Cardinal Arinze: Do Not Kill

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A video interview with Cardinal Arinze after the canonisation of St. John Paul II.  It should be of special interest for Catholics in the English-speaking nations:

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Liturgy for the late Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church

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The video embedded below is from the Burial Liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church offered for the late Patriarch of Antioch and All the East , H.H. Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas.  

In Paradisum ...

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Recommendation

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I am blest by reading Orthodox Priest Alvin Kimel's "Eclectic Orthodoxy" blog. 

In my opinion any blog that frequently contains quotes from St. Jacob of Sarug and St. Isaac of Nineveh is worthy of reading.

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This is not a 'tweet' : this is the Truth

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"You live in a deranged age, 

more deranged than usual, 

because, in spite of great scientific 

and technological advances, 

man has not the faintest idea 

of who he is 

or what he is doing." 

Walker Percy 

(1916-1990)

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Martyr St. George, pray for us.

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Saint George's Feast Day and other patronal feasts from last week were (for the most part) transferred to today the Monday after Low Sunday (Divine Mercy).

May the Blessed Trinity in Unity bestow upon every Christian the courage and valour of St. George to overcome every malevolent bearer of evil. May we all share in the triumph of the Risen Christ and build up the Kingdom through the testimony of our lips, the thoughts of our hearts, and the works of our hands.

Above a Christian doorway in Bethlehem

A Collect for the Feast of Saint George

O GOD, who didst grant to Saint George strength and constancy in the various torments which he sustained for our holy faith; we beseech Thee to preserve, through his intercession, our faith from wavering and doubt, so that we may serve Thee with a sincere heart faithfully unto death. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Faithful servant of God and invincible martyr, Saint George, you were favoured by God with the gift of faith and inflamed with an ardent love of Jesus Christ; you fought valiantly against the dragons of pride, falsehood, and deceit; neither pain, torture, sword or death deterred you from your love of God.

Honorable Saint George, I implore you for the sake of your great love of Jesus to help me by your intercession to overcome the temptations that surround me and to cope bravely with the trials that oppress me. Pray that I will patiently carry any cross that is placed upon my shoulder, and that neither stress, worry, pain or illness will separate me from the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Valiant champion of the Faith, Saint George, assist me in my combat against evil so I may win the crown promised to those who persevere to the end.

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Jezu ufam Tobie : Jesus, I trust in Thee

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I thought I would share some of my favourite images of the Divine Mercy.  Like St. Faustina I have found many of Divine Mercy images rather disappointing.  The three images below are three I especially like — two are ikons and one is an engraved image.  May they bless those who view them and draw us closer to the Lord Jesus, the Divine Mercy.

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Clark's new Mass: St. John Paul II

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The video below includes a recording of Richard J. Clark's new setting of the Sanctus from his new Mass in honour of Saint John Paul II:



An article by the composer about his mass setting may be read HERE.

Saint John Paul, pray for us.

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Jesu Confido Tibi

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The Divine Mercy: Jezu ufam Tobie

This 2011 image of the Divine Mercy is by a young artist who goes by the name Theophilia.  Her work is inspired with a fresh vision that draws from some contemporary drawing conventions as well as the deep wells of the Church's visual traditions. I am looking forward to the years ahead as she continues to grow and refine her artistic gift.

You will notice that she has placed a watermark on her images so as to protect her work from thieves. I hope you will support her work by purchasing an image if you are able. I am especially taken with her images of the Evangelist St. Mark and St. Luke the Evangelist.

Click here to visit her website (on the DeviantArt megasite) where you can see her images and find instructions on how to order copies of her artwork.

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Saint John Paul II

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Now it is official that 2 Popes of the 20th c. have been enrolled among the saints of the Church at a Canonisation Mass concelebrated by 2 Popes.  It would be hard to find our more radically different men yet each bearing the same burden as Vicar of Christ. Saint John Paul II taught me more than any other the joy and the cost of following the Lord Jesus Christ. 

