The Galveston Carol: Nativity

J+M+J

"Glory be to God on high!"
the angels surely sang,
And shepherds in the fields
stood amaz-ed by the sign.
"Go and see God's own Child
with his mother meek and mild.
He's the Lord's own anointed.
He's Christ of whom we sing.
He's your Friend and your Brother and your King!"

Now with haste we go with them,
To David's city blest,
To Bethlehem where Christ is born
As prophets long confessed.
Come and see God's own Child
with his mother meek and mild.
He's the Lord's own anointed.
He's Christ of whom we sing.
He's our Friend and our Brother and our King!

At the crib we bend the knee
Astounded at the sight.
A carpenter who with his wife
presents a boy of Light.
Glory be! God the Child!
See, his virgin mother smiled!
He's the Father's beloved
He's Christ of whom we sing.
He's our Friend and our Brother and our King!

Small and frail and in her arms
we know for us he came.
For common folk he'll die and live
And take us home again.
Hope and joy come to you
And the love of Jesus too!
All our hearts we will give him,
His glory we will sing.
He's our Friend and our Brother and our King!

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Words: Copyright © 1997 by Vincent Uher.
Music: The Wassail Song (Here we come a-wassailling among the leaves so green)

 

Of Holy Innocents

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J+M+J

In the Church after Christmas we remember a horror in which King Herod killed all the little boys of Bethlehem. We do not focus on Herod on this occasion but rather we focus on the little boys: we call it the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

I always pray for innocent children who have been murdered in peace time or war time during the past year. I intend to remember the little children in Connecticut by name. They are all safe in God's arms of Divine Mercy, but this is little comfort to the living on Earth who have seen the face of the Fallen Angel in an act of complete human depravity. Yet with time the reality that the little ones and all innocents are safe with God does help the survivors to go on if they have faith, but it will be difficult if not a lifelong work to continue on and to struggle with the unanswerable.

We have little background for dealing with the Face of the Fallen Angel when it appears in the eyes of a human traitor to humanity. But as Elie Wiesel advised after the Holocaust:  one must not lose faith -- no matter how impossible faith seems -- because otherwise Evil would win yet another victory, and Evil must not win at our own hands.

So for all who struggle with faith or grieve the innocents, I bid you Peace to your heart, the Peace that surpasses our human understanding, the Peace that is eternal life in the Living God who loves us all and waits for us with open arms... to dry away the tears of Earth, to restore what was stolen, to heal what was broken, and to renew in perpetuity the bond of love and life between the human and the Divine.

It is the Child Jesus who makes this hope of heaven a reality.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
The Peace fo the Lord be always with you.

+Veni Emmanuel!

Radio Walsingham Online

J+M+J

You are invited to enjoy traditional Advent and Christmas music from around the world -- programmed by me -- on RADIO WALSINGHAM: 

http://www.live365.com/stations/walsinghamtexas 

... as you work at your computer or engage in the various tasks of the day.  

The Lord be with you!

A Holy Adventide 

& A Happy, Blessed and Merry Christmas to All!

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Rachel weeping for her children

The Piano Guys: O Come, O Come

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Prayer to God and His Saints

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Some will recall this prayer from a small collection entitled "A little book of prayers from Old English Sources" edited by Dom F. Aidan Gasquet and published by the Catholic Truth Society.  More recently Templegate republished the volume in 1996 as Ancestral Prayers: Prayers in common use before the Norman Conquest of 1066 and in the centuries following.

This ancient prayer from before A.D. 1066 is an excellent aid in contemplation of the Judgement of God under which every soul shall pass.

PRAYER TO GOD AND HIS SAINTS

O Almighty and Holy Trinity, one God, whom I adore, whom I love, whom I confess, hear my humble prayer; enter into my heart and blot out my numberless sins.

And, because I have nothing good upon which I may rely, first and before all things do thou intercede for me, O Holy Mary, ever a Virgin, that I may deserve to be heard and find eternal salvation.

Come to my assistance also, O thou most honoured Prince of the Angels, Saint Michael, with all the host of heavenly powers.

