THE OLD ROMAN Vol. II Issue XXV W/C 21st February 2021
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WELCOME to this the twenty-fifth edition of Volume II of “The Old Roman” a weekly dissemination of news, views and information for and from around the world reflecting the experience and life of 21C “Old Romans” i.e. western Orthodox Catholics across the globe.
CONTRIBUTIONS… news items, magazine, devotional or theological articles, prayer requests, features about apostolates and parish mission life are ALL welcome and may be submitted via email. Submissions should be sent by Friday for publication the following Sunday.
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IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION...
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The Old Roman View - Old Romans in Lent
THE LITURGY
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As the season of Gesima and introspection gives way to the holy season of Lent, Old Romans should be entering into a time of healing, restoration and renewal. The restorative Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist should become a more regular feature in our lives as we avail ourselves of God’s grace in order to celebrate worthily our Christian hope at the great Paschal feast.
Lent was also traditionally a time for the catechumenate, for those preparing to be received into the mystical body of Christ, the fellowship and communion of the Church through baptism and chrismation (Confirmation) at the Paschal Vigil on Holy Saturday. Our traditional Missals still reflect the progress of these converts in the themes of the Sunday orations and lections. Existing Christians at the same time experienced this progression as a renewing of their own commitment and discipleship. For us Old Romans this season should likewise be a time of strengthening and deepening our commitment to Christ, that we may properly accompany Him in Holy Week as we relive the salvific events in the “week that changed the world” forever.
It is customary at this time too for churches to increase their corporate and public devotional exercises and regimen, extra services and invitations to prayer, in order for individuals to be encouraged by the fellowship in pursuit of deeper holiness. These are important opportunities for Old Romans to support one another regarding their personal Lenten disciplines, to offer words of encouragement, commiserate together ref their fasting, mortification, penances and spur each other to greater effort and commitment.
For those Old Romans who wish to more closely follow the ancient customs of the Church, Lent is a time of austere penance undertaken to make reparation to God for sin (our own sins and others), to grow in virtue and good works, and to comfort the heart of our Saviour much offended by the barrage of sin and filth increasing by the day. Yet, there are very few Catholics who undertake the true discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
How many of us are observing all 40 days as true fast days and not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Yet our ancestors did. In fact, it was forbidden to eat meat or any animal products (e.g. eggs, dairy, cheese, butter, etc) through all of Lent. How many of us are making this kind of intense sacrifice? How many of us are finding the time this Lent to pray the Rosary every day or go to Daily Mass more often or at least pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday?
While we can talk about the minimums required by Church law or previous laws, we have to remember that these are exactly that - minimums. The Church asks for everyone to perform penance according to their own abilities. While those who were ill (among other reasons) were dispensed from the law of fasting, the sick could still perform other penance or even try to observe fasting if they chose. The same is true for children. Encouraging our children to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year and all of forty days of Lent is very worthwhile. And encouraging adolescent children to fast is also very meritorious even though it is beyond the mere minimum.
This year The Old Roman is offering a comprehensive schedule of programmes to help Old Romans in their observance of Lent this year. See below for the full schedule.
Please feel free to send in details of any Lent Study Groups, extra devotional services and ideas and tips or reflections on observing Lent that you have found useful, encouraging or inspiring. Remember to invite others to Holy Hours, Study Groups and daily Masses and spread widely news of Confession times – this is a great opportunity to divest ourselves of guilt and shame that we may grow in love and service.
