Tuesday 19 March 2019
Saint Joseph. Confessor. Spouse Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 19 March.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
Saint Joseph.
Confessor.
Spouse Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Feast Day 19 March.
Double of The First-Class.
White Vestments.
Saint Joseph and The Child Jesus.
Illustration: PINTEREST
At the end of the 15th-Century, his Feast was kept on 19 March and, in 1621, Pope Gregory XV extended it to the whole Church. In 1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph Protector of The Universal Church.
This Saint "of The Royal Race of David" was a Just Man (Gospel). As, by his marriage with The Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph has certain rights of The Blessed Fruit of The Virginal Womb of his spouse, a moral affinity exists between him and Jesus.
He exercised over The Child-God a certain paternal authority, which The Preface of Saint Joseph delicately alludes to as that of a Foster-Father. Without having begotten Jesus, Saint Joseph, by the bounds which unite him to Mary, is legally and morally The Father of The Son of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
It follows that we must honour, by a special homage, this dignity, or supernatural excellence, of Saint Joseph. "In The Family of Nazareth", says Cornelius-a-Lapide (a Flemish Jesuit and Exegete (1567-1637), "were the three greatest and most excellent persons in the World. Wherefore, to Christ is due The Divine Worship, to The Virgin A Higher Worship than to Saints, and to Saint Joseph The Full Worship due to Saints".
God revealed to Saint Joseph The Mystery of The Incarnation (Ibid.) and "chose him among all" (Epistle) to commit to his care The Incarnate Word and The Virginity of Mary.
The Hymn at Lauds says that: "Christ and The Virgin were with him at his last hour and watched by him, their faces gleaming with sweet serenity". Saint Joseph went to Heaven for ever to enjoy The Beatific Vision of The Word, whose humanity he had so long and so closely contemplated on Earth.
This Saint is, therefore, justly considered the patron and model of interior and contemplative Souls. And, in the Heavenly Home, Saint Joseph has a powerful influence of The Heart of The Son of his Most Blessed Spouse (Collect).
Let us imitate, at this Holy Season, the purity, the humility, the spirit of Prayer and Meditation, of Saint Joseph at Nazareth.
Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass: Justus ut.
Commemoration: Of The Feria, in Lent.
Credo.
Preface: Of Saint Joseph.
Last Gospel: Of The Feria, in Lent.
If 19 March happens to fall in Holy Week, The Feast of Saint Joseph is Transferred to The Tuesday after Low Sunday. An Alleluia is then added to every Antiphon, Verse, or Responsorial.
The following Text refers to 2017, but is a most interesting point in Liturgy and is from
ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS
Saint Joseph's Feast Day is a Double of The First Class and this does not take precedence over a Sunday in Lent.
However, in The Rubrics of 1568 (Trent), and, thus, prior to "Divino Afflatu", The Feast Day is just a Double (and not a Double of The First-Class), so Saint Joseph can be Commemorated in the Third Sunday of Lent Mass and Office.
Saint Joseph's Feast Day is a Double of The First Class and this does not take precedence over a Sunday in Lent.
However, in The Rubrics of 1568 (Trent), and, thus, prior to "Divino Afflatu", The Feast Day is just a Double (and not a Double of The First-Class), so Saint Joseph can be Commemorated in the Third Sunday of Lent Mass and Office.
Tuesday Of The Second Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Santa Balbina.
unless stated otherwise.
Tuesday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Balbina's.
Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.
English: Basilica of Saint Balbina, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: Roma - Chiesa di S. Balbina.
Photo: October 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: MarkusMark
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Lenten Station is at The Sanctuary of Saint Balbina, a Roman Virgin who lived in the 2nd-Century A.D. and whose remains lie under the Altar with those of her father, the Martyr Saint Quirinus. This Church, which stands on a slope of The Aventine, was, in the 5th-Century A.D., one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome. Formerly, it was the house of a Roman Lady, named Balbina, who was Martyred during The Persecution of Emperor Trajan.
The reason for the choice of this Church is explained by the Epistle, which speaks of the widow of Sarephta. Thus, is celebrated, the Faith of one who transformed her residence into a Church.
English: The Basilica of Saint Balbina, Rome.
Italiano: Santa Balbina a Roma.
