And specially, from euery shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The holy blissful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.
( Chaucer – Canterbury Tales – Prologue).
29 December St Thomas of Canterbury
Patron of the English Pastoral Clergy
This reflection was written to explore, to renew, and to re-commit my life as a member of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in light of the liturgical memorial of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (whose feast is celebrated by the Latin Church today. It’s also published on one of the Facebook groups of the Order.
The opening collect for the liturgical memorial of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist reads:
O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word: Grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvelously brought to our ears.
The Church’s prayer elicits for me two things: 1.) am I a protagonist in sharing Divine Revelation and Tradition with those in the Church and with those who have fallen away from the practice of Catholic faith, and 2.) has my understanding of the Good News taken firm root in myself so as to be a witness to the noble ideal that the Grand Master spoke of in the Jerusalem Cross (October 2021)?
The Apostle who is called the Beloved Disciple knew so well, Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation; as God-Man Jesus is love par excellence. The image of John resting on the breast of Jesus comes to mind. But how does that image impact me? Benedict XVI told us St. John’s work was to demonstrate that “the essential constituent of God is love and hence, that all God’s activity is born from love and impressed with love: all that God does, he does out of love and with love, even if we are not always immediately able to understand that this is love, true love” (Audience, 9 August 2006).
In the same audience the emeritus Pontiff said the “precept to which John refers, Jesus presents his own Person as the reason for and norm of our love: ‘as I have loved you.’ It is in this way that love becomes truly Christian: both in the sense that it must be directed to all without distinction, and above all since it must be carried through to its extreme consequences, having no other bounds than being boundless.”
The feast of St. John the Apostle ought to be one of the points of our reflection today to renew our commitment to know and to live more abundantly a life of conversion, vocation, and mission as knights and dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The Apostle teaches us to be in love, to act in love, and to be missionary of Love.
Cardinal Filoni wrote in the spirit of “as I have loved you.”: “As an Order that has a constitutive commitment to the Holy Land, we must ceaselessly re-evoke the two aspects of our commitment: the ecclesiological dimension of our work, which delineates the horizon of the commitment itself, and the personal spiritual and charitable dimension, which renders us the protagonists of our work which is never mediocre or mechanical.”
In Thomas à Kempis’ famous late Middle Ages book, The Imitation of Christ, wrote:
“The love of Jesus is noble and generous: it spurs us on to do great things, and excites us to desire always that which is most perfect. Love will tend upwards and is not to be detained by things beneath. Love will be at liberty and free from all worldly affections… for love proceeds from God and cannot rest but in God above all things created. The lover flies, runs and rejoices, he is free and not held. He gives all for all and has all in all, because he rests in one sovereign good above all, from whom all good flows and proceeds” (Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter V, 3-4).
A fun fact for today’s feast: we bless wine on the feast of St. John the Apostle. The blessing of wine is sign of God’s love for us.
Happy Christmas and Happy Feast.
This evening reflection on the Nativity of our Lord and Savior leads me to a friend’s Christmas card of this year which bears the poem of Oratorian Father and author Wilfrid Faber. Indeed, Father Faber is a terrific and powerful poet who exercised his ministerial priesthood with warmth and insight. Join me in celebrating he birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dear little one! how sweet thou art, Thine eyes how bright they shine, So bright they almost seem to speak When Mary’s look meets Thine.
How faint and feeble is Thy cry, Like plaint of harmless dove, When Thou dost murmur in Thy sleep Of sorrow and of love!
When Mary bids Thee sleep thou sleep’st Thou wakest when she calls;
Thou art content upon her lap,
Or in the rugged stalls.
Simplest of babes! with what a grace Thou dost Thy Mother’s will! Thine infant fashions will betray The Godhead’s hidden skill.
When Joseph takes thee in his arms, And smooths thy little cheek, Thou lookest up into his face
So helpless and so meek.
Yes! Thou art what Thou seems’t to be, A thing of smiles and tears;
Yet Thou art God, and heaven and earth Adore Thee with their fears.
Yes! dearest Babe! those tiny hands That play with Mary’s hair, The weight of all the mighty world This very moment bear.
