Still, Still, Still

Victimae paschali

Adeste Fideles

Come, thou long expected Jesus

Immortal, Invisible

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
Comes the powers of hell to vanquish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

Lord of All Hopefulness

Thanks Be to You, O Lord

Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost Sequence)

Veni, Veni, Emmanuel

Lord Of All Hopefulness

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares could destroy,
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

Introit for Pentecost

Victimae paschali laudes

Easter Sequence by Wipo of Burgundy +1040:

Victimae paschali laudes		To the Passover victim,
immolent Christiani.		Christians offer praise.
Agnus redemit oves:		The Lamb has redeemed the sheep:
Christus innocens Patri		Innocent Christ to the Father
reconciliavit peccatores.		has reconciled sinners
Mors et vita duello		Death and life contended
conflixere mirando:		in a wondrous battle:
dux vitae mortuus,		The Lord of life, who died,
regnat vivus.		reigns alive.
Dic nobis Maria,		Tell us, Mary,
quid vidisti in via?		what you saw on the way?
Sepulcrum Christi viventis,		“The tomb of the living Christ
et gloriam vidi resurgentis:		and the glory of His rising,
Angelicos testes,		“Angelic witnesses,
sudarium et vestes.		shroud and clothes.
Surrexit Christus spes mea:		“Christ my hope is arisen,
praecedet suos in Galilaeam.		and precedes His own into Galilee.”
Scimus Christum surrexisse		We know that Christ is risen
a mortuis vere:		from the dead in truth.
tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere.		To us, victorious King, have mercy!
Amen. Alleluia.		Amen. Alleluia.

In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

+++

May you find joy in the love of God. God bless you.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Stille Nacht - Silent Night

Fr. Josef Mohr wrote a Christmas poem back in 1816. Two years later, on Christmas Eve, he asked the organist at the parish where he was serving to put the words to music for the midnight Mass that same evening. His friend Franz Gruber came through for him and "Silent Night" was born. The carol grew steadily in popularity and has been sung ever since.

100 years ago this evening, to the consternation of their chains of command, German and British soldiers sang this and other Christmas songs to each other in unofficial, locally-called truces at various points along the front. It was the first Christmas of World War I. [1, 2, 3]

Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming

God's peace to you, dear visitor, and may His Spirit rest upon you in your labors. For myself, while I love attempting to meditate on the things of God, my obligations are elsewhere and I won't be regularly blogging here for a long while still. Pray for me; I'll pray for you. And strive always to remember His mercy and abide in His love.

All things have their season...

As the year winds down, so does this blog. God willing and time permitting, I may start blogging again next Christmas.

If you are looking for a Catholic blog to visit, here are a few which I have visited recently and can recommend.  Of course, no blog is perfect, but each of these will edify, enlighten and/or entertain:

Unam Sanctam Catholicam
Laodicea
Old Time Catholic Blog   [2/2/2014 note: be careful, I've gotten virus warnings the last few times I visited this blog]
The Curt Jester
Catholic Cartoon Blog
Rorate Caeli
WDTPRS

And here a few good websites:

Fish Eaters has a wealth of information about Catholic customs.
If your goal is the perfection of your soul, visit the Saints' Discussion Forums.
The New Liturgical Movement has writers knowledgeable about the history of the Mass, who hope to restore to our Liturgy the reverence and transcendent beauty which has become more elusive in recent decades.

Finally, please sign this online petition to the Pope, requesting that he publicly celebrate the Traditional Mass himself. What a beautiful sign of unity and good will between himself and traditional Catholics that would be!

May God bless you in the coming year.

Deo gratias semper agamus.

Once in Royal David's City

What Child is This?

I Wonder as I Wander