Tertullian (Part Two).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.

A woodcut illustration depicting Tertullian.

Quintus Florens Tertullian 

(Anglicised to Tertullian).

160 A.D. - 220 A.D.

Church Father and Theologian.

Source: http://www.higherpraise.com/preachers/tertullian.htm.

This File: August 2011.

User: Serge Lachinov.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The chronology of Tertullian's writings is difficult to fix with certainty. It is, in part, determined by the Montanistic views that are set forth in some of them, by the author's own allusions to this writing, or that, as ante-dating others (cf. Harnack, Litteratur ii.260–262), and by definite historic data (e.g., the reference to the death of Septimius Severus, Ad Scapulam, iv). In his work against Marcion, which he calls his third composition on the Marcionite heresy, he gives its date as the fifteenth year of the reign of Severus (Adv. Marcionem, i.1, 15)—which would be approximately the year 208 A.D.

The writings may be divided with reference to the two periods of Tertullian's Christian activity, the Catholic and the Montanist (cf. Harnack, ii.262 sqq.), or according to their subject-matter. The object of the former mode of division is to show, if possible, the change of views Tertullian's mind underwent. Following the latter mode, which is of a more practical interest, the writings fall into two groups. Apologetic and polemic writings, like Apologeticus, De testimonio animae, Adv. Judaeos, Adv. Marcionem, Adv. Praxeam, Adv. Hermogenem, De praescriptione hereticorum, and Scorpiace were written to counteract Gnosticism and other religious or philosophical doctrines. The other group consists of practical and disciplinary writings, e.g., De monogamia, Ad uxorem, De virginibus velandis, De cultu feminarum, De patientia, De pudicitia, De oratione, and Ad martyras.

Among his apologetic writings, the Apologeticus, addressed to the Roman magistrates, is a most pungent defence of Christianity and the Christians against the reproaches of the pagans, and an important legacy of the ancient Church, proclaiming the principle of freedom of religion as an inalienable human right and demands a fair trial for Christians before they are condemned to death.

Tertullian was the first to break the force of such charges as that the Christians sacrificed infants at the celebration of the Lord's Supper and committed incest. He pointed to the commission of such crimes in the pagan world and then proved by the testimony of Pliny that Christians pledged themselves not to commit murder, adultery, or other crimes. He adduced also the inhumanity of pagan customs such as feeding the flesh of gladiators to beasts. He argued that the gods have no existence and thus there is no pagan religion against which Christians may offend. Christians do not engage in the foolish worship of the emperors. They do better: they pray for them. Christians can afford to be put to torture and to death, and the more they are cast down the more they grow; "the blood of the martyrs is seed" (Apologeticum, 50). In the De Praescriptione, he develops as its fundamental idea that, in a dispute between the Church and a separating party, the whole burden of proof lies with the latter, as the Church, in possession of the unbroken tradition, is, by its very existence, a guarantee of its truth.

The five books against Marcion, written 207 A.D. or 208 A.D., are the most comprehensive and elaborate of his polemical works, invaluable for gauging the early Christian view of Gnosticism. Of the moral and ascetic treatises, the De patientia and De spectaculis are among the most interesting, and the De pudicitia and De virginibus velandis among the most characteristic.

Theology

Though thoroughly conversant with the Greek theology, Tertullian was independent of its metaphysical speculation. He had learned from the Greek apologies, and forms a direct contrast to Origen of Alexandria, who drew much of his theories regarding creation from middle platonism. Tertullian, the prince of realists and practical theologian, carried his realism to the verge of materialism. This is evident from his ascription to God of corporeity and his acceptance of the traducian theory of the origin of the soul. 

He despised Greek philosophy, and, far from looking at Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek thinkers whom he quotes as forerunners of Christ and the Gospel, he pronounces them the patriarchal forefathers of the heretics (De anima, iii.). He held up to scorn their inconsistency when he referred to the fact that Socrates in dying ordered a cock to be sacrificed to Aesculapius (De anima, i). 

Tertullian always wrote under stress of a felt necessity. He was never so happy as when he had opponents like Marcion and Praxeas, and, however abstract the ideas may be which he treated, he was always moved by practical considerations to make his case clear and irresistible. It was partly this element which gave to his writings a formative influence upon the theology of the post-Nicene period in the West and has rendered them fresh reading to this day. He was a born disputant. It is true that during the 3rd-Century no mention is made of his name by other authors. Lactantius, at the opening of the 4th-Century, is the first to do this, but Augustine treats him openly with respect. Cyprian, Tertullian's North African compatriot, though he nowhere mentions his name, was well read in his writings, as Cyprian's secretary told Jerome.

Specific teachings

Tertullian's main doctrinal teachings are as follows:

The Soul was not pre-existent, as Plato affirmed, nor subject to metempsychosis or reincarnation, as the Pythagoreans held. In each individual it is a new product, proceeding equally with the body from the parents, and not created later and associated with the body (De anima, xxvii). This position is called traducianism in opposition to 'creationism', or the idea that each soul is a fresh creation of God. For Tertullian, the Soul is, however, a distinct entity and a certain corporeity and as such it may be tormented in Hell (De anima, lviii).

The Soul's sinfulness is easily explained by its traducian origin (De anima, xxxix). It is in bondage to Satan (whose works it renounces in Baptism), but has seeds of good (De anima, xli), and, when awakened, it passes to health and at once calls upon God (Apol., xvii.) and is naturally Christian. It exists in all men alike; it is a culprit and yet an unconscious witness by its impulse to worship, its fear of demons, and its musings on death to the power, benignity, and judgment of God as revealed in the Christian's Scriptures (De testimonio, v-vi).

