The seven sorrows of Our Blessed Lady (2/7)

Memorare, O piissima Virgo. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

September is a month in which we are invited to remember the Sorrows of Our Blessed Mother. In the days leading up to the feast of her nativity, we are reposting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady; praying that she will enable us to renew our keen desire to offer reparation for sins, in the spirit of the prayer given to the three little seers at Fatima:

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

The following post is the second of a series presenting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, based on the meditations of St Alphonsus de Liguori. I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Latin hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

The Flight of Jesus into Egypt

As the stag, wounded by an arrow, carries the pain with him wherever he goes, because he carries with him the arrow that has wounded him; thus the divine mother, after the prophecy of St. Simeon, as we saw in our consideration of the first grief, always carried her sorrow with her by the continual remembrance of the passion of her Son. Ailgrin, explaining this passage of the Canticles, “The hairs of thy head as the purple of the king bound in the channel,”[1] says: These hairs of Mary were her continual thoughts of the passion of Jesus, which kept always before her eyes the blood which was one day to flow from his wounds. Thy mind, oh Mary, and thy thoughts tinged in the blood of the passion of our Lord, were always moved with sorrow as if they actually saw the blood flowing from his wounds. Thus her Son Himself was that arrow in the heart of Mary, who, the more worthy of love He showed himself to her, always wounded her the more with the sorrowful thought that she should lose Him by so cruel a death.

The Flight into Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Quem Herodem fugiens
Aegypto adduxisti:
tandem inde rediens
ad Nazareth venisti. Ave Maria.

Whom safe to Egypt thou didst bear
Whilst Herod's rage was swelling;
But bring back with maternal care,
To Nazareth thy dwelling.







Let us now pass to the consideration of the second sword of sorrow which wounded Mary, in the flight of her infant Jesus into Egypt from the persecution of Herod.

Herod having heard that the expected Messiah was born, foolishly feared that the new-born King would deprive him of his kingdom. Hence St. Fulgentius[2], reproving him for his folly, thus says; “Why, oh Herod, art thou thus disturbed? This King who is born has not come to conquer kings by arms, but to subjugate them, in a wonderful manner, by his death.”[3]

The impious Herod, therefore, waited to learn from the holy magi where the King was born, that he might take from Him His life; but finding himself deceived by the magi, he ordered all the infants that could be found in the neighborhood of Bethlehem to be put to death. But an angel appeared in a dream to St. Joseph, and said to him: “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt.”[4] According to Gerson, immediately, on that very night, Joseph made this command known to Mary; and taking the infant Jesus, they commenced their journey, as it seems clearly from the Gospel itself: “Who arose and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt.”[5] Oh God, as blessed Albertus Magnus[6] says in the name of Mary, must He, then, who came to save men flee from men? “Debet fugere qui salvator est mundi?”

And then the afflicted Mary knew that already the prophecy of Simeon, regarding her Son, was beginning to be verified: “He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted.”[7] Seeing that scarcely is He born, when He is persecuted to death. What suffering it must have been to the heart of Mary, writes St. John Chrysostom[8], to hear the tidings of that cruel exile of herself with her Son! Flee from thy friends to strangers, from the holy temple of the only true God, to the temples of demons. What greater tribulation than that a new-born child, clinging to its mother’s bosom, should be forced to fly with the mother herself!

Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey. It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree with Barrada that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure[9] describes it, was rough, unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter, and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys. They had no servant to attend them. Joseph and Mary, said St. Peter Chrysologus[10, had no man-servant nor maid-servant; they were themselves both masters and servants. Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender Virgin, with that newly born infant in her arms wandering through this world! St. Bonaventure asks, Where did they obtain food? Where did they rest at night? How were they lodged? What other food could they have, than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or begged in charity? Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred miles of desert through which they travelled, where, as authors relate, there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild beasts with which Egypt abounded?

The Sojourn in Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Ah, if any one had met these three greatest personages of the world, what would he have believed them to be but three poor, roving beggars? They lived in Egypt, according to Brocard and Jansenius, in a district called Maturea, though, according to St. Anselm[11], they dwelt in Heliopolis, first called Memphis, and now Cairo. And here let us consider the great poverty they must have suffered for the seven years they were there, as St. Antoninus[12], St. Thomas, and others assert. They were foreigners, unknown, without revenues, without money, without kindred; hardly were they able to support themselves by their humble labours.