And thou, Abraham, too, Patriarch beloved of God, who as a similitude of the Father didst offer thy son Isaac to Him, for which thing in thee all the nations of the earth are blessed, mayest thou and may all the other patriarchs pray that I may daily offer my soul to Christ.

Be at my side also, O David, prophet, king, and psalmist, who even as a boy didst overthrow the giant Goliath with a stone.  Do thou, with all the other holy prophets, drive far from me the everlasting foe.

O glorious Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, by the memory of thy high glory, do thou with the other Apostles, those lights of this earth, who seated upon the twelve thrones will judge the world, do you help me, that in the Judgement Day my lot may not be found with the wicked.

May the choir of Holy Innocents, slain for the Infant Jesus, intercede beneath the throne of the Lamb of God for me.

O thou glorious and illustrious through every age, Saint Stephen, and you, all ye crimsoned ranks of martyrs, by your intercession help to wash me from every stain of sin.

Amen.+

An Anglican Office of Our Lady

With the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception yesterday and the Second Sunday of Advent today I am reposting The Office of Our Lady and encouraging its use among Anglicans and Catholics of Anglican identity.  It is very much part of the contemplation of the four last things that should occupy our thoughts and meditations during the season of Advent ... and especially of the contemplation of Heaven -- to which we are each called by name -- Heaven which broke into our world through the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[Recently I read someone opine that there was no Anglican Little Office of the Blessed Virgin for the Ordinariates to use.  At face value one could say such a thing, but it would not be the whole story.  There are many little Offices of Our Lady of Anglican provenance.  Should one take time to gather them together they would indeed form a kind of Anglican Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.  By way of example, the following is "The Office of Our Lady" from Cambridge Offices and Orisons, 1921 arranged by Eric Milner-White and BTD Smith:]

THE OFFICE OF OUR LADY

V.  O God, make speed to save us ;

R.  O Lord, make haste to help us.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Alelluia.

HYMN.

O GLORIOUS Maid, exalted far

Beyond the light of burning star,

From him who made thee thou hast won

Grace to be Mother of his Son.

That which was lost in hapless Eve

Thy holy Scion did retrieve :

The tear-worn sons of Adam's race

Through thee have seen the heavenly place.

Thou wast the gate of heaven's high Lord,

The door through which the Light hath poured.

Christians rejoice, for through a Maid

To all mankind is life conveyed !

Amen. 

[English Hymnal 215.]

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

MAGNIFICAT.

  + MY soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

  For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.

  For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessèd.

  For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.

  And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.

  He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

  He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.

  He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.

  He remembering his mercy hath hoplen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

CHAPTER. (REV. xii. 1.)

THERE appeard a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

R.  Thanks be to God.

V.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  He set the royal crown upon her head ;

R.  And his banner over me was love.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  Behold the handmaid of the Lord ;

R.  Be it unto me according to thy Word.

V.  The Lord be with you.

R.  And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to be a dwelling-place for thy Son ; Grant that we who rejoice in her commemoration may at her tender intercession be kept unspottèd, and made a pure temple for his dwelling ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

V.  The Lord be with you ;

R.  And with thy spirit.

V.  Let us bless the Lord ;

R.  Thanks be to God.

The Uniate Impulse

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On the whole the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham is very well done.  This posting of mine is about a problem to be found in it but should not be construed as a negative judgement of the book.  There is an enormous amount of laudable substance to the Customary and the labour taken to put it together is likewise praiseworthy.

My concern is for the Uniate impulse which is on display in this book and the approved liturgies of the Ordinariates.  As Pope John Paul II taught us clearly, the Uniate impulse to Romanisation is to be avoided, and each proper portion of the Church is to authentically live out its charism... returning ad fontes as necessary.  By way of example, it is a great tragedy to lose O Sapientia on December 16th -- which is established ancient English rubric -- and likewise lose "O Virgo virginum" in order to follow the Latin rite system beginning December 17th.  If you exist to preserve the Anglican liturgical heritage, then preserve it for heaven's sake.