Art Thou, weak Babe, my very God? O, I must love thee then,
Love Thee, and yearn to spread Thy love Among forgetful men.
– Father Wilfrid Faber, Cong. Orat. (1814–1863)
Behold a new and wondrous mystery.
My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.
Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed; He had the power; He descended; He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.
And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.
Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech.
For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.
What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.
Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.
Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature.
For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.
What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.
For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit that He may save me.
Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.
Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things are nourished, may receive an infants food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.
To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, we offer all praise, now and forever. Amen.
The following reflection was written for members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and published on one of the Facebook groups of the Order.
In a week’s time we will be celebrating the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A fact. An experience of Faith. The Fathers of the Church teach us that the Incarnation means that God Who is incomprehensible and inexpressible lowered Himself in His mercy taking human nature to not only restore what Adam lost, but to offer us the possibility of our participation in His divine nature. This participation is what we call theosis.
Here is something for us to think about as we prepare for the Nativity of the Lord. There’s a Divine promise contained in the event of the Incarnation. The following homily for Advent delieverd by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) notes for us the contours of the promise.
“We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible.“In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.
“In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him [Jn. 14:23].
“There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God’s word. Where is God’s word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.
“Keep God’s word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength.
“Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.
“If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son with the Father will come to you. The great Prophet who will build the new Jerusalem will come, the one who makes all things new. This coming will fulfill what is written: As we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly man. Just as Adam’s sin spread through all mankind and took hold of all, so Christ, who created and redeemed all, will glorify all, once he takes possession of all” (Office of Readings, Wednesday, First week of Advent).
St. Bernard’s theological reflection can be said as follows:
~First Coming – Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem;
~Second Coming – Spiritual coming of the Lord to each believer, sacramentally;
~Third Coming – Jesus coming again at the end of the world.
In what ways does what St. Bernard impact our our lives as members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre? Hopefully, it re-orients how we live the reality of our sacramental life, and to give good witness to the Good News. As Knights and Dames of Holy Sepulchre we may want to consider what we are looking forward to on December 25th and in the Octave that follows.
Advent is a time of waiting for the Messiah: we wait for God to come into our lives, in reality. Christmas teaches us that sentimentality isn’t the goal, but the Infinite God is. The Word made flesh, the Incarnation, is the center of time and energy today.
However busy or distracted you might be in the coming days before Christmas, take note of what St. Bernard says about the coming of the Messiah, and the think about promise it contains for us. It is not merely a theological reflection, it is an experience.
Take courage, live in peace.
Artwork: The Nativity by Marco Foppoli, a heraldic artist and illustrator living and working in Brescia, Italy.
“This important Marian feast occurs during Advent, a season of watchful and prayerful preparation for Christmas. She who knew better than anyone how to wait attentively for the Lord guides us and shows us how to make more vital and active our journey to the Holy Night of Bethlehem. With her, we spend these weeks in prayer and, guided by her bright star, hasten to make the spiritual journey that will lead us to celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation with greater intensity.”
~St. John Paul II, Angelus on 8 December 1998
O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God’s sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion, for ever and ever, world without end. Amen.
St Ephrem (306-373)
Here are some things on Dorothy Day
Blessed are the Poor (Hallel Institute, 2016)
We have the liturgical memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop, confessor and doctor of the Church.
Ambrose is quite an interesting person and one we ought to think about more often. His personal history is daunting to wrap the mind around: a convert, a motivating speaker, a provocative thinker, a reformer of civil and ecclesiastical works, an author, a composer (the Te Deum), a zealous preacher and valiant defender of the Christian Faith, a worker of miracles, a man of virtue, and a man of the people. He is the saint the Holy Trinity has given us, he is the saint I want and the one I need.
As said before in this forum that saints beget saints, one great example is that Ambrose baptized Augustine.
He was fast-tracked to the ministry of bishop. I merely point this fact out because he was acclaimed to be bishop of Milan prior to be baptized. One biographer noted that “He accepted holy Baptism from an Orthodox priest and, passing through all the ranks of the Church clergy in just seven days, on December 7, 374 he was consecrated Bishop of Mediolanum [Milan].” Today’s feast, hence, doesn’t commemorate a saint’s death as most often happens saint’s memorials, but Ambrose’s feast is on the day he was consecrated to the episcopal order.