As they were destitute, says St. Basil[13], it is manifest what effort they must have made to obtain there the necessaries of life. Moreover, Landolph of Saxony[14] has written, and let it be repeated for the consolation of the poor, that so great was the poverty of Mary there, that sometimes she had not so much as a morsel of bread, when her Son, forced by hunger, asked it of her.

The return from Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

St. Matthew also relates that when Herod was dead, the angel again appeared, in a dream, to St. Joseph, and directed him to return to Judea. St. Bonaventure, speaking of his return, considers the greater pain of the blessed Virgin, on account of the sufferings which Jesus must have endured in that journey, having arrived at about the age of seven years—an age, says the saint, when he was so large that he could not be carried, and so small that he could not go without assistance.





The sight, then, of Jesus and Mary wandering like fugitives through this world, teaches us that we should also live as pilgrims on the earth, detached from the goods which the world offers us, as having soon to leave them and go to eternity. “We have not here a lasting city, but seek one that is to come.”[15] To which St. Augustine adds: Thou art a stranger, thou givest a look, and then passest on: “Hospes es, vides et transis.” It also teaches us to embrace crosses, for we cannot live in this world without a cross.

The blessed Veronica da Binasco[16], an Augustinian nun, was carried in spirit to accompany Mary and the infant Jesus in this journey to Egypt, and at the end of it the divine mother said to her: “Child, hast thou seen through what difficulties we have reached this place? Now learn that no one receives graces without suffering.” He who wishes to feel least the sufferings of this life, must take Jesus and Mary with him: “Accipe puerum et matrem ejus.” For him who lovingly bears in his heart this Son and this mother, all sufferings become light, and even sweet and dear. Let us then love them, let us console Mary by receiving her Son within our hearts, whom, even now, men continue to persecute with their sins.

Example

One day the most holy Mary appeared to the blessed Colletta, a Franciscan nun, and showed her the infant Jesus in a basin, torn in pieces, and then said to her: “Thus sinners continually treat my Son, renewing his death and my sorrows; oh, my daughter, pray for them that they may be converted.”

Similar to this is that other vision which appeared to the venerable sister Jane, of Jesus and Mary, also a Franciscan nun. As she was one day meditating on the infant Jesus, persecuted by Herod, she heard a great noise, as of armed people, who were pursuing some one; and then appeared before her a most beautiful child, who was fleeing in great distress, and cried to her: “My Jane, help me, hide me; I am Jesus of Nazareth, I am flying from sinners who wish to kill me, and who persecute me as Herod did: do thou save me.”

Prayer

Then, oh Mary, even after thy Son hath died by the hands of men who persecuted Him unto death, have not these ungrateful men yet ceased from persecuting Him with their sins, and continuing to afflict thee, oh mother of sorrows? And I also, oh God, have been one of these. Ah, my most sweet mother, obtain for me tears to weep for such ingratitude. And then, by the sufferings thou didst experience in the journey to Egypt, assist me in the journey that I am making to eternity, that at length I may go to unite with thee in loving my persecuted Saviour, in the country of the blessed. Amen.

Notes

[1] [5] Thy head is like Carmel: and the hairs of thy head as the purple of the king bound in the channels.
Caput tuum ut Carmelus; et comae capitis tui sicut purpura regis vincta canalibus. [Cant of Cant 7]

[2] St Fulgentius: Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe, Tunisia, and a friend of St. Augustine. Eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning.

[3] serm 5 de Epiph

[4] [13] And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.
Qui cum recessissent, ecce angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph, dicens : Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et fuge in Aegyptum, et esto ibi usque dum dicam tibi. Futurum est enim ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum. [Matt 2]

[5] [14] Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod:
Qui consurgens accepit puerum et matrem ejus nocte, et secessit in Aegyptum [Matt 2]

[6] Albertus Magnus,O.P. (c. 1193 – 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, was a German Catholic Dominican friar and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his lifetime as Doctor universalis and Doctor expertus. Late in his life, the title Magnus was appended to his name.

[7] [34] And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted;
Et benedixit illis Simeon, et dixit ad Mariam matrem ejus : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel, et in signum cui contradicetur.

