The Virtual Abbey

The Advent season begins tonight, with the reading of this evening's prayers. It took me a while to figure out that in the Catholic church, there is no such thing as Saturday night. There is Sunday Night I and Sunday Night II. Sunday lasts from late Saturday afternoon to late Sunday night. I guess Jimmy Buffet's observation that "there's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning" isn't really true after all -- or perhaps is truer than we know.

We also change from the Green Liturgy of the Hours to the Blue.

Out with the green . . .

In with the blue . . .

The Psalter also resets to Week I, as we are beginning a whole new liturgical year.

UPDATE: Actually, something arrived for me from the Vatican's bookstore today. Rather than Blue, I think we'll use the red vinyl edition.

This is, of course the Liturgia Horarum, the Latin edition of the Liturgy of the Hours. Starting tonight with evening prayer, we'll try to celebrate all of Advent in the official language of the church. I ordered it a few weeks ago, figuring I'd have it by now, but it is shipped from Vatican City, so it took a little time. It arrived in timely fashion today.

It will be difficult, slow and halting at first. But I will make progress as the Church progresses toward the birth of the Lord.

UPDATE 2: Yes, whenever I think of the Vatican's mail service, it makes me think of Hudson Hawk, where Bruce Willis infiltrates the Vatican to steal the DaVinci codex by mailing himself to the Vatican in a box. They don't have that scene on YouTube, but they do, of course, have Swingin' on a Star.

Enjoy.

Today's Gospel:

Matthew 24:37-44

For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

The great Jesuit missionary to India and Japan.

Ora Pro Nobis.

Although he lived in the eighth century, he is styled as one of the Church Fathers for his remarkable sermons, including a series on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is still read today.

He was the chief financial officer for the Caliph in Damascus, which gave him a close-up view of Islam. It did not engender in him much love for Islam; he viewed it as a form of Arian heresy. It is a remarkable testment to how tolerant Islam used to be, that a man of such views could write and work, and not be put to death; today one cannot even mistakenly name a teddy bear after the prophet without a sword being brandished, never mind criticize him.

Ora pro nobis.

Make a visit to the Grotto before the game, and get a plenary indulgence. Be sure to dress warm, though, because South Bend in February can be quite brisk.

No, the Pope is not (necessarily) a Notre Dame basketball fan. But next year is the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, and those who visit Lourdes (under the normal circumstances -- which is to say, being in a state of grace, after confession, Mass, plus a pious meditation, the Lord's prayer, a Profession of Faith, and a Marian invocation), will receive a plenary indulgence.

Now you may say that Notre Dame is not Lourdes. You are correct. But as the Decree of the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Stafford, sets out:

B.-if, from February 2, 2008, on the Presentation of the Lord, up to the complete day of February 11, 2008, in the liturgical memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes and 150th anniversary of the Apparition, devoutly visit, in any temple, oratory, grotto, or decorous place, the blessed image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes, solemnly exposed to public veneration, and take part before the same image in a pious exercise of Marian devotion, or at least remain for a certain amount of time in pious meditation, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and a Marian invocation.

The grotto at Notre Dame is a 1/7th scale replica of the grotto of Massabielle at Lourdes, complete with statue, and thus appears to fulfill the second condition of the indulgence.

Looking at the schedule, the only game that falls into the windows of the indulgence is DePaul, on February 2.

As with any Notre Dame sporting event, you may want to fulfill the tasks of the indulgence before the game, as Notre Dame's sports teams have an unfortunate habit of making their fans leave the state of grace during the game.

Let's just be thankful the indulgence didn't fall during football season.

I kid . . .

Feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day.

Imagine the privilege of being a saint who is perenially associated with Christmas. Though veneration of St. Nicholas has taken on many strange forms, and many things have grown up in the legends around him (the home at the North Pole, the ability to miraculously visit every household in the world in one night, flying reindeer, elves, et al.), it is because of who the Saint was in reality that he is venerated -- the fact of his life forms the grain of sand around which the pearl of legend grows. So much magic is associated with him because truly, to give of oneself is magical. Nicholas did not make toys in a magic workshop, the gifts he gave to the people of Myra were from the things in life he denied himself. That is where true magic comes from -- caring for others before ourselves.

In the Litany of Saints, St. Nicholas follows St. Martin and is listed before Bishops and Confessors, Doctors of the Church, Saint Anthony, and the great monastic saints, so he is esteemed very highly by the Church, and rightly so.

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancte Nicolae.

Laudem Gloriae links to a fascinating story of a Spanish exorcism conducted by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea. What is remarkable is that the story is told by a skeptical Spanish journalist who becomes convinced that it is all very much real as the exorcism process unfolds.

I've read Fr. Fortea's book on the topic of exorcism, which is an interesting read. What I didn't know is that he also has a website, and a blog.

St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, and Bishop of Milan. The teacher of St. Augustine, and steadfast opponent of the Arian heresy. Noted rhetorician, writer, and preacher. St. Augustine was converted by hearing his sermons and baptized by him.

In the Litany of the Saints, he follows St. Gregory the Great, and precedes St. Augustine, and so is second of the first four doctors of the Church listed in the litany, the fourth being St. Jerome. This group of four saints is ranked above St. Martin and St. Nicholas, whose feast was yesterday -- not that the Litany is a precise ranking of saints, but merely a useful order for considering them.

Ora pro nobis, Sancte Ambrosi.

