A Dr. John Mason Neale translation for the Feast of the Annunciation

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The Annunciation by Waterhouse

The God whom earth and sea and sky

adore and laud and magnify,

whose might they own, whose praise they swell,

in Mary's womb vouchsafed to dwell.

The Lord whom sun and moon obey,

whom all things serve from day to day,

was by the Holy Ghost conceived

of her who through his grace believed.

How blessed that Mother, in whose shrine

the world's Creator, Lord divine,

whose hand contains the earth and sky,

once deigned, as in his ark, to lie.

Blessed in the message Gabriel brought,

blessed by the work the Spirit wrought;

from whom the great Desire of earth

took human flesh and human birth.

O Lord, the Virgin-born, to thee

eternal praise and glory be,

whom with the Father we adore

and Holy Ghost for evermore.

Words: attributed to Fortunatus, sixth century;

Trans. John Mason Neale, 1854 

Tune: Puer nobis nascitur

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Feast of St. Gabriel: Mark Frank on Lady Day; Holy, Holy, Holy (Jeremy Taylor)

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The Annunciation, illustration to Jeremy Taylor's 'The great exemplar' (London, 1657)

Many years ago I would take texts from the writings of Anglican Divines that would augment my private keeping of the Sarum Kalendar, and to it I would add other Feast Days such as that of St. Gabriel the Archangel likewise looking to the Caroline Divines in particular for such readings.  Mark Frank was the Caroline Divine who extolled the Blessed Virgin Mary more than even Lancelot Andrewes, and it is in one of his Lady Day (Annunciation) sermons that we read:

"She was an immaculate and unspotted virgin: and to whom do virgins’ chambers lie open at midnight but to angels? God sends no other thither at that time of night; and that that time it was, may well be conjectured from Wisdom xviii:14-15: ‘When all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty Word came down from heaven;’ then, it seems, was the time of her conception, - of Christ’s coming to her; before whom immediately the Angel came to bring the message that he was a-coming, if, as S. Bernard says, he were not come already."

It is not possible to include the entire sermon here, but all of the sermons by Mark Frank and those of the other Caroline Divines are foundational to understanding the Anglican Patrimony of which Pope Benedict XVI wrote.

Also upon the Feasts of St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, I endeavoured to pray the following by Jeremy Taylor, another Caroline Divine of the Anglican Church:

LL Angels and Archangels, 
all Thrones and Dominions, 
all Principalities and Powers, 
the Cherubins with many eyes, 
and the Seraphins covered with wings 
from the terror and amazement of thy brightest glory: 

These and all the powers of Heaven do perpetually sing praises and never-ceasing Hymns, and eternal Anthems to the glory of the eternal God, the Almighty Father of Men and Angels.

Holy is our God: Holy is the Almighty: Holy is the Immortal:  

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God of Sabaoth, 

Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory Amen. 

With these holy and blessed Spirits I also thy servant, O thou great lover of souls, though I be unworthy to offer praise to such a majesty, yet out of my bounden duty humbly offer up my heart and voice to joyn in this blessed quire, and confesse the glories of the Lord. 

For thou art holy, and of thy greatnesse there is no end ; and in thy justice and goodnesse thou hast measured out to us all thy works.

Thou madest man out of the earth and didst form him after thine own image: thou didst place him in a garden of pleasure, and gavest him laws of righteousnesse to be to him a seed of immortality.

O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse: and declare the wonders that he hath done for the children of men.

Jeremy Taylor

Holy Living, 1650, p. 379

Pope Leo XIII: To Thee, O Blessed Joseph

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A prayer to St. Joseph by Pope Leo XIII:

TO thee, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. Through that charity which bound thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which thou embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to graciously regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with thy power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be propitious to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness; and, as once thou rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and thy aid, we may be able to live piously, to die holy, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort's "Hail Joseph"

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Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer, pray for us.

Among the versions of "Hail Joseph" most widely known is that written by St. Louis Marie de Montfort. I am not aware of the saint writing anything else with regard to St. Joseph, but in this one prayer he packs tremendous insights:

     Hail Joseph the just, 

     Wisdom is with you; 

     blessed are you among all men 

     and blessed is Jesus, 

     the fruit of Mary, your faithful spouse. 

     Holy Joseph, 

     worthy foster-father of Jesus Christ, 

     pray for us sinners 

     and obtain divine Wisdom for us from God, 

     now and at the hour of our death. 

     Amen.

     

Solemnity of St. Joseph: Hymn to the Holy Family

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On this Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I am reposting my "Hymn to the Holy Family".