Photo: January 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa
(Wikimedia Commons)
Jesus declares, in the Gospel, that the Jews, who taught The Law of Moses, did not observe it. On the other hand, The Kingdom of God is open to the heathen, who, by Baptism, become Disciples of Christ and do His works.
The Epistle tells of Elias going to a heathen widow woman of Sarephta, to ask for nourishment, when a drought had fallen on impenitent Israel. The widow took two pieces of wood, typical of The Cross of Jesus, and prepared a hearth cake for The Prophet and one for herself.. Her compassion was rewarded, for never after did she want for bread. Whereas the Jews suffer from the scarcity, the Gentiles, as a reward for their fidelity, receive daily The Eucharistic Bread, which applies to them the merits gained for them by The Saviour on The Cross.
Let us Pray that God may grant us the Grace of perseverance in the observance of The Fast, of which He has set us an example (Collect).
Mass: Tibi dixit.
Preface: Of Lent.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Santa Balbina is a Basilica Church in Rome, devoted to Saint Balbina. It was built in the 4th-Century A.D., over the house of Consul Lucius Fabius Cilo, on The Aventine Hill, behind The Baths of Caracalla. Possibly the ancient Titulus Tigridae, the Basilica was Consecrated by Pope Gregory I.
The adjoining Monastery has a commanding Mediaeval Defence Tower. Inside the Basilica, there is a very fine Episcopal Chair, with a Cosmatesque decoration from the 13th-Century. The Church was heavily restored in the 1930s, when frescoes were discovered on the side walls from the 9th-Century A.D. to the 14th-Century.
The Baroque frescoes in the Apse, and the Triumphal Arch, were painted by Anastasio Fontebuoni in 1599. The Arch is decorated with the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, while, in the Apse, we can see Saint Balbina between other Martyrs. An ancient Sarcophagus was also discovered during the Restoration. It is now used as a Font.
There is a strong connection between the Basilica of Santa Balbina, Rome, and Hungary.
In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica.
The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom, Hungary.
In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica. Another 13th-Century Hungarian Clergyman, Pál, Bishop of Paphos, erected an Altar in the Church for Saint Nicholas. Both the Altar and the Grave disappeared during later Centuries, but a Plaque Commemorates the Offerings of Pál.
The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom. According to Péter Erdő, the Hungarian connections of this Church played a part in Pope Saint John Paul II's decision when he chose Santa Balbina for Archbishop Erdő's Titular Church. The Cardinal also recommended Hungarian Pilgrims to visit the Basilica and said he feels a special responsibility for the building. Among the previous Titulars are Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar, and Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros.
Father Simpliciano of The Nativity Founded The Congregation of The Franciscan Sisters of The Sacred Heart, here.
His Eminence, Péter Erdő,
and Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae, Rome.
Illustration: CATHOLIC LANE
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Santa Balbina is a Basilica Church in Rome, devoted to Saint Balbina. It was built in the 4th-Century A.D., over the house of Consul Lucius Fabius Cilo, on The Aventine Hill, behind The Baths of Caracalla. Possibly the ancient Titulus Tigridae, the Basilica was Consecrated by Pope Gregory I.
The adjoining Monastery has a commanding Mediaeval Defence Tower. Inside the Basilica, there is a very fine Episcopal Chair, with a Cosmatesque decoration from the 13th-Century. The Church was heavily restored in the 1930s, when frescoes were discovered on the side walls from the 9th-Century A.D. to the 14th-Century.
External Ornaments of a Cardinal, who is a Bishop.
Date: 26 May 2011.
Source: Own work, elements by Heralder and Alekjds.
Author: Adelbrecht
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Baroque frescoes in the Apse, and the Triumphal Arch, were painted by Anastasio Fontebuoni in 1599. The Arch is decorated with the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, while, in the Apse, we can see Saint Balbina between other Martyrs. An ancient Sarcophagus was also discovered during the Restoration. It is now used as a Font.
to 29 November 1918,
and from August 1919 until Mid- to Late-1946.
Magyar: Magyarország 3:2 oldalarányú zászlaja 1915.
november 6. és 1918. november 29., valamint 1919 augusztusa és 1946 közepe-vége között.