I may not to get to blog this weekend as I am traveling. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I was hoping to blog about it, but I may not get a chance to. It is a Holy Day of Obligation in the U.S., so consider yourself warned. The wonderful thing about the Catholic church is that one can generally find a parish anywhere; I will be attending a vigil mass this evening.

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It was proclaimed as a matter of doctrine by Pope Pius IX in 1854, as explained here in the Catechism.

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

Today's reading from the office of readings is from a sermon by St. Anselm.

To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancti Dei Genitrix.

It's not everyday a Catholic Archbishop advocates an invasion to overthrow a government, or says that he's ready to lead the people, "guns blazing" to do so.

But in the case of the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, that's what it's come to.

Nonetheless, it was still jarring this summer to hear Archbishop Pius Ncube, the head of Zimbabwe's one million Catholics, openly call on Britain, the former colonial power, to invade the country: "I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe," he told Western reporters. "We should do it ourselves but there's too much fear. I'm ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready." But that may be slowly changing.

Stand Firm in Faith, which is one of my favorite sites, has the whole story. Be sure to read the whole thing. Fascinating.

The Feast of Pope St. Damasus I. He is best known for commissioning the Vulgate, translated by St. Jerome. His time as pontiff was not without controversy . . .

Pope Saint Damasus I was pope from 366 to 384.

Probably born near the city of Idanha-a-Nova (in Lusitania, Hispania), in what is present-day Portugal, or near the city of Guimarães (in what is present-day Portugal), in Gallaecia (now Galicia, Spain) under the Western Roman Empire, his life coincided with the rise of Constantine I and the reunion and redivision of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire as well as what is sometimes known as the Constantinian shift associated with the widespread legitimization of Christianity and the later adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Roman state.

Damasus I is known to have been raised in the service of the church of the martyr St. Laurence in Rome, and following the death of Pope Liberius, he succeeded to the Papacy amidst factional violence. A group of Damasus' supporters, previously loyal to the Antipope Felix II, attacked and killed rivals loyal to Liberius' deacon Ursinus, in a riot that required the intervention of Emperor Valentinian I to quell.

Damasus faced accusations of murder and adultery in his early years as pope. The neutrality of these claims have come into question with some suggesting that the accusations were motivated by the schismatic conflict with the supporters of Arianism. His personal problems were contrasted with his religious accomplishments, which included restoring the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, appointing the later-Saint Jerome as his personal secretary, creating (through Jerome) a standard Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, that replaced existing Vetus Latina, and translated from the original Hebrew instead of the Greek Septuagint, and presiding over the Council of Rome in 382, at which, according to Roman Catholic tradition and the 6th century document Decretum Gelasianum, the modern Catholic canon of scripture was first set down.

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancte Damase . . .

Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap. (Order of Friars Minor, Capuchin), of the Denver Archdiocese, reviews The Golden Compass.

I saw it at an 8:30 evening showing on Dec. 8. The theater was largely deserted. That may be a trend. While "The Golden Compass," released by New Line Cinema, ranked No. 1 in box office revenues on its opening weekend, it took in only a modest $26.1 million. The three "Ring Trilogy" movies grossed between $47 and $72 million on their respective opening weekends, and "The Chronicles of Narnia" had opening revenues of more than $65 million. In fact, secular critics have been less than kind to the movie, and for good reason. It's long, complicated, and despite a very gifted supporting cast and wonderful special effects, the story is finally lifeless. Much of the movie takes place in the polar north, and the iciness of the setting is a perfect metaphor for the chilly, sterile spirit at the heart of the story. Anyone expecting a playful children's fantasy would do well to look elsewhere. There is nothing remotely "playful" about this movie.

As many readers will already know, Philip Pullman is an atheist, and "The Golden Compass"--the first book in his trilogy "His Dark Materials"--is a calculated counter-story to Christian-based fantasies like "The Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia." "The Golden Compass" takes place in a parallel world similar to earth, but dominated by a sinister quasi-religious authority known as the Magisterium. This powerful elite seeks to "protect" people--for their own good--by shielding them from scientific knowledge, represented by the movie's mysterious cosmic dust and a truth-telling piece of technology called an "alethiometer" (or golden compass). More specifically, the Magisterium abducts young children and literally kills their souls, thereby extinguishing the spirit of free thought and inquiry.

The aggressively anti-religious, anti-Christian undercurrent in "The Golden Compass" is unmistakable and at times undisguised. The wicked Mrs. Coulter alludes approvingly to a fictional version of the doctrine of Original Sin. When a warrior Ice Bear--one of the heroes of the story--breaks into the local Magisterium headquarters to take back the armor stolen from him, the exterior walls of the evil building are covered with Eastern Christian icons. And for Catholics in our own world, of course, "Magisterium" refers to the teaching authority of the Church--hardly a literary coincidence. The idea that any Christian film critics could overlook or downplay these negative elements, as some have seemed to do, is simply baffling.

I am always heartened when I see a Bishop with the initials of a religious order after his name, especially one known for its strict fidelity like the Capuchins. While St. Francis could not have envisioned that his acolytes would one day be pressed into service as film critics, it is always good to see our current culture subjected to scrutiny by the serious minded.

Hat tip to Carl Olson at Ignatius Insight.

The ultimate Catholic bible reference site is now online, courtesy of the Vatican.

The biblical text is cross-referenced against the Church fathers, so one can see commentary about any passage in the Bible.

For example, I randomly chose an incident in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus heals a paralyic (Mark 2:1-12).