[8] St John Chrysostom: c. 349 – 14 September 407); Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. Chrysostomos, means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence. He is honoured as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic churches. The Eastern Orthodox, together with the Byzantine Catholics, hold him in special regard as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs (alongside Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus).

[9] St. Bonaventure: 1221-1274 Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Known as "the seraphic doctor". He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune! In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He did much for his (Franciscan) Order and composed The Life of St. Francis. He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua.

[10] St. Peter Chrysologus: 380-450. Italian Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Called "Chrysologus" (golden-worded) because of his exceptional oratorical eloquence. In 1729, he was made a Doctor of the Church, largely as a result of his simple, practical, and clear sermons  nearly all dealing with Gospel subjects.

[11] St Anselm of Canterbury1033/4–1109), also called Anselm of Aosta after his birthplace and Anselm of Bec after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian, archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109

[12] St Antoninus: Archbishop of Florence,1389-1459; principal works are his Summa moralis and Summa confessionum.

[13] St. Basil the Great: 330-379. One of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. A man of vast learning, and eloquence.A giant of the early Church.

[14] Ludolph of Saxony: 1295 – 1378; German Roman Catholic theologian of the fourteenth century. His principal work, first printed in the 1470s, was the Vita Christi (Life of Christ).

[15] [14] For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come.
Non enim habemus hic manentem civitatem, sed futuram inquirimus. [Hebrews 13]

[16] Blessed Veronica of Milan (c. 1445 – 13 January 1497) was an Italian nun in the Augustinian Order. She was reputed to have received frequent visions of the Virgin Mary, and her local cultus was confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1517.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

The seven sorrows of Our Blessed Lady (1/7)

 I am re-posting a series first published on this site in September 2019.

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Memorare, O piissima Virgo. J JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

September is a month in which we are invited to remember the Sorrows of Our Blessed Mother. In the days leading up to the feast of her nativity, we are re-posting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady; praying that she will enable us to renew our keen desire to offer reparation for sins, in the spirit of the prayer given to the three little seers at Fatima:

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

The following post is the first of a series presenting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, based on the meditations of St Alphonsus de Liguori. I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Latin hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

St Simeon's Prophecy (the First Sorrow)

The Presentation. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Quem die quadragesima
in templo praesentasti:
ac Moysi legitima
spontanee subisti. Ave Maria.


Whom thou upon the fortieth day
In His own house presenting,
Didst freewill offerings duly pay
To Moses' law consenting. Hail Mary.










In this valley of tears, every man is born to weep, and every one must suffer those afflictions that daily befall him. But how much more miserable would life be, if every one knew also the future evils which are to afflict him! Too unhappy would he be, says Seneca[1], whose fate was such.

The Lord exercises his compassion towards us, namely, that He does not make known to us the crosses that await us; that if we are to suffer them, at least we may suffer them only once. But He did not exercise this compassion with Mary, who, because God wished her to be the queen of dolours, and in all things like His Son, and to see always before her eyes, and to suffer continually all the sorrows that awaited her; and those were the sufferings of the passion and death of her beloved Jesus.

For St. Simeon in the temple, after having received the divine child in his arms, predicted to her that this child was to be the mark for all the opposition and persecution of men: “Set for a sign which shall be contradicted;” and that therefore the sword of sorrow should pierce her soul; “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.”[2]

The holy Virgin herself said to St. Matilda, that at the announcement of St. Simeon all her joy was changed into sorrow[3]. For, as it was revealed to St. Theresa[4], the blessed mother, although she knew before this that the life of her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, yet she then learned more particularly and distinctly the sufferings and cruel death that awaited her poor Son. She knew that He would be contradicted in all things.

• in doctrine; for instead of being believed, He would be esteemed a blasphemer for teaching that he was the Son of God, as the impious Caiaphas declared him to be, saying: “He hath blasphemed, he is guilty of death.”[5]
• in his reputation, for He was noble, of royal lineage, and was despised as a peasant: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?”[6] “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?”[7]

He was Wisdom itself, and was treated as

• an ignorant man: “How doth this man know letters, having never learned?”[8]
• a false prophet: “And they blindfolded him and smote his face . . . saying: “Prophesy who is this that struck thee.”[9] 
• a madman: “He is mad, why hear you him?”[10]
• a wine-bibber, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: “Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.”[11]
• a sorcerer: “By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.”[12]
• a heretic and possessed person;“Do we not say well of thee, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”[13]

In a word, Jesus was considered as so bad and notorious a man, that no trial was necessary to condemn Him, as the Jews said to Pilate: “If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.”[14] He was contradicted in his soul, for even His eternal Father, in order to give place to the divine justice, contradicted Him by not wishing to hear Him when he prayed to Him, saying: “Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me;”[15] and abandoned Him to fear, weariness, and sadness, so that our afflicted Lord said: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death.”[16] His interior suffering even caused him to sweat blood.