Date: 2 December 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Thommy
(Wikimedia Commons)
There is a strong connection between the Basilica of Santa Balbina, Rome, and Hungary.
In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica.
The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom, Hungary.
In 1270, the first known Hungarian Cardinal, István Váncsa, was buried in the Basilica. Another 13th-Century Hungarian Clergyman, Pál, Bishop of Paphos, erected an Altar in the Church for Saint Nicholas. Both the Altar and the Grave disappeared during later Centuries, but a Plaque Commemorates the Offerings of Pál.
The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Balbinae is Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom. According to Péter Erdő, the Hungarian connections of this Church played a part in Pope Saint John Paul II's decision when he chose Santa Balbina for Archbishop Erdő's Titular Church. The Cardinal also recommended Hungarian Pilgrims to visit the Basilica and said he feels a special responsibility for the building. Among the previous Titulars are Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar, and Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros.
Father Simpliciano of The Nativity Founded The Congregation of The Franciscan Sisters of The Sacred Heart, here.
Monday 18 March 2019
In Defence Of Pope Paul IV (Gianpietro Carafa) (In Jest). By Reverend Fr. Timothy Finigan (Currently Recuperating).
This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
THE HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY
Pope Paul IV.
"A nice chap beneath it all".
Illustration: THE HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY
My learned friend, Fr Hunwicke, has written a fair-minded Post exculpating our Holy Father from the charge of being the worst Pope ever. In this I entirely agree; there have indeed been worse Popes, especially in the saeculum obscurum. I must confess to twitching a little, however, when he ranks Pope Paul IV alongside the notorious rogues of that era.
The charges against Pope Paul IV are that he had a ferocious character and that he had such malevolent hostility towards the English Catholic Church during the reign of Queen Mary that he made it easier for Elizabeth I to reintroduce the so-called reformation to England.
On the first charge, we might offer the nuanced appraisal of a study by a Jesuit (who, as such, has no particular reason to be generous to Paul IV). He says:
Paul was seventy-nine years old when Elected; learned and incorruptible, undoubtedly, and genuinely reform-minded. But, he was also a self-willed, stubborn, intolerant, shortsighted, harsh autocrat with a fierce hatred of almost everything Spanish, in part because of the Spanish hegemony over his native Naples. ("Ignatius, the Popes, and Realistic Reverence." John W. Padberg, SJ. Studies In The Spirituality Of Jesuits 25/3 : May 1993). So, there is some good, mixed in with the negatives; and, after all, incorruptible reformers do sometimes have to be a little stubborn and autocratic.
On the second charge, we could, I think, say that Pope Paul IV was, to a certain degree, lacking in prudence on the English question. However, we should bear in mind that, in ordering Cardinal Pole to return to Rome to face the Inquisition (which the Pope, as Cardinal Carafa, had wisely helped to set up), he was not particularly prejudiced against the English.
He had, after all, not allowed Cardinal Morone's reputation at The Council of Trent to save him from a spell in prison on suspicion of heresy. Let us not forget that, in the event, Cardinal Pole kept out of The Papal Slammer thanks to the intervention of Queen Mary.
Pope Paul IV also denied the legitimacy of Elizabeth I's claim to The Crown, and, again, we have to accept that, if this was a mistake, it was surely in the area of prudential judgement, and one we could only dare to charge him with, when aided by hindsight.
Looking more positively at the record of the venerable scion of The Carafa Family, we must record his early yearning for The Contemplative Life and his part in the founding of The Theatines. The latter would surely have offered a more humane and less problematic version of Clerical Reform than the Jesuits, who, perhaps, would have benefited from the suggestion of amalgamating with them. An unwarranted degree of cynicism would be required to put Carafa's reservations, about the new project of a Company of Jesus, entirely down to his hatred of all things Spanish.
Pope Paul IV also denied the legitimacy of Elizabeth I's claim to The Crown, and, again, we have to accept that, if this was a mistake, it was surely in the area of prudential judgement, and one we could only dare to charge him with, when aided by hindsight.