Then I hit Comment, which brings up:

St. Augustine, Sermon LXXV:

49 He cured the sick man, and told him to carry his couch, and go unto his house.50 And so too He said to the sick of the palsy whom He cured.51 What is it to carry our couch? The pleasure of our flesh. Where we lie in infirmity, is as it were our bed. But they who are cured master52 and carry it, are not by this flesh mastered. So then, thou whole one, master the frailness of thy flesh, that in the sign of the forty days’ fast from this world, thou mayest fulfill the number forty, for that He hath made that sick man whole, “Who came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil.”

11. Having heard this, direct your heart to Godward. Do not deceive yourselves. Ask yourselves then when it is well with you in the world ; then ask yourselves, whether ye love the world, or whether ye love it not; learn to let it go before ye are let go yourselves. What is to let it go? Not heartily to love it. Whilst there is yet something with thee which thou must one day lose, and either in life or death let it go, it cannot be with thee always; whilst I say it is yet with thee, loosen thy love; be prepared for the will of God, hang upon God. Hold thee fast to Him, whom thou canst not lose against thy will, that if it chance thee to lose these temporal things, thou mayest say, “The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done, blessed be the Name of the Lord.”

St John Chrysostom, from his sermon on the Hebrews:

Why said he not, of the world, instead of“the people”? for He bare away the sins of all. Because thus far his discourse was concerning them [the Hebrews]. Since the Angel also said to Joseph, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people.” (Mt 1,21). For this too ought to have taken place first, and for this purpose He came, to save them and then through them the rest, although the contrary came to pass. This also the Apostles said at the first, “To you [God] having raised up His Son, sent [Him] to bless you” (Ac 3,26): and again, “To you was the word of this Salvation sent.” (Ac 13,26). Here he shows the noble birth of the Jews, in saying, “to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” For a while he speaks in this way. For that it is He who forgives the sins of all men, He declared both in the case of the paralytic, saying, “Thy sins are forgiven” (Mc 2,5); and also in that of Baptism: for He says to the disciples, “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Mt 28,19)).

St Cyril of Jerusalem, from a sermon on faith.

8. Yea, so much power hath faith, that not the believer only is saved, but some have been saved by others believing. The paralytic in Capernaum was not a believer, but they believed who brought him, and let him down through the tiles34 : for the sick man’s soul shared the sickness of his body. And think not that I accuse him without cause: the Gospel itself says, when Jesus saw, not his faith, but their faith, He saith to the sick of the palsy, Arise35 ! The bearers believed, and the sick of the palsy enjoyed the blessing of the cure.

9. Wouldest thou see yet more surely that some are saved by others’ faith? Lazarus died36 : one day had passed, and a second, and a third: his sinews37 were decayed, and corruption was preying already upon his body. How could one four days dead believe, and entreat the Redeemer on his own behalf? But what the dead man lacked was supplied by his true sisters. For when the Lord was come, the sister fell down before Him, and when He said, Where have ye laid him? and she had made answer, Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he hath been four days dead, the Lord said, If thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God; as much as saying, Supply thou the dead man’s lack of faith: and the sisters’ faith had so much power, that it recalled the dead from the gates of hell.

And this is just the surface -- all the references to the passage in the Catechism are also linked.

I am going to be spending a lot of time there . . .

Hat tip to Domenico Bettinelli . . .

Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.

In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to a humble Native American at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now Mexico City. She identified herself as the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. She made a request for a church to be built on the site, and submitted her wish to the local Bishop. When the Bishop hesitated, and requested her for a sign, the Mother of God obeyed without delay or question to the Church's local Bishop, and sent her native messenger to the top of the hill in mid-December to gather an assorment of roses for the Bishop. After complying to the Bishop's request for a sign, She also left for us an image of herself imprinted miraculously on the native's tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay 476 years later and still defies all scientific explanations of its origin.

The church on the site is the most visited shrine in all of Christendom -- though it is not the original church.

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix.

Today is also the feast day of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, the founder of the Visitation order . . .

Baron de Chantal was accidentally killed by a harquebus while out shooting in 1601. Left a widow at twenty-eight, with four children, the broken-hearted baroness took a vow of chastity. In all her prayers she besought God to send her a guide and God, in a vision, showed her the spiritual director He held in reserve for her. In order to safeguard her children's property, she was obliged to go and live at Monthelon in the home of her father-in-law, who was ruled over by an arrogant and wicked servant. This was real servitude, which she bore patiently and gently for seven years. At last her virtue triumphed over the ill will of the old man and house keeper.

During Lent, 1604, she visited her father at Dijon, where St. Francis de Sales was preaching at the Sainte Chapelle. She recognized in him the mysterious director who had been shown her, and placed herself under his guidance. Then began an admirable correspondence between the two saints. Unfortunately, the greater number of letters are no longer in existence, as she destroyed them after the death of the holy bishop. When she had assured the future security of children, and when she had provided the education of Celse-Bénigne, her fourteen year old son, whom she left to her father and her brother, the Archbishop of Bourges, she started for Annecy, where God was calling her to found the Congregation of the Visitation. She took her two remaining daughters with her, the elder having recently married the Baron of Thorens, a brother of St. Francis de Sales. Celse-Bénigne, impetuous like those of her race, barred his mother's way by lying across the threshold. Mme de Chantal stopped, overcome: "Can the tears of a child shake her resolution?" said a holy and learned priest, the tutor of Celse-Bénigne. "Oh! no", replied the saint, "but after all I am a mother!" And she stepped over the child's body.