Contradicted and persecuted, in a word, in His body and in His life, for He was tortured in all His sacred members: in His hands, in His feet, in His face, and in His head, in His whole body, till, drained to the last drop of his blood, He died an ignominious death on the cross. When David, in the midst of all His pleasures and royal grandeur, heard from Nathan the prophet, that his son should die—“ The child that is born to thee shall surely die”[17]—he could find no peace, but wept, fasted, and slept upon the ground.

Mary received with the greatest calmness the announcement that her Son should die, and peacefully continued to submit to it; but what grief she must have continually suffered, seeing this amiable Son always near her, hearing from him words of eternal life, and beholding his holy demeanour. Abraham suffered great affliction during the three days he passed with his beloved Isaac, after he knew that he was to lose him. Oh God! not for three days, but for thirty three years, Mary had to endure a like sorrow. Like, do I say? A sorrow as much greater as the Son of Mary was more lovely than the son of Abraham.

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget[17], that while she lived on the earth there was not an hour when this grief did not pierce her soul: As often, she continued, as I looked upon my Son, as often as I wrapped him in his swaddling clothes, as often as I saw his hands and his feet, so often was my soul overwhelmed as it were with a fresh sorrow, because I considered how he would be crucified.

Rupert the Abbot[18], contemplating Mary, while she was suckling her Son, imagines her addressing him in these words: “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts.” Ah, my Son, I clasp the in my arms, because thou art so dear to me; but the dearer thou art to me, the more thou dost become to me a bundle of myrrh and of sorrow, when I think of thy sufferings.[19]

Mary, says St. Bernardine of Sienna[20], considered that :

• the Strength of the saints was to pass through death; 
• the Beauty of paradise to be deformed; 
• the Lord of the universe to be bound as a criminal; 
• the Creator of all things to be livid with stripes; 
• the Judge of all to be condemned; 
• the Glory of heaven despised; 
• the King of kings to be crowned with thorns, and treated as a mock king.

Father Engelgrave writes, that it was revealed to the same St. Bridget, that the afflicted mother, knowing all that her Son would have to suffer, suckling Him, thought of the gall and vinegar; 
when she swathed Him, of the cords with which He was to be bound; when she bore Him in her arms, she thought of Him being nailed to the cross; and when He slept, she thought of his death. As often as she put on Him His clothes, she reflected that they would one day be torn from Him, that He might be crucified; and when she beheld His sacred hands and feet, and thought of the nails that were to pierce them, as Mary said to St. Bridget: “My eyes filled with tears, and my heart was tortured with grief.”

The evangelist says, that as Jesus Christ advanced in years, so also He advanced in wisdom and in grace with God and men.[21] That is, He advanced in wisdom and in grace before men or in their estimation; and before God, according to St. Thomas, inasmuch as all His works would continually have availed to increase His merit, if from the beginning grace in its complete fullness had not been conferred on Him by virtue of the hypostatic union. But if Jesus advanced in the esteem and love of others, how much more did He advance in Mary’s love! But oh God, as love increased in her, the more increased in her the grief of having to lose Him by a death so cruel. And the nearer the time of the passion of her Son approached, with so much greater pain did that sword of sorrow, predicted by St. Simeon, pierce the heart of the mother; precisely this the angel revealed to St. Bridget, saying: “That sword of sorrow was every hour drawing nearer to the Virgin as the time for the passion of her Son drew nearer.” 

If, then, Jesus our King and His most holy mother did not refuse, for love of us, to suffer during their whole life such cruel pains, there is no reason that we should complain if we suffer a little. Jesus crucified once appeared to sister Magdalene Orsini, a Dominican nun, when she had been long suffering a great trial, and encouraged her to remain with Him on the cross with that sorrow that was afflicting her. Sister Magdalene answered Him complainingly: “Oh Lord, thou didst suffer on the cross only three hours, but it is more than three years that I have been suffering this cross.” Then the Redeemer replied: “Ah! ignorant soul, what dost thou say? I, from the first moment I was conceived, suffered in heart what I afterwards suffered on the cross.” If, then, we too suffer any affliction and complain, let us imagine that Jesus and his mother Mary are saying to us the same words.

