Text and Illustrations taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated.
Artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510). Deutsch: Madonna und zwei Engel English: Madonna and Child with two Angels. Italiano: Madonna con due angeli. Date: 1468 - 1469. Current location: Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte. Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
The Boundless desire for the coming of Christ, which is a feature of the whole of Advent, is expressed in the Liturgy with an impatience which grows greater, the closer we come to Christmas and, so to speak, to the world's end. "The Lord comes from far" (First Vespers, First Sunday of Advent). "The Lord will come" (Introit, Second Sunday of Advent). "The Lord is nigh" (Introit. Third Sunday in Advent). This gradation will be emphasised throughout the whole Season, ever more and more. Thus, on 17 December, begin the Greater Antiphons, which, from their initial letters, are called the "O Antiphons", and which form an impassioned appeal to the Messias, whose prerogatives and glorious titles they make known to us. Dom Guéranger [Editor: He who was the author of "The Liturgical Year"] affirms that those Antiphons contain the "whole marrow" of the Advent Liturgy. On account of their number, Honorius of Autun connects them with The Seven Gifts of The Holy Ghost, with which Our Lord was filled.
17 December: Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 5; Wisdom viii. 1 O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. O Wisdom,
who camest out of the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from end to end and ordering all things
mightily and sweetly:
come and teach us the way of prudence.
V. Rorate.
"Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justium . . ."
"Ye heavens, drop down from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One."
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal (1945 Edition),
unless otherwise stated. Illustrations, unless otherwise stated, from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY (from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1952 Edition), who reproduce them with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS
It is Mary who gives us Jesus: "Blessed art thou, Mary . . . those things shall be accomplished in thee, which were spoken to thee by the Lord" (Antiphon at the Magnificat).
It is from Bethlehem [Editor: Literally, "the House of Bread"] that the King, the Ruler, shall go forth, who is to bring peace to all the nations (Second Responsory) and who will deliver his people from the power of their enemies (Fourth Responsory).
In a special way, our Souls will share in this deliverance during the Christmas celebrations, which mark the anniversary of the entrance into the world of Christ, the vanquisher of Satan."Grant, we beseech Thee," the Church prays, "that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Son may set us free, whom the old bondage doth hold under the yoke of sin" (Third Mass, Christmas Day).
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.
In the same way that Saint John the Baptist prepared the Jews for the coming of the Messias, so he prepares us for the union, closer every year, which Our Lord forms with our Souls at Christmas. "Make straight the way of the Lord," cried the forerunner of Christ. So, let us make straight the way into our hearts, that Our Saviour may enter and give us His Graces of life and freedom.
THE SECOND COMING:
It is to Our Lord's Coming, at the end of the world, that Saint Gregory alludes in his explanation of the Gospel: "John," he says, "the forerunner of the Redeemer, goes before Our Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, who will be the forerunner of Christ as Judge" (Ninth Lesson).
So also in the Introit and Epistle, taken literally, the allusion is Our Lord's Coming for the Judgement. If we feel great joy at the approach of the Christmas Feast, reminding us once more of the lowly Infant in the Manger, how much more should the thought of His Coming, in all the splendour of His power and majesty, fill us with a holy sense of triumph, since, only then, will our redemption be fully accomplished.
Receive, O merciful Father, these Holy Sacrifices (Te igitur).
Saint Paul writes to his Christians: "Rejoice in the Lord always: Again, I say, rejoice . . . The Lord is nigh." As on Mid-Lent Sunday, the Priest may celebrate in Rose-Coloured Vestments. [Permission for this practice, in use at Rome for the Blessing of the Golden Rose on Laetare Sunday (or Mid-Lent Sunday), is granted to all Priests who desire it for the celebration of Mass and Office on that day: Whence the custom has extended to Gaudete Sunday, or Mid-Advent Sunday, since on both days the Church sings of our deliverance by Christ from the bondage of sin.]
Rose is a paler kind of Violet; it expresses some relaxation in Penance, owing to the joy of the Heavenly Jerusalem into which Our Lord will lead us when time shall be no more.