Ora Pro Nobia, Sancta Ioanna

Today is the feast day of St. Lucy, a Roman saint killed in the persecution of Diocletian, and patron saint of the blind, as this somewhat skeptical article in Catholic Online relates . . .

Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear, radiant, understandable." Unfortunately for us, Lucy's history does not match her name. Shrouded in the darkness of time, all we really know for certain is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.

Because people wanted to shed light on Lucy's bravery, legends grew up. The one that is passed down to us tells the story of a young Christian woman who had vowed her life to the service of Christ. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with a pagan. Lucy apparently knew that her mother would not be convinced by a young girl's vow so she devised a plan to convince her mother that Christ was a much more powerful partner for life. Through prayers at the tomb of Saint Agatha, her mother's long illness was cured miraculously. The grateful mother was now ready to listen to Lucy's desire to give her money to the poor and commit her life to God.

Unfortunately, legend has it, the rejected bridegroom did not see the same light and he betrayed Lucy to the governor as a Christian. This governor tried to send her into prostitution but the guards who came to take her way found her stiff and heavy as a mountain. Finally she was killed. As much as the facts of Lucy's specific case are unknown, we know that many Christians suffered incredible torture and a painful death for their faith during Diocletian's reign. Lucy may not have been burned or had a sword thrust through her throat but many Christians did and we can be sure her faith withstood tests we can barely imagine.

Lucy's name is probably also connected to statues of Lucy holding a dish with two eyes on it. This refers to another legend in which Lucy's eyes were put out by Diocletian as part of his torture. The legend concludes with God restoring Lucy's eyes.

Lucy's name also played a large part in naming Lucy as a patron saint of the blind and those with eye-trouble.

Lucia, meaning, of course, "light". She carries a dish with two eyes on it because according to her legend, her own were put out by the Romans, yet she could still see.

Personally, I do not doubt that the Romans were cruel enough to do such a thing, and I find it somewhat annoying that modern-day historians casually reject stories of the saints because they are not able to get a detailed autopsy report from the team at CSI. Behind every legend is a kernel of truth, and it may well be that the ancient Roman Christians got the story right, and the modern historians get it wrong.

Besides, skepticism is a poor companion on the road to martyrdom. Belief is better, and if we ultimately believe that God created the universe from nothing, then it is certainly possible for Him to fix St. Lucy's eyes.

Ora pro nobis, Sancta Lucia.

One can celebrate the feast of St.Lucy using readings from either the Common of Martyrs or the Common of Virgins; I opted today to do the Office of Readings for Martyrs.

My reward was this marvelous passage from the Book of Sirach.

I give you thanks, O God of my father; I praise you, O God my savior! I will make known your name, refuge of my life; you have been my helper against my adversaries. You have saved me from death, and kept back my body from the pit, From the clutches of the nether world you have snatched my feet; you have delivered me, in your great mercy From the scourge of a slanderous tongue, and from lips that went over to falsehood; From the snare of those who watched for my downfall, and from the power of those who sought my life; From many a danger you have saved me, from flames that hemmed me in on every side; From the midst of unremitting fire, From the deep belly of the nether world; From deceiving lips and painters of lies, from the arrows of dishonest tongues. I was at the point of death, my soul was nearing the depths of the nether world; I turned every way, but there was no one to help me, I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one. But then I remembered the mercies of the LORD, his kindness through ages past; For he saves those who take refuge in him, and rescues them from every evil. So I raised my voice from the very earth, from the gates of the nether world, my cry. I called out: O Lord, you are my father, you are my champion and my savior; Do not abandon me in time of trouble, in the midst of storms and dangers. I will ever praise your name and be constant in my prayers to you. Thereupon the LORD heard my voice, he listened to my appeal; He saved me from evil of every kind and preserved me in time of trouble. For this reason I thank him and I praise him; I bless the name of the LORD.

Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus, is one of the Deuterocanonical books, of the Bible, which means it comes from the Septuagint of the Greek-speaking Jewish Diaspora, and not from the Palestinian Canon. As a result, it is a book that appears in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, but not in most Protestant editions, except perhaps as Apocrypha. The Deuterocanonicals are usually considered by Protestant Bible scholars to be worthy of study as background texts, but are not strictly considered Scripture by them. Catholics accept all the books of the Septuagint as scripture. The argument advanced by Catholics to include the Deuterocanonicals is that they are alluded to in the New Testament, as Wikipedia discusses:

Some people claim that there are several allusions to the book of Sirach in the New testament. These include The magnificat in Luke 1:52 following Sirach 10:14, the description of the seed in Mark 4:5,16-17 following Sirach 40:15, and Christ's statement in 7:16,20 following Sirach 27:6.

The distinguished patristic scholar Henry Chadwick has claimed that in Matthew 11:28 Jesus was directly quoting Sirach 51:27.

I had not heard that Christ quoted Sirach directly; The NAB has Sirach 51:27 as

See for yourselves! I have labored only a little, but have found much.

and Matthew 11:28 as

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

I guess I still don't see the direct connection, but I am not a Bible scholar.

Jimmy Akin has compiled a list of places where the New Testament appears to refer to the Deuerocanonicals; I have not gone through them, but it does not surprise me. Certainly, some of the authors of the New Testament who wrote in Greek (St. Paul, for instance), could be expected to know, draw from, and quote the Septuagint as it was the version of the Old Testament that was common among Greek-speaking Jews.