Let’s help Old Romans everywhere experience a truly awe-inspiring and life-changing Lent this year for Caritas Christi urget nos! [2Cor5:14]
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ORDO w/c Sunday 14th February 2021
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| KEY: A=Abbot A cunctis=of the Saints B=Bishop BD=Benedicamus Domino BVM=Blessed Virgin Mary C=Confessor Com=Commemoration Cr=Creed D=Doctor d=double d.i/ii=double of the 1st/2nd Class E=Evangelist F=Feria Gl=Gloria gr.d=greater-double (G)=Green H=Holy Heb.=Hedomadam (week) K=King M=Martyr mpal=missae pro aliquibus locis Mm=Martyrs Pent=Pentecost P=Priest PP/PostPent=Post Pentecost PLG=Proper Last Gospel Pref=Preface ProEccl=for the Church (R)=Red (Rc)=Rose-coloured s=simple s-d=semi-double Tr=Tract Co=Companions V1=1st Vespers V=Virgin v=votive (V)=violet W=Widow (W)=white *Ob.=Obligation 2a=second oration 3a=third oration |
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RITUAL NOTES
- The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday, but the first week of Lent is that which follows the 1st Sunday, and, liturgically, the Season commences only at the Evensong of the Saturday before that day; in consequence of this there are no special Office Hymns for Ash Wednesday and the three following days, those common to the days of the week being used until Saturday evening, when the Office Hymn at Evensong, and daily until the Eve of Passion Sunday, will be Audi, benigne Conditor.
- During Lent, the Altars and other parts of the Church should be adorned in a simple manner. Flowers on the Altars should be used but sparingly and only when the Service is that of a Festival and on the 4th, Laetare or Mid-Lent, Sunday, when the Sacred Ministers will wear the Dalmatic and Tunicle. On the other Sundays in Lent the Deacon and Sub-deacon use folded Chasubles or serve in albis, i.e., the Deacon in Amice, Alb, Girdle, Maniple and Stole, and the Sub-deacon in Amice, Alb, Girdle, and Maniple.
- The 1st Sunday in Lent, Passion Sunday, and Palm Sunday are Sundays of the first class, and it is impossible to observe any other Feast on these days. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays are Sundays of the second class, and only give way to a Double Feast of the first class, e.g., that of the Patron or Dedication of the Church. All the week-days in Lent are Greater Ferias and, if a Festival be celebrated on one of them, the Feria must be commemorated (orations and its gospel as the Last).
- On Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week no Feast can be kept. All Octaves end on Ash Wednesday, as on December 16th (vide p. 6), and no Feast can be observed with an Octave until after Low Sunday.
- Strictly speaking, the Organ should not be played during Lent, except on the 4th Sunday and on Solemn Feast Days, and if used it should be employed as little, and as quietly, as possible. According to ancient custom the Organ was used, at the Solemn Celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, till the end of the Gloria in Excelsis and also, on Holy Saturday at the Gloria in Excelsis and for the remainder of the Service. For the same reason, if the Gloria in Excelsis be used during Lent (in all old Rituals it is ordered to be omitted at this Season).
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This Sunday, the first of the six which come during Lent, is one of the most solemn throughout the year. It has the same privilege as Passion and Palm Sundays, – that is, it never gives place to any Feast, not even to that of the Patron, Titular Saint, or Dedication of the Church. In the ancient Calendars, it is called Invocabit, from the first word of the Introit of the Mass. In the Middle-Ages [More especially in France. Translator.], it was called Brand Sunday, because the young people, who had misconducted themselves during the carnival, were obliged to show themselves to-day, at the Church, with a torch in their hands, as a kind of public satisfaction for their riot and excess.
Lent solemnly opens today. We have already noticed that the four preceding days were added since the time of Gregory the Great, in order to make up Forty days of fasting. Neither can we look upon Ash Wednesday as the solemn opening of the Season, for the Faithful are not bound to hear Mass on that day. The Holy Church, seeing her children now assembled together, speaks to them, in her Office of Matins, these eloquent and noble words of St. Leo the Great: “Having to announce to you, dearly beloved, the most sacred and chief Fast, how can I more appropriately begin, than with the words of the Apostle (in whom Christ himself spoke), and by saying to you what has just been read: Behold! now is the acceptable time; behold! now is the day of salvation. For although there be no time which is not replete with divine gifts, and we may always, by God’s grace, have access to his mercy—yet ought we all to redouble our efforts to make spiritual progress and be animated with unusual confidence now that the anniversary of the day of our Redemption is approaching, inviting us to devote ourselves to every good work, that so we may celebrate, with purity of body and mind, the incomparable Mystery of our Lord’s Passion.