"Rejoice, O Jerusalem, with great joy, for there shall come unto thee a Saviour" (Second Antiphon of Vespers). Let us greatly desire this Coming, which the Apostle tells us is near. We should long, with a holy impatience, that it may quickly come to pass. "Stir up, O Lord, Thy might, [the Apocalypse tells us that the Lord will appear, and with Him millions of Saints, and on His garment He will bear the words: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (First Responsory). The Lord of Hosts will come with great might (Fourth Responsory). His Kingdom will be without end and all nations shall serve Him (Sixth Responsory)], and come to save us." (Alleluia). "Come, Lord, and tarry not." "Per Adventum tuum, libera nos, Domine."
Every Parish Priest says Mass for the people of his Parish.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845 – 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-Century composers.
Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Nocturnes for piano, and the songs "Après un Rêve" and "Clair de Lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly-regarded works in his later years, in a harmonically and melodically, much more complex, style.
The following two Paragraphs are from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States. Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he is listed as a Chorister at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. He studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent most of his career in the city.
Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the Northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy had yet to produce anyone of comparable fame or skill in polyphony.
The following Text is on the YouTube Posting by Kate Price (see, above).
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525- 1594) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was the most famous 16th-Century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. Palestrina became famous through his output of sacred music. He had a vast influence on the development of Roman Catholic Church music, and his work can be seen as a summation of Renaissance polyphony.
Alma Redemptoris Mater, or, in English, "Loving Mother of our Saviour," is one of four Liturgical Marian Antiphons (the other three being: Ave Regina Caelorum; Regina Coeli; Salve Regina), and sung at the end of the Office of Compline.
Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013 - 1054) is said to have composed the Hymn, based on the writings of Saints Fulgentius, Epiphanius, and Irenaeus of Lyon. It is mentioned in "The Prioress's Tale", one of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Formerly, it was recited at Compline only from the First Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (2 February).
Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli
Porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
Surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti,
Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.
Loving Mother of our Saviour, hear thou thy people's cry
The Te Deum (also known as "The Ambrosian Hymn" or "A Song of the Church") is an Early-ChristianHymn of Praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, "Te Deum laudamus", rendered as "Thee, O God, we praise".
The Hymn remains in regular use in the Catholic Church, in the Office of Readings, found in the Liturgy of the Hours, and in thanksgiving to God for a special blessing, such as the Election of a Pope, the Consecration of a Bishop, the Canonisation of a Saint, a Religious Profession, the publication of a Treaty of Peace, a Royal Coronation, etc. It is sung either after Mass or the Divine Office, or as a separate Religious Ceremony. The Hymn also remains in use in the Anglican Communion and some Lutheran Churches in similar settings.
A Plenary Indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to those who recite it in public on New Year's Eve.
Sung by the Benedictine Monks of the
Abbey of Saint Maurice and Saint Maur,
Clervaux. Luxembourg.
The Te Deum is attributed to two Fathers and Doctors of the Church,
Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, and is one the most majestic
Chants in the Liturgy of the Church.
It is sung in Traditional Seminaries and Monastic Houses at the Divine Office and for Double Feasts of the First Class, The Nativity, Easter, Corpus Christi, Epiphany, Pentecost and those which have an Octave. The Solemn Te Deum is sung on all occasions of public Church rejoicing
Authorship is traditionally ascribed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine, on the occasion of the latter's Baptism by the former in 387 A.D. It has also been ascribed to Saint Hilary, but Catholic-Forum.com says "it is now accredited to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana; (4th-Century)".
The Petitions at the end of the Hymn (beginning "Salvum fac populum tuum") are a selection of Verses from the Book of Psalms, appended subsequently to the original Hymn.
The Hymn follows the outline of the Apostles' Creed, mixing a poetic vision of the Heavenly Liturgy with its declaration of Faith. Calling on the name of God, immediately, the Hymn proceeds to name all those who praise and venerate God; from the hierarchy of Heavenly Creatures, to those Christian Faithful already in Heaven, to the Church spread throughout the world.
The Hymn then returns to its Credal formula, naming Christ and recalling His Birth, Suffering and Death, His Resurrection and Glorification. At this point, the Hymn turns to the subjects declaiming the praise, both the Universal Church and the singer, in particular, asking for mercy on past sins, protection from future sin, and the hoped-for reunification with The Elect.
Te Deum Laudamus:
te Dominum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem
omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli;
tibi caeli et universae Potestates;
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim
incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra
maiestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum
sancta confitetur Ecclesia,
Patrem immensae maiestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,
aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Iudex crederis esse venturus.