I, of course, accept the Deuterocanonicals because the Church does. My faith does not require a great deal of proof -- I accept that Christ is who He said He was, and that the Catholic Church is what it says it is.

If you accept those two propositions, you don't get drawn into a lot of proofs, or a lot of arguments. It makes practicing the faith easier, though naturally, it makes the task of evangelization harder. I will never be a great apologist because I do not have the patience to get drawn into these battles. I accept Sirach because Rome does.

And I'm glad I have the Liturgy of the Hours, especially when it rewards one with beautiful passages like the one above.

Doctor of the Church, and along with Teresa of Avila, one of the leaders of the reform of the Carmelite order in the sixteenth century. This was not without controversy or difficulty:

. . . he made the acquaintance of St. Teresa, who had come to Medina to found a convent of nuns, and who persuaded him to remain in the Carmelite Order and to assist her in the establishment of a monastery of friars carrying out the primitive rule. He accompanied her to Valladolid in order to gain practi cal experience of the manner of life led by the reformed nuns. A small house having been offered, St. John resolved to try at once the new form of life, although St. Teresa did not think anyone, however great his spirituality, could bear the discomforts of that hovel. He was joined by two companions, an ex-prior and a lay brother, with whom he inaugurated the reform among friars, 28 Nov., 1568. St. Teresa has left a classical dscription of the sort of life led by these first Discalced Carmelites, in chaps. xiii and xiv of her "Book of Foundations". John of the Cross, as he now called himself, became the first master of novices, and laid the foundation of the spiritual edifice which soon was to assume majestic proportions. He filled various posts in different places until St. Teresa called him to Avila as director and confessor to the convent of the Incarnation, of which she had been appointed prioress. He remained there, with a few interruptions, for over five years. Meanwhile, the reform spread rapidly, and, partly through the confusion caused by contradictory orders issued by the general and the general chapter on one hand, and the Apostolic nuncio on the other, and partly through human passion which sometimes ran high, its existence became seriously endangered.

St. John was ordered by his provincial to return to the house of his profession (Medina), and, on his refusing to do so, owing to the fact that he held his office not from the order but from the Apostolic delegate, he was taken prisoner in the night of 3 December, 1577, and carried off to Toledo, where he suffered for more than nine months close imprisonment in a narrow, stifling cell, together with such additional punishment as might have been called for in the case of one guilty of the most serious crimes. In the midst of his sufferings he was visited with heavenly consolations, and some of his exquisite poetry dates from that period. He made good his escape in a miraculous manner, August, 1578. During the next years he was chiefly occupied with the foundation and government of monasteries at Baeza, Granada, Cordova, Segovia, and elsewhere, but took no prominent part in the negotiations which led to the establishment of a separate government for the Discalced Carmelites. After the death of St. Teresa (4 Oct.,1582), when the two parties of the Moderates under Jerome Gratian, and the Zelanti under Nicholas Doria struggled for the upper hand, St. John supported the former and shared his fate. For some time he filled the post of vicar provincial of Andalusia, but when Doria changed the government of the order, concentrating all power in the hands of a permanent committee, St. John resisted and, supporting the nuns in their endeavour to secure the papal approbation of their constitutions, drew upon himself the displeasure of the superior, who deprived him of his offices and relegated him to one of the poorest monasteries, where he fell seriously ill. One of his opponents went so far as to go from monastery to monastery gathering materials in order to bring grave charges against him, hoping for his expulsion from the order which he had helped to found.

St. John of the Cross is best known for his writings on mysticism (The Acent of Mount Carmel, the Dark Night of the Soul) and the progress of the soul toward spiritual perfection and union with God through profound self-renunciation. Needless to say, this is not an easy task. His works, along with the works of St. Teresa and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, form the backbone of the Catholic mysticism that flourished in the 16th century. These writings are largely ignored in our modern world, which is given over to the pursuit of physical and material pleasures, and the renunciation of the concept of sin, rather than sin itself.

His axiom is that the soul must empty itself of self in order to be filled with God, that it must be purified of the last traces of earthly dross before it is fit to become united with God. In the application of this simple maxim he shows the most uncompromising logic. Supposing the soul with which he deals to be habitually in the state of grace and pushing forward to better things, he overtakes it on the very road leading it, in its opinion to God, and lays open before its eyes a number of sores of which it was altogether ignorant, viz. what he terms the spiritual capital sins. Not until these are removed (a most formidable task) is it fit to be admitted to what he calls the "Dark Night", which consists in the passive purgation, where God by heavy trials, particularly interior ones, perfects and completes what the soul had begun of its own accord. It is now passive, but not inert, for by submitting to the Divine operation it co-operates in the measure of its power. Here lies one of the essential differences between St. John's mysticism and a false quietism. The perfect purgation of the soul in the present life leaves it free to act with wonderful energy: in fact it might almost be said to obtain a share in God's omnipotence, as is shown in the marvelous deeds of so many saints. As the soul emerges from the Dark Night it enters into the full noonlight described in the "Spiritual Canticle" and the "Living Flame of Love". St. John leads it to the highest heights, in fact to the point where it becomes a "partaker of the Divine Nature". It is here that the necessity of the previous cleansing is clearly perceived the pain of the mortification of all the senses and the powers and faculties of the soul being amply repaid by the glory which is now being revealed in it.

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancte Ioannes

Eleven days till Christmas . . . still time to get to Confession.