Looking more positively at the record of the venerable scion of The Carafa Family, we must record his early yearning for The Contemplative Life and his part in the founding of The Theatines. The latter would surely have offered a more humane and less problematic version of Clerical Reform than the Jesuits, who, perhaps, would have benefited from the suggestion of amalgamating with them. An unwarranted degree of cynicism would be required to put Carafa's reservations, about the new project of a Company of Jesus, entirely down to his hatred of all things Spanish.
Whether we count Paul IV's refusal to reassemble The Council of Trent as an error, must surely depend on our appraisal of his approach to what we would today call "Synodality". He was quite reasonably worried about the conciliatory approach towards Protestantism shown by some of the Theologians. (His successor did nothing to assuage such doubts by allowing Communion Under Both Kinds in Bohemia.) Let us not forget that Paul IV issued The Bull "Cum ex apostolatus officio" in a sincere attempt to prevent a heretic from being Elected Pope.
Finally, we must admit to the awkward problem of the nephews whom he made Cardinals. They were so unworthy of the Post that the next Pope felt obliged to execute them.
I shan't attempt to present this as evidence that, beneath his autocratic harshness, Paul IV was an affectionate family man - he just shouldn't have made those nephews Cardinals. (Imagine the problem if a Pope did such a thing now that the death penalty has been crossed out of the Catechism !)
*****
I should say, with Apologies to any confused Readers, that much of this Post is intended "In Jest". For edification, you would do better to read Fr Z's remarks on the question and especially his reflections on Horace.
*****
I should say, with Apologies to any confused Readers, that much of this Post is intended "In Jest". For edification, you would do better to read Fr Z's remarks on the question and especially his reflections on Horace.
Monday Of The Second Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Clement.
unless stated otherwise.
Monday of The Second Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Clement's.
Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.
English: Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.
Italiano: Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano.
Photo: May 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Berthold Werner
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Station is at the Church of Saint Clement, built above the very house of the third successor of Saint Peter, whose name is found in The Canon of The Mass. This Sanctuary, a Parish of Rome in the 5th-Century A.D., is a most faithful example of an old Roman Basilica, although it was rebuilt in the 11th-Century. There are found, under the Altar, the remains of The Holy Martyr and of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.
Our Lord foretells in the Gospel that the Jews will lift Him up on The Cross, and thrice He asserts that they will die in their sin, because they have not believed in Him and done His works.
The wrath of God, which fell a first time on Jerusalem at the time of the Captivity of Babylon (Epistle), was renewed against Israel at the burning of the Temple. Like guilty Christians, they would only be able to return to The Lord by Penance, while the heathen are called, instead, to believe in Jesus, to become part of His people by Baptism.
“Let us mortify our flesh by Abstinence from food and let us Fast from sin by following Justice” (Collect).
Mass: Rédime me.
Preface: Of Lent.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.
The Basilica of Saint Clement (Italian: Basilica di San Clemente-al-Laterano) is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica, Dedicated to Pope Clement I, located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically-speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings:
(1) The present Basilica, built just before the year 1100, during the height of The Middle Ages;
(2) Beneath the present Basilica, is a 4th-Century A.D. Basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had, in the 1st-Century A.D., briefly served as an early Church, and the basement of which had, in the 2nd-Century A.D., briefly served as a mithraeum;
(3) The home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of a Republican-era building that had been destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D.
This ancient Church was transformed over the Centuries from a private home, that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st-Century A.D., to a grand public Basilica by the time of the 6th-Century A.D, reflecting the emerging Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power.
The archaeological traces of the Basilica's history were discovered in the 1860s by Joseph Mullooly, Lector in Sacred Theology, beginning in 1849 at the College of Saint Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
The lowest levels of the present Basilica are remnants of the Foundation of a Republican-era building that was destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D. An industrial building, possibly the Imperial Mint of Rome, was built on the site during the "Flavian" Period and, shortly thereafter, a "domus", or multi-level house, alongside it, separated form the industrial building by a narrow alleyway.
About a hundred years later (circa 200 A.D.), the central room of the domus was re-modelled for use as part of a mithraeum, that is, as part of a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras. The main cult room (the speleum, "cave", which is about 9.6 m long and 6 m wide, was discovered in 1867, but could not be investigated until 1914, due to lack of drainage. The "exedra", the shallow Apse at the far end of the low vaulted space, was trimmed with pumice to render it more cave-like.