“It is true, that our devotion and reverence towards so great a Mystery should be kept up during the whole year, and we ourselves be, at all times, in the eyes of God, the same as we are bound to be at the Easter Solemnity. But this is an effort which only few among us have the courage to sustain. The weakness of the flesh induces us to relent our austerities; the various occupations of every-day life take up our thoughts; and thus, even the virtuous find their hearts clogged by this world’s dust. Hence it is, that our Lord has most providentially given us these Forty Days, whose holy exercises should be to us a remedy, whereby to regain our purity of soul. The good works and the holy fastings of this Season were instituted as an atonement and obliteration of the sins we commit during the rest of the Year.
“Now, therefore, that we are about to enter upon these days, which are so full of mystery, and were instituted for the holy purpose of purifying both our soul and body, let us, dearly beloved, be careful to do as the Apostle bids us, and cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and the spirit: that thus the combat between the two substances being made less fierce, the soul, which, when she herself is subject to God, ought to be the ruler of the body, will recover her own dignity and position. Let us also avoid giving offence to any man, so that there be none to blame or speak evil things of us. For we deserve the harsh remarks of infidels, and we provoke the tongues of the wicked to blaspheme religion, when we, who fast, lead unholy lives. For our Fast does not consist in the mere abstaining from food; nor is it of much use to deny food to our body, unless we restrain the soul from sin.” [Fourth Sermon for Lent]
Each Sunday of Lent offers to our consideration a passage from the Gospel, which is in keeping with the sentiments wherewith the Church would have us be filled. To-day she brings before us the Temptation of our Lord in the Desert. What light and encouragement there is for us in this instruction!
We acknowledge ourselves to be sinners; we are engaged, at this very time, in doing penance for the sins we have committed;- but, how was it that we fell into sin? The devil tempted us; we did not reject the temptation; then, we yielded to the suggestion, and the sin was committed. This is the history of our past; and such it would, also, be for the future, were we not to profit by the lesson given us, to-day, by our Redeemer.
When the Apostle speaks of the wonderful mercy shown us by our Divine Savior, who vouchsafed to make himself like to us in all things, save in sin, he justly lays stress on his temptations. He who was very God, humbled himself even so low as this, to prove how tenderly he compassionated us. Here, then, we have the Saint of Saints allowing the wicked spirit to approach him, in order that we might learn from His example how we are to gain victory under temptation.
Satan has had his eye upon Jesus; he is troubled at beholding such matchless virtue. The wonderful circumstances of his Birth—the Shepherds called by Angels to his Crib, and the Magi guided by the Star; the Infant’s escape from Herod’s plot; the testimony rendered to this new Prophet by John the Baptist—all these things which seem so out of keeping with the thirty years spent in obscurity at Nazareth are a mystery to the infernal serpent, and fill him with apprehension. The ineffable mystery of the Incarnation has been accomplished unknown to him; he never once suspects that the humble Virgin, Mary, is she who was foretold by the Prophet Isaias, as having to bring forth the Emmanuel; but he is aware that the time is to come, that the last Week spoken of to Daniel has begun its course, and that the very Pagans are looking towards Judea for a Deliverer. He is afraid of this Jesus; he resolves to speak with him, and elicit from him some expression which will show him whether he be or not the Son of God; he will tempt him to some imperfection, or sin, which, should he commit, will prove that the object of so much fear is, after all, but a mortal and sinful Man.
The enemy of God and men was, of course, disappointed. He approached Jesus; but all his efforts only turn to his own confusion. Our Redeemer, with all the self-possession and easy majesty of a God-Man, repels the attacks of Satan; but he reveals not his heavenly origin. The wicked spirit retires, without having made any discovery beyond this, – that Jesus is a prophet, faithful to God. Later on, when he sees the Son of God treated with contempt, calumniated, and persecuted; when he finds, that his own attempts to have him put to death, are so successful;- his pride and his blindness will be at their height: and not till Jesus expires on the Cross, will he learn, that his victim was not merely Man, but Man and God. Then will he discover, how all his plots against Jesus have but served to manifest, in all their beauty, the Mercy and Justice of God;- his Mercy, because be saved mankind: and his Justice, because be broke the power of hell for ever.