I am going tomorrow. My practice is once a month.

A lot of people tell me that is severe. But you get into that pattern, and find it is not nearly enough.

I am still not nearly kind enough.

I still take the easy path rather than the hard path.

I still fear to proclaim my faith to those who need to hear it.

I still love myself, and material things, more than I love the Lord, who died on the cross for me.

I still pray with insufficient joy and fervor, and regard it more as hard exercise than as sport.

I still fail to practice proper custody of heart, mind, and eyes.

I still fail to appreciate all the wonders of the world around me.

A trip to the confessional puts you right with the Church sacramentally -- but it is just the beginning. We are all remarkably blind when it comes to our flaws, and old sins still hurt us, even though we may have forgotten them. You will find that in your prayer life you occasionally get an old piece of garbage brought out into your sight, and recall in a flash a time when you failed someone, or forgot the Lord. Remember that old baggage the next time you go to confession, and get rid of it. It is a sign that the ice-pack of the soul is breaking up, and spring is near.

The Second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation:

In English:

39 And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. 40 And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. 41 And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. 46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. 51 He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy. 55 As he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months. And she returned to her own house.

In Latin:

39 Exsurgens autem Maria in diebus illis abiit in montana cum festinatione in civitatem Iuda. 40 Et intravit in domum Zacchariae et salutavit Elisabeth. 41 Et factum est ut audivit salutationem Mariae Elisabeth exultavit infans in utero eius et repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth. 42 Et exclamavit voce magna et dixit benedicta tu inter mulieres et benedictus fructus ventris tui. 43 Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me. 44 Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis exultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo. 45 Et beata quae credidit quoniam perficientur ea quae dicta sunt ei a Domino. 46 Et ait Maria magnificat anima mea Dominum. 47 Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. 48 Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. 49 Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius. 50 Et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum. 51 Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. 52 Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles. 53 Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes. 54 Suscepit Israhel puerum suum memorari misericordiae. 55 Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini eius in saecula. 56 Mansit autem Maria cum illa quasi mensibus tribus et reversa est in domum suam.

From a Commentary by The Venerable Bede:

And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

The Lord has exalted me by a gift so great, so unheard of, that language is useless to describe it; and the depths of love in my heart can scarcely grasp it. I offer then all the powers of my soul in praise and thanksgiving. As I contemplate his greatness, which knows no limits, I joyfully surrender my whole life, my senses, my judgement, for my spirit rejoices in the eternal Godhead of that Jesus, that Saviour, whom I have conceived in this world of time.

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Mary looks back to the beginning of her song, where she said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Only that soul for whom the Lord in his love does great things can proclaim his greatness with fitting praise and encourage those who share her desire and purpose, saying: Join with me in proclaiming the greatness of the Lord; let us extol his name together. Those who know the Lord, yet refuse to proclaim his greatness and sanctify his name to the limit of their power, will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven. His name is called holy because in the sublimity of his unique power he surpasses every creature and is far removed from all that he has made.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy.

In a beautiful phrase Mary calls Israel the servant of the Lord. The Lord came to his aid to save him. Israel is an obedient and humble servant, in the words of Hosea: Israel was a servant, and I loved him. Those who refuse to be humble cannot be saved. They cannot say with the prophet: See, God comes to my aid; the Lord is the helper of my soul. But anyone who makes himself humble like a little child is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

The promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.

This does not refer to the physical descendants of Abraham, but to his spiritual children. These are his descendants, sprung not from the flesh only, but who, whether circumcised or not, have followed him in faith. Circumcised as he was, Abraham believed, and this was credited to him as an act of righteousness.
The coming of the Saviour was promised to Abraham and to his descendants for ever. These are the children of promise, to whom it is said: If you belong to Christ, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs in accordance with the promise.

Today is the feast day of St. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church, and saint of the Counter-Reformation. He was one of those legendary Jesuits that won much of Europe back to Catholicism. In fact, this biographical sketch of him is a pretty good summary of his career.

In 1565, the Vatican was looking for a secret agent. It was shortly after the Council of Trent and the pope wanted to get the decrees of the Council to all the European bishops. What would be a simple errand in our day, was a dangerous assignment in the sixteenth century. The first envoy who tried to carry the decrees through territory of hostile Protestants and vicious thieves was robbed of the precious documents. Rome needed someone courageous but also someone above suspicion. They chose Peter Canisius. At 43 he was a well-known Jesuit who had founded colleges that even Protestants respected. They gave him a cover as official "visitor" of Jesuit foundations. But Peter couldn't hide the decrees like our modern fictional spies with their microfilmed messages in collar buttons or cans of shaving cream. Peter traveled from Rome and crisscrossed Germany successfully loaded down with the Tridentine tomes -- 250 pages each -- not to mention the three sacks of books he took along for his own university!

He is also famous for his Catechism, which is the most widely read book written by a Dutch author in history. I'm not having much luck finding the text of it online, but you can buy an ancient copy of it here.

Ora pro nobis, sancte Petre

Commemoration of St. John of Kanty, a Polish saint, not particularly well known in the U.S., though he does have some churches named after him. He is renowned for his gentleness and humility.

The people of Olkusz in Bohemia in 1431 had every reason to be suspicious of their new pastor. They knew what a Cracow professor would think of their small rural town. But even more insulting, their town was once again being used as a dumping ground for a priest who was "in disgrace."