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni:
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
[added later,
mainly from Psalm Verses:]
Salvum fac populum tuum,
Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.
Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
Per singulos dies benedicimus te;
Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.
Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
Miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri.
Fiat misericordia tua,
Domine, super nos,
quemadmodum speravimus in te.
In te, Domine, speravi:
non confundar in aeternum.
Translation from The Book of Common Prayer.
We praise thee, O God :
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee :
the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud :
the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim :
continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy :
Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty :
of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world :
doth acknowledge thee;
The Father : of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true : and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man :
thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
[added later, mainly from Psalm verses:]
O Lord, save thy people :
and bless thine heritage.
Govern them : and lift them up for ever.
Day by day : we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal (1945 Edition), unless otherwise stated. Illustrations from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY who reproduce them with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 8 December. Double of the First-Class with an Octave. White Vestments.
The Immaculate Conception.
Having decided from all eternity to make Mary Mother of the Incarnate Word (Epistle), God willed that she should crush the head of the serpent from the moment of her conception.
He covered her "with a Mantle of Holiness" (Introit) and, "preserving her Soul from all stain, He made her a worthy dwelling place for His Son" (Collect).
The Feast of the "Conception" of the Virgin was; from the 8th-Century, celebrated in the East on 9 December; from the 9th-Century in Ireland and 3 May; and in the 11th-Century in England on 8 December.
The Benedictines, with Saint Anselm, and the Franciscans, with Duns Scotus (1308), favoured the Feast of the "Immaculate Conception," which, in 1128, was kept in Anglo-Saxon Monasteries.
In the 15th-Century, Pope Sixtus IV, a Franciscan, erected at the Vatican the Sixtine (Sistine) Chapel in honour of the Conception of the Virgin. And, on 8 December 1854, Pope Pius IX officially proclaimed this great Dogma, making himself the mouthpiece of all the Christian tradition summed up in the words of the Angel: "Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women" (Gospel). "Thou art all beautiful, O Mary, and the original stain is not in thee" says in truth the Alleluia verse.
Like the Dawn, which announces the day, Mary precedes the Sun of Justice, which will soon illumine the world of Souls. Bringing to us her Son, it is she who first appears in the Liturgical Cycle.
Let us ask God "to heal us and to deliver us from all our sins" (Secret, Postcommunion) in order that, by the Graces which specially belong to the Feast of the "Immaculate", we may become more worthy of receiving Jesus in our hearts when He comes into them on 25 December.
Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
When, months ago, the Franciscans of the Immaculate received orders from Rome severely restricting their celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, I was gobsmacked. I have been praying recently especially for this Order of the Immaculate and for the Franciscans in general. I am even more disturbed by reports on The Eponymous Flower on the matter here and here.
At the time when news of this encroachment upon the Order took place, I recall vividly, fears immediately surfaced that under the Papacy of Pope Francis we would see the total over-riding of Summorum Pontificum. Thankfully, this has not come to pass and, please God, may it never come to pass. Yet, this has come to pass for some, those men and women, loyal followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ and lovers of the Immaculate who must be suffering from this most harrowing situation for them in Holy Mother Church. The Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was thriving and growing under Fr Stefano Manelli and especially because of the Order's devotion to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.
Following last night's procession in honour of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, it suddenly dawned on me that there now exists no Franciscan order on the face of the Earth (correct me if I am wrong) in which the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated without severe restriction. The celebration of this Mass, where it is wanted and desired, is not, at the time of writing, a problem for other Orders such as the Dominicans or for Canonical Orders such as the Norbertines or for the Oratorians around the World. How much pain this situation, which Pope Emeritus Benedict is said to have called a 'wound' in the Church, must cause for those mostly young men and women who have been caught into the depths and riches of God to be discovered in the traditional form of the Mass.
What sorrow for them. What suffering they must be enduring interiorly to have been able to attend this form of the Mass for a good few years, and only then to have had their founder removed and sent away and the Mass of Agesremoved and sent away with him! Throughout the painful process of restriction and the changing of personnel imposed forcefully from above, the Franciscans of the Immaculate have remained obedient and gracious in what must for them have felt like unjust and undeserved persecution. Why is acceptance and love of holy doctrine and holy tradition, as well as the Mass in the Extraordinary Form deemed to be such a threat to the Church of Rome by those of high rank? In a time of 'diversity' within the Church lauded by the Successor of St Peter, why are some manifestations of diversity deemed to be scandalous or in some way damaging to the life of the Church?
