Benedictus Deus

Well, I wanted to post a bunch of stuff, I have just been too busy.  I just realized that I forgot it is the Summer embertide right now (always the week after Pentecost).  I was thinking it was the week after the octave of Pentecost, but it’s not.  It does seem a little incongruent to have three fasting days in the middle of such a significant octave, but there it is.  Even Abbot Gueranger doesn’t seem to mention this ember week, or at least I haven’t got to it yet.

Previous related post here.

Happy feast of Pope St. Pius the V.  What an excellent feast day to have in the midsts of the octave of the Ascension.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“He began his pontificate by giving large alms to the poor, instead of distributing his bounty at haphazard like his predecessors. As pontiff he practiced the virtues he had displayed as a monk and a bishop. His piety was not diminished, and, in spite of the heavy labours and anxieties of his office, he made at least two meditations a day on bended knees in presence of the Blessed Sacrament. In his charity he visited the hospitals, and sat by the bedside of the sick, consoling them and preparing them to die. He washed the feet of the poor, and embraced the lepers. It is related that an English nobleman was converted on seeing him kiss the feet of a beggar covered with ulcers. He was very austere and banished luxury from his court, raised the standard of morality, laboured with his intimate friend, St. Charles Borromeo, to reform the clergy, obliged his bishops to reside in their dioceses, and the cardinals to lead lives of simplicity and piety. He diminished public scandals by relegating prostitutes to distant quarters, and he forbade bull fights. He enforced the observance of the discipline of the Council of Trent, reformed the Cistercians, and supported the missions of the New World. In the Bull “In Coena Domini” he proclaimed the traditional principles of the Roman Church and the supremacy of the Holy See over the civil power.”

Here is the rest of the article.

Pius V’s bull against Elisabeth.

Happy feast of the Ascension to you all.  If I have time I will add some excerpts from The Liturgical Year, but in the meantime here is my last post on this great feast day.

Today through Wednesday is Rogationtide again already.  As I mentioned before these are days of penance.  Fasting and abstinence were customary in many countries in former times.  Regarding the conflict between penitential days and Eastertide, Abbot Gueranger notes that even Mary and the apostles were sorrowful at the thought of their Jesus leaving them (and Ascension is on Thursday of course).  In any case we have much need of God’s mercy, and the Church has, in the past, placed a great deal of importance in participating in the Rogation days to implore that mercy.  It was recorded that Charlemagne used to join the processions, walking barefoot from his palace to the station church.

Speaking of Abbot Gueranger, he doesn’t shy away from criticizing the trends of his time towards laxity in practice of the faith.  But I had never seen him use sarcasm before.  That’s why I had to stop, blink, and reread this passage twice to get what he was saying:

We learn from St. Caesarius of Arles, that each day’s procession lasted six hours; and that when the clergy became tired, the women took up the chanting.  The faithful of those days had not made the discover, which was reserved for modern times, that one requisite for religious processions is that they be as short as possible. [zing!]

If only the good Abbott had lived till today when the faithful have discovered that processions are a waste of time.

Anyway, he emphasizes the importance of participating in these processions, but of course, there aren’t very many these days since Rogationtide has been cast off the new calendar.  The next best thing, he says, is to recite the Litany of Saints on your own.

Recently, Jeffrey Tucker posted at NLM about chanting the grace before meals. Another blog picked up on it and derided the idea as pretentious and arrogant. Mr. Tucker made a reasonable response in the comments, but the blog author wouldn’t hear it, and mischaracterized traditionalists, in a way that is common among people who aren’t familiar with actual trads, except perhaps on the internet. His absurd comments include something to the effect that traditionalists don’t realize that a family grace in Latin would have been rare anytime in the last 1000 years.

Regardless of the accuracy of that point (I wouldn’t know), recreating a past time period is not the point. Instead what most of us want is simply to learn about the treasures of our Catholic heritage, and bring them into the present. In them we see something precious that was lost. We want to regain those treasures of custom and tradition to the extent that we can, even if that means incorporating them into our lives in a way that was never practiced in the passed.

Many people, even among those who are interested in the TLM don’t have any Latin mass to go to (NO or TLM), and even rarer still is a mass with Gregorian chant. They have few if any opportunities to experience the traditions of our faith outside of a book. So is it so pretentious to draw on whatever scraps they can? Mr. Tucker proposed that if you want to make Latin chant a part of your life, grace before meals is a simply way to do it. I’m sure he is aware that in the past people didn’t typically do that in their private home. But so what? It is a simple way for someone to appropriate a beautiful piece of their Catholic heritage (Latin chant) and make some small space for it in their life. I don’t see what is so arrogant about that.