PART THREE FOLLOWS

The Four Marian Anthems.

Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
Illustrations and Captions are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: The Virgin In Prayer.

Español: Virgen rezando.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685).

Date: 1640 - 1650.

Current location: National Gallery, London.

This File: 29 January 2013.

User: Slick-o-bot.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The four Marian Anthems, used during the Liturgical Year, are:

Alma Redemptorist Mater (sung from First Vespers in Advent until Second Vespers of 2 February, inclusive);

Ave Regina (sung from Compline on 2 February until Maundy Thursday, exclusive);

Regina Caeli (sung from Compline on Holy Saturday until Trinity Sunday, exclusive).

Salve Regina (sung from First Vespers of Trinity Sunday until Advent).

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Reichenau Island, Lake Constance, South Germany.

Hermann Contractus was a monk in this Abbey and is accredited 

with creating the Marian Anthems of Alma Redemptoris and Ave Regina.

Photo taken by en:User:Ahoerstemeier (November 2001).

(Wikimedia Commons)

There are four main Marian Anthems (you will note that they are in alphabetical order and are used, thus, during the Liturgical Year).

Alma Redemptoris
(From First Vespers of Advent until Second Vespers of 2 February, inclusive.)
The authorship of this Anthem is attributed to Hermann Contractus, a monk of the Abbey of Reichenau (+1054);

Listen to the ALMA REDEMPTORIS, here.

and also listen to the ALMA REDEMPTORIS, here.

Ave Regina

(From Compline on 2 February until Maundy Thursday, inclusive.)

The authorship of this Anthem is attributed to Hermann Contractus, a monk of the Abbey of Reichenau (+1054).
The insertion of this Anthem in the Divine Office is attributed to Pope Clement VI (1342 - 1352);

Listen to the AVE REGINA, here

and listen, also, to the AVE REGINA, here.

Regina Caeli

(From Compline on Holy Saturday until Trinity Sunday, inclusive.)
The authorship of this Anthem is attributed to Pope Gregory V (+998 A.D.);

Listen to the REGINA CAELI, here

Salve Regina
(From First Vespers of Trinity Sunday until Advent.)
This Marian Anthem is attributed to Adhemar de Monteil, Bishop of Le Puy, France, (+1098). The three final invocations were added by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1091 - 1153).

listen to the SALVE REGINA, here.

Benedictine Nuns Release New Album Honouring The Saints. Pre-Order Now.

This Article can be found on the Catholic News Agency (CNA) Blog http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedictine-nuns-release-second-album-honoring-saints/

Nuns from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, 

create their new album, "Angels and Saints at Ephesus".

The album, "Angels and Saints at Ephesus", will be released 7 May 2013,

but can be pre-ordered at 

benedictinesofmary.org or at 

www.demontfortmusic.com.

Photo Credit: De Montfort Music.

Denver, Colo., Apr 14, 2013 / 04:02 pm (CNA).- A group of contemplative Benedictine nuns have recorded an album in honor of the angels and saints, all of the songs of which were selected out of their daily liturgical life.

“We learned a heavenly piece entitled Duo Seraphim by Tomas Luis de Victoria in the fall for the investiture of three novices,” Mother Cecilia, prioress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, told CNA April 12.

“Since we knew and loved many other songs written in honor of the angels and saints, or written by the saints themselves, we realized we could make another album based on this theme without too much extra practicing,” she laughed.

The album, Angels and Saints at Ephesus, will be released May 7 but can be pre-ordered at benedictinesofmary.org or at www.demontfortmusic.com.

Angels and Saints at Ephesus features 17 songs, and “every selection comes out of the liturgical life here at the Priory.” The Gregorian chants on the album are sung by the sisters during the Divine Office, and the pieces containing harmony are sung during Mass at the offertory or as a recessional.

The album is being released on the De Montfort Music label, which was founded last year by Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons. Monica told CNA that the album includes songs composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Francis Xavier. “A Rose Unpetalled” is a text by St. Therese of Lisieux for which the nuns wrote accompanying music.

Music is an integral part of the nuns' lives, being “entirely bound up with our Benedictine vocation…most especially in the chanting of the Divine Office,” said Mother Cecilia.

The community is in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, and their life is marked by obedience, stability, and “continually turning” towards God. They have Mass daily according to the extraordinary form and chant the psalms eight times a day from the 1962 Monastic Office. They also support themselves by producing made-to-order vestments.

Singing the Office “takes pride of place” in their spirituality, and they take pains “to make the liturgy as beautiful as possible for God.”

Last year the community recorded “Advent at Ephesus,” a collection of music for the liturgical season which spent six weeks at #1 Billboard's Classical Music Chart.

“This music really uplifted a lot of hearts,” Fitzgibbons said. “It brought a lot of families together, and it got people talking about Advent...I think it really elevated a lot of souls toward heaven.”

De Montfort Music was “pummeled” with requests for an album from the nuns which could be played appropriately throughout the year, and the community came up with the concept of the present album.

Christopher Alder, former executive producer of Deutsche Grammophon and a nine time Grammy-award winning producer heard the Benedictines' Advent album and expressed interest in helping them with a second album.

Alder ended up traveling from Germany to Missouri to produce “Angels and Saints at Ephesus.” He was “really moved, blown away, by their level of expertise” and their quality of singing, Fitzgibbons said.

“Through their beauty, they have turned hearts toward heaven, because when one hears it ... they do have to contemplate something much larger than this world.”