These were the designs of Divine Providence in permitting the wicked spirit to defile, by his presence, the retreat of Jesus, and speak to him, and lay his hands upon him. But, let us attentively consider the triple temptation in all its circumstances; for our Redeemer only suffered it, in order that he might instruct and encourage us.
We have three enemies to fight against; our soul has three dangers; for as the Beloved Disciple says: All that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life! By the concupiscence of the flesh, is meant the love of sensual things, which covets whatever is agreeable to the flesh and, when not curbed, draws the soul into unlawful pleasures. Concupiscence of the eyes expresses the love of the goods of this world, such as riches, and possessions; these dazzle the eye, and then seduce the heart. Pride of life is that confidence in ourselves which leads us to be vain and presumptuous, and makes us forget that all we have—our life and our every good gift—we have from God.
Not one of our sins but what comes from one of these three sources; not one of our temptations but what aims at making us accept the concupiscence of the flesh, or the concupiscence of the eyes, or the pride of life. Our Saviour, then, who would be our model in all things, deigned to subject himself to these three temptations.
First of all, Satan tempts him in what regards the Flesh:- he suggests to him to satisfy the cravings of hunger, by working a miracle, and changing the stones into bread. If Jesus consent, and show an eagerness in giving this indulgence to his body, the tempter will conclude that he is but a frail mortal, subject to concupiscence like other men. When he tempts us, who have inherited evil concupiscence from Adam, his suggestions go further than this; he endeavours to defile the soul by the body. But the sovereign holiness of the Incarnate Word could never permit Satan to use upon Him the power which he has received of tempting man in his outward senses. The lesson, therefore, which the Son of God here gives us, is one of temperance: but we know, that, for us, temperance is the mother of purity, and that intemperance excites our senses to rebel.
The second temptation is to pride; Cast thyself down; the Angels shall bear thee up in their hands. The enemy is anxious to see if the favours of heaven have produced in Jesus’ soul that haughtiness, that ungrateful self-confidence, which makes the creature arrogate God’s gifts to itself, and forget its benefactor. Here, also, he is foiled; our Redeemer’s humility confounds the pride of the rebel angel.
He then makes a last effort: he hopes to gain over by ambition Him who has given such proofs of temperance and humility. He shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and says to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down, thou wilt adore me. Jesus rejects the wretched offer, and drives from him the seducer, the prince of this world; hereby teaching us that we must despise the riches of this world, as often as our keeping our getting them is to be on the condition of our violating the law of God and paying homage to Satan.
But, let us observe how it is, that our Divine Model, our Redeemer, overcomes the tempter. Does be hearken to his words? Does he allow the temptation time? and give it strength by delay? We did so, when we were tempted, and we fell. But our Lord immediately meets each temptation with the shield of God’s word. He says: It is written: Not on bread alone doth man live. – It is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. – It is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve. – This, then, must be our practice for the time to come. Eve brought perdition on herself, and on the whole human race, because she listened to the serpent. He that dallies with temptation, is sure to fall. We are now in a Season of extraordinary grace; our hearts are on the watch, dangerous occasions are removed, everything that savours of worldliness is laid aside; our souls, purified by prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds, are to rise with Christ, to a new life;- but, shall we persevere? All depends upon how we behave under temptation. Here, at the very opening of Lent, the Church gives us this passage of the Holy Gospel, that we may have, not only precept, but example. If we be attentive and faithful, the lesson she gives us will produce its fruit; and when we come to the Easter Solemnity, we shall have those sure pledges of perseverance, – vigilance, self-diffidence, prayer, and the never-failing help of Divine Grace.