How many non-Catholics read Veritatis Splendor, his other major works, and even the smallest of meditations and found the door of the Catholic Church opening wide as the Polish pontiff bade us welcome and called out to us to come in through the Doors of the Church to Christ and with Christ and for Christ.  May the doors of the Church and the doors of our hearts ever be opened to Jesus Christ who insistently and sweetly says to each of us, "Be not afraid."

Saint John Paul the Great, intercede for us.

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Fighting Back: Stopping AGENDA 21

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This may help some of you in the USA to understand what is going on with the federal Bureau of Land Management and the attempted land grabs of the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and of territory in Texas.

The video embedded below is of a presentation by Rosa Koire given in Denmark regarding the enormous danger of the U.N.'s Agenda 21.  Once you know what Agenda 21 is, you must do what you can to educate others and to fight it any way you can.

Yes, we fight.  As a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified and Risen Lord, I fast and pray for the unmasking of the powers that would enslave us all within the darkness of the Fallen.  

To do so I will find myself in common cause with those like Rosa Koire who do not believe what I believe to be true in religion – I may have nothing in common with them but a love of liberty and a belief in human freedom – but the natural law at work within them will recognise the same Evil and malevolence at work that I see. We can work together to fight the evils that beset us.  

Click here for a video in which Rosa Koire is up front about who she is and then presents the truth about Agenda 21 to a Tea Party Patriot meeting group. 

Be sure to read Rosa Koire's book "Behind the Green Mask".    Koire is the founder of Democrats Against Agenda 21.  Another of her websites is The Post-Sustainability Institute.

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West Syriac Syro-Malankara Catholic Mass

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The divisions among the St. Thomas Christians of India are bewildering to the neophyte seeking to understand how they came to be.  As one Mar Thomite recently said to me, "We are the ruins of a great Church after its desolating encounter with Catholic and Protestant Europeans and a plague of Middle Eastern mischief that left each man to his own tent."  This friend of mine is one who wants to see all St. Thomas Christians reunited and using their original East Syriac rites and Syriac chants - a small but growing movement among the many splintered churches.   

By way of example of the confusing situation,  the actual celebrations of the Holy Qurbana of the Syro-Malabar rite are all over the place from Latinised pre-Vatican II to Latinised 'in the spirit of Vatican II' to those using the full revised rites that return to the Syriac origins of the Church.  

One can find YouTube videos of every sort all called "Syro-Malabar" and indicating clearly what the various levels of Latinisation (especially that of 'the spirit of Vatican II') have done to make a muddle of the rite.  [It is the young who are doing the heavy lifting now for the re-sourcing of the Syriac roots of the Syro-Malabar's East Syriac origins but they have an uphill battle against that rather wicked 'spirit' of Vatican II.]

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is another major body of St. Thomas Christians in Communion with Rome who lost their original rites not to Latinisation but to importation of the West Syriac rites of the Jacobites.  Today the Syro-Malankara rite is essentially West Syriac-Antiochene but has a number of local elements unique to its own liturgical order.

I am no expert but I feel much more at home with the average sort of Syro-Malankara celebration than a Syro-Malabar latinised Mass with 'inculturated' music that is more Bollywood than Syriac chant.  

But whenever the Syro-Malabar rite with Syriac chants is celebrated with serious attention to bringing forth the Mar Thoma Nasrani heritage (and suppressing the centuries of latinisations and eliminating those forced by the 'spirit of Vatican II') ... ah, it is a most beautiful thing to behold.  And I am blessed to worship with such a group of Syro-Malabarese Catholics from time to time.

The following video shows part of the Syro-Malankara Holy Qurbana celebrated in Malayalam, and this particular video is thought to be one of the better ones out there depicting this rite because its celebrant is the well-beloved Father Aji Puthoor — would that it had been the entire Qurbana recorded! :

St. Thomas the Apostle, pray for us.

Ut omnes unum sint!

