Good Friday #2

It's Good Friday so let's have some Donne:

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:

Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.

There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.

Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?

It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstoole crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once peirc'd with those holes?

Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
By God, for his apparell, rag'd, and torne?

If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,

O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;
I turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.

Yes, they speld differentlie in those dayes,

LSP

Ash Wednesday 2020

Memento, homo, quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris — Remember, O Man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust all brought into stark relief as we kneel to receive an ashen cross on our foreheads. No, fool, you're not a God, you're mortal and destined to return to the earth from which you came. 

Remember, the memento mori is cruciform, in the shape of the same Cross which defeated death by death. Here we find life, our mortality shot through and transformed by eternity.

So Good Friday lives within Ash Wednesday and with it the green pastures and flowing waters of paradise, of the empty tomb and Easter. O death, where is thy sting? Still, before we dare claim the victory we must ally ourselves with it, or rather the Victor himself. And so to Lent.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Wishing you all a holy and blessed penitential season,

LSP

Good Friday

Consummatum Est

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

God bless,

LSP

Good Friday, A Warning

Behold the Cross

I wish you all a blessed and holy Good Friday, and to compound the penance, here's a picture of Nancy Pelosi with the "Andrus", at an Episcopalien water ritual somewhere in California.

Pelosi with the Andrus. Dangerous Space Creatures.

Pelosi and the "Andrus" are well-known, off-world, NWO shills. At all costs, do not let them into your house and be sure to do the exact opposite of anything they say. Failure to take this advice seriously has and will have disastrous consequences.

Be Careful,

LSP

Good Friday

Here's a couple of Collects, by way of general Good Friday edification.

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

And while we're at it, spare a thought for Cyprus. I liked this, from SOLAS, which is a Christian advocacy group in Scotland.

Who knew there were any Christians left in Scotland?

God bless,

LSP

Good Friday

I wish I could say that Good Friday, and the Triduum in general, somehow become easier as the years go by. But the reverse is true; as our consciences become increasingly alive to the weight of wickedness, so too do we realize our part in the crucifixion. Fortunately Easter is just over the horizon.

As always, Austin Farrer speaks well to this:

EVERYTHING that is true of Christ's body is true of us in some manner. He gives us his body that we may become his body. Christ's body died on the cross, he also rose. The resurrection is ours, but the death also is ours. Many men, at the last challenge, have consented to be martyrs, and set their bodies aside. But Christ's passion was no more than the last expression of what he had done all his life. He had set his body aside whenever its demands conflicted with man's need or God's will, and so he had rehearsed his death continually; not morbidly, but with joy and self-forgetfulness. We have many opportunities so to rehearse our death, and how steadily we reject them! Our bed, our chair retains us when we should get up and pray; fleshly delights of act and imagination, some by no means innocent, hold us from following better inspirations. Our own pleasure comes before our neighbour's, vanity before sympathy. How will it be when rehearsals are over, and we have to act our part, to put our bodies finally off, that we may possess God? If Christ offers us up with his own death in this sacrament, it is that we may die a voluntary and daily death, and merit a daily resurrection.

How will it be when rehearsals are over? 

Pray for mercy.

LSP

Good Friday

I was struck by the following, from Rebirth of Images, by Farrer:

"On the sixth day of the week, and the sixth hour, says St. John (Jn. 19: 13-22; cf. Rev. 13: 16-14:1), the kingdoms of Christ and Antichrist looked one another in the face in Pilate's court, and the adherents of the False Prophet (Caiaphas) firmly wrote on their foreheads the mark of the Beast, when they said, 'We have no King but Caesar.' Presently they saw the Lamb uplifted with his true Name over his head, 'King of the Jews': and for all they could do, they could not get it erased: 'What I have written,' said Pilate, 'I have written.' Christ's Friday victory is the supreme manifestation also of Antichrist."

Do note that Antichrist is captain of the losing team.

Have a blessed Good Friday!

LSP