Central to the main room of the sanctuary, was found an altar, in the shape of a sarcophagus, and with the main cult relief of the tauroctony, Mithras slaying a bull, on its front face. The torch-bearers, Cautes and Cautopates, appear on, respectively, the Left and Right faces of the same monument.
A dedicatory inscription identifies the donor as one Pater Cnaeus Arrius Claudianus, perhaps of the same clan as Titus Arrius Antoninus' mother. Other monuments discovered in the sanctuary include a bust of Sol, kept in the sanctuary in a niche near the entrance, and a figure of "Mithras petra generix, i.e. "Mithras, born of the rock".
All three monuments, mentioned above, are still on display in the Mithraeum. A fourth monument, – a statue of Saint Peter found in the Speleum's Vestibule, and still on display there – is not of the mysteries.
Basilica di San Clemente, Rome, Italy.
Photo: March 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Sixtus
Permission: GFDL.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.
The Basilica of Saint Clement (Italian: Basilica di San Clemente-al-Laterano) is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica, Dedicated to Pope Clement I, located in Rome, Italy. Archaeologically-speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings:
(1) The present Basilica, built just before the year 1100, during the height of The Middle Ages;
(2) Beneath the present Basilica, is a 4th-Century A.D. Basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had, in the 1st-Century A.D., briefly served as an early Church, and the basement of which had, in the 2nd-Century A.D., briefly served as a mithraeum;
(3) The home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of a Republican-era building that had been destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D.
Ceiling of the Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome.
Photo: May 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Berthold Werner
(Wikimedia Commons)
This ancient Church was transformed over the Centuries from a private home, that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st-Century A.D., to a grand public Basilica by the time of the 6th-Century A.D, reflecting the emerging Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power.
The archaeological traces of the Basilica's history were discovered in the 1860s by Joseph Mullooly, Lector in Sacred Theology, beginning in 1849 at the College of Saint Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
The lowest levels of the present Basilica are remnants of the Foundation of a Republican-era building that was destroyed in The Great Fire of 64 A.D. An industrial building, possibly the Imperial Mint of Rome, was built on the site during the "Flavian" Period and, shortly thereafter, a "domus", or multi-level house, alongside it, separated form the industrial building by a narrow alleyway.
About a hundred years later (circa 200 A.D.), the central room of the domus was re-modelled for use as part of a mithraeum, that is, as part of a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras. The main cult room (the speleum, "cave", which is about 9.6 m long and 6 m wide, was discovered in 1867, but could not be investigated until 1914, due to lack of drainage. The "exedra", the shallow Apse at the far end of the low vaulted space, was trimmed with pumice to render it more cave-like.
English: Mithraeum, under the Basilica of Saint Clement, in Rome.
Italiano: Mitreo sottostante la basilica di San Clemente a Roma.
Русский: Митреум под базиликой святого Климента.
Date: 17 December 2006.
Author: Allie Caulfield
(Wikimedia Commons)
Central to the main room of the sanctuary, was found an altar, in the shape of a sarcophagus, and with the main cult relief of the tauroctony, Mithras slaying a bull, on its front face. The torch-bearers, Cautes and Cautopates, appear on, respectively, the Left and Right faces of the same monument.
A dedicatory inscription identifies the donor as one Pater Cnaeus Arrius Claudianus, perhaps of the same clan as Titus Arrius Antoninus' mother. Other monuments discovered in the sanctuary include a bust of Sol, kept in the sanctuary in a niche near the entrance, and a figure of "Mithras petra generix, i.e. "Mithras, born of the rock".
Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius bring the body of Saint Clement to Rome.
11th-Century fresco in the Basilica di San Clemente, Rome.
Source/Photographer: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
All three monuments, mentioned above, are still on display in the Mithraeum. A fourth monument, – a statue of Saint Peter found in the Speleum's Vestibule, and still on display there – is not of the mysteries.
Sunday 17 March 2019
The Second Sunday In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Mary's-In-Dominica.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
The Second Sunday in Lent.
Station at Saint Mary's-in-Dominica.
Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.
Semi-Double.
Privilege of The First-Class.
Violet Vestments.
"This is My Beloved Son . . . hear ye Him".
Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.
English: Interior of the Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Français: Intérieur de la basilique Santa Maria-in-Domnica.
Photo: May 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Station at Rome is in the Church of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, because, in former times, the Christians gathered there on Sundays in The House of The Lord (Dominicum). It is said to have been here that Saint Laurence distributed the goods of The Church to The Poor. It is one of the twenty-five 5th-Century A.D. Parishes of Rome.
Just as on Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays, the subject matter of The Divine Office forms the texture of The Masses for The Second, Third and Fourth Sundays of Lent, in such a way, that past ages still carry on their work of illustrating The Paschal Mystery and so preparing us for it. And, indeed, Our Lord's ancestors, according to the flesh, are types of both Him and His Church.
Today, in The Breviary, we read of The Patriarch, Jacob, model of the most complete trust in God in the midst of all adversities. The Holy Scriptures often call Jehovah The God of Jacob, or Israel, when He is referred to as The Protector of His people. In the Introit, we say "O God of Israel, deliver us from all our tribulations".
It is, then, to The God of Jacob, The God of those who serve Him, that The Church addresses herself, today. In the Introit, we read that he who puts his trust in God will never be ashamed. In the Collect, we ask Almighty God to keep us, both inwardly and outwardly, that we may be preserved from all adversities.
English: Basilica of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Italiano: Roma - Chiesa di S. Maria-in-Domnica.
Photo: October 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: MarkusMark
(Wikimedia Commons)
In the Gradual and Tract, we beseech Our Lord that He will deliver us from our troubles and adversities and "visit us with His Salvation". The life of The Patriarch, Jacob, could not be summed up in a better way; he whom God always helped in the midst of his trouble and, in whom, as Saint Ambrose says, "we must acknowledge singular courage and great patience in labours and trials".
Jacob was chosen by Almighty God to be the heir of His Promises, just as, formerly, He had selected Isaac, Abraham, Sem and Noah. The name "Jacob" really means "Supplanter", and he fulfilled the meaning of his name when he bought the first birthright of his brother, Esau, from him for a mess of pottage, and obtained, by a trick, that Blessing of the elder son which his father meant to give to Esau. His father, Isaac (whose sight was impaired), Blessed, indeed, his younger son, Jacob, after having touched his hands, which Rebecca (Jacob's mother) had covered with goatskins. Isaac said to Jacob: "Let peoples serve thee . . . and be thou Lord of thy Brethren".
Further, when Jacob had to flee, to escape Esau's vengeance, he saw, in a dream, a ladder, reaching to Heaven, upon which the Angels ascended and descended. At the head of the ladder was The Lord, Who told him: "In thee and thy seed, all the Nations of the Earth shall be Blessed. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said."
After twenty years, Jacob returned to his own land; then an Angel wrestled with him all night, without overpowering him, and, in the morning, told him: "Thy name shall not be called "Jacob", but "Israel"; for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shall thou prevail against men ?" Jacob gained his brother's confidence and they were reconciled.
Santa Maria-in-Domnica, Rome.
One of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance of the Mid-9th-Century A.D.,
this mosaic was sponsored by Pope Paschal II, who can be seen kneeling before The Virgin.
Photo: February 2006.
Source: apse mosaic, s. maria in domnica
Author: Anthony M. from Rome, Italy.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Every feature of the history of this Patriarch is typical of Christ and The Church in The Paschal Mystery. Saint Augustine writes: "The Blessing, which Isaac gave Jacob, has a symbolic meaning in which the goatskins represent sins, while Jacob, clothed in these skins, is the figure of Him, Who, having no sins of His own, bore those of others." In somewhat the same way, a Bishop uses Gloves at a Pontifical Mass and says, in effect, that Jesus was offered for us in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
Saint Leo, in his exposition, says: "That for the Restoration of the human race, His Unchangeable Divinity stooped to take the form of a slave and that this is why Our Lord promised, in formal and precise terms, that some of His Disciples should not "taste of death till they see The Son of Man coming in His Kingdom," that is, in the Royal Glory which belongs spiritually to His adopted human nature, a Glory which The Lord willed to reveal to His three Disciples; since "although they were aware of The Divine Majesty, which lay hidden within Him, they were ignorant of the possibilities of the very Body which clothed The Divinity".