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The Blessings of the Syro-Malabar Holy Qurbana

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Click on the photo above to see an
Oshana Njayar (Palm Sunday) procession
from the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

This afternoon I am ruminating upon the Syro-Malabar rite of the Catholic Church of the Malabar Syrians and that concluding portion of the beautiful text of its Holy Qurbana (Eucharist).  

Although the Syro-Malabar rite has a long way to go in recovering its authentic Syriac chant, the text itself is profound as it is ancient.

I have always been especially impressed that this sacred liturgy has two different forms for concluding the Holy Qurbana.  One form is for everyday use, and the other is for Sundays and Feasts of the Syro-Malabar liturgical calendar.

Always deeply moving is the Celebrant's final farewell to the Holy Altar at the conclusion of the holy liturgy. The translation below is a faithful attempt at translation of the holy text.  


Concluding Prayers

(On Sundays and Feast Days)

Celebrant
Lord, our God! It is right and just at every moment and in all seasons to offer praise, worship, and thanksgiving to Your Glorious name. In Your great compassion, though we are weak, You made us worthy, to relish the sweetness of Your life-giving and divine words, to glorify Your name with the angels, to partake in these holy mysteries You have given us, and to sing constantly hymns of praise and thanksgiving to You, Most High: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lord of all, forever.

Congregation
Amen, Bless us, O Lord!

Celebrant 
Christ who is our Lord and God, King, and Savior, and Life-Giver, in His mercy has made us worthy to receive His sanctifying and precious Body and Blood. May He bless us, so that we may please Him through our thoughts, words, and deeds. Lord! In Your immense mercy, may the covenant we have received from You be for the remission of debts and for the forgiveness of sins, great hope for the resurrection of the dead and new life everlasting in heaven with all those who found favor in Your presence. Lord of all, forever.

Congregation 
Amen.

The Mar Thoma
Nasrani Cross

(On ordinary days)

Celebrant
Lord, Our God! In your mercy, You have given us these glorious, holy, life-giving, and divine mysteries for the forgiveness of sins. We are bound to offer Your Most Blessed Trinity everlasting praise and honor, thanksgiving and adoration for this gift. Lord of all, the Father, the Son, and, the Holy Spirit, forever.

Congregation 
Amen. Bless us, O Lord!

Celebrant 
Christ, hope of mankind! You have forgiven our debts, sins, and offences through this glorious, holy, life giving, and divine mysteries. May this adorable gift from on high be blessed! Lord of all, forever.

Congregation 
Amen.


Final Blessing

(On Sundays, Feast Days, and days of commemoration)

Syro-Malabar priest
blessing the congregation

Celebrant 
God, our Father, has blessed us with every grace through Jesus Christ. Our Lord has invited us to His Kingdom and has led us to imperishable and everlasting happiness. In His life-giving Gospel, He said to his disciples: "Amen. Amen. I say to you. Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood, will live in me and I in him. I will raise him up on the last day. He will not be subject to condemnation. Rather, he will enter from death into eternal life." In accordance with this promise, may the Lord bless and protect this congregation that has partaken of this Holy Qurbana. May we, who joyfully participated in these glorious, holy, life-giving, and divine mysteries, be crowned with glory. Now, + always and forever.

(Final Prayer on ordinary Days)

Celebrant 
We have praised, honored, and ministered to Our Lord Jesus Christ  through these glorious, sacred, lifegiving and divine mysteries. May He make us worthy of the glory of His kingdom, eternal happiness with His holy angels, and joy in His divine presence. May He enable us to stand at His right hand  in heavenly Jerusalem. May He bestow His mercy and blessings on us, on the whole world, and on the holy Church and all her children. Now, + always and forever.

Congregation 
Amen.

Celebrant
(In a low voice) Praise to you, altar of sanctification! Praise to you, the sepulchre of Our Lord! May the Holy Qurbana that I have received from you, be for me unto the forgiveness of my debts and the remission of my sins. I know not, whether I shall come again to offer another sacrifice.

(The celebrant kisses the altar).

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