I ask in all seriousness, how it can be in the light of Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae, that the Holy Catholic Church can stand by and watch as a fine and thriving religious Order is emptied, or at least depleted, of its driving force - the Mass of Ages. How can this happen when it is this Mass which was the Divine Engine which drew men and women into devotion and love of God, to leave everything and plunge their lives, hearts, souls and minds into rendering the Most High Lord Jesus Christ reverence, praise and the offering of their very beings? Stand by and watch, and pray, is seemingly all we can do, for who can question the governmental decisions of the Supreme Pontiff of the Barque of Peter. We can implore in writing, but we must surely bombard Heaven for them with our prayers. The Church, through Peter, has spoken, so who can do anything but submit as the Franciscans of the Immaculate themselves have done.
And yet, while a great wound has opened up in the Order of the Franciscans, we are left perplexed. Where will those young men and women who were contemplating the only Franciscan Order with love for Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother and especially love for Jesus Christ and His most sublime condescension in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass go now? Since the throttling of this thriving Order has taken place in what appears to be a most ungracious and unmerciful manner that seems to contradict nearly everything for which this Papacy stands, where do young men and women who wish to dedicate their lives to Jesus and Mary Immaculate in holy poverty, chastity and obedience have to go?
There now exists a vacuum where before Summorum Pontificum there had been none. By all accounts, this is a vacuum that contradicts the law of the Church. There now exists a need in the Franciscan Orders that was created by the dedication and love for Jesus and Mary of the founders of this particular Order. There now exists a need for a new Franciscan Order which from its outset is dedicated to Mary Immaculate and to the praise, service and worship of the Most Holy Trinity in the Mass in the Extraordinary Form. If ever there was a need for a new St Francis and a new Order modelled on his, exemplified so well by the Franciscans of the Immaculate, that moment is now.
Yet one thing is clear, this man will not be the Pope, since whether the Supreme Pontiff held the 'Vetus Ordo' in high esteem or not, only one of low rank within the Church can found a new Order of the Franciscans, living lives of holy poverty, chastity and obedience as Friars. Presumably - though it is wrong to take anything for granted in terms of the life of the Church - a new Order of the Franciscans, once it had recognition from the Church, under the Church's own law, could not be touched if they, without exception, wished to have preference for the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
Oremus! Let us pray for this Order and their many friars, nuns and tertiaries who now exist in several countries, Heaven will send reconciliation, peace, concord and justice to those now separated from Mass in the Extraordinary Form - the Mass which so many of us have come to treasure fervently. Pray for the Supreme Pontiff and pray, pray, pray for the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated. From The Saint Andrew Daily Missal. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 8 December.
Double of the First-Class with an Octave. White Vestments.
Thus, we have, in the first five centuries, such epithets applied to her as "in every respect holy", "in all things unstained", "super-innocent" and "singularly holy"; she is compared to Eve before the Fall, as ancestress of a redeemed people; she is "the Earth before it was accursed."
The well-known words of Saint Augustine (†430 A.D.) may be cited: " As regards the Mother of God," he says, " I will not allow any question whatever of sin." It is true that he is here speaking directly of actual or personal sin. But his argument is that all men are sinners; that they are so through original depravity; that this original depravity may be overcome by the Grace of God, and he adds that he does not know but that Mary may have had sufficient Grace to overcome sin "of every sort" (omni ex parte).
The Bull of Definition of the Dogma, "Ineffabilis Deus", mentioned in particular the Patristic interpretation of Genesis 3:15 as referring to a woman, Mary, who would be eternally at enmity with the evil serpent and completely triumphing over him. It said the Fathers saw foreshadowings of Mary's "wondrous abundance of Divine Gifts and Original Innocence" "in that ark of Noah, which was built by Divine Command and escaped, entirely safe and sound, from the common shipwreck of the whole world; in the ladder, which Jacob saw reaching from the Earth to Heaven, by whose rungs the Angels of God ascended and descended, and on whose top the Lord Himself leaned; in that bush, which Moses saw in the holy place, burning on all sides, which was not consumed or injured in any way, but grew green and blossomed beautifully; in that impregnable tower before the enemy, from which hung a thousand bucklers and all the armour of the strong; in that garden enclosed on all sides, which cannot be violated or corrupted by any deceitful plots; in that resplendent City of God, which has its foundations on the holy mountains; in that most august Temple of God, which, radiant with Divine Splendours, is full of the Glory of God; and in very many other Biblical types of this kind."