Hymn to the Holy Family

For the Holy Family of Walsingham

Mother of mercy, peace, and love,

Thy Child is God come from above.

As Christ thou lovest we would too

In all we ponder, say or do.

Joseph the Guardian, brave and wise,

Nothing was hidden from thine eyes.

By dreams the Lord God guided thee

May we follow with constancy.

Father of Jesus, God Most High,

Thy love so great brought Our Lord nigh,

Thy Child, thy gift to free a slave,

Gave thee his Life the world to save.

A child for us, Friend crucified,

Arisen, present by our side,

Victim and Priest, Oh Mystery!

Lord Jesus Christ, we worship thee.

Glory to God, Father of lights

And to the Son, Lord Jesus Christ,

And Holy Ghost the Comforter:

One God in glory for ever.

CreativeCommons (cc) 2005 by Vincent Uher.

Original Suggested Tune: CORNISH by M. Lee Suitor

(For this tune, see Hymn 256 in The Hymnal 1982/Hymnbook 1982)

A splendid hymn tune has been written for this text by Catholic composer Noel Jones.

Additionally this text has been sung to hymn tunes by the late Calvin Hampton.

Austin Farrer: Of Heaven and Resurrection [Anglican Patrimony]

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During the Season of Lent it is important not to lose sight of the Doctrine of Heaven rooted as it is for us in the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ours is always a faith in the Resurrection of Christ even as we recall his sorrows, suffering, and passion.  

Below is an excerpt from a book by the late Anglican divine, Austin Farrer.  For those well acquainted with that stream in Anglicanism that includes C.S. Lewis, the name of Austin Farrer almost always follows after mention of C.S. Lewis.

The following is an excerpt from Austin Farrer's classic Saving Belief :

1. To hope for heaven has nothing particularly selfish about it.  No one ever thought he could keep heaven to himself.

2. Heaven is not a cash payment for walking with God; it's where the road goes.

3. Heaven isn't an optional extra; our belief is nonsense without it.

4. Our reason for believing it isn't that nature points to it, but that it leads us to itself.

I should like to develop the last point a bit.  Heaven is nothing that created nature produces; it is a new creation.  Two consequences follow from this.  The first is, that we have no interest in trying to isolate a piece of us called 'soul', which tends to outlive the body's collapse.  Our immortality is the new gift of God, not the survival of our old nature, whether in whole or in part.  

It was pagan Greeks who talked about immortal soul; and with reason; for (to put it shortly) they thought the human spirit was a piece of godhead, able to guarantee immortal being to itself.  The religion of the Bible teaches no such doctrine.  God alone can give us a future.  It is better, then, to talk about the resurrection of man than about the immortality of 'soul'. 

Belief in resurrection is belief not in ourselves, but in God who raises us.  It is in fact the acid test, whether we believe in God or not.  A God who raises the dead is a real power; he is not just a fanciful name for the order of nature, whether physical or moral.  A God so identified with the natural order that he adds nothing to it is difficult to distinguish from the world he rules, or from the laws which govern it.

Old Indian thought evaded the issue by making the cycle of the soul's rebirths a part of nature, like the seasons and the tides.  And as the lazy mind need not distinguish the God of the tides from the tides, neither need it distinguish the cycles of rebirth from the God of the cycles.  But when we realise that man's person, the living image of God, is bound to be sucked down in the whirlpool of decay, unless God rescues it; then faith in God begins to mean something.  It alters the whole picture.

Austin Farrer

Austin Farrer

Saving Belief .

pp. 120-121

Library of Anglican Spirituality, Susan Howatch, ed.

“Born in 1904, the son of a Baptist minister, Austin Farrer was ordained an Anglican priest and served in Oxford as chaplain and fellow of both St Edmund’s Hall and Trinity College before becoming Warden of Keble College, a post he held until his death in 1968. Austin Farrer was a renowned preacher, philosopher, and biblical scholar as well as being regarded for his humour, originality, eloquence and deep spirituality. His life was rooted in prayer. —from The Diocese of Oxford, Church of England."

Farrer wrote, ‘Prayer and dogma are inseparable. They alone can explain each other’.

Praying for Cardinal Di Nardo, A Prayer of Saint Patrick

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I join with many others in praying for Daniel Cardinal Di Nardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, who suffered a minor stroke last Friday during the Stations of the Cross.  

The following is one of the prayers of Saint Patrick which I offer for Cardinal Di Nardo and for all:

May the Strength of God pilot us.