Mother Cecilia continued discussing the place of music in life of her community, explaining that the singing of the Divine Office “truly forms the life-blood of our devotion. St. Benedict calls it 'the Work of God' and says that nothing is to take precedence over it, no matter how important it may seem.”

“The loveliness of the chants are set off by the silence that we keep during the day, but the Office also feeds that silence of prayer. It is a joyful burden the Church asks of us, and we take it up with tremendous love, knowing we are the beneficiaries, along with the entire Church.”

Mother Cecilia mentioned two musical saints important to the Benedictines. One is St. Hildegard, herself a Benedictine abbess and composer of the 12th century.

The prioress called St. Hildegard “a shining example of the liturgical spirituality of Benedictines.”

Yet more important to the community at the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus is St. Cecilia, the patroness of musicians.

“We continue to invoke her whenever we have a music practice, knowing that she can help us to sing to God from our hearts with great purity and love, so that we may deserve to sing to Him for all eternity in heaven with the great multitude of angels and saints.”

Tertullian (Part One).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.

A woodcut illustration depicting Tertullian.

Quintus Florens Tertullian 

(Anglicised to Tertullian).

160 A.D. - 220 A.D.

Church Father and Theologian.

Source: http://www.higherpraise.com/preachers/tertullian.htm.

This File: August 2011.

User: Serge Lachinov.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian (circa 160 A.D. – circa 225 A.D.), was a prolific Early-Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature.

He also was a notable Early-Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy. Tertullian has been called "the Father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology." Though conservative, he did originate and advance new theology to the early Church. He is perhaps most famous for being the oldest extant Latin writer to use the term "Trinity" (Latin, trinitas), and giving the oldest extant formal exposition of a Trinitarian theology. Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae,una Substantia" (itself from the Koine Greek "treis Hypostases, Homoousios"). He wrote his Trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist.

However, unlike many Church Fathers, he was never Canonised by the Catholic Church, as several of his later teachings directly contradicted the actions and teachings of the Apostles. His Trinity formulation was considered heresy by the Church during his lifetime, however, it was later accepted as Doctrine at the Council of Nicea.

Scant reliable evidence exists to inform us about Tertullian's life. Most history about him comes from passing references in his own writings.

Codex Balliolensis, Tertullian's "Apologetics".

Source: http://www.tertullian.org/manuscripts_apologeticum/oxon_balliol_79/ms.htm.

This File: September 2005.

User: Tomisti.

(Wikimedia Commons)

According to Church tradition, he was raised in Carthage and was thought to be the son of a Roman Centurion, a trained lawyer, and an Ordained Priest. These assertions rely on the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, II, ii. 4, and Jerome's De viris illustribus (On famous men), Chapter 53. Jerome claimed that Tertullian's father held the position of 'centurio proconsularis' ("aide-de-camp") in the Roman Army in Africa. However, it is unclear whether any such position in the Roman military ever existed.

Further, Tertullian has been thought to be a lawyer, based on his use of legal analogies and an identification of him with the jurist, Tertullianus, who is quoted in the Pandects. Although Tertullian used a knowledge of Roman law in his writings, his legal knowledge does not demonstrably exceed that of what could be expected from a sufficient Roman education.The writings of Tertullianus, a lawyer of the same cognomen, exist only in fragments and do not denote a Christian authorship. (Tertullianus was misidentified only much later with the Christian Tertullian by Church historians.) Finally, any notion of Tertullian being a Priest is also questionable. In his extant writings, he never describes himself as Ordained in the Church and seems to place himself among the Laity.

Roman Africa was famous as the home of orators. This influence can be seen in his style with its archaisms or provincialisms, its glowing imagery and its passionate temper. He was a scholar with an excellent education. He wrote at least three books in Greek. In them, he refers to himself, but none of these are extant. His principal study was jurisprudence and his methods of reasoning reveal striking marks of his juridical training. He shone among the advocates of Rome, as Eusebius reports.

His conversion to Christianity perhaps took place about 197 A.D. – 198 A.D. (cf. Adolf Harnack, Bonwetsch, and others), but its immediate antecedents are unknown except as they are conjectured from his writings. The event must have been sudden and decisive, transforming at once his own personality. He said of himself that he could not imagine a truly Christian life without such a conscious breach, a radical act of conversion: "Christians are made, not born" (Apol, xviii).

Two books, addressed to his wife, confirm that he was married to a Christian wife.

English: Ruins of Carthage, modern-day Tunisia, where Tertullian lived.

Русский: На фото не развалины Карфагена, а Римские бани.

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia.

Author: Patrick Verdier.

Permission: This photograph comes from Free On Line Photos (source).

As such, it is "free of rights".

This File: December 2009.

User: Citypeek.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In middle life (about 207 A.D.), he was attracted to the "New Prophecy" of Montanism, and seems to have split from the mainstream Church. In the time of Augustine, a group of "Tertullianists" still had a Basilica in Carthage, which, within that same period, passed to the orthodox Church. It is unclear whether the name was merely another for the Montanists or that this means Tertullian later split with the Montanists and founded his own group.

Jerome says that Tertullian lived to a great age, but there is no reliable source attesting to his survival beyond the estimated year 225 A.D. In spite of his Schism from the Church, he continued to write against Heresy, especially Gnosticism. Thus, by the doctrinal works he published, Tertullian became the teacher of Cyprian and the predecessor of Augustine, who, in turn, became the chief founder of Latin theology.

WRITINGS

General character.