Sadly, the Uniate impulse is on display elsewhere in these liturgical efforts.  After lengthy inquiry into why the Ordinariate has chosen to abandon the traditional Anglican wording of the Gloria Patri in favour of a form widely used by some English speaking Latin-rite Cathoics, I have repeatedly been told it is so that English speaking Catholics will be saying the same form of the Gloria Patri.  In other words, we are aping Rome albeit in English non-Anglican translation.

Rather ridiculous if the above were true. Were this a substantial principle then we would not have "And with thy spirit" but rather "And with your spirit."  There would be no need for an Ordinariate.

There are those who say the traditional Anglican form has not been abandoned but is permissible.  Although true it is also incredibly misguided.   The very heart of what Pope John Paul II began and what Pope Benedict has continued is that the unique character and essential forms should be brought into the Church without change from those outside the normative Latin rite.  No Anglican prayer book uses the Gloria Patri as translated in the Ordinariate texts and as such it is not Anglican in origin as a matter of text.

The issue appears to be that someone somewhere simply does not like the Anglican "Holy Ghost" and has systematically tried to erase it.  I have been told again and again that this is not the case.

So, if everyone is telling me the truth, then obviously this one Uniatish error is open for correction in future books.  The unique original Anglican forms must be used.  Variations from that belong in permissible rubrics.

For Anglicanorum coetibus to be taken seriously ... the Anglican Prayer Book forms must be used as they appear in the official books and texts held in common by those people called "Anglican" or "Episcopalian" if the claims being made for the Ordinariates are to be taken seriously by those outside of the Church (not to mention those inside the Church who are still debating whether or not the Ordinariate is for them).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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It really isn't possible to divine the agenda that would drive the elimination of an obvious traditional Anglican way of speaking about God and relegating it to the permissible rubrics.  It is, of course, insulting to anyone who claims this tradition in its traditional expression as their own living faith.  So what could be at work?

Others have observed that there is a generational issue at work in the avoidance of "Holy Ghost".  If one is 'older' sometimes there is a feeling that "Holy Ghost" references Caspar the Friendly Ghost or American "Halloween".  This is understandable but a mistaken concern.  The culture is obsessed with ghosts and ghost hunters.  It is actually the prime time to raise up the reality of the Third Person of the Trinity as the Holy Ghost -- who is more than able to drive away anything that goes bump in the night.

Second, the New Age teachers and movements speak of "Spirit" or "the Spirit" or "holy Spirit" all the time.  This is not the same as "Spiritus Sanctus"and it makes abundant plain sense to differentiate the claims of Catholic Christians from the terms and claims of the New Agers.  "Holy Ghost" is plainly the Christian deity. "Spirit" or "the Spirit" could reference almost anything, and it is a tragedy to give up unique and clear language for the Third Person of the Godhead because of misplaced concerns and a failure to think in terms of evangelical engagement of the terms being used in the culture.

"Holy Spirit" clearly means "Holy Ghost" when used by Catholics.  But non-Christians also speak of "holy Spirit" at times. As for Anglican identity people -- especially in North America -- "Holy Ghost" should not be excised or replaced in any traditional Prayer Book text.  I can only hope that the good folk of the Ordinariates in their private deliberations in crafting these new books and texts will reverse course on this, avoid the Uniate impulse, and return to use of the Anglican terms and forms as they are found in their traditional expression.

All that being said, there is good work in the Customary.  I am still praying that the first drafts of the marriage and burial liturgies will either be redrafted entirely or that they will add a simple rubric permitting use of the texts that appear in the current Book of Divine Worship.   Hope never fails, and seeing good work and good intent in the Customary, one can hope for better in the future as the texts develop.
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Thomas Traherne: Centuries No. 99

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Thomas Traherne: Centuries No. 99

