St. Augustine on Prayer
From the Office of Readings
Let us always desire the happy life from the Lord God and always pray for it. But for this very reason we turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours, since that desire grows lukewarm, so to speak, from our involvement in other concerns and occupations. We remind ourselves through the words of prayer to focus our attention on the object of our desire; otherwise, the desire that began to grow lukewarm may grow chill altogether and may be totally extinguished unless it is repeatedly stirred into flame.
Therefore, when the Apostle says: Let your petitions become known before God, this should not be taken in the sense that they are in fact becoming known to God who certainly knew them even before they were made, but that they are becoming known to us before God through submission and not before men through boasting.
Monday, October 21, 2002
A beautiful column on praying the rosary by Peggy Noonan
Here is a sampling:
The third joyful mystery is the birth of Christ in a manger. It's not hard to imagine this. It's hard to control one's imaginings. I imagine the trek to the manger, the disheartened young husband, the sound of the eating area of the inn as they trudge on, hungry and alone. And then a car alarm goes off. And suddenly I'm wondering: Did she have a hard labor? Did God want her to know from the beginning that her joy would be ever accompanied by pain? Did she weep him into the world? Maybe it was an easy birth. God knew she was barely more than a child, with a young husband and no help, just the two of them in the cold in a hut on a hill.
When the child was born, did he cry aloud with a great wail, and did the cry enter the universe? Did it become a sound wave of significant density? Is it still out there, radiating out into the stars, and did the Voyager II bump into it? If, as an astronaut, you traveled through that sound wave in the year 2063, would it jostle your space capsule and disturb your small universe? Would you hear something? What?
Did someone unrecorded by history see a light in the hut on the hill and come to help Mary and Joseph that night? Maybe there was an old woman with moles and wens and a sharp bent nose, a woman almost comically ugly, like a witch in a child's Halloween book. Maybe she lived in isolation, never left her small hovel, but she felt called to assist, tugged by some wonder that pierced her estrangement. She helped with the birth, and hers was the first face he saw. Her outer appearance was an expression of the inner wounds he came to heal. As if she were the physical representation of the state of man's soul. Maybe it was she who wrapped him in rags; maybe she bent down, breathed him in, her face bathed in the warm mist of a brutal birth on a frosty night. Maybe when she returned home she was beautiful. But no one knew, and it all went unrecorded, because she never left the house again. And never knew she had been made lovely.
Here is a sampling:
The third joyful mystery is the birth of Christ in a manger. It's not hard to imagine this. It's hard to control one's imaginings. I imagine the trek to the manger, the disheartened young husband, the sound of the eating area of the inn as they trudge on, hungry and alone. And then a car alarm goes off. And suddenly I'm wondering: Did she have a hard labor? Did God want her to know from the beginning that her joy would be ever accompanied by pain? Did she weep him into the world? Maybe it was an easy birth. God knew she was barely more than a child, with a young husband and no help, just the two of them in the cold in a hut on a hill.
When the child was born, did he cry aloud with a great wail, and did the cry enter the universe? Did it become a sound wave of significant density? Is it still out there, radiating out into the stars, and did the Voyager II bump into it? If, as an astronaut, you traveled through that sound wave in the year 2063, would it jostle your space capsule and disturb your small universe? Would you hear something? What?
Did someone unrecorded by history see a light in the hut on the hill and come to help Mary and Joseph that night? Maybe there was an old woman with moles and wens and a sharp bent nose, a woman almost comically ugly, like a witch in a child's Halloween book. Maybe she lived in isolation, never left her small hovel, but she felt called to assist, tugged by some wonder that pierced her estrangement. She helped with the birth, and hers was the first face he saw. Her outer appearance was an expression of the inner wounds he came to heal. As if she were the physical representation of the state of man's soul. Maybe it was she who wrapped him in rags; maybe she bent down, breathed him in, her face bathed in the warm mist of a brutal birth on a frosty night. Maybe when she returned home she was beautiful. But no one knew, and it all went unrecorded, because she never left the house again. And never knew she had been made lovely.
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Detroit Priests (four of them) defend Pro-choice candidate for Michigan Governor's race pro-choice position
This shows the confusion that reigns among the clergy in this country when it comes to morality.
From the Detroit Free Press:
The context in which Jennifer Granholm is required to operate is an exceptionally complex one. As governor, she would be required to uphold the laws of the state and of the country. The decision to balance conflicting claims in a widely diverse society is not a simple one. "Man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice," Vatican II declares. "Such a choice is personally motivated and prompted from within. It does not result from blind internal impulse nor from mere external pressure." When caught in conflicting values one must choose the course of action that will maximize the positive values and minimize the disvalues.
Talk about twisting the meaning of a phrase!
This shows the confusion that reigns among the clergy in this country when it comes to morality.
From the Detroit Free Press:
The context in which Jennifer Granholm is required to operate is an exceptionally complex one. As governor, she would be required to uphold the laws of the state and of the country. The decision to balance conflicting claims in a widely diverse society is not a simple one. "Man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice," Vatican II declares. "Such a choice is personally motivated and prompted from within. It does not result from blind internal impulse nor from mere external pressure." When caught in conflicting values one must choose the course of action that will maximize the positive values and minimize the disvalues.
Talk about twisting the meaning of a phrase!
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
The Vatican releases APOSTOLIC LETTER ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE
The whole document is at the Vatican website:
A proposed addition to the traditional pattern
19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.
The whole document is at the Vatican website:
A proposed addition to the traditional pattern
19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Today is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila
Some of her writings are available online at St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Some of her writings are available online at St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Monday, October 14, 2002
From the Blessed George Preca's online page
Spirituality
Another Marian devotion that our Founder treasured was the Holy Rosary. In order to encourage everyone to recite the rosary, he used to say: “Our Lady waits for our Rosary even up till midnight!”. For him, the Rosary was not only a vocal prayer, but also a prayer of a meditative and contemplative nature. This can be seen clearly in his writing called The Mysteries of Light. A rapid glance at these mysteries will clearly show us that they do differ a lot form the ones we are used to. The first mystery is when Our Lord was baptized at the Jordan; the second consists in meditating the events of Christ’s miracles; the third, when Jesus Christ taught the Beatitudes; The fourth about Our Lord’s transfiguration; and the fifth is about the Last Supper.
Spirituality
Another Marian devotion that our Founder treasured was the Holy Rosary. In order to encourage everyone to recite the rosary, he used to say: “Our Lady waits for our Rosary even up till midnight!”. For him, the Rosary was not only a vocal prayer, but also a prayer of a meditative and contemplative nature. This can be seen clearly in his writing called The Mysteries of Light. A rapid glance at these mysteries will clearly show us that they do differ a lot form the ones we are used to. The first mystery is when Our Lord was baptized at the Jordan; the second consists in meditating the events of Christ’s miracles; the third, when Jesus Christ taught the Beatitudes; The fourth about Our Lord’s transfiguration; and the fifth is about the Last Supper.
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