Today is the Major Rogation as opposed to the Minor Rogations (Monday-Wednesday next week).  The designation Major (or greater) is in relation to the solemnity of the litanies.  As I have noted before, these are days of penance to pray for God’s protection for our food supply and against calamitous weather.  If you have a farm, or even a garden, Rogationtide is a great time to bless your crops and livestock.  If you don’t have that, you might want to go around the borders of your property and bless that.  The main prayer for these days is the Litany of the Saints.

Some sources suggest fasting on these days, but Abbot Gueranger notes that all out fasting might be out of keeping with the spirit of the Easter season, and was really never a widespread practice, even in Rome.  Abstinence, however has been a consistent rule.  Today is Friday anyway, but abstinence also applies to the three Rogation days next week (though there is no obligation to do so, even under the 1917 code of cannon law).

As to why a day such solemnity as the Major Rogation was set during Eastertide, and frequently falling with in Easter Week, Abbot Gueranger explains it like this.

In Rome, April 25th was celebrated by Christians as the day Peter first arrived.  It was also pagan holiday.  Pope Gregory the Great wanted to keep a commemoration in honor of St. Peter’s arrival, but since the 25th so often falls within Holy Week, it wouldn’t get celebrated very often as an actual feast day.  So instead he fixed the Greater Litanies for the 25th.  The procession for the Litanies starts at St. Peters.  So there is still something to make April 25th special, and it replaces the pagan celebration.

Today is the feast of St. George.  In the East he is known as the Great Martyr, and devotion to him spread quickly in the West.  However the Western church lacked much of any history of St. George, so much so that the Roman liturgy had no particular lesson his life.  Instead the general reading for martyrs was used.  There were some “Acts Of St. George” floating around in the 5th century that were know to be false and compiled by a heretic.  In 496 Pope Gelasius wrote up a list of books which might be dangerous for the faithful to read, which included these false acts.  Devotion to him flourished nevertheless.  In the East there were true accounts of St. George’s life, and these made there way to the West as Crusaders returned.  From these we know that George was a high ranking roman officer during the reign of Diocletian.  George was one of the first victims of Diocletian’s great persecution.  He suffered so valiantly that the Emporer’s wife was converted to the true faith, whereupon she was also put to death.

The story of George and the dragon was a medieval tale of Byzantine origin that is purely allegorical.  As in much other Christian art, the dragon represents the devil.  The princess in the story is said to represent the Empress Alexandria (Diocletian’s wife).

The collect for the feast of St. George:

O God, who by calling us to have part in the merits and prayers of blessed George Thy martyr, dost give us cause of great joy: deny us not, we beseech Thee, the good gifts which, relying upon his help, we implore from Thy loving kindness.

The Catholic Encyclopedia Entry.

This Friday the 11th is the Feast of Pope Saint Leo the Great (trad calendar). First I’ll get my rant out of the way. This another instance of utterly senseless moving of traditional feast days. On the new calendar St. Stanislaus is on the 11th. But on the old calendar the 6th – 10th were empty. John Baptist de le Salle was added on the 7th, but what about those other ferial days? We couldn’t squeeze St. Stanislaus into one of those? We had to bump Pope Leo the Great! I don’t know how long St. Leo’s feast day has been on 4/11, but I am willing to bet it has been more than a thousand years. In fact, it has probably been on the 11th since he died on April 11th 461. How absurd to move it now.

Now that that’s out the way…

Pope Leo reigned from 440 to 461. This holy saint was a staunch defender of orthodox Christology. He called the council of Chalcedon to defeat the heresies of Nestorianism (Christ’s human person is distinct from his divine person) and Monophysitism (Christ’s divine nature complete subsumes his human nature such that only the divine is left). Leo’s defense of true doctrine was well received at the council, and of such eloquence the council participants proclaimed that “Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo.”

Pope Leo was equally effective in temporal affairs. When it seemed that nothing could stop Attila the Hun, Leo met with him and convinced him to turn back from Rome rather than sacking the city. Later when another barbarian king came to sack Rome, Leo could not persuade him to turn back, but did convince him to leave the people of Rome alone, and not to burn the city down.

Leo was the first pope to acquire significant temporal authority. However, this wasn’t some power grab by the holy pontiff, though some may want to believe that. The fact is, when the barbarians were at the gate (literally) the last vestiges of official Roman government fled for greener pastures. Leo was the only authority figure left.

The Romans turned to Leo, and he did his best to take care of the city. For more than 1400 years after that Rome was tended by Popes, until the Italian Risorgimento unlawfully stripped the Pope of virtually all the territory under his rule. Now, I would argue that the pope today is probably better off without the Papal States. He has too much on his plate as it is. But Rome itself would have disintegrated back into the earth if not for the Papacy. Popes ran Rome for longer than the Roman republic/empire did. The city of Rome should still be entrusted to the Pope as far as I am concerned.