This sense that God is so great in goodness, and we so great in glory, as to be His sons, and so rich as to live in communion with Him, and so individually united to Him, that He is in us, and we in Him, will make us do all our duties not only with incomparable joy but courage also. It will fill us with zeal and fidelity, and make us to overflow with praises. For if which one cause alone the knowledge of it ought infinitely to be esteemed. For to be ignorant of this, is to sit in darkness, and to be a child of darkness: it maketh us to be without God in the world, exceeding weak, timorous, and feeble, comfortless and barren, dead and unfruitful, lukewarm, indifferent, dumb, unfaithful. To which I may add, that it makes us uncertain. For so glorious is the face of God and true religion, that it is impossible to see it, but in transcendent splendour. Nor can we know that God is till we see Him infinite in goodness. Nothing therefore will make us certain of His Being but His Glory.

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Is This Child Dead Enough

If you voted for President Obama, please read this article.  If you are a citizen of the USA, please read this article.  If you have friends who are U.S. Americans, please read this article.  Read and share far and wide:

American Immorality is at Its Peak: 

Is This Child Dead Enough for You?

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Read this article

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Read this article:

Man in Vegetative State Communicates with Doctors via MRI

It is wonderful to know that it is possible, but it is also haunting in that one cannot help but wonder what would have been learned from the martyr Terri Schindler Schiavo.

As the article notes, the textbooks will need to be rewritten.

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From Thomas Traherne

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12.

By corrupting themselves and turning after vanity they have Blinded the world and me in like manner.  Thick Darkness covereth the Nations, and Gross Darkness the people. which is chiefly contracted by their Inventing and following other Treasures, for by magnifying Riches of their own Devising, they have Covered the Treasures of Innocent Eden, forgotten the Delights of God, Buried in oblivion themselves and the world; Eclipsed the clear and open Joys of True Felicity.

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Customary Blessings

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The Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham has finally made its way into my hands, and I congratulate the British Ordinariate on producing a handsome edition of a daily prayer book.  It is typeset not like The Book of Common Prayer but rather in a format that is a sibling of the ASB, Celebrating Common Prayer, and Common Worship.  

It is clearly a book of blessings for those who will use it.  In the form of a customary these forms of prayer remain open for correction, expansion, and editing in a future common volume for the (former Anglican) Ordinariate Catholics.  That is a very good thing.

I do not think it is the best book possible, but it is an excellent book, a most excellent book.  It is hampered by a calendar that has a long way to go before it is the sort of Kalendar that fully embraces the ancient British saints -- to highlight one deficiency.  The choice of readings from 'Anglican worthies' is perhaps the strongest point of the Customary in my opinion, and I hope the idea will be expanded broader ways in whatever future volumes are published.

I am glad to see plainchant included although as a musician I disagree with some of the ways in which the chant is adapted to English.   But my objections are very few, and I pray this customary will be a harbinger of the complete recovery of the body of Sarum chant within the Ordinariates in both Prayer Book English and Latin.

After I have had more time to live and pray with the customary, I will reflect upon it in a future post.  For now I congratulate the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham for publishing a fine volume for local use within its Ordinariate boundaries.  I especially commend them for not trying to cover everything and do everything that might be done in such a volume.  It reads in some ways as a prospectus for the future and as such is a truly positive contribution.

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From St. Faustina's Writings

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The Lord Jesus said to St. Faustina:

Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:

All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day.

Message given to St. Faustina
Diary of Divine Mercy, n. 83

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Ave Maris Stella • Eleanor Daley

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Our Lady of Walsingham

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A Blessed Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham

to all who love Our Lady!

+Ave Stella Maris!

Father Andrew • Anglican Patrimony

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Lord, I was made for Thee,
So let me rest
Not otherwise than on Thy breast.
Let the pure thought of Thee
Quiet my mind,
In Thy dear Heart my heart
Its haven find.
Yea, let myself, this little soul,
Come to so great a goal.
For though of clay Thou madest me,
My clay was touched with Thine eternity,
And I am 'restless till I rest in Thee.'

