"Waiting, one conquers all".

Patience, patience, patience.

Trinity Sunday

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord

Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God of Hosts, eternal King,
by the heavens and earth adored!
Angels and archangels sing,
chanting everlastingly
to the blessèd Trinity.

Since by Thee were all things made,
and in Thee do all things live,
be to Thee all honor paid,
praise to Thee let all things give,
singing everlastingly
to the blessèd Trinity.

Thousands, tens of thousands, stand,
spirits blest, before Thy throne,
speeding thence at Thy command,
and, when Thy behests are done,
singing everlastingly
to the blessèd Trinity.

Cherubim and seraphim
veil their faces with their wings;
eyes of angels are too dim
to behold the King of kings,
while they sing eternally
to the blessèd Trinity.

Thee apostles, prophets thee,
thee the noble martyr band,
praise with solemn jubilee;
thee, the church in every land;
singing everlastingly
to the blessèd Trinity.

Alleluia! Lord, to Thee
Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
Three in One and One in Three,
join we with the heavenly host,
singing everlastingly
to the blessèd Trinity.

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The Athanasian Creed

Propers for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

Trouble following the Mass

Someone new to the old Mass is concerned about losing track of where the priest is in his prayers during Mass, and about keeping up with people who pray the rosary quickly before Mass, and about not having the strength to kneel like other people.

Re: My first Latin mass Quote: Originally Posted by Hipster Doofus But if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can do better at my next Latin masses, I'd appreciate them. I would try saying the rosary very softly until you can keep up. Half-kneeling, using the seat for support, seems like a reasonable compromise and I would follow this practice with a peaceful heart for a long time. The transitions from sitting to kneeling to standing will probably gradually get easier with practice, but if not, then just do the best you can, and pray confidently, comforted by the knowledge that our Lord will certainly not ask more of you than you can do. You could also offer up whatever discomfort and embarrassment you cannot avoid to our Lord, and in union with Him, who suffered pain and humiliation for us. That might be the starting point for a heartfelt inner dialog with God about the sacrifice being presented to you, and what your response should be. In my opinion, it is ok to have such silent dialogs during Mass, and to weave in your prayers with those of the priest as an offering to God, who desires the conforming of your soul to Him more than a mere outward conformity to the activity around you. Don't fret if you lose your place. I'm still fairly new to the Traditional Mass myself, and rather than attempting to follow the priest's every word and gesture, I'm trying to learn landmarks within the Mass, so that I have the option of following along again word-by-word starting at those points. But following word-by-word isn't the only way to worship at Mass. This post from Athanasius Contra Mundum is worth reading. The most important part of the Mass cannot be seen with the eye or heard with the ear at Mass: our Lord's sacrifice, the sanctification of our souls, the strengthening of the bond of Charity, the worship of our Lord across the ages and in heaven. All invisible. All essential. The little defects in worship that the good Lord must put up with from you and me will be fixed in God's good time. __________________ When the time comes for perfecting the sacrament, the priest uses no longer his own words, but the words of Christ ... it is Christ's words that perfect this sacrament. - St. Ambrose