Leo’s sermons are the earliest we have from a pope, and they are a treasure of wisdom. He has many excellent sermons on the liturgical year, which I try to incorporate on this blog. He is, of course, a doctor of the Church too.

Here is the collect for his feast:

Graciously hear our prayers, O Lord, we beseech Thee, which we offer in the solemn commemoration of blessed Leo, Thy confessor and bishop; and absolve us from all sins by the merits of him who served Thee worthily, interceding for us. Through our Lord.

And here is some of the pray Abbot Gueranger has in the Liturgical Year for this feast (emphasis original):

O Holy Pontiff Leo! thou worthily didst represent Peter in his Chair, whence they apostolic teaching ceased not to flow, ever beautiful in its truth and majesty. The Church of thine own day honoured thee as the great teacher of faith; and the Church of every succeeding age has recognized thee as one of the most learned Doctors and preachers of the divine word. From thy throne in heaven, where now thou reignest, pour forth upon us the understanding of the great mystery, which thou wast called on to defend. Under thy inspired pen, this mystery grows clear; we see how sublimely it harmonizes with all other mysteries; and faith delights at gaining so close a view of the divine object of its belief. Oh! strengthen this faith within us. The Incarnate Word is blasphemed in our own times; avenge his glory, by sending us men of thy zeal and learning.

Thou didst triumph over barbarian invaders: Attila acknowledged the influence of thy sanctity and eloquence, by withdrawing his troops from the Christian land they infested. In these our days, there have risen up new barbarians - civilized barbarians, who would persuade us that religion should be eliminated from education, and that the State, in its laws and institutions, should simply ignore our Lord Jesus Christ, the King to whom all power has been given, not only in heaven but on EARTH also. Oh! help us by thy powerful intercession, for our danger is very great. Many are seduced, and have fallen into apostasy, whilst flattering themselves that they are still Christians. Pray that the light that is left within us may not be extinguished, and that the public scandals which now exist may be brought to an end. Attila was but a pagan; our modern statesmen and governments are, or at least call themselves, Christians: have pity on them, and gain for them light to see the precipice to which they are hurrying society…

Bless, O Leo ! and help the Pontiff who is now thy successor on the Chair of Peter.

Pope Benedict’s General Audience catechesis on Leo the Great.

Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great.

Leo’s patron saint index page.

More at the Catholic Encyclopedia.

We are currently in the Octave of Easter, and as with Holy Week, all feast days are suppressed or transferred. In the early Church the entire octave was basically one long holy day of obligation. Everyone was to refrain from servile work, and go to church for liturgical services. However, toward the Middle Ages laxity already began to set in, and the observance was reduced to just the Monday and Tuesday of Easter week. This law became virtually universal in the Church, but again laxity set in, and countries sought dispensations from the observance for Tuesday, and eventually Monday.

Count this week, or at least Monday and Tuesday, as more days I would love to see (re)turned into holy days of obligation. Fortunately I had planned to take off work Monday and Tuesday even before I read about the brief history above (in the Liturgical Year of course). I am very glad I did, and I may try to get the whole week off next year. After all, it does seem to be a bit of a disconnect that I take the twelve days of Christmas off, but only managed two for Easter (I did take Good Friday off though too). On the other hand, there just seems to be more to do around Christmas time, more feast days that lend themselves to family activities with the Children. It would also help if there was more Easter music, and stories (and I don’t mean Peter Cottontail). I’m not aware of much in that regard. But I guess Easter vs. Christmas is another post.

Back to the Easter season. It seems that in the very early Church (first few centuries) there was no fasting for the whole fifty days of Easter. I assume that includes the regular Wednesday/Friday fast. It was not clear to me if abstinence from meat was observed or not. However in the 5th century we have the introduction of the minor rogations which are the three days before Ascension Thursday. These days entail fasting. So somewhere in there a limited amount of fasting became acceptable. In any case, whatever regular penances and mortifications we engage in should be curbed during the Easter season. This will help the whole season to be a little more special.

I hope everyone is having a blessed Easter season!

There wasn’t too much more as far as actual things to do in Dom Gueranger’s entry on practice during Passiontide. But there are a lot of excellent reflections, and encouragments to have the proper spiritual disposition. So, here is a quote:

The prevading character of the prayers and rites of these two weeks, is a profound grief at seeing the just One persecuted by His enemies even to death, and an energetic indignation against the deicides… The Church does not aim at exciting idle sentiment; what she principally seeks, is to impress the hearts of her children with a salutary fear. If Jerusalem’s crime strike them with horror, and if they felt that they have partaken in her sin, their tears will flow in abundance.

Let us, therefore, do our utmost to receive these strong impressions, too little know, alas! by the superficial piety of these times. Let us reflect on the love and affection of the Son of God.