John had indeed been kicked out of his university position -- unjustly. Rivals who resented John's popularity with the students had cooked up a false charge against him. John was not even allowed to appear at his own hearing or testify in his own defense. So at age 41, he was shipped off to be an apprentice pastor.

Certainly no one would have blamed John if he was furious at such injustice. However, he was determined that his new parishioners would not suffer because of what he happened to him.

But there was no overnight miracle waiting of him in Olkusz. He was nervous and afraid of his new responsibilities. And, despite the energy he put into his new job, the parishioners remained hostile. But John's plan was very simple, and came not from the mind but from the heart. He let his genuine interest and concern for these people show in everything he did. Despite working for years without any sign of success, he was very careful not to demonstrate impatience or anger. He knew that people could never be bullied into love, so he gave them what he hoped they would find in themselves.

After eight years, he was exonerated and transferred back to Cracow. He had been so successful that these once-hostile people followed him several miles down the road, begging him to stay.

For the rest of his life, he was professor of sacred Scripture at the university. He was so well-liked that he was often invited to dinner with nobility. Once, he was turned away at the door by a servant who thought John's cassock was too frayed. John didn't argue but went home, changed into a new cassock, and returned. During the meal, a servant spilled a dish on John's new clothes. "No matter," he joked. "My clothes deserve some dinner, too. If it hadn't been for them I wouldn't be here at all."

Ora Pro Nobis, Sancte Joannes

In English:

1. And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. 2. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. 3. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. 4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David. 5. To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. 6. And it came to pass that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn. 8. And there were in the same country shepherds watching and keeping the night watches over their flock. 9. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them and the brightness of God shone round about them: and they feared with a great fear. 10. And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people: 11. For, this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: 14. Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good will. 15. And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us. 16. And they came with haste: and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17. And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. 18. And all that heard wondered: and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 19. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. 20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

In Latin:

1. Factum est autem in diebus illis exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto ut describeretur universus orbis. 2. Haec descriptio prima facta est praeside Syriae Cyrino. 3 Et ibant omnes ut profiterentur singuli in suam civitatem. 4. Ascendit autem et Ioseph a Galilaea de civitate Nazareth in Iudaeam civitatem David quae vocatur Bethleem eo quod esset de domo et familia David. 5. Ut profiteretur cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore praegnate. 6. Factum est autem cum essent ibi impleti sunt dies ut pareret. 7. Et peperit filium suum primogenitum et pannis eum involvit et reclinavit eum in praesepio quia non erat eis locus in diversorio. 8. Et pastores erant in regione eadem vigilantes et custodientes vigilias noctis supra gregem suum. 9. Et ecce angelus Domini stetit iuxta illos et claritas Dei circumfulsit illos et timuerunt timore magno. 10. Et dixit illis angelus nolite timere ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum quod erit omni populo. 11. Quia natus est vobis hodie salvator qui est Christus Dominus in civitate David. 12. Et hoc vobis signum invenietis infantem pannis involutum et positum in praesepio . 13. Et subito facta est cum angelo multitudo militiae caelestis laudantium Deum et dicentium. 14. Gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis. 15. Et factum est ut discesserunt ab eis angeli in caelum pastores loquebantur ad invicem transeamus usque Bethleem et videamus hoc verbum quod factum est quod fecit Dominus et ostendit nobis. 16. Et venerunt festinantes et invenerunt Mariam et Ioseph et infantem positum in praesepio. 17. Videntes autem cognoverunt de verbo quod dictum erat illis de puero hoc. 18. Et omnes qui audierunt mirati sunt et de his quae dicta erant a pastoribus ad ipsos. 19. Maria autem conservabat omnia verba haec conferens in corde suo. 20. Et reversi sunt pastores glorificantes et laudantes Deum in omnibus quae audierant et viderant sicut dictum est ad illos.

The faith becomes, in more ways than one, a religion of little things. But its traditions in art and' literature and popular fable have quite sufficiently attested, as has been said, this particular paradox of the divine being in the cradle. Perhaps they have not so clearly emphasized the significance of the divine being in the cave. Curiously enough, indeed, tradition has not very clearly emphasized the cave. It is a familiar fact that the Bethlehem scene has been represented in every possible setting of time and country, of landscape and architecture; and it is a wholly happy and admirable fact that men have conceived it as quite different according to their different individual traditions and tastes. But while all have realized that it was a stable, not so many have realized that it was a cave. Some critics have even been so silly as to suppose that there was some contradiction between the stable and the cave; in which case they cannot know much about caves or stables in Palestine. As they see differences that are not there, it is needless to add that they do not see differences that are there. When a well-known critic says, for instance, that Christ being born in a rocky cavern is like Mithras having sprung alive out of a rock, it sounds like a parody upon comparative religion. There is such a thing as the point of a story, even if it is a story in the sense of a lie. And the notion of a hero appearing, like Pallas from the brain of Zeus, mature and without a mother, is obviously the very opposite of the idea of a god being born like an ordinary baby and entirely dependent on a mother. Whichever ideal we might prefer, we should surely see that they are contrary ideals. It is as stupid to connect them because they both contain a substance called stone as to identify the punishment of the Deluge with the baptism in the Jordan because they both contain a substance called water. Whether as a myth or a mystery, Christ was obviously conceived as born in a hole in the rocks primarily because it marked the position of one outcast and homeless. Nevertheless it is true, as I have said, that the cave has not been so commonly or so clearly used as a symbol as the other realities that surrounded the first Christmas.