Father Andrew

Prayers of Father Andrew

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GeneticRouletteMovie.com

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This is a must watch film for those who live in the USA and those who eat foods from the USA:

www.GeneticRouletteMovie.com

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Anglican Hymnody

Hymns Ancient & Modern
New Standard, No. 61, p. 349

Text: Latin, before 9th cent.
tr. J. Chandler (1806-76)

Christ is our corner-stone,

on him alone we build ;

with his true saints alone

the courts of heaven are filled :

on his great love

our hopes we place

of present grace

and joys above.

O then with hymns of praise

these hallowed courts shall ring ;

our voices we will raise

the Three in One to sing ;

and thus proclaim

in joyful song,

both loud and long,

that glorious name.

Here, gracious God, do thou_

for evermore draw nigh ;

accept each faithful vow,

and mark each suppliant sign ;

in copious shower

on all who pray

each holy day

thy blessings pour.

Here may we gain from heaven

the grace which we implore ;

and may that grace, once given,

be with us evermore,

until that day

when all the blest

to endless rest

are called away.

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Pray for Gara Hopkins, age 7

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Please pray for Gara Hopkins and her family.  They are evangelical and the little girl has stigmata.  The state has taken the child from the family, and the family is begging the help of the local Catholic Archdiocese.

   

Read the story please

on Spirit Daily here.

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East Syrian Anamnesis

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A composite translation based upon the Urmiah edition of the Anaphora of Mar Theodore

As Vadakkel notes the repeated use of "and" is typical of Syriac and is one of the features that argues for this Anaphora of Mar Theodore being a Syriac original rather than a translation from the Greek as was once supposed.  This very unique narrative of the institution of the Eucharist and words of consecration are not known by many, and I hope, dear reader, that you will find in them an ancient witness to the living tradition of the Syriac Christians whose voice is distinct and whose euchology is beautiful.

And with His holy Apostles in that night in which He was betrayed, He celebrated this great and holy and divine mystery, taking the bread in His holy hands.  And He blessed and broke, and gave it to His disciples, and said,

This is My Body 

which is broken for the life of the world 

for the remission of sins.  

Likewise, after the same manner He gave thanks over the chalice, and gave it to them, and said, 

This is My Blood of the New Covenant 

which is shed for the many 

for the remission of sins.  

Therefore, take, all of you, and eat of this Bread and drink of this Chalice.  Do this whensoever you gather together for the remembrance of me.*

And as we have been commanded, so we Thy lowly, weak and miserable servants have gathered together, that by freedom of Thy grace we may celebrate this great and awful and holy and divine mystery, wherein great salvation was wrought for the whole human race, offering up glory and honour and thanksgiving and worship unto the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost now and at all times and for ever and ever. 

The priest or bishop signs the mysteries and the faithful answer,

Amen.

__________

* my memorial, my living memorial, my remembering, my anamnesis

See a similar translation on page 9 of Prayers from the East by Bryan D. Spinks, The Pastoral Press, 1993

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An Anglican Office of Our Lady

Recently I read someone opine that there was no Anglican Little Office of the Blessed Virgin for the Ordinariates to use.  At face value one could say such a thing, but it would not be the whole story.  There are many little Offices of Our Lady of Anglican provenance.  Should one take time to gather them together they would indeed form a kind of Anglican Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.  By way of example, the following is "The Office of Our Lady" from Cambridge Offices and Orisons, 1921 arranged by Eric Milner-White and BTD Smith:

THE OFFICE OF OUR LADY

V.  O God, make speed to save us ;

R.  O Lord, make haste to help us.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Alelluia.

HYMN.

O GLORIOUS Maid, exalted far

Beyond the light of burning star,

From him who made thee thou hast won

Grace to be Mother of his Son.

That which was lost in hapless Eve

Thy holy Scion did retrieve :

The tear-worn sons of Adam's race

Through thee have seen the heavenly place.

Thou wast the gate of heaven's high Lord,

The door through which the Light hath poured.

Christians rejoice, for through a Maid

To all mankind is life conveyed !

Amen. 

[English Hymnal 215.]

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

MAGNIFICAT.

  + MY soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

  For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.

  For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessèd.

  For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.

  And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.

  He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

  He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.