Thirty-one works are extant, together with fragments of more. Some fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as the 9th-Century (De Paradiso, De superstitione saeculi, De carne et anima, were all extant in the now-damaged Codex Agobardinus in 814 A.D). Tertullian's writings cover the whole theological field of the time  —  apologetics against paganism and Judaism, polemics, polity, discipline, and morals, or the whole reorganisation of human life on a Christian basis; they gave a picture of the religious life and thought of the time, which is of the greatest interest to the Church Historian.

PART TWO FOLLOWS.

The Papal Coronation of Blessed Pope John XXIII on 4 November 1958.

A most poignant and beautiful record of Blessed Pope John XXIII's Coronation on 4 November 1958.

English: Pope John XXIII (1958 - 1963).

Español: Angelo Roncalli, pope (1958 - 1963).

Date: 17 April 2013.

Source: http://st-listas.20minutos.es/images/2008-12/70813/848618_249px.jpg?1257588924.

Author: http://www.20minutos.es.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Coronation of Blessed Pope John XXIII on 4 November 1958.

Available on YouTube on http://youtu.be/ugpq44WI628.

The beautiful introductory music, at the beginning of this Video, is 

the Largo "Ombra mai fu" from Handel's "Xerxes" 

(see, below, to hear the recital by Andreas Scholl).

Andreas Scholl singing "Ombra mai fu" 

from Handel's "Xerxes".

Available on YouTube 

on http://youtu.be/N7XH-58eB8c.

The Seven Penitential Psalms.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Deutsch: Hl. Augustinus in betrachtendem Gebet.

Four of the Penitential Psalms were well known to Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510).

Date: Circa 1480.

Current location: Florence, Italy.

Notes: Deutsch: Auftraggeber: wahrscheinlich aus der Familie der Vespucci (Wappen).

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Penitential Psalms, or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th-Century A.D., are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 50, 102, 130, and 143 (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142 in the Septuagint numbering).

Psalm 6.      Domine ne in furore tuo (Pro octava).
Psalm 32.    Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates.
Psalm 38.    Domine ne in furore tuo (In rememorationem de sabbato).
Psalm 50.    Miserere mei Deus.
Psalm 102.  Domine exaudi orationem meam et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Psalm 130.  De profundis clamavi.
Psalm 143.  Domine exaudi orationem meam auribus percipe obsecrationem meam.

A Setting by Lassus of Psalm 130, "De profundis clamavi ad te Domine", 

("Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord").

Psalm 130 is one of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on http://youtu.be/luLLO3c3LlE

These Psalms are expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'Penitential Psalms' by Saint Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th-Century. Psalm 51 (Miserere) was recited at the close of daily Morning Service in the Primitive Church.

Translations of the Penitential Psalms were undertaken by some of the greatest poets in Renaissance England, including Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Philip Sidney. Before the Suppression of the Minor Orders and Tonsure in 1972 by Pope Paul VI, the Seven Penitential Psalms were assigned to new Clerics after having been Tonsured.

Musical settings.

Orlande de Lassus' "Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales" of 1584.

This is a Setting of Psalm 6, "Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me", 

("O Lord, do not reprove me in Thy wrath, nor in Thy anger chastise me"). 

Psalm 6 is the first of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on http://youtu.be/-0cILFy2sW4

Perhaps the most famous musical setting of all Seven Penitential Psalms is by Orlande de Lassus, with his Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales of 1584. There are also fine settings by Andrea Gabrieli and by Giovanni Croce. The Croce pieces are unique in being settings of Italian sonnet-form translations of the Psalms by Francesco Bembo. These were widely distributed. They were translated into English and published in London as Musica Sacra and were even translated (back) into Latin and published in Nürnberg as Septem Psalmi poenitentiales.

William Byrd set all Seven Psalms in English versions for three voices in his Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589). Settings of individual Penitential Psalms have been written by many composers. Well-known settings of the Miserere (Psalm 51) include those by Gregorio Allegri and Josquin des Prez. Settings of the De profundis (Psalm 130) include two in the Renaissance era by Josquin.

Psalm 50 (Miserere). One Of The Penitential Psalms.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.


Psalm 50 (Greek numbering), traditionally referred to as the Miserere, its Latin incipit, is one of the Penitential Psalms. It begins: "Have mercy on me, O God".

The Psalm's opening words in Latin, Miserere mei, Deus, have led to it being called the "Miserere Mei" or, even, just "Miserere". It is often known by this name in musical settings.

Allegri's "Miserere". 

Performed by "Pro Cantione Antiqua" in 1985.

Listen on YouTube at http://youtu.be/pPdXtPP0iRM

Latin translation of Psalm 50 (Miserere mei, Deus).

Traditional Latin translation, translated from the Septuagint Greek:

Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et peccatum meum contra me est semper.

Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris.
Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.
Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti: incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi.
Asperges me hysopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.
Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.
Cor mundum crea in me, Deus: et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.
Ne proiicias me a facie tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.

Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me.
Docebo iniquos vias tuas: et impii ad te convertentur.
Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae: et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.
Domine, labia mea aperies: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.

Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique: holocaustis non delectaberis.
Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus: cor contritum, et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion: ut aedificentur muri Ierusalem.
Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblationes, et holocausta: tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.

Mozart, circa 1780. 

Detail from a portrait by Johann Nepomuk della Croce.

Mozart, allegedly, heard Allegri's Miserere, once, 

and went home and wrote down the entire Score from memory.

Artist: Johann Nepomuk della Croce (1736-1819).

Date: 1780 - 1781.

Current location: Mozart House, Salzburg, Austria.

Source/Photographer: [1].

This File: December 2005.

User: Kasta33.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English translation of Psalm 50.

This version is from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer translation of the masoretic Hebrew text.

Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness
According to the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences.
Wash me throughly from my wickedness: and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is ever before me.

Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged.
Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.

Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
Turn Thy face from my sins: and put out all my misdeeds.
Make me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence: and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
O give me the comfort of Thy help again: and stablish me with Thy free Spirit.
Then shall I teach Thy ways unto the wicked: and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou that art the God of my health: and my tongue shall sing of Thy righteousness.

Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth shall shew Thy praise.
For Thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it Thee: but Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou not despise.
O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness,
with the burnt-offerings and oblations:
then shall they offer young calves upon Thine altar.

Liturgical use.

The Psalm is frequently used in various Liturgical traditions because of its spirit of humility and repentance.

Judaism.

In Judaism, several verses from this Psalm are given prominence:

The entire Psalm is recited in the Arizal's rite of the bedtime Shema on weekdays, and is also part of the regular tikkun chatzot prayers.

Verse 13 (11 in the KJV), "Cast me not away from thy presence...", forms a central part of the selichot services.

Verse 17 (15 in the KJV), "O Lord, open thou my lips...", is recited as a preface to the Amidah, the central prayer in Jewish services.

Verse 20 (18 in the KJV), "Do good in thy will unto Zion...", is recited in the Ashkenazic liturgy as the Torah is removed from the Ark before being read on Sabbath and festivals.

The Psalm is recited along with Parshat Parah, the Torah portion describing the ritual of the "red heifer" that is read in preparation for Passover.

Orlande de Lassus (1535-1594). Composer. 

Wrote an elaborate Setting of the Miserere, in the 16th-Century, 

as part of his "Penitential Psalms".

Artist: Da Massmil.

Date: After 1593.

Current location: Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, Bologna, Italy.

Source/Photographer: Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica (Bologna).

Other Versions: scanned from Robbins-Landon, H.C. & Norwich, J.J. 

"Five Centuries of Music in Venice" New York: Schirmer Books, 1991. p. 45.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Christianity.

As a Penitential Psalm, Psalm 50 is one of the most frequently used Psalms in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. 

It is typically included during the Mystery of Repentance (corresponding to the Sacrament of Confession), in personal daily prayers, and many of the Liturgical Services. The various Services of the Daily Office may be combined into three aggregates (evening, morning and noonday), and are so arranged that Psalm 50 is read during each aggregate.

In the Agpeya, Coptic Church's Book of Hours, it is recited at every Office throughout the day as a Prayer of Confession and Repentance.

In Western Christianity, Psalm 50 is also used Liturgically.

Verse Seven of the Miserere is sung as the Priest sprinkles Holy Water 

over the Congregation before the main Mass on Sundays. 

The Rite is known as "The Asperges".

Listen to the "Asperges me Domine" 

on YouTube on http://youtu.be/53QT2gsuwBc

In the Roman Catholic Church, this Psalm may be assigned by a Priest to a Penitent as a Penance after Confession. Verse 7 of the Psalm is traditionally sung as the Priest sprinkles Holy Water over the Congregation before Mass, in a Rite known as "The Asperges me", the first two words of the verse in Latin. It also is prayed during Lauds (Morning Prayer) every Friday in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Psalm 50 was recited by Lady Jane Grey before her beheading at the Tower of London in 1554.

A section of Verse 17 is often used as the Invitatory Antiphon at the Liturgy of the Hours.

Psalm 50 is associated with Ash Wednesday as a Scripture Reading in both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Roman Catholic Lectionary.

In Orthodox Christianity, Psalm 50 (as numbered in the Septuagint) is used in the Holy Services. It starts, "Gr: (Ἐλεήμων) Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ Θεός", and is specifically recited by the Priest during the Divine Liturgy, when he Censes the Holy Altar and the Iconostasis before the Great Entrance.

Musical Settings.

The "Miserere" was a frequently-used text in Catholic Liturgical Music before Vatican II. Most of the settings, which are often used at Tenebrae, are in a simple falsobordone style. During the Renaissance, many composers wrote settings.

The earliest known polyphonic setting, probably dating from the 1480s, is by Johannes Martini, a composer working in the Este court in Ferrara. The extended polyphonic setting by Josquin des Prez, probably written in 1503/1504 in Ferrara, was likely inspired by the prison meditation, Infelix ego, by Girolamo Savonarola, who had been burned at the stake just five years before.

English: Portrait of Carlo Gesualdo.

Русский: Карло Джезуальдо (прижизненный портрет).

Gesualdo wrote a Setting of the Miserere (Psalm 50).

Date: 16th-Century.

Source: Public Domain.

Author: Anonymous.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Later, in the 16th-Century, Orlande de Lassus wrote an elaborate setting as part of his Penitential Psalms, and Palestrina, Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Carlo Gesualdo also wrote settings. Antonio Vivaldi may have written a setting or settings, but such composition(s) have been lost, with only two introductory motets remaining. Settings were also written by Johann Sebastian Bach, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Saverio Selecchy.

One of the best-known settings of the Miserere is the 17th-Century version by Roman School composer,  Gregorio Allegri. According to a famous story, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, aged only fourteen, heard the piece performed once, on 11 April, 1770, and, after going back to his lodging for the night, was able to write out the entire score from memory. He went back a day or two later with his draft to correct some errors.  That the final Chorus comprises a ten-part Harmony, underscores the prodigiousness of the young Mozart's musical genius. The piece is also noteworthy in having numerous High Cs in the Treble solos.

