Voices ever ancient, ever new. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2013.

In commenting on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John Damascene preached the following homily:

“But even though, according to nature, your most holy and happy soul is separated from your most blessed and stainless body and the body as usual is delivered to the tomb, it will not remain in the power of death and is not subject to decay. For just as her virginity remained inviolate while giving birth, when she departed her body was preserved from destruction and only taken to a better and more divine tabernacle, which is not subject to any death.... Hence I will call her holy passing not death, but falling asleep or departure, or better still, arrival.... "Your stainless and wholly immaculate body has not been left on earth; the Queen, the Mistress, the Mother of God who has truly given birth to God has been translated to the royal palaces of heaven.... "Angels and archangels have borne you upwards, the impure spirits of the air have trembled at your ascension. The air is purified, the ether sanctified by your passing through them. . . the powers meet you with sacred hymns and much solemnity, saying something like this: Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, elect like the sun? [cf. Cant 6:9] How you have blossomed forth, how sweet you have become! You are the flower of the field, a lily among the thorns [Cant 2.1] . . . Not like Elijah have you entered heaven, not like Paul have you been rapt to the third heaven; no, you have penetrated even to the royal throne of your Son himself . . . a blessing for the world, a sanctification of the universe, refreshment for those who are tired, comfort for the sorrowing, healing for the sick, a port for those in danger, pardon for sinners, soothing balm for the oppressed, quick help for all who pray to you. . . “Good Mistress, graciously look down on us; direct and guide our destinies wheresoever you will. Pacify the storm of our wicked passions, guide us into the quiet port of the divine will and grant us the blessedness to come.”

Also noteworthy for today, the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII Munificentissimus Deus (Defining the Dogma of the Assumption) or an excerpt from that Document which appears in today’s Liturgy of the Hours: Office of Readings.

A good article appears here and as well as a summary of Patristic teaching on Mary’s Assumption here.

Almighty ever-living God,
Who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the Mother of your Son,
body and soul into heavenly glory,
grant we pray, that,
always attentive to the things that are above,
we may merit to be sharers of her glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Wednesday-Week19-2013.

In commenting on Deuteronomy 34:5 from today’s Mass Scriptures, Saint Ambrose of Milan writes:

“We do not read of [Moses], as we do of others, that he fell sick and died. We read that “he died by the word of God” — for God does not grow weak or undergo diminution or addition. Hence Scripture added, “No man has known of his sepulcher until this present day” — by which we are to understand that he was taken up into heaven rather than buried, for death may be called a separation of the soul from the body. He died therefore as the Scripture states: “by the word of God” — not “in accordance with the word” — so as to make known that this was not an announcement of his death but was more in the nature of a gracious gift to one who was translated rather than left here and whose sepulcher was known to no one.”

Today is the Memorial of Saint Maximiliam Kolbe, and an excerpt from his writings is presented from the Liturgy of the Hours: Office of Readings

O God,
Who filled the Priest and Martyr
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the
Immaculate Virgin Mary and
with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that striving for your glory
by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed,
even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Tuesday-Week19-2013.

In commenting on Matthew 18:10 from today’s Mass Readings, Chromatius of Aquileia writes:

And rightly the Lord has said, “The Son of man has come to save what had perished,” so that all the more he might show that not one of these little ones who believe in Christ should be despised. For their sake the Son of God came down from heaven and saved them by his Passion. It was for this that he took on the body of our human weakness, so that he might in every way save this one who had perished. For the elements of the world have kept the law given them by the Lord. Humanity alone has been found the transgressor. Alone we had fallen from immortality into death. And for this reason to save us the Son of God at a mature time descended from heaven according to the will of the Father. Hence, quite rightly Solomon speaks of a time of destroying and a time of saving. There was a time when the devil destroyed humankind. But again there came a time when the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, saved the human race for life (Tractate on Matthew, 57).”

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Monday-Week19-2013.

In commenting on Matthew 17:27 from today’s Mass Readings, Origen of Alexandria writes:

“This coin was not in Jesus’ house but happened to be in the mouth of a fish in the sea. This too, I think, was a result of God’s kindness. It was caught and came up on the hook belonging to Peter, who was the fisher of men. That which is figuratively called a fish was caught in order that the coin with the image of Caesar might be taken from it, that it might take its place among those which were caught by them who have learned to become fishers of men. Let him, then, who has the things of Caesar render them to Caesar, that afterwards he may be able to render to God the things of God. But since Jesus is the image of God the unseen and did not have the image of Caesar (for there was nothing in him that had anything to do with the prince of this world), he therefore took the image of Caesar from a suitable place in the sea, so as to pay it to the kings of the earth as the contribution of himself and his disciple. Jesus did this so that those taking the half-shekel might not suppose Jesus to be in debt either to them or to the kings of the earth. For he paid the debt, one he had never taken on or possessed or used to buy anything or made his personal possession, to prevent the image of Caesar ever being alongside the image of the invisible God (Commentary on Matthew, 13).”

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Sunday-Week19-2013.

In commenting on Luke 12:35 from today’s Mass Readings, Cyril of Alexandria writes:

“The girding of our loins signifies the readiness of the mind to work hard in every thing praiseworthy. Those who apply themselves to bodily labors and are engaged in strenuous toil have their loins girded. The lamp apparently represents the wakefulness of the mind and intellectual cheerfulness. We say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness that often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness. When sunk in stupor, the heavenly light within the mind is liable to be endangered, or even already is in danger from a violent and impetuous blast of wind. Christ commands us to be awake. To this, his disciple also arouses us by saying, “Be awake. Be watchful.” Further on, the very wise Paul also says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall give you light.” (Commentary on Luke, Homily 92).”

Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful, Ordinary Time 2013, Week 19.

To live life as Jesus taught and to be prepared for His return, we offer these petitions:

1. For the Church as the Body of Christ: to be the Lamp that lights the path to Truth. For Jesus’ disciples to seek Him as the only Light for all dimensions of living. We pray.

2. May your kindness, O Lord, be upon all people of the world. May each of us respond to Your kindness by reverencing life as Your sacred Gift. For peace throughout the world, in our families and in our hearts. We pray.

3. For our parish and all Christians to be firmly grounded in the Faith of Jesus Christ. For docile receptivity to Jesus’ Word and courage to act as His obedient disciples. We pray.

4. For vigilance to live life safely and free from sin. To satisfy the needs of people experiencing all forms of poverty. We pray.

5. For all the sick (especially …) [PAUSE]
May all who have died (especially …) live eternally with You: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We pray.

Almighty and ever-living God,
Your Spirit made us Your children
confident to call You Father.
Increase Your Spirit with us and
bring us to our promised inheritance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You and the
Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.

Voice ever ancient, ever new. Friday-Week18-2013.

In commenting on Matthew 16:26 from today’s Mass Readings, Origen of Alexandria writes:

“But what shall a person give in exchange for his life, would seem, if spoken in answer to a query, to indicate a person who trades his life; a person who, after sin, has given up his substance in order that his property might feed the poor. He would in that way receive salvation. Yet, in a positive light, I think this indicates that there is nothing in a person that he can give in trade for his life that will buy off death. God, however, has ransomed us all with the priceless blood of Jesus so that “we are bought with a price,” “having been purchased not with perishable things like silver and gold but with the priceless blood of the spotless, flawless Lamb,” Christ (Commentary on Matthew, 12).”

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Thursday-Week18-2013.

In commenting upon Matthew 16:23 from today’s Mass Readings, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“Therefore, the rest being troubled and in perplexity, Peter again in his ardor alone ventures to discuss these things. And he does not discuss them openly but only when he had taken him aside. Having separated himself from the rest of the disciples, he says, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” What is happening here? The very one who had obtained a revelation, who had been blessed, has now so soon fallen away, so as now to fear the Passion of the Lord, and thereby his faith has been overthrown. It is remarkable that Peter, who had not yet been fully instructed in the course of revelation, should come up with these responses. The larger picture had not yet been revealed to Peter, and he was confused and overwhelmed. Peter had learned that Christ is the Son of God. But he had not learned of the mystery of the cross and the resurrection. It was as yet not manifested to him. It remained hidden. Do you see how correct Jesus was in forbidding them not to declare his identity publicly? For if it so confounded the disciples, who were being made aware of it, who knows what the response of others might have been. This is why he rebuked Peter and called him Satan: to signify that he is coming to his future suffering voluntarily (The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 54).”

Today is the Memorial of Saint Dominic. An excerpt ‘From various writings on the history of the Order of Preachers’ is found here. The Encyclical of Pope Benedict XV (yes, the 15th!) on Saint Dominic is found here.

May Saint Dominic
come to the help of Your Church
by his merits and teaching, O Lord,
and may he, who was an outstanding preacher
of your truth,
be a devoted intercessor on our behalf.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Wednesday-Week18-2013.

In commenting on Matthew 15:28 from today’s Mass Readings, Theodore of Mopsuesteia writes:

“Having seen her advocates unsuccessful, the woman then appeals for herself and does not stop but in effect says to the Lord, “Help me, I haven’t been asking this for my own sake.” Then the Savior in turn says, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs.” He uses the term dog on account of the Gentiles’ unclean lifestyle and proneness to idolatry, while he calls the Jews children on account of the fact that they appeared to be devoted to God. But he uses the word bread not only to speak of his teaching, which was through words, but also of that which nourished the faithful by means of signs. But in this case the word preceded the condemnation of the Jews, since when life in the Lord had been given to them as bread, they did not accept it. The woman does not complain, even when insulted. What does the Savior do? By his answer, he showed what he had premeditated from the outset. For it was for this reason that he postponed giving a reply: that the woman might cry aloud with this word. Thereby he would show her to be worthy of a thousand crowns. For it was not because he did not want to give her the gift that he delayed but because he sought and took care beforehand to reveal her faith. With his accolades he honors her as presenting a type of the church that is from the Gentiles. Note that he did not say, “Let your child be healed,” but “Be it done for you as you desire,” in order to show that it was the power of her faith that elicited the healing. Even if she were worthy of even greater things, nevertheless that which she wanted was what was given to her (Fragment, 83).”

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Transfiguration 2013 (evening).

In commenting on Daniel 7:9 from today’s Mass Readings, Origen of Alexandria writes:

“Next they come to Libnah, which means “whitewashing.” I know that in some respects whitewashing has a pejorative connotation, as when we speak of a “whitewashed wall” and “whitewashed tombs.” But this whitewashing is that concerning which the prophet says, “You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” And again Isaiah says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will whiten them like snow and will make them white like wool.” Again in the psalm, “They were whitened with snow in Zalmon.” And the hair of the Ancient of Days is said to be dazzling, white, that is, white like wool. So then, this whitewashing must be understood to come from the radiance of the true light and to descend from the brightness of heavenly visions. (Homilies on Numbers, 27.12).”