The Greek Church, in spite of her principle of never admitting a Feast during Lent, celebrates to-day one of her greatest solemnities. It is called Orthodoxia, and was instituted in memory of the restoration of sacred Images in Constantinople and the Eastern Empire, in the year 842, when the Empress Theodora, aided by the holy Patriarch Methodius, put a stop to the Iconoclast persecution, and restored to the Churches the holy Images, which the fury of the heretics had taken away.
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THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
The Station, at Rome, is in the patriarchal Basilica of Saint John Lateran. It was but right, that a Sunday, of such solemnity as this, should be celebrated in the Church which is the Mother and Mistress of all Churches, not only of the Holy City itself, but of the whole world. It was here that the public Penitents were reconciled on Maundy Thursday; it was here, also, in the Baptistery of Constantine, that the Catechumens received Baptism on the night preceding Easter Sunday. No other Basilica could have had such a claim for the Station of a day like this; for it was there that the Lenten Fast had been so often proclaimed by Leo and Gregory.
The Introit, as likewise the Gradual, Tract, Offertory, and Communion, are all taken from the 90th Psalm. We have, elsewhere, spoken of the appropriateness of this beautiful Psalm to the spirit of the Church during the Season of Lent. It bids the Christian soul confide in the divine aid. She is now devoting her whole energies to prayer; she is engaged in battle with her own and God’s enemies. She has need of support. Let her not be afraid: God tells her, in these words of the Introit, that her confidence in him shall not be in vain.
INTROIT Psalm 90: 15, 16
He shall cry to Me, and I will hear him : I will deliver him, and I will glorify him : I will fill him with length of days – (Psalm 90: 1) He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High : shall abide under the protection of the God of Heaven. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat He shall cry to Me…
COLLECT
O God, You Who purify Your Church by the yearly Lenten observance, grant to Your household that what they strive to obtain from You by abstinence, they may achieve by good works. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.
Second Collect for the Intercession of Thy Saints
Defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all dangers of mind and body; that through the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, together with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and blessed N. (Here mention the titular saint of the church), and all the saints, mercifully grant us safety and peace; that all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom.
Third Collect for the Living and the Dead
O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all whom Thou forekowest shall be Thine by faith and good works : we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.
EPISTLE 2 Corinthians 6. 1-10
Lesson from the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Brethren : We exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For He saith : In an accepted time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed : but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distress, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God : by the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left : by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report : as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet known : as dying, and behold we live : as chastised and not killed : as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing : as needy, yet enriching many : as having nothing and possessing all things.
GRADUAL Psalm 90: 11, 12
God hath given His angels charge over Thee to keep Thee in all Thy ways. V. In their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.
TRACT Psalm 90: 1-7, 11-16
He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. V. He shall say to the Lord : Thou art my protector and my refuge : my God, in Him will I trust. V. For He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters, and from the sharp word. V. He will overshadow thee with His shoulders, and under His wings thou shalt trust. V. His truth shall compass thee with a shield : thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night. V. Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark, of invasion or of the noonday devil. V. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at the right hand : but it shall not come nigh thee. . For he hath given His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. V. In their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. V. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and Thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. V. Because he hoped in Me I will deliver him : I will protect him, because he hath known My name. V. He shall cry to Me, and I will hear him : I am with him in tribulation. V. I will deliver him, and I will glorify him : I will fill him with length of days, and I will show him My salvation.
GOSPEL Matthew 4: 1-11
At that Time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him : ‘If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.’ Who answered and said: ‘It is written: Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city and set Him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: ‘If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down. For it is written: That He hath given His angels charge over Thee, and in their hands shall they bear Thee up, lest perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him: ‘It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God.’ Again the devil took Him up into a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and said to Him: ‘All these will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me.’ Then Jesus saith to him: ‘Begone, Satan! For it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ Then the devil left Him : and behold angels came, and ministered to Him.
OFFERTORY Psalm 90: 4, 5
The Lord will overshadow thee with His shoulders, and under His wings thou shalt trust : His truth shall compass thee with a shield.
