Monthly Archives: March 2006

EXCERPT:
One of the purposes of a season of penance is interior purification. By giving up things that are good, we take control of our appetites and passions in preparation for what is to come. We experience a liturgical diminishing in Lent so that Easter can be more joyful. Since only the pure may enter into the Beatific Vision, in order to have the joy of heaven, we must be purified of our attachments to sin and perfected in love. This purification must begin in our earthly lives and, provided we die in the state of grace, may continue purgatory. In our collect we acknowledge this necessity of purity before seeing the face of God. Our collect today points to the reason why we are taking on ourselves the yoke of penance. At the same time, our seeing the Lord and the Lord’s own image (intuitus/aspectus) transform us and make us better able to bear the burden. Perhaps a good supplement to a lenten discipline this year would also be frequent visits to a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for perpetual adoration. As Richard of St. Victor said: “Love is the eye and to love is to see.” Look upon Him who was pierced for us and let Him transform your spiritual landscape. He is waiting for us both within and without. Read More →

EXCERPT:
So, why substitute ieiunium with observatio?? What is going on?

It just occurred to me that Pope Paul VI in 1966 published an Apostolic Constitution (the most weighty legal document a Pope promulgates). It was called “Paenitemini” and it concerned how and why Catholics were to practice penance and mortifications. With Paenitemini Paul VI shifted the emphasis of penance from mere physical practices to also an interior spirit of penance. Read More →

EXCERPT:
One of the meanings of secundum found in the prestigious Lewis & Short Dictionary is “agreeably to, in accordance with, according to”. Remember that largire is an imperative of a deponent verb, not an infinitive. The famous verb cogito is more than simply “to think”. It reflects deeper reflection, true pursuit in the mind: “to consider thoroughly, to ponder, to weigh, reflect upon, think”. Read More →

EXCERPT:
RAD TRAD VERSION
Let us pray. Look down upon Thy household, O Lord,
and grant that our minds may be made glow [sic] by the desire of Thee,
which have been chastened by the tormenting of their bodies

Okay. I have nothing against slavishly literal translations in order to get to the foundation of the prayer’s content. But this version can be of little use to us other than as a starting point for a deeper examination. This is just wrong in several ways. Castigo is not “torment” as much as it is “to set right by word or deed, to correct, chastise, punish; to blame, reprove, chide, censure, find fault with”. In its roots it means to “correct, set right, mend”, not “torment”. The rad trad version, the source of which I am not quite sure, seems imbued with a weird Janesistic tinge.
Read More →

EXCERPT:
Today’s prayer was the Secret of the Mass for Ash Wednesday according to the older, “Tridentine” Missale Romanum. It is also an ancient prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary. Interestingly, in the Gelasian this prayer comes after a whole series of prayers over penitents in the rites for doing public penance. Here we read how the penitent on Ash Wednesday would dress in cilicium (an amazingly scratchy and uncomfortable garment of goat’s hair). He would go to church, prostrate himself on the ground before the bishop who would pray over him, and he would do penance until Holy Thursday when he would be reconciled. Read More →

EXCERPT:
Even though this is a prayer during Mass sacramentum here refers not just to the sacrament of the Eucharist, but also its ancient meaning: the forty-day long discipline of Lent which mysteriously bonds Christians and Christ more closely together. The whole season of Lent is a transforming mystery, a “sacrament”, during which our practices have consequential effects: they bring us into the mystery of the dying and rising Jesus. This transforming bond with Christ is brought about through denial of self and good works for others, penitential mortification and works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal. In Lent the words of the Baptist must ring in our ears daily, even hourly: “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30). When He increases in us, we are more who we are supposed to be. Thus, we have to make “room” for Him by our self-denial. Read More →