May the Power of God preserve us.

May the Wisdom of God instruct us.

May the Hand of God protect us.

May the Way of God direct us.

May the Shield of God defend us.

May the Hosts of God guard us.

Against the snares of the evil ones,

Against temptations of the world.

May Christ be with us.

May Christ be before us.

May Christ be in us,

Christ be over all.

May Thy Salvation, Lord,

Always be ours,

This day, O Lord, and evermore.

Amen.

In the desert of life, deliver us, O God.

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O God, deliver us from the darkness of mind, heart, and soul,

and shield us from the assaults of the evil one;

for the love of your only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Novena for St. Joseph (11 March through 19 March)

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Today is the start of the Novena to St. Joseph, the Guardian of the Redeemer.

SAINT Joseph, defender and father of Virgins, unto whose faithful guardianship were committed Christ Jesus, very Innocence, and Mary, Virgin of virgins: I pray and beseech thee by Jesus and Mary, thy dearly beloved charge, that thou wouldst preserve me from all uncleanness; and make me with undefiled mind, and in purity of heart and soul, ever to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. Amen.

from The Saint Ambrose Prayer Book
The Very Revd Father John G. Winfrey, editor
Lancelot Andrewes Press
First Edition, 2008

A Novena Prayer prayed by the late Mother M. Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA:

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you. You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants. Therefore I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the divine Will. Be my guide, my father, and my model through life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special grace I now implore:

(Mention your request).

Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers in my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.

T.S. Eliot: "Forgive us, O Lord, we acknowledge..."

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Forgive us, O Lord, we acknowledge ourselves as type of the
                 common man,
Of the men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire;
Who fear the blessing of God, the loneliness of the night of God,
the surrender required, the deprivation inflicted;
Who fear the injustice of men less than the justice of God;
Who fear the hand at the window, the fire in the thatch, 
        the fist in
        the tavern, the push into the canal,
Less than we fear the love of God.
We acknowledge our trespass, our weakness, our fault; we
        acknowledge
That the sin of the world is upon our heads; that the blood of the
        martyrs and the agony of the saints
Is upon our heads.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Blessed Thomas, pray for us.

Conclusion: Murder in the Cathedral

T. S. Eliot

A Prayer for the Suffering

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O God, the Father of all look down in pity on those who suffer, and heal the anguish of the world; release from the prison-house all held in the bondage of fear and set free such as are bound by the fetters of disease, whether of soul or body. Do Thou care for the desolate, give rest to the weary, comfort the sorrowful, watch by the sleepless, and to those who lie untended in their sickness grant the gentle ministry of Angels, to supply their needs and relieve their pain. Visit with Thy great compassion all in their last agony and bring them in peace and safety into Thy Paradise of love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

O Lord, save the World

A hymn by Genevieve Mary Irons (1855-1928)

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There are many female authors of hymns outside the Catholic and Orthodox churches.  Genevieve Mary Irons is an English hymn writer whose work has found favour with Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans and others.  Her 1884 volume of hymns 'Corpus Christi' included hymns having to do with the Eucharist and the gift of Holy Communion and was for a time a very popular devotional volume.

Today few of her hymns make it into modern hymnals, but verses from the following text are found in the newest Service Book of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in North America showing that an awareness of her writing gift continues to this day. I include the text below because it seems a good devotional companion to Lent worthy of contemplation and prayer.

Drawn to the Cross which Thou hast blest,

With healing gifts for souls distrest,

To find in Thee my Life, my Rest,

Christ crucified, I come.

Stained with the sins which I have wrought

In word and deed and secret thought;

For pardon which Thy Blood hath bought,

Christ crucified, I come.

Weary of selfishness and pride,

False pleasures gone, vain hopes denied,

Deep in Thy wounds my shame to hide,

Christ crucified, I come.

Thou knowest all my griefs and fears,

Thy grace abused, my misspent years;

Yet now to Thee, for cleansing tears,

Christ crucified, I come.

I would not, if I could, conceal

The ills which only Thou canst heal;

So to the Cross, where sinners kneel,

Christ crucified, I come.

Wash me, and take away each stain,

Let nothing of my sin remain;

For cleansing, though it be through pain,

Christ crucified, I come.

To share with Thee Thy life divine,

Thy very likeness to be mine,

Since Thou hast made my nature Thine,

Christ crucified, I come.

To be what Thou wouldst have me be,

Accepted, sanctified in Thee,

Through what Thy grace shall work in me,

Christ crucified, I come.

Genevieve Mary Irons

1855-1928