Modern composers, who have written notable settings of the Miserere, include Michael Nyman, Arvo Pärt, and James MacMillan. The album "Salvation" (2003), by the group Funeral Mist, included the song "In Manus Tuas", which used verses 3–16 in Latin from Psalm 51. Also, the Antestor song, "Mercy Lord", from the album Martyrium (1994), also cites Psalm 51. The song "White As Snow", by Jon Foreman, from his Winter EP, includes lines from Psalm 51. In the Philippines, the Bukas Palad Music Ministry include their own version of "Miserere" in their album "Christify" (2010).

Egyptian parallels.

Parallels between the Ancient Egyptian ritual text, Opening of the mouth ceremony, and Psalm 50, are pointed out in "Psalm 50 and the 'Opening of the Mouth' Ceremony," by Benjamin Urrutia, Scripta Hierosolymitana: Publications of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, volume 28, pages 222-223 (1982).

The parallels include:
Mention of ritual washing with special herbs (Psalm 51:2,7).
Restoration of broken bones (verse 8).
"O Lord, open Thou my lips" (verse 15).
Sacrifices (verses 16,17, 19).

Heroic Korean War Priest. Medal of Honor.

This Article can be found on the CNA Catholic News Agency at http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/heroic-korean-war-priest-remembered-by-prison-mate/

Fr. Emil J. Kapaun, R.I.P.

U.S. Army Chaplain.

Heroic Korean War priest remembered by prison-mate

WASHINGTON D.C., April 9 (CNA/EWTN News) .- A fellow prisoner of war has fondly recalled the heroism of Father Emil Kapaun, a U.S. Army chaplain who died in a North Korean camp and is posthumously receiving the Medal of Honor April 11.

Eighty-five year-old veteran Mike Dowe still remembers the day in 1950 when he marched nearly 90 miles to the prison camp in Pyoktong after being captured at the battle of Unsan.

“There was this one character who kept going around encouraging people to carry the wounded, and helped in every way he could,” Dowe told CNA.

“Finally they marched us into a valley, and as we started out I was on the front end of a stretcher...and I said 'I'm Mike Dowe, who's that on the back?'”

“He says 'Fr. Kapaun,' and I said 'Fr. Kapaun, I've heard about you,' and he said 'Well don't tell my bishop.' That's how I met him.”

Fr. Kapaun was born in Pilsen, Kansas, to a farming family, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita in June, 1940. He became an Army chaplain in 1944, and served through 1946, and then re-joined in 1948. He was sent to Korea in July 1950, where was noted for his service to his compatriots.

The priest was captured by the Chinese in November at Unsan because he was in the habit of going back for the wounded.

“He would run across the fields rescuing the wounded...including sometimes 50-100 yards outside the American lines to drag some kid back,” Roy Wenzl, co-author of “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” told CNA on April 8.

“At Unsan, he stayed back with the wounded and allowed himself to be captured so he could protect them.”

“He didn't go around witnessing verbally about Catholicism and Christianity much...instead, he'd be on a march with the unit and he'd see guys digging a latrine, and he'd go out and dig with them.”

“It's not like he avoided Christianity; I think he was the finest witness to Christianity I've ever heard of,” Wenzl said, “but what he did, is he first established a relationship with these guys, who were busy doing really dirty work, of helping them, finding ways to help them.”

Wenzl noted that Fr. Kapaun would stay up at nights writing letters to the families of deceased soldiers and writing home on behalf of wounded soldiers.

“He put on a virtual clinic about how to be a leader, and how to be an effective witness for Christianity...there's a shortage of Catholics who behaved like him,” Wenzl observed.

For Wenzl, Fr. Kapaun's witness is a “phenomenal” demonstrating that there are “real Christians” in the world. “If there were more of him, there'd probably be a lot more people in church on Sundays, because that's the way to do it.”

The author said that Fr. Kapaun “treated everybody just the same way he treated the Catholics, and he treated Catholics like loved ones.”

Fr. Kapaun's upbringing on a farm contributed to his ability to help his fellow prisoners at the prison camp at Pyoktong, on the Chinese border. In addition to his spirituality, Fr. Kapaun was the “most practical and resourceful problem-solver,” Wenzl said. These were skills he had learned growing up on a Kansas farm, where he was forced to find creative solutions to challenges presented to him.

Dowe said that the death rate of prisoners in nearby valleys was some ten times that in the valley where he and Fr. Kapaun were held, and so one “can see the kind of effect he had on people.”

“He taught them to maintain their will to live, by teaching them to hold to their beliefs, honor, integrity, and keeping with their conscience, their loyalty to their country and their God.”

A “good majority” of the men who survived Pyoktong “owe their life to Fr. Kapaun,” said Dowe.

The priest was known for celebrating the sacraments for his fellow prisoners – baptizing, hearing confessions, giving extreme unction, and saying Mass.

Fr. Kapaun was also always volunteering to do the most menial and laborious tasks at the camp, said Dowe. Each day he would help to take the frozen corpses of those who had died the preceding night to an island in the Yalu River for burial.

That winter was one of the most brutal in Korean history.

“He would always volunteer for this most heinous detail,” Dowe related. Fr. Kapaun would then bring back some of the dead's clothes, wash them, and distribute them to the people who needed them.

Fr. Kapaun already has been awarded several military honors, but Thursday's presentation of the Medal of Honor to his relatives is the highest military honor in the U.S., and is awarded for bravery.

His cause for canonization is open, and already several cures may have been due to his intercession. When asked if he believes if Fr. Kapaun is in heaven, Dowe responded, “I sure do.”

Fr. Kapaun died May 23, 1951, and was buried in a mass grave on the Yalu river.

“When he was being carried away, they took him to a place, a death house...and left him where they left people to die,” Dowe remembered.

