Now in my Etsy shop!

Click on my Etsy shop button on the right side of my blog page to check out my new items, and thanks for stopping by!

In full bloom

John Paul II rose update

What a difference a few days make! This pure white bloom opened on my rosebush today, just in time for the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Deo gratias!

Congratulations LPMI graduates

 I didn't get a group picture of all 24 graduates, but here is my friend Mark (c) with Br. Miguel (l) and Fr. Ed (r). Congratulations to Mark and all the 2010 graduates of the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute!

St. Peter's Basilica floorplan

Is it just me, or does anyone else see the shape of a  monstrance in the layout of St. Peter's Basilica?

Perhaps I've watched too many Corpus Christi processions today...

John Paul II rose

I received a lovely surprise on Thursday afternoon. A dear friend sent me a John Paul II rosebush! http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/gardening/PD/31726/

I have wanted one ever since it came out several years ago. Today was planting day...which also entailed weeding, mulching, etc. It already has several buds; hopefully, in a few days we shall see some glorious papal white roses (which is about as close proximity to the Vatican rose garden as I ever expect to be).

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,--

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

(from God's Garden by Dorothy Frances Gurney)

Myron

Know anyone named Sacred Chrism? No? How about Myron?

As part of this week's course assignment (Fundamentals of Catholic Doctrine), I have been reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2: The Seven Sacraments of the Church. Article 1297 gives an excerpt from the Syriac liturgy of Antioch, specifically the epiclesis for the consecration of the sacred chrism or myron:

Father...send your Holy Spirit on us and on this oil which is before us and consecrate it, so that it may be for all who are anointed and marked with it holy myron, priestly myron, royal myron, anointing with gladness, clothing with light, a cloak of salvation, a spiritual gift, the sanctification of souls and bodies, imperishable happiness, the indelible seal, a buckler of faith, and a fearsome helmet against all the works of the adversary.

So the next time you encounter someone named Myron, remember what an awesome name he has...but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to call him Chris for short. ;)

Welcome to my New Blog!

At choir practice last night, I was asked, by a guest tenor, the meaning of one of the hymns, Ave Verum Corpus, which we were practicing for the transferred feast of Corpus Christi this Sunday. It really hit home how impoverished we have become by the ignorance of our Latin language patrimony, and how just the translation of this one hymn could be used for catechesis.

Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary,
truly suffering, sacrificed on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side flowed with water & blood:
May it be for us a foretaste (of the Heavenly banquet)
in the trial of death.
O dear Jesus, O merciful Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

Just think, in the 14th century this composition, possibly by Pope Innocent VI, was sung at the elevation of the Host during Consecration, and at Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In the same way that the faith was proclaimed in stained glass, so the hymns portrayed the True Faith.

To the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi could also be added: lex cantandi.

Whatever the language, let us always make a joyful noise unto the Lord that is truly worthy of Him!