Example

Father Roviglione, of the Company of Jesus, relates, that a certain youth practised the devotion of visiting every day an image of the sorrowful Mary, in which she was represented with seven swords piercing her heart. One night the unhappy youth fell into mortal sin. Going next morning to visit the image, he saw in the heart of the blessed Virgin not only seven, but eight swords. As he stood gazing at this, he heard a voice saying to him, that this sin had added the eighth sword to the heart of Mary. This softened his hard heart; he went immediately to confession, and through the intercession of his advocate, recovered the divine grace.

Prayer

Oh my blessed mother, not one sword only, but as many swords as I have committed sins have I added to those seven in thy heart. Ah, my Lady, thy sorrows are not due to thee who art innocent, but to me who am guilty. But since thou hast wished to suffer so much for me, ah, by thy merits obtain for me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my demerits, for I have often merited hell. Amen.

Notes

[1] Calamitosus esset animus futuri praescius et ante miserias miser. See Ep XVIII 6
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65). Seneca was born in Córdoba in Hispania, and raised in Rome, where he was trained in rhetoric and philosophy. He was a tutor, and later an advisor, to emperor Nero. He was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in a conspiracy to assassinate Nero, in which he was likely to have been innocent.

[2] [34] And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted;
Et benedixit illis Simeon, et dixit ad Mariam matrem ejus : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel, et in signum cui contradicetur :
[35] And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.
et tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius ut revelentur ex multis cordibus cogitationes. [Luke 2]

[3]  Saint Mechtilde (Matilda): Omnis laetitia mea ad illa verba in moerore conversa est. Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn (1240/1241 – 1298) was a Saxon Christian saint and a Benedictine nun. She was famous for her musical talents and was called the “Nightingale of Helfta”. In 1261, her abbess committed to her care a child of five who in later generations became known as St. Gertrude the Great. Only in her fiftieth year did St. Mechtilde learn that two nuns in whom she had especially confided had noted down the extraordinary favours (including visions) that God had granted her, and that St. Gertrude had nearly finished a book on the subject. She had a vision of Christ approving the book that He wished to be called "The Book of Special Grace", because it would prove such to many.

[4] Saint Teresa: (1515-1582), prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. Active during the Counter-Reformation, she was a reformer in the Carmelite Order of her time; the movement she initiated was later joined by Saint John of the Cross.

[5] [65] Then the high priests rent his garments, saying: He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy:
Tunc princeps sacerdotum scidit vestimenta sua, dicens : Blasphemavit : quid adhuc egemus testibus? ecce nunc audistis blasphemiam :
[66] What think you? But they answering, said: He is guilty of death.
quid vobis videtur? At illi respondentes dixerunt : Reus est mortis. [Matt 26]

[6] [55] Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:
Nonne hic est fabri filius? nonne mater ejus dicitur Maria, et fratres ejus, Jacobus, et Joseph, et Simon, et Judas? [Matt 13]

[7] [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not also his sisters here with us? And they were scandalized in regard of him.
Nonne hic est faber, filius Mariae, frater Jacobi, et Joseph, et Judae, et Simonis? nonne et sorores ejus hic nobiscum sunt? Et scandalizabantur in illo. [Mark 6]

[8] [15] And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned?
Et mirabantur Judaei, dicentes : Quomodo hic litteras scit, cum non didicerit? [John 7]

[9] [64] And they blindfolded him, and smote his face. And they asked him, saying: Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?
Et velaverunt eum, et percutiebant faciem ejus : et interrogabant eum, dicentes : Prophetiza, quis est, qui te percussit? [Luke 22]
 
[10] [20] And many of them said: He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear you him?
Dicebant autem multi ex ipsis : Daemonium habet, et insanit : quid eum auditis? [John 10]

[11] [34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking: and you say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.
Venit Filius hominis manducans, et bibens, et dicitis : Ecce homo devorator, et bibens vinum, amicus publicanorum et peccatorum. [Luke 7]

