Adoro Te

 

St. Thomas Aquinas is rightly known as the Angelic Doctor, perhaps the greatest of theologians, and the sanctity of his thought and devotion comes through in his hymnody, not least Adoro Te, composed for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Here:

Anglo-Catholics, that rare breed, are familiar with this translation:

Humbly I adore thee, Verity unseen,

Who thy glory hiddest ‘neath these shadows mean;

Lo, to thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,

Tranced as it beholds thee, shrined within the cloud.

Taste and touch and vision to discern thee fail;

Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.

I believe whate’er the Son of God hath told;

What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

O memorial wondrous of the Lord’s own death;

Living Bread that givest all thy creatures breath,

Grant my spirit ever by thy life may live,

To my taste thy sweetness never failing give.

Jesus, whom now hidden, I by faith behold,

What my soul doth long for, that thy word foretold:

Face to face thy splendor, I at last shall see,

In the glorious vision, blessed Lord, of thee.

And in the military Latin original, so beautifully moving in the singing:

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,

Quae sub his figuris vere latitas;

Tibi se cor meum totum subiicit,

Quia te contemplans, totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,

Sed auditu solo tuto creditur;

Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius,

Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius.

In Cruce latebat sola Deitas.

At hic latet simul et humanitas:

Ambo tamen credens, atque confitens,

Peto quod petivit latro paenitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor,

Deum tamen meum te confiteor:

Fac me tibi semper magis credere,

In te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini,

Panis vivus vitam praestans homini:

Praesta meae menti de te vivere,

Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie pellicane Iesu Domine,

Me immundum munda tuo Sanguine:

Cuius una stilla salvum facere

Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,

Oro, fiat illud, quod tam sitio,

Ut te revelata cernens facie,

Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae.

Amen.

Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274 A.D.) was  born into a noble family in northern Italy. His Father, Count Landulph of Aquino, was of Lombard descent and his Mother, Theodora, was Norman.

Unsurprisingly, the men of his family were knights and warriors but Thomas chose the religious life and joined the newly formed Domincan Order, much to the annoyance of his brothers and doubtless Father. But if he declined the offer of a temporal sword he most definitely took up its spiritual equivalent.

His writing, like light cast on a darkened city, like a flare of sanctity and truth, illumines and drives back error, evil and disbelief today.

Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, Oro, fiat illud, quod tam sitio.

Yes,

LSP

A Short Sunday Sermon

 

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," says John the Baptist of Christ. And so he is, the true Paschal Lamb, the definitive savior of God's people, whose blood shed on the cross in sinless sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin opens the gates of heaven to all who put their faith in him. Here indeed is a light to the nations who extends salvation to the ends of the earth.

Yes, the mystery of the cross and resurrection prefigured in the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan is now stated, but John doesn't stop there. The next day we see him standing with two of his disciples and as Jesus approaches he salutes him again, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The disciples then follow Jesus who turns to them and asks, "What seek ye?" They reply, "Where dwellest thou?" And he invites them to "come and see." They do, and stay with him that day. (Jn 1: 29-41)

Christ asks the same question of us, "What seek ye?" what are you after, what do you want? There's only one true answer, the soul finds no peace until it rests in the beatitude of God and this forces another question, where is he, the Paschal Lamb, to be found, where does he live?

Upon his throne of glory in heaven, for sure, and on earth? In his living Word, in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar and in the hearts of his faithful people. He lives in his body the Church, in which we find union with his sacrifice, the forgiveness of sins and a share in his risen life.

Be strong in that and confess with John's disciples, "We have found the Messiah."

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

God bless,

LSP

Sunday Message

 

I know, there's only so much hideous degeneracy dawgishness a person can take, so here's a short and uplifting Sunday message for Advent III from Austin Farrer:

JESUS gave his body and blood to his disciples in bread and wine. Amazed at such a token, and little understanding what they did, Peter, John and the rest reached out their hands and took their master and their God.  Whatever else they knew or did not know, they knew they were committed to him, body and soul; they were consenting that he should die for them, and that they, somehow, should live it out.  The cock had not crowed twice that night before Peter thrice denied, but still he knew he was committed to Christ, for Christ had given him his body and his blood.  Christ’s body and blood lived in him, and Christ forgave him; there was no breaking of the sacramental tie.  We are not worthy of Christ, but we are bound to Christ.  With all the sincerity of our minds let us renew the bond, and pray to live for him who has died for us.

God bless you all,

LSP

Sunday Sermon

 

Trads, try not to scorn me but we use the new-fangled three year lectionary in the missions, which means today's Gospel was Luke 14:1, 7-14. Here, Jesus is at a feast held by a ruler of the pharisees and he gives, on the face of it, a simple warning against pride.

When you're invited to a wedding feast don't go for the seat of honor lest you're cast down in shame to a lower place. Instead, go for the lower place and be invited up. He concludes, "He who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

How that must have stung in such exalted company. Woe to you pharisees! You tithe and go for the seats of honor at the synagogue, you make long prayers and while you're at it devour widow's houses. "Ye are as graves," spiritually dead.

We can imagine the dinner party's host shifting uneasily as he's served five star from his slaves, and we can also imagine the Savior holding the man's gaze, eye to eye. The Word pinning the darkness to itself, and of course the pharisee can't complain; God abhors the proud, they are repellent to him, the Law and Prophets make this clear. Our Lady exults, "He has cast down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble and meek." But why are the proud so egregious in the eyes of God?