“As he was leaving, I was in tears, and he said to me, 'Mike, don't be sad, I'm going where I always wanted to go, and when I get there I'll be saying a prayer for all of you guys.'”

Pilgrimage in Honour of Saint Margaret Clitherow (The Pearl of York). 1330 hrs, Saint Wilfrid's Church, York. Saturday, 4 May 2013.

Saint Margaret Clitherow.

"The Pearl of York".

One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Date: 18 May 2008 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia; 

transferred to Commons by User:Mircalla22 using CommonsHelper.

Author: Original uploader was Yorkshirian at en.wikipedia.

Permission: This image is in the public domain; PD-US; PD-ART.

(Wikimedia Commons)

There will be a National Pilgrimage in honour of Saint Margaret Clitherow on Saturday, 4 May 2013, in York, England, commencing at 1330 hrs in Saint Wilfrid's Church, York.

For more information, please contact: 

The Latin Mass Society, London (Tel: 020 7404 7284 ) www.lms.org.uk

or 

E-Mail info@lms.org.uk

The following Text is taken from the Blog "LET THE WELKIN RING" at http://letthewelkinring.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/st-margaret-clitherow.html
which carried information on the March 2011 Pigrimage.

Pilgrims are expected to converge on York, on Saturday 4 May 2013, to pay their respects to Saint Margaret Clitherow, a former resident of York, who was crushed to death rather than deny her Catholic faith. The pilgrimage is being organised by the Latin Mass Society, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of the Mass in its more traditional Latin form.

There will be a Solemn High Mass at Saint Wilfrid's Church, York, at 1.30pm. This will be followed at 3pm by a procession which will pass through The Shambles, where Margaret Clitherow lived, over Ouse Bridge, where she was executed, and finish up at the Church of the English Martyrs in Dalton Terrace, York. Benediction will be given there at around 4pm, followed by Veneration of the Relic of Margaret Clitherow, which is normally kept at the Bar Convent.

Margaret Clitherow, who is often referred to as the "Pearl of York", converted to Catholicism at the age of 18. She would also have been familiar with the Latin Mass, in its traditional form, as she harboured Priests at her home in The Shambles, where Mass was regularly said in that form. Indeed, it was for harbouring Priests that she was arrested and put to death in 1586 by crushing under a great weight of stones.

The Mass, on 4 May 2013, will have Liturgical Music provided by the Rudgate Singers www.rudgatesingers.co.uk

The Mass will be open to all, regardless of religious denomination, and no tickets are required. Similarly, it is hoped that the public will join in the Procession and attend Benediction at English Martyrs’ Church at 4p.m.

NOTES FOR EDITORS.

Information about the Latin Mass Society can be found at www.lms.org.uk
It is a Catholic organisation dedicated to the promotion of the Latin Mass in the form used universally by the Church prior to 1970. It is active throughout England and Wales.

Information about Saint Margaret Clitherow can be found on the internet on a Wikipedia site.

Mulier Fortis Has Won An Award. Congratulations.

WELL DONE, MAC !!!

Zephyrinus is delighted to see that MAC has won an Award for her Blog "MULIER FORTIS".

Read all about it at http://mulier-fortis.blogspot.co.uk/

A Bit of Comfort in Passiontide. Hymn to Our Lady.

Our Lady of Carmel

Matthaeus has an excellent Post, reference Our Blessed Lady, 

on his Blog "SUB UMBRA ALARUM SUARUM"

at http://sub-umbra-alarum-suarum.blogspot.co.uk/

It's entitled

"A bit of comfort in Passiontide - Hymn to Our Lady"

May I suggest you pop over and pay a visit ?

Leo the Great.

This Article can be found on the Blog ENLARGING THE HEART
at http://enlargingtheheart.wordpress.com/

Leo the Great: O Wondrous Power of the Cross! O Ineffable Glory of the Passion !

Let our understandings, illumined by the Spirit of Truth, foster with pure and free heart the glory of the Cross which irradiates heaven and earth.

Let us see with the inner sight what the Lord meant when He spoke of His coming Passion: “The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified.”

He says, “Now is My spirit troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Your Son.”

And when the Father’s voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again,” Jesus in reply said to those that stood by:

“This voice came not for Me but for you. Now is the world’s judgment, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me.”

O wondrous power of the Cross! O ineffable glory of the Passion, in which is contained the Lord’s tribunal, the world’s judgment, and the power of the Crucified!

For You draw all things unto Yourself, Lord. And, when You had stretched out Your hands all the day long to an unbelieving people that gainsaid You, the whole world at last was brought to confess Your majesty.

You drew all things unto Yourself, Lord…, when the lights of heaven were darkened, and the day turned into night, and the earth also was shaken with unwonted shocks….

You didst draw all things unto Yourself, Lord, for the veil of the temple was rent, and the Holy of Holies existed no more…, so that type was turned into Truth, prophecy into Revelation, law into Gospel.

You drew all things unto Yourself, Lord, so that what before was done in the one temple of the Jews in dark signs, was now to be celebrated everywhere by the piety of all the nations in full and open rite.

For now there is a nobler rank of Levites, there are elders of greater dignity and priests of holier anointing, because Your Cross is the fount of all blessings, the source of all graces, and through it the believers receive strength for weakness, glory for shame, life for death.

Now, too, the variety of fleshly sacrifices has ceased, and the one offering of Your Body and Blood fulfils all those different victims.

For You are the true “Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,” and in Yourself You so accomplish all mysteries, that as there is but one sacrifice instead of many victims, so there is but one kingdom instead of many nations.