And the reason for this also refers to the very nature of that new world. It was in a sense the difficulty of a new dimension. Christ was not only born on the level of the world, but even lower than the world. The first act of the divine drama was enacted, not only on no stage set up above the sightseer, but on a dark and curtained stage sunken out of sight; and that is an idea very difficult to express in most modes of artistic expression. It is the idea of simultaneous happenings on different levels of life. Something like it might have been attempted in the more archaic and decorative medieval art. But the more the artists learned of realism and perspective, the less they could depict at once the angels in the heavens and the shepherds on the hills, and the glory in the darkness that was under the hills. Perhaps it could have been best conveyed by the characteristic expedient of some of the medieval guilds, when they wheeled about the streets a theater with three stages one above the other, with heaven above the earth and hell under the earth. But in the riddle of Bethlehem it was heaven that was under the earth.

There is in that alone the touch of a revolution, as of the world turned upside down. It would be vain to attempt to say anything adequate, or anything new, about the change which this conception of a deity born like an outcast or even an outlaw bad upon the whole conception of law and its duties to the poor and outcast. It is profoundly true to say that after that moment there could be no slaves. There could be and were people bearing that legal title, until the Church was strong enough to weed them out, but there could be no more of the pagan repose in the mere advantage to the state of keeping it a servile state. Individuals became important, in a sense in which no instruments can be important. A man could not be a means to an end, at any rate to any other man's end. All this popular and fraternal element in the story has been rightly attached by tradition to the episode of the Shepherds; the hinds who found themselves talking face to face with the princes of heaven. But there is another aspect of the popular element as represented by the shepherds which has not perhaps been so fully developed; and which is more directly relevant here.

Men of the people, like the shepherds, men of the popular tradition, had everywhere been the makers of the mythologies. It was they who had felt most directly, with least check or chill from philosophy or the corrupt cults of civilization, the need we have already considered; the images that were adventures of the imagination; the mythology that was a sort of search the tempting and tantalizing hints of something half human in nature; the dumb significance of seasons and special places. They bad best understood that the soul of a landscape is a story and the soul of a story is a personality. But rationalism had already begun to rot away these really irrational though imaginative treasures of the peasant; even as systematic slavery had eaten the peasant out of house and home. Upon all such peasantries everywhere there was descending a dusk and twilight of disappointment, in the hour when these few men discovered what they sought. Everywhere else Arcadia was fading from the forest. Pan was dead and the shepherds were scattered like sheep. And though no man knew it, the hour was near which was to end and to fulfill all things; and though no man heard it, there was one far-off cry in an unknown tongue upon the heaving wilderness of the mountains. The shepherds had found their Shepherd.

And the thing they found was of a kind with the things they sought. The populace had been wrong in many things; but they had not been wrong in believing that holy things could have a habitation and that divinity need not disdain the limits of time and space. And the barbarian who conceived the crudest fancy about the sun being stolen and hidden in a box, or the wildest myth about the god being rescued and his enemy deceived with a stone, was nearer to the secret of the cave and knew more about the crisis of the world, than all those in the circle of cities round the Mediterranean who had become content with cold abstractions or cosmopolitan generalizations; than all those who were spinning thinner and thinner threads of thought out of the transcendentalism of Plato or the orientalism of Pythagoras. The place that the shepherds found was not an academy or an abstract republic; it was not a place of myths allegorized or dissected or explained or explained away. It was a place of dreams come true. Since that hour no mythologies have been made in the world. Mythology is a search.

A Latin-English mashup from the Mediaeval Baebes.

The Lyrics

In dulci jubilo
In dulci jubilo let us our homage show;
Our heart's joy reclineth in praesepio
And like a bright star shineth, matris in gremio
Alpha es et o, alpha es et o

In dulci jubilo let us our homage show;
Our heart's joy reclineth in praesepio
And like a bright star shineth, matris in gremio
Alpha es et o, alpha es et o

The term for such a mashup is called macaronic Latin.

I occasionally dream in it, as I have been doing all of the Liturgy of the Hours this Advent in Latin, while reading the translation in parallel (some of the Psalms, particularly the Gradual Psalms, which form the bulk of the highly repetitive midday hours, I can now read and translate on sight, as I repeat them so often).

This leads to some unusual dream experiences; I occasionally will hear a repated phrase or word in Latin in my dreams. Recently, I had a dream in which the words "procidamus" and "obdurare" figured prominently.

They come, of course, from the Invitatory Psalm, Psalm 95.

Venite, adoramus et procidamus
et genua flectamus ante Dominum, qui fecit nos,
quia ispe est Deus noster,
et nos populos pascuae eius et oves manus eius

Utinam hodie vocem eius audiatus:
Nolite obdurare corda vestra,
sicut in Meriba secundum diem Massa in desert,
ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri:
probaverunt me, etsi viderunt opera mea.

(Come then, let us bow down and worship,
and bend the knee before the Lord our maker,
For he is our God and we are his people,
The flock he shepherds.

Today, listen to the voice of the Lord:
do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
in the wilderness,
when at Meriba and Massah,
they challenged me and provoked me,
Although they had seen all of my works.)

It did scare me a little in the dream, though I don't place all that much significance on it in the waking world.

It is pretty common for the subconscious mind to say words back to you when you are learning a new language (I used to occasionally dream in German when I was learning it), and I think it is pretty obvious, in the context of my religious devotion, that I regard myself as hard of heart, and needing to bow down before the Lord for forgiveness.