SECRET
We offer these sacrificial gifts at the beginning of Lent, praying You, O Lord, that while we practice restraint in the use of bodily food, we may also refrain from harmful pleasures. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R. Amen.
Second Secret to implore the Intercession of the Saints
Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, and by the virtue of this sacrament protect us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing on us both grace in this life and glory hereafter.
Third Secret for the Living and the Dead
O God, Who alone knowest the number of the elect to be admitted to the happiness of Heaven, grant, we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of all Thy saints, the names of all who have been recommended to our prayers and of all the faithful, may be inscribed in the book of blessed predestination. Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries; that, fixed upon things divine we may serve Thee in both body and mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.
PREFACE of Lent
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: Who by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…
COMMUNION Psalm 90: 4, 5
The Lord will overshadow thee with His shoulders, and under His wings thou shalt trust: His truth shall compass thee with a shield.
POSTCOMMUNION
May the holy offering of Your sacrament renew us, O Lord, and cause us to be purified from our old ways and come to the fellowship of this saving mystery. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.
Second Postcommunion to implore the Intercession of the Saints
May the oblation of this divine sacrament cleanse and defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, blessed N. (here mention the titular saint of the church), and all the saints, purify us from all our sins and deliver us from all adversity.
Third Postcommunion for the Living and the Dead
Let us pray. May the sacraments which we have received purify us, we beseech Thee, O almighty and merciful Lord; and through the intercession of all Thy saints, grant that this Thy sacrament may not be unto us a condemnation, but a salutary intercession for pardon; may it be the washing away of sin, the strength of the weak, a protection against all dangers of the world, and a remission of all the sins of the faithful, whether living or dead. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.
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How are Old Roman vocations to the Sacred Ministry discerned, formed and realised? If you are discerning a vocation to the Sacred Ministry and are considering exploring the possibility of realising your vocation as an Old Roman or transferring your discernment, this is the programme for you!
Questions are welcome and may be sent in advance to vocations@secret.fyi anonymity is assured.
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MEDITATIONS FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR
BY BISHOP CHALLONER
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Richard Challoner (1691–1781) was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. The titular Bishop of Doberus, he is perhaps most famous for his revision of the Douay–Rheims translation of the Bible.
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FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
ON THE FAST OF LENT
Consider first, that a fast of forty days has been recommended by the law and the prophets, and sanctified by the example of Christ himself. Moses fasted forty days, (Exod. xxiv. 18,) whilst he conversed with God in the mountain, when he received the divine law. And again, when the people had sinned, he returned to the Lord, to the mountain, and fasted other forty days, Exod. xxxiv. 28. Elias fasted forty days in the wilderness, before he came to the mountain of God, where he was favoured with the vision of God, as far as man is capable of seeing him in this life, 3 Kings xix. 8. Christ our Lord, before he entered upon his mission of preaching his Gospel, retired into a wilderness and there employed forty days in prayer and fasting, St. Matt. iv. 2. How happy shall we be, if, by imitating according to our small ability, these great examples, we may also draw near to God, by this forty days’ fast of Lent! But then, in order to this, we must join, as they did, retirement and much prayer with our fasting.
Consider 2ndly, that the forty days fast of Lent amongst Christians, is primitive and apostolical: it began with Christianity itself, and with Christianity has been received by all people and nations which have received the faith and law of Christ. Embrace then, O my soul, this solemn penitential fast, this apostolical practice, this precious remnant of primitive discipline. But see it be with a penitential spirit. 'Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation,' 2 Cor. vi. 2. Take thou care not to receive so great a grace in vain. These forty days, if thou make good use of them, will be happy days to thee. 'O seek the Lord whilst he may be found, call upon him while he is near.' Isaias lv. 6
Consider 3rdly, that the great business of Lent is to do penance for our sins, to go daily with Magdalene to the feet of Christ, to wash them in spirit with penitential tears, to make our confession to him, and to lay down all our sins at his feet, begging that he would cancel them with his precious blood; to renounce them for ever, to detest them, and bewail them in his sight; to offer him our poor hearts with all our affections, in order to make him the best amends we can for our past disloyalties, by loving him with all our power for the time to come, that, as he said of Magdalene, St. Luke vii. 47, 'Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much,' so he may also say of us. In this spirit we should make a daily offering of our fasting, and of all other self-denials and penitential exercises of this time, to be united to the passion and death of the Son of God, and so to be accepted of, through him, in satisfaction for our sins. O do this, my soul, during these forty days, and thou shalt live.