The Bull recounts that the Fathers interpreted the Angel's address to Mary, "highly-favoured One" or "full of Grace", as indicating that "she was never subject to the curse and was, together with her Son, the only partaker of Perpetual Benediction"; and they "frequently compare her to Eve, while yet a Virgin, while yet Innocence, while yet Incorrupt, while not yet Deceived by the deadly snares of the most treacherous serpent".
For differing reasons, belief in Mary's Immaculate Conception, in the Catholic Doctrinal Form, is not part of the official Doctrines of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches.
The Roman Missal, and the Roman RiteLiturgy of the Hours, naturally includes references to Mary's Immaculate Conception in the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. An example is the Antiphon that begins: "Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te" (You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain [of sin] is not in you. Your clothing is white as snow, and your face is like the sun. You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain [of sin] is not in you. You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you give honour to our people. You are all beautiful, Mary.
Other Prayers honouring Mary's Immaculate Conception are in use outside the formal Liturgy. The Hymn, Immaculate Mary, addressed to Mary as the Immaculately Conceived One, is closely associated with Lourdes. The Immaculata Prayer, composed by Saint Maximillian Kolbe, is a Prayer of entrustment to Mary as the Immaculata. A Novena of Prayers, with a specific Prayer for each of the nine days, has been composed under the title of the Immaculate Conception Novena.
The 1476 extension of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, to the entire Latin Church, reduced the likelihood of controversy for the artist or patron in depicting an image, so that emblems, depicting The Immaculate Conception, began to appear.
Many artists in the 15th-Century faced the problem of how to depict an abstract idea, such as the Immaculate Conception, and the problem was not fully solved for 150 years. The Italian Renaissance artist, Piero di Cosimo, was among those artists who tried new solutions, but none of these became generally adopted so that the subject matter would be immediately recognisable to the Faithful.
The definitive iconography for the Immaculate Conception, drawing on the emblem tradition, seems to have been finally established by the master, and then father-in-law, of Diego Velázquez, the painter and theorist Francisco Pacheco. Pacheco's iconography influenced other Spanish artists, such as Bartolomé Murillo, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco Zurbarán, who each produced a number of artistic masterpieces based on the use of these same symbols.
The popularity of this particular representation of The Immaculate Conception spread across the rest of Europe, and has since remained the best known artistic depiction of the concept: In a heavenly realm, moments after her creation, the spirit of Mary (in the form of a young woman) looks up in awe at (or bows her head to) God. The Moon is under her feet and a halo of twelve stars surrounds her head, possibly a reference to "a woman clothed with the Sun" from Revelation 12:1-2. Additional imagery may include clouds, a golden light, and Cherubs. In some paintings, the Cherubim are holding lilies and roses, flowers often associated with Mary.
THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
Its origins are unclear: It is thought that the Antiphons are from at least the 8th-Century, but "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" may well be 12th-Century in origin. The Text is based on the Biblical Prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (Lit.:God with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this Prophecy in the Birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
L'Accorche-Choeur,
Ensemble Vocal Fribourg.
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, is a synthesis of the great "O Antiphons"
that are used for Vespers during the Octave before Christmas (17-23 December).
These Antiphons are of ancient origin and date back to at least the 9th-Century.
Picture Credit: Philippe Lopez, Tolosa, Leyte, The Philippines. 18 November 2013.
Voted one of the top 10 best photos of 2013 on Time Lightbox.
May God Bless and guard the Philippine people, whose love, steadfastness and courage among the shattered ruins, in the wake of so many natural disasters that have afflicted them, are giving a living example of Christian Faith and hope to the rest of the world.
Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated. From The Saint Andrew Daily Missal. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 8 December.
Double of the First-Class with an Octave. White Vestments.
Originally this painting, together with a Saint John the Evangelist at Patmos
(now in the National Gallery, London), was in the
Carmelite Convent in Seville, Spain.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Speaking of the witness of the Church Fathers in claiming for Mary titles such as "Free from all contagion of sin", Pope Pius XII wrote:
If the popular praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary be given the careful consideration they deserve, who will dare to doubt that she, who was purer than the Angels and at all times pure, was at any moment, even for the briefest instant, not free from every stain of sin?