Because they're ugly in themselves. "Look at me, I am so very, very important," said the junior British Army officer, fresh out of Sandhurst. to the platoon and the world. I know, a certain arrogance goes with the trade, but still, no one likes that man, not me, not you, not God. Again, pride is the start of sin, a well-head of wickedness. What evil will a proud, self-obsessed, exalted man not commit? More seriously, this deluded, luciferean attitude of heart and mind, of soul, is idolatrous.

The proud man sets himself up against God, he's forgotten "it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves." And therein lies disaster, you cannot go against God, reality itself, and stand. The math doesn't work. What a warning to the pharisees, what a warning to our present age.

Are we not at the xenith, the pyramid peak of rebellion against God? What would the spirit of the age, the zeitgeist look like if was a person? Hideous thought. I tell you, its head would be so swollen with self-importance that it couldn't fit through the door posts of the narrow gate which leads to the marriage feast, to heaven. 

Caveat in mind,  what a blessing that the people of the missions and all over the world came together in humility to worship God, to adore Christ as their sovereign King and Lord, to hear his revealed Word and be nourished by the Sacrament of the Altar in which we find union with the one perfect sacrifice of our Savior.

Domine non sum dignus

May God give us the grace to go out into the world and invite the "maimed, the lame, the blind," all those wounded by sin, to the Feast, to the heavenly banquet, even as we ourselves have been invited by the author and perfecter of our faith.

Ad Maiorem,

LSP

A Maundy Thursday Reflection

 

Here we are, it's Maundy Thursday and we're faced with two mandates, to "love one another as I have loved you," and "This is my body... this is my blood... do this..." With Christ washing his disciples' feet and then celebrating the first Mass on the night before he suffered.

The two might seem unrelated or even discordant, especially liturgically, but hold on, the one follows the other. Jesus washing his followers' feet is an act of humble love and where is this brought to a point, exemplified, played out to the full? 

On the Cross. "He humbled himself taking the form of a servant and became obedient, even unto death on a cross," and again, "Greater love hath no man but to lay his life down for his friends." The foot washing, then, serves as a type or figure of the crucifixion.

And what is the Last Supper, the first Eucharist, but that same sacrifice made present for us under the forms of bread and wine? This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for us upon the Cross to cleanse us from  sin. So we find ourselves back at Jesus washing his disciples' feet.

In the face of such a gift, of God's unfathomable love for us given in sacrifice on Calvary, what can we do but love him back and in doing so keep his commandment to love one another as he loved us.

Watch and Pray,

LSP

Silver Linings

It's dark, wet, and cold in the bucolic haven that is this small Texan farming community meets industrial theme park. That, and the Chinese Plague or "Red Death" is a looming threat from the nearby DFW metrosprawl.

Still, behind every dark cloud there's a silver lining. To name several: Drag Queen Story Hour's been cancelled and no one seems to care very much about preferred pronouns. It's almost as though the "greatest civil rights issue of our time" (Joe Biden) wasn't so very important after all. But of course the Mass is.

Question. Should the Parsons be livestreaming Private Masses or not? I'm inclined to say it cheapens the Sacrament of the Altar. Here's Adrienne:

At first (in a rather paganish way) I thought, "Cool - don't have to put on makeup, fix my hair, dress up. I can sit in front of my computer and think holy thoughts."

Reality. Prayers at the foot of the altar = Erica kitteh demanding breakfast. The Introit = Frankie doggie having to go out and pee. The epistle and gospel = I have to pee. And on, and on.

Good points. Whatever the case, I'll be posting links to the Mass tomorrow.

Be safe and as always...

DFTR,

LSP

Mass on the Beach

A catholic Chaplain administering the Sacrament of the Altar on Omaha Beach, D Day. The real thing.

Respect.

LSP 

Have a Blessed Sunday

golden void

Tried to get as much riding in as possible before flying off to the hopefully far cooler North. This means getting up earl and, on Saturday, driving to Miltdown Arabians with the sun at my back. Beautiful, there was even some rain, which was a godsend. 

Had a right workout, 'round poles and barrels at a canter/hand gallop, Western style. Total enjoyment and a good change to put some different horses through their paces.

ridiculous

Apart from horses, there was an interesting Gospel text this morning, in the feeding of the 5000, which serves as a type of the Eucharist. But why 5 loaves and 2 fish? 5 signifies the Law (5 books of the Pentateuch), which is fulfilled and sanctified by the twofold nature of Christ who is "true God and true man". The spiritual sustenance of this renewed Law is Christ Himself, who states "I am the bread of life", and is the acrostic in Greek for fish (Jesus Christ Son of God Savior). 

He will be the nourishment of the faithful whose number is 5000; as we are reminded in Acts, "The number of those who believed were 5000." These are the multitude of the new Law and constitute a new Israel, signified by the 12 baskets of food left over - fed by none other than Our Lord.

When I was a child, Rev. Ronnie Loyd, a Welshman, taught us that the real miracle and the spiritual meaning of the text, was that Jesus persuaded the 5000 to share their lunches, making it the "miracle of the bag lunches". 

hippys

Not dissimilar, I suppose, to a hippy "be-in" but without the thieving and general knavishness. I mentioned this interpretation to the congregation and denounced it trenchantly as, "Rubbish!"

God bless you all, not least in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Canada tomorrow.

LSP