Conclude to make good use of this holy time, in which mercy flows. O admire and adore that mercy which has endured thee so long, and which presses thee now, at least, to return to thy God. O take care lest, provoked by thy impenitence, he cut thee off in thy sins
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A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD
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Quadragesima I First Sunday in Lent
Brethren: We exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation.
Today is the First Sunday in Lent, the season in which we prepare ourselves in penitence for the great Feast of Easter. Since Lent is the time when we above all should seek to deepen the seriousness of our Christian discipleship, it is fitting that the Epistle for this Sunday is from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in which he exhorts them not to receive the grace of God in vain, for now is the acceptable time, now is the time of salvation.
But what was the context in which St. Paul wrote these words? He encountered problems in all the churches that he founded, but it was probably the Corinthian Church that caused him most problems. He founded the Church during the second of his great missionary journeys which we read about in the Acts of the Apostles. At the time of the founding of the Church it seemed as if things were going well. St. Paul had secured at the Council in Jerusalem the approval of Peter, James and John for his mission among the Gentiles. They were not required to be circumcised and become Jews, but they were required to renounce their pagan idols and worship the one God of Israel who had redeemed them in the person of Jesus. But just when things seemed to be going to plan major problems developed in the Church in Corinth. There were those who distorted Paul’s message of Gentiles not being required to become circumcised Jews into an excuse for licence. They claimed that they had superior knowledge and so did not need to be concerned about their behaviour. It is clear that this was an early form of the Gnostic heresy (the belief in salvation by esoteric knowledge rather than through the redemption wrought by Christ upon the cross) that was later countered by the early Church Fathers such as St. Irenaeus in the second century. St. Paul saw that the root problem was that a faction of the Corinthian Church had become proud in their claim to superior knowledge. He rebuked them for their pride and lack of charity. This was the context of St. Paul’s great hymn to charity that we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel. The point St. Paul was making was that the Corinthians were not being charitable towards others. They were too proud of themselves in their self-claimed superior knowledge. St. Paul therefore wrote that the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is Christ the Wisdom of God and Christ the power of God.
However, it seems that between writing the First Epistle and the Second Epistle to the Corinthians matters had got worse, rather than better. His opponents appear to have launched a full fronted personal attack on St. Paul himself. They questioned his authority and his personal character. His letters, they said, are weighty and strong, but his presence is weak and his speech contemptible. It was a watershed in St. Paul’s life in which everything seemed to be going wrong. He writes what is perhaps his most personal letter in which he speaks of how he had despaired of life itself. Without there were fears, within there were fightings. He spoke of his thorn in the flesh, which he had prayed to be delivered from. It is not clear what this thorn in the flesh was. It may have been a physical illness, or it may have been the continual problems that he seemed to be encountering at that point in his life. The answer to his prayer had been “My grace is sufficient for thee, my power is made perfect in weakness”. The attack on his personal character had wounded his own human pride, but it was precisely in this moment of weakness that he had learned to put his faith, not in his own power and authority (which his opponents in Corinth had challenged) but in God, who raises the dead. He had found through the grace of God the strength to persevere “in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost”. He could now overcome all things “by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet known: as dying, and behold we live.”