The Roman Catholic tradition has a well-established philosophy, for the study of the Immaculate Conception and the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the field of Mariology, with Pontifical Schools, such as the Marianum, specifically devoted to this.
It seems to have been Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who, in the 12th-Century, explicitly raised the question of the Immaculate Conception. A Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin had already begun to be celebrated in some Churches of the West. Saint Bernard blames the Canons of the Metropolitan Church of Lyon for instituting such a Festival without the permission of the Holy See. In doing so, he takes occasion to repudiate altogether the view that the Conception of Mary was sinless. It is doubtful, however, whether he was using the term "Conception" in the same sense in which it is used in the definition of Pope Pius IX. Saint Bernard would seem to have been speaking of conception in the active sense of the mother's co-operation, for, in his argument, he says: "How can there be absence of sin where there is concupiscence (libido)?" and stronger expressions follow, showing that he is speaking of the mother and not of the child.
English: Statue of The Immaculate Conception, Palmi, Italy.
Italiano: Antica statua di Maria Santissima Immacolata
venerata a Palmi nei secolo passati ed andata distrutta nel 1924.
Photo: 29 November 2012.
Source: Cartolina.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Thomas Aquinas, the greatest of the Mediaeval Scholastics, refused to admit the Immaculate Conception, on the ground that, unless the Blessed Virgin had at one time or other been one of the sinful, she could not justly be said to have been redeemed by Christ.
Saint Bonaventure (†1274), second only to Saint Thomas in his influence on the Christian schools of his age, hesitated to accept it for a similar reason. He believed that Mary was completely free from sin, but that she was not given this Grace at the instant of her Conception.
The celebrated John Duns Scotus (†1308), a Friar Minor, like Saint Bonaventure, argued, on the contrary, that, from a rational point of view, it was certainly as little derogatory to the merits of Christ to assert that Mary was, by Him, preserved from all taint of sin, as to say that she first contracted it and then was delivered.
English: The Immaculate Conception statue above the High Altar,
Kloster Roggenburg, Kreis Neu-Ulm, Bavaria, Germany.
The statue of The Immaculate Conception can be seen above the High Altar.
Photo: 11 October 2003.
Source: Own work.
Author: Vincent Pál, permission given.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Proposing a solution to the theological problem of reconciling the Doctrine with that of universal redemption in Christ, he argued that Mary's Immaculate Conception did not remove her from Redemption by Christ; rather, it was the result of a more perfect Redemption, granted her because of her special role in Salvation history.
The arguments of Scotus, combined with a better acquaintance with the language of the Early Fathers, gradually prevailed in the schools of the Western Church. In 1387, the University of Paris strongly condemned the opposite view.
Scotus' arguments remained controversial, however, particularly among the Dominicans, who were willing enough to celebrate Mary's sanctificatio (being made free from sin) but, following the Dominican, Thomas Aquinas', arguments, continued to insist that her Sanctification could not have occurred until after her Conception.
Popular opinion remained firmly behind the celebration of Mary's Conception. In 1439, the Council of Basel, which is not reckoned an Ecumenical Council, stated that belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary is in accord with the Catholic Faith.
By the end of the 15th-Century, it was widely professed and taught in many theological faculties, but such was the influence of the Dominicans, and the weight of the arguments of Thomas Aquinas (who had been Canonised in 1323 and declared "Doctor Angelicus" of the Church, in 1567) that the Council of Trent (1545–63) — which might have been expected to affirm the Doctrine — instead declined to take a position.
It is admitted that the Doctrine, as defined by Pope Pius IX, was not explicitly mooted before the 12th-Century. It is also agreed that "no direct or categorical and stringent proof of the Dogma can be brought forward from Scripture". But it is claimed that the Doctrine is implicitly contained in the teaching of the Fathers. Their expressions on the subject of the sinlessness of Mary are, it is pointed out, so ample and so absolute, that they must be taken to include Original Sin, as well as actual sin.
English: The Church of The Immaculate Conception, Tobelbad, Austria.
Deutsch: Chor der Kath. Pfarrkirche Unbefleckte Empfängnis
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