  He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.

  He remembering his mercy hath hoplen his servant Israle : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

CHAPTER. (REV. xii. 1.)

THERE appeard a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

R.  Thanks be to God.

V.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  He set the royal crown upon her head ;

R.  And his banner over me was love.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  Behold the handmaid of the Lord ;

R.  Be it unto me according to thy Word.

V.  The Lord be with you.

R.  And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to be a dwelling-place for thy Son ; Grant that we who rejoice in her commemoration may at her tender intercession be kept unspottèd, and made a pure temple for his dwelling ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

V.  The Lord be with you ;

R.  And with thy spirit.

V.  Let us bless the Lord ;

R.  Thanks be to God.

Old Maronite Prayer Before Mass

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beseech thee, O God, cleanse me that I may approach thine holy Altar without stain, for I am an unworthy servant.  I have sinned and transgressed before thee and am not fit to come nigh to thine Altar and thy mysteries.  But mindful of thy loving-kindness and compassion, O Clemency, O Mercy, O thou who lovest men, I implore thee to look with mercy upon me.  Grant that I may keep myself in thy presence, now and at all times ; grant that the grace of thine Holy Spirit may come upon me and wash away my sins.  Sanctify this offering and through it give pardon of faults and remission of sins to those for whom I would pray : to my father and my mother, and to all those living and dead who have been joined with me and have shared my sorrows, and to all the faithful.  Remember them, O Lord, in thy kingdom, and lead them among the saints and the just who have accomplished thy will by their good works ; through the intercession of Our Lady, Mother of Light, of Saint John the Baptist, and of all the Saints.  Amen.

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A Bishop's Wisdom

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An excerpt from a letter to his diocese by Bishop Daniel R. Zenky, CSC:
  

It has never been easy to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, our Savior warns that the world will hate us if we love Him. The attacks of this world, the flesh and devil seem particularly ferocious in this current moment. Several months ago, I asked that we not lose sight of the spiritual nature of this battle when I directed that the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel should be invoked at every Sunday Mass for the protection of the Catholic Church in America. I now ask us to re-double our spiritual efforts through devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

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Bishop Ricken's Assumption Homily

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Urgent Request for Silverstream Priory

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All young religious foundations go through stresses and strains especially when it comes to money in the summertime.

Please come to the aid of Silverstream Priory in Stamullen, Ireland.  I invite you to read the Father Prior's blog at the link below:

Urgent Request

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Assumption: The English Missal

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The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin Mary, by Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci; from the Gradual of Santa Maria degli Angeli, ca. 1370, now in the British Library.

Introit. Rev. 12:1. Signum magnum. 

A great wonder appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Ps. 98:1. O sing unto the Lord a new song: for he hath done marvellous things. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. A great wonder appeared in heaven . . . 

The Collect. 

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst assume the immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of thy Son, in body and soul to heavenly glory: grant, we beseech thee; that we, ever setting our affections on things above, may likewise be partakers of that glory in the world to come. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. Judith 13:22-25;15:10. 

The Lesson from the book of Judith. 

The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because through thee he hath brought our enemies to nought. O daughter, blessed art thou of the most high God, above all the women upon the earth. And blessed be the Lord, who hath created the heavens and the earth, who directed thee to the wounding of the head of the prince of our enemies; because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart from the mouth of men which remember the power of the Lord for ever, for whom thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast averted our ruin, in the presence of our God. Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people.

The Gradual. Ps. 45:11-12,14. Audi, filia. 

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear, so shall the king have pleasure in thy beauty. V. All glorious the king's daughter entereth in, her clothing is of wrought gold.

Alleluia. Maria est assumpta. 

Alleluia, alleluia. V. Mary is taken up into heaven: the host of Angels rejoiceth. Alleluia.

The Gospel. Luke 1:41-50. 

The Continuation of the holy Gospel according to Luke. 

At that time: Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things, which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour; for he hath rejoiced in the lowliness of his handmaiden, for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name, and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Offertory. Gen:3:15. Inimicitias ponam. 