It is in this spirit that we should approach the season of abstinence that is now upon us. In the fifth century Pope Leo the Great spoke of the appropriateness of St. Paul’s words for the season of Lent. He said “With what words can I more fitly begin than in those words of the Apostle, in whom Christ spake, which have just been read? Behold now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. It is true that there are no times which are not rich with God’s gifts; His grace doth ever give us an entry unto his mercy; nevertheless, more especially at this time doth it behove that the minds of all men be earnestly stirred up to make progress in things spiritual, and to be nerved by a trust in God stronger than ever: for now the anniversary of that day on which we were redeemed is drawing near, and thereby moving us to work all godliness, to the end that we may be able to celebrate, with clean minds and bodies, that mystery which exceeded all others, the mystery of the Lord’s sufferings…. It is provided by the healthful institution of God, that we should be purged by an exercise of forty days, wherein godly works do redeem the misspending of our other time, and purifying fasts rid us of the same…. For if our ways during the fast agree not with the purity of perfect temperance, the reproaches of the unbelievers will be just, and our sins will arm the tongues of the ungodly to the harming of our religion. The sum of our fast standeth not only in our abstaining from meats: neither is it profitable to deny food to the body, if the mind be not bridled from iniquity.”
O God, who dost purify thy Church by the yearly observance of forty days; grant to thy household that what we strive to obtain from thee by self denial, we may secure by good works, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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THIS WEEK'S FEASTS
& COMMEMORATIONS
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Saint Peter’s Chair at Antioch
February 22 (ca. 36-43)
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That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Clement, Pope. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was then the capital of the East, and where the faith so early took such deep roots as to give birth there to the name of Christians. There his voice could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity — the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. Saint Chrysostom says that Saint Peter was there for a long period; Saint Gregory the Great, that he was seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.
If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Saviour's Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed Saint Steven's martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.
In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption. That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four sermons of Saint Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the people after their bishops' decease, out of respect for their memory. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times. Saint Leo says we should celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, by the former he was installed Head of the Church on earth.
Reflection: On this festival we are especially bound to adore and thank the divine Goodness for the establishment and propagation of His Church, and to pray earnestly that in His mercy He will preserve it and extend its dominion, so that His name may be glorified by all nations and all hearts even to the boundaries of the earth.
Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2.
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Saint Peter Damian
February 23 Cardinal Bishop
(988-1072)
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Saint Peter Damian, born in 988, lost both his parents at an early age. His eldest brother, to whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that another brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great distinction. His studies were sanctified by vigils, fasts, and prayers, until at last, thinking that all this was only serving God halfway, he resolved to leave the world. He joined the monks of Fonte Avellano, then in the greatest repute, and by his wisdom and sanctity rose to be Superior.
Saint Peter was called upon for the most delicate and difficult missions, among others the reform of ecclesiastical communities, which his zeal accomplished. Seven Popes in succession made him their constant adviser, and he was finally created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He withstood Henry IV of Germany, and labored in defense of Pope Alexander II against an antipope, whom he forced to yield and seek pardon. He was charged, as papal legate, with the repression of simony and correction of scandals; again, was commissioned to settle discords amongst various bishops; and finally, in 1072, to adjust the affairs of the Church at Ravenna. He had never paid attention to his health, which was at best fragile, and after enduring violent onslaughts of fever during the night, would rise to hear confessions, preach, or sing solemn Masses, always ready to sacrifice his well-being and life for the salvation of the souls entrusted to him.
After succeeding in this final mission as he ordinarily did, on his journey back to Ostia he was laid low by fever; he died at Faenza in a monastery of his Order, on the eighth day of his sickness, while the monks chanted Matins around him.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
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Saint Matthias
February 24 Apostle
(† 63)
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After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, with Mary His mother and the eleven Apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas had to be filled, that the number of the Apostles might be complete. Saint Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. What the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, His bishopric let another take. A choice, therefore, was needed of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.
Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. After praying to God, who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was thereby numbered with the Apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure.
He preached in Judea where he was persecuted by both Jews and Gentiles, and died by stoning, a victim of their pursuits, in the year 63. His body was taken to Rome by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, some 250 years later. A church there bears his name.
Reflection. Our ignorance of many points in Saint Matthias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two — the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end: may it be like his, a holy death in reward for our fidelity.
Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
*On leap years, St. Matthias' feast day is celebrated on February 25
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