Reading up on St Ambrose I realized that I hope this happens to me: St Ambrose, who departed to the Lord on the night of Holy Pascha. What better day than to make one’s transitus to the Lord of Life than that of the day we celebrate Easter! His death on Pascha encapsulated all that he believed, preacher and loved.
The Church’s liturgical hymns are key in our forming our own theological heart and mind. Below the Troparion and Kontakion tells us what the faithful and the magisterial church believe when thinking of Saint Ambrose.
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you.Hierarch Father Ambrose, entreat Christ our God that our souls may be saved. (Troparion)
You shone forth with divine doctrine eclipsing the deception of Arius, shepherd and initiate of the mysteries, Ambrose.you worked miracles through the power of the Spirit, healing various passions; righteous father, entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy. (Kontakion)
Today I am praying for two monk-friends named for Ambrose, the Parish of St Ambrose and its pastor in North Branford, Connecticut, the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation whose origins is that of the Diocese of Milan and the Benedictine monks who colonized just outside the City of Milan. AND I am praying for my honey bees and fellow CT beekeepers.
Today is the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia.
The Byzantine Church honors Nicholas in several beautiful texts. This one taken from the sticheron from the Lamp-Lighting Psalms, teaches us:
“What crowns of praise shall we confer upon the saintly Nicholas? Once present in the flesh in Myra, he is present in spirit to all who love him purely. He is the leader and defender of everyone, a comforter in distress, and a haven of all in danger, a pillar of piety and conqueror for believers. For his sake, Christ overcame enemies and shows us great mercy!”
Nicholas has captured the imagination of many through the years because of charity which morphed into gift-giving. He’s not remembered in popular culture as a teacher of the Christian Gospel, or the holy bishop who faithfully served the Divine Mysteries, or for saving the innocent from death, or calming storms, nor challenging the false teachers. And yet, he’s more than all these things. He allowed the Lord to speak eloquently through his life and thus comes to us in 2021 as a friend and disciple of the Lord Jesus.
Would that we could live and act as Nicholas did in the face of false teaching by a life of virtue and charity, by listening to sacred Scripture, and by worthily receiving the Divine Mysteries (the sacraments)? We prayerfully ask St. Nicholas to beg Jesus Christ to save us.
As Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre it seems that to be renewed for mission we have to consider what one of St. Nicholas’ biographers wrote of him:
“In serving the Lord the youth was fervent of spirit, and in his proficiency with questions of faith he was like an Elder, who aroused the wonder and deep respect of believers. Constantly at work and vivacious, in unceasing prayer, the priest Nicholas displayed great kind-heartedness towards the flock, and towards the afflicted who came to him for help, and he distributed all his inheritance to the poor.”
What more can be said of our eucharistic vocation and mission as members of the EOHSJ? What more can asked of us than to be keen witnesses of St. Nicholas in the world today? May we, in fact, have our sins forgiven and be brought one day into perfect communion with the most holy Trinity.
St. Nicholas, pray for us.
The diocesan phase of the cause for canonization of the Servant of God Dorothy Day closes officially on December 8, 2021. The Archdiocese of New York will now send the gathered documentation to the Holy See’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Holy Mass will note this advancement will be offered by Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 7:30 p.m. on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The diocesan work for the Cause was overseen by an army of people (circa 100) coordinated by the Dorothy Day Guild: George Horton and Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, vice postulators, members of the Ignatian Volunteers, Day’s granddaughter Martha Hennessy and supported by the current and previous two archbishops of New York. The collaboration had the goal of keeping the process local and simple so that it abided with the focus that Day had in life.
Just to give you a sense of the work in gathering Dorothy’s written work: it measures 32 square feet. No doubt that what Day communicated contributed to the conversion of countless people.
And so we pray for God’s grace in this proposal of Dorothy Day being recognized as a saint. In the spirit of Day, we are all called to be saints. As Day loved the saints, so we ought to be real saints.
Servant of God Dorothy Day, pray for us.