I will put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and her Seed.

Secret. 

Let this oblation of our bounden duty ascend unto thee, O Lord, and, at the intercession of the most blessed Virgin Mary, whom thou hast assumed into heaven, may our hearts, enkindled with the fire of thy love, continually long after thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

(And that on the Assumption . . .) 

Communion. Luke 1:48-49. Beatam me. 

All generations shall call me blessed, for he that is mighty hath done to me great things.

Postcommunion. 

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord: that we, who have received this Sacrament of our salvation; may, through the merits and intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, whom thou hast assumed into heaven, be brought unto the glory of the resurrection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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VIgil of the Assumption

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The Falling-Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary  

INTROIT. Vultum tuum. Ps. 45.
THE rich among the people shall make their supplication before thee: the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company and shall be brought unto thee with joy and gladness. Ps. ibid. My heart is inditing of a good matter: I speak of the things that I have made unto the King. Glory be.

COLLECT.
O GOD, who didst vouchsafe to choose the Virgin womb of blessed Mary wherein to make thy dwelling-place: grant, we beseech thee; that we, being defended by her protection, may of thee be enabled to attain with gladness to her coming festival. Who livest and reignest with the Father.

The Epistle. Ecclesiasticus 24.17
As the vine brought I forth pleasant savour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge, and holy hope. I therefore, being eternal, am given to all my children which are named of him. Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits. For my memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than the honeycomb. They that eat me shall yet be hungry: and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty. He that obeyeth me shall never be confounded, and they that work by me shall not do amiss. They who seek me out shall have eternal life.

GRADUAL.  

Blessed and worshipful art thou, O Virgin Mary who a maiden undefiled, hast our Saviour for thy Child. V. Virgin Mother of God, the whole world cannot contain him: yet made man for our sake, hidden he lies in thy womb.

The Gospel. St Luke 11.27
At that time: It came to pass as Jesus spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him: Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said: Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.

OFFERTORY.  

Blessed art thou, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Creator of all things: thou didst give birth to thy Maker, and for ever remainest a Virgin.

SECRET.
GRANT, O Lord, that, like as thou didst take the blessed Mother of God from this life, to the intent that she might faithfully make intercession before thee for the remission of our sins: so now her prayers may render these our oblations acceptable in the sight of thy mercy. Through the same.

PREFACE OF THE B.V.M.  Preface, page B47, The People's Anglican Missal.

COMMUNION.  

Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, that bore the Son of the everlasting Father.

POSTCOMMUNION.
GRANT, O Lord, we pray thee, the protection of thy mercy to the frailty of our mortal nature: that we, who here prevent the festival of the holy Mother of God; may by the help of her intercession die to our former sins, and rise again to newness of life. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

+ Ave Maria!

Dormition and Assumption of the God-bearer

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O GOD, who hast taken to thyself the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of thine incarnate Son: Grant that, through her intercession, we who have been redeemed by his Blood may share with her the glory of thine eternal kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

An Anglican Use Collect for the Assumption of St. Mary the Virgin

Our Lady of the Pew, Westminster Abbey

O GOD, who as on this day didst take to thyself the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of thy Son: Grant that we who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of thy eternal kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, 1929, Scotland

Collect for the Falling-Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary

PRAYER AFTER THE OFFICE

In respect of which Pope Leo X. has granted to all persons who, after saying the Office, shall devoutly recite it on their knees, forgiveness of the shortcomings and faults of human weakness committed by them in saying the Office.

TO the most holy and undivided Trinity:
To the Manhood of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified:
To the fruitful Virginity 

     of the most blessed and most glorious Mary, ever-virgin:
And to the whole body of all the Saints:
Be praise everlasting, honour and glory from all creatures:
And to us the forgiveness of all our sins. World without end.  

R. Amen.

V. Blessed be the womb of the Virgin Mary which bore the Son of the Eternal Father.

R. And blessed be the breasts that nursed Christ the Lord.

V. Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven.  

R. Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

V. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.   

R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.

 + Ave Maria!