The Annunciation

We celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation today, and with it Mary's fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, let it be done unto me according to thy word. With that righteous yes salvation came into the world, may we echo it. But I won't bang on, here's the Angelus:

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace,The Lord is with Thee;Blessed art thou among women,And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God,Pray for us sinners,Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary, etc.

V. And the Word was made Flesh. (genuflect you heathen)R. And dwelt among us.

 Hail Mary, etc.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his (cross yourselves, pagans) cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Blessed Ever Virgin Mary intercede for you, the hosts of Angels watch over you and may God bless you all, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

LSP

Feast of St. Luke

You're probably finding it hard to tear your eyes away from the revolt in Spain, Brexit in England and here in the US, the Star Chamber of Secrecy which is working desperately behind closed doors to destroy the President and overthrow an election. 

Why the Star Chamber furore? Because 45's a Ukrainian Crime Lord, apparently, unlike say, the Bidens or Nancy Pelosi's son. All this to say nothing of ongoing unrest in Hong Kong where you'll see more US flags than at any Democrat debate, cubed. Seriously, do these people hate our country?

By way of antidote, reflect on St. Luke, whose Feast is today.  He was a physician, a healer, a close friend and disciple of the great Paul and loved Our Lady. Tradition has it that he drew the first portrait of Mary, making him an artist as well as a doctor. 

Of course physical and spiritual healing go together and we see this outwardly in the life of Luke, to say nothing of inwardly in his Gospel and Acts. It's summed up in the Collect:

ALMIGHTY God, who didst inspire thy servant Saint Luke the Physician, to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of thy Son; Manifest in thy Church the like power and love, to the healing of our bodies and our souls; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed Feast and may the powerful intercession of Luke and Our Lady come to our aid.

Love not hate,

LSP

Visit the Sick

Being an LSP isn't just about guns and going to Canada, it's also about visiting the sick. If I was more of a Mission Priest I'd probably do that in an ATV. As it is, I just use my "rig," which is a basic, ex-fleet, 2008, F150 X-cab. 

Some people get to drive Raptors and perhaps I'm a bit jealous, but I can't complain, the truck gets me there. Still, I'd like to have 4x4.

But rigs aside, I do my best to get out to the sick and housebound and I should probably do more of that. After all, there's that bit in Scripture, "I was sick and you visited me."

Part of this means going to nursing homes, or "assisted living facilities," which is what I did today. Everyone seemed happy and upbeat and a fair few were demented with it, cackling from their rooms or sitting stranded, in their wheelchairs, in the corridors.

May God bless them, the Saints intercede for them and the Angels watch over them.

If you think that's idolatry you're wrong.

LSP