Leo the Great (circa 400 A.D. - 461 A.D.): Sermon 59, 6-7.

Argentina. Hand of God. Maradona. Now becomes, Argentina. Hand of God. Madonna.

One of the Readers of this Blog, John Simlett ("Gatepost Pictures)" at http://gatepostpicture.blogspot.co.uk/,

has quoted the Election of Pope Francis in the following, wonderful, terms:

"Argentina. Hand of God. Maradona. Now becomes, Argentina. Hand of God. Madonna."

Thank you, John.

God Bless Our Pope.

Viva il Papa.

Deutsch: Emblem des Pontifikats.

English: Emblem of the Papacy: Triple Tiara and Keys.

Français : emblème pontifical.

Italiano: emblema del Papato.

Português: Emblema papal.

Date: January 2007.

Source: various elements taken from

File:Holysee-arms.svg

Image:Emblem of the Papacy.svg

Image:Escudo Benatae.svg

Author: Cronholm144 created this image using a file by User:Hautala - File:Emblem of Vatican City State.svg, who had created his file using PD art from Open Clip Art Library and uploaded on 13 July 2006. User talk:F l a n k e r uploaded this version on 19 January 2007.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Cardinal Jorge M. Bergoglio SJ, (later to become Pope Francis) celebrating Mass at the XX Exposición del Libro Católico (20th Catholic Book Fair), in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Photo: 2008-09-14.

Source: Own work.

Author: Aibdescalzo.

(Wikimedia Commons)

God Bless Our Pope.
Viva il Papa.

HABEMUS PAPAM.

HABEMUS PAPAM.

HABEMUS PAPAM.

HABEMUS PAPAM.

Watch and Pray. Without Ceasing.

During this Conclave (now underway),

let us take heed of this exhortation and

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

for our Cardinals to Elect 

a Good, Holy and Strong Pope.

Taken from the Blog, "HOLY CARD HEAVEN" at http://holycardheaven.blogspot.co.uk/

The Reefs Avoided.

My child, 

watch with me . . . 

One must Watch and Pray without ceasing.

Saint Frances of Rome. Widow. Feast Day 9 March.

Text is taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger. O.S.B.
Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.

Originally published in 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.
Internet site: www.libers.com

St Frances of Rome, wife, mother, mystic, foundress.  

She founded the Olivetan Oblates of Mary, based at Tor de Specchi in Rome.

Ilustration and Caption taken from the Blog, EX UMBRIS ET IMAGINIBUS,

at http://fatherdirector.blogspot.co.uk

The period intervening between The Purification of Our Blessed Lady and Ash Wednesday (when it occurs at its latest date), gives us thirty-six days, and these offer us Feasts of every Order of Saint:

The Apostles have given us Saint Mathias, and Saint Peter's Chair at Antioch;

The Martyrs have sent us, from their countless Choir, Simeon, Lucius, Blase, Valentine, Faustinus and Jovita, Perpetua and Felicitas, and the Forty Soldiers of Sebaste, whose feast is kept on 10 March;

The Holy Pontiffs have been represented by Titus, Andrew Corsini, and also by Cyril of Alexandria and Peter Damian, who, like Thomas of Aquin, are Doctors of the Church;

The Confessors have produced Romuald of Camaldoli, John of Matha, John of God, the Seven Founders of the Servites, and the angelic Prince Casimir;

Saint Frances of Rome with her Guardian Angel, 

whom she could see as she did her rounds of Charity for the poor of the city.

Photo: November 2006.

User: Skier Dude.

Artist: Unknown.

(Wikipedia)

The Virgins have gladdened us with the presence of Agatha, Dorothy, Apollonia, and Scholastica, three wreathed with the red roses of Martyrdom, and the fourth with the fair lilies of the enclosed garden [Cant. iv. 12.] of her Spouse;

And, lastly, we have had a penitent Saint, Margaret of Cortona.

The State of Christian Marriage is the only one that has not yet deputed a Saint during this Season, which is less rich in Feasts than most of the year. The deficiency is supplied on 9 March by the admirable Frances of Rome (born in 1384).

Having, for forty years, led a most Saintly life in the Married State, upon which she entered when but twelve years of age, Frances retired from the world, where she had endured every sort of tribulation. But she had given her heart to her God long before she withdrew to the Cloister.

Saint Frances of Rome, Obl.S.B.

Patroness of Benedictine Oblates.

Part of a series: The Life of St. Frances of Rome.

Tor de' Specchi Monastery, Rome, Italy.

by Antoniazzo Romano (1468).

Originally uploaded on sv: Wikipedia 26 december 2005 kl.07.13 by sv:User: Torvindus

Fresco by Antoniazzo Romano from 1468.

fresk från 1468.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Her whole life had been spent in the exercise of the highest Christian perfection, and she had ever received from Our Lord the sublimest spiritual favours. Her amiable disposition had won for her the love and admiration of her husband and children. The rich venerated her as their model. The poor respected her as their devoted benefactress and mother.

God recompensed her angelic virtues by these two special graces: The almost uninterrupted sight of her Guardian Angel, and the most sublime revelations.

But there is one trait of her life, which is particularly striking, and reminds us forcibly of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, and of Saint Jane Frances Chantal: Her austere practices of Penance. Such an innocent life, and yet such a mortified life, is full of instruction for us.

How can we think of murmuring against the obligation of mortification, when we find a Saint like this practising it during her whole life ? True, we are not bound to imitate her in the manner of her Penance; but Penance we must do, if we would confidently approach that God, Who readily pardons the sinner when he repents, but Whose justice requires atonement and satisfaction.