Again, on the Holy Mountain, where Our Lord was Transfigured, a voice was heard saying: "This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased. Hear ye Him." So, God The Father Blesses His Son, clothed with our sinful flesh, as Isaac Blessed Jacob, clothed with the goatskins, which Blessing given to Christ is given also to the Gentiles, just as Jacob was Blessed in preference to his elder brother.
When the Bishop puts on his Pontifical Gloves, he addresses the following Prayer to Almighty God: "Encompass my hands, O God, with the purity of the New Man come down from Heaven, that, as Jacob, who had covered himself with goatskins, obtained his father's Blessing, having offered him meats and good wine, so also may I, offering to Thee The Victim of Salvation at my hands, obtain the Blessing of Thy Grace. Through Our Lord."
It is in Christ that we are Blessed by The Father. He is our elder brother and our Head. To Him must we listen, for He has chosen us for His people. "We Pray and beseech you in The Lord Jesus," says Saint Paul, "that, as you have received from us, how you ought to walk and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given you by The Lord Jesus . . . For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto Sanctification in Christ Jesus Our Lord" (Epistle).
English: The Ceiling of Saint Mary's-in-Dominica, Rome.
Italiano: Roma, Santa Maria in Domnica: soffitto.
Photo: September 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa
(Wikimedia Commons)
In Saint John's Gospel, Our Lord applies the vision of Jacob's ladder to Himself, to show that in the midst of the persecutions, of which He was the object, He was constantly under the protection of Almighty God and His Angels. So, Saint Hippolytus says: "As Esau planned his brother's death, so the Jews plotted against Christ and The Church. Jacob must needs fly into a far Country; in the same way, Christ, thrust out by the unbelief of His own Nation, had to depart into Galilee, where The Church, sprung from the Race of Gentiles, is given to Him as His Spouse." Moreover, at the end of time, these two peoples will be reconciled, as were Esau and Jacob.
Today's Mass, then, taken in connection with The Breviary Lessons for this week, acquires its full sense and helps us to understand the true meaning for us of The Paschal Mystery which we are about to Celebrate. Jacob beheld The God of Glory; The Apostles saw Jesus Transfigured; soon, The Church will show us The Risen Saviour.
Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass: Reminíscere miseratiónum.
Preface: Of Lent.
Saturday 16 March 2019
Saturday Of Ember Week In Lent. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Peter's.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
Saturday of Ember Week in Lent.
Station at Saint Peter's.
Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.
Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Artist: Giovanni Paolo Panini (1692–1765).
Date: 1731.
Current location: Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, United States.
Source/Photographer: Saint Louis Art Museum official site
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Station for The Saturday of Ember Week is always at the great Basilica erected by Emperor Constantine and rebuilt by The Popes in the 16th- and 17th-Centuries. It is on The Hill of The Vatican, on the spot where Saint Peter died on The Cross and where his body rests. Besides, the Gospel is about The Transfiguration, of which Saint Peter was the chief witness.
It was in this Basilica that Ordinations took place, preceded, during the night, by Twelve Lessons. We have a trace of these Lessons in those occurring in The Mass for today. The Introit Verse alludes to this Nocturnal Vigil: "I have cried in the day and in the night before Thee."
Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. The Apse, showing the Cathedra of Saint Peter, supported by four Doctors of The Church, and The Glory.
Designed by Bernini.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Wiki Commons.
Author: Vitold Muratov.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Like The Apostles selected to be present on Mount Thabor at The Manifestation of The Divine Life of Jesus (Gospel), the new Priests will ascend the steps of the Altar to enter into communication with God. It is they, who, in His name, will exhort us to Prayer, to Patience and to Charity.
Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Photo: April 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Nserrano
(Wikimedia Commons)
If we abstain during Lent from even the appearance of evil, our Souls and our bodies will be preserved unstained for The Day of The Eternal Pasch, when Christ (Epistle) will allow us to participate in The Glory of His Transfiguration for all Eternity.
Let us Pray to God to fortify us with His Blessing, so that, during this Lent, we may never depart from His Holy Will (Prayer Over The People).
Mass: Intret orátio.
Preface: Of Lent.
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