[12] [34] But the Pharisees said, By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.
Pharisaei autem dicebant : In principe daemoniorum ejicit daemones. [Matt 9]

[13] [48] The Jews therefore answered, and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Responderunt ergo Judaei, et dixerunt ei : Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? [John 8]

[14] [29] Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: What accusation bring you against this man?
Exivit ergo Pilatus ad eos foras, et dixit : Quam accusationem affertis adversus hominem hunc?[30] They answered, and said to him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.
Responderunt, et dixerunt ei : Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus eum.  [John 18]

[15] [39] And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Et progressus pusillum, procidit in faciem suam, orans, et dicens : Pater mi, si possibile est, transeat a me calix iste : verumtamen non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu. [Matt 26]

[16] [38] Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me.
Tunc ait illis : Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem : sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum.  [Matt 26]

[17] [13] And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.
Et dixit David ad Nathan : Peccavi Domino. Dixitque Nathan ad David : Dominus quoque transtulit peccatum tuum : non morieris.
[14] Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die.
Verumtamen, quoniam blasphemare fecisti inimicos Domini, propter verbum hoc, filius, qui natus est tibi, morte morietur. [2 Kings 12]

[17] St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) In 1316, at the age of thirteen, she was united in marriage to Ulf Gudmarsson, who was then eighteen. She acquired great influence over her noble and pious husband, and the happy marriage was blessed with eight children, among them St. Catherine of Sweden. After her husband's death, Bridget devoted herself entirely to practices of religion and asceticism. The visions from her early childhood became more frequent and definite. Her revelations were in great repute during the Middle Ages. She was canonized, 7 October, 1391, by Boniface IX.
The excerpt is apparently from Book 6, Chapter 57 of her book of Revelations.

[18] Rupert of Deutz (Latin: Rupertus Tuitiensis; c. 1075/1080 – c. 1129) was an influential Benedictine theologian, exegete and writer on liturgical and musical topics. At his General Audience on Wednesday 9th December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI referred to Rupert's description of the:

... wonderful unity in all the events of the history of salvation, from the creation until the final consummation of time: "All Scripture", he says, "is one book, which aspires to the same end (the divine Word); which comes from one God and was written by one Spirit" (De glorificatione Trinitatis et procesione Sancti spiritus I, V, PL 169, 18).

Rupert is the first writer to have identified the bride in the Song of Songs with Mary Most Holy. His commentary on this book of Scripture has thus turned out to be a sort of Mariological summa, in which he presents Mary's privileges and excellent virtues.

In one of the most inspired passages of his commentary Rupert writes: "O most beloved among the beloved, Virgin of virgins, what does your beloved Son so praise in you that the whole choir of angels exalts? What they praise is your simplicity, purity, innocence, doctrine, modesty, humility, integrity of mind and body, that is, your incorrupt virginity" (In Canticum Canticorum 4, 1-6, CCL 26, pp. 69-70). The Marian interpretation of Rupert's Canticum is a felicitous example of harmony between liturgy and theology. In fact, various passages of this Book of the Bible were already used in liturgical celebrations on Marian feasts.

Rupert, furthermore, was careful to insert his Mariological doctrine into that ecclesiological doctrine. That is to say, he saw in Mary Most Holy the holiest part of the whole Church.

[19] Cant., 1: 12

[20] Bernardino of Siena, (also known as Bernardine; 8 September 1380 – 20 May 1444). Italian priest and Franciscan missionary. Famous during his own lifetime for his preaching against sorcery, gambling, infanticide, witchcraft, sodomy (homosexuality), Jews, and usury. Bernardino was canonized as a saint in 1450, only six years after his death, by Pope Nicholas V. Also referred to as “the Apostle of Italy” - for his efforts to revive the country's Catholic faith during the 15th century.

[21] [40] And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him.
Puer autem crescebat, et confortabatur plenus sapientia : et gratia Dei erat in illo. [Luke 2]

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary : Fra Angelico

Re-posted from 22 August 2020 

Three framed prints hang on the wall of our living room. They have been there several years and depict the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Flight into Egypt. They were given by a person unable to specify the name of the painter and it was only a few days ago that I happened by chance to be browsing online through paintings by the great Fra Angelico. To my amazement, I recognised one of the paintings as his and located the other two after a little research. 

Laudetur Jesus Christus et Maria Immaculata!

I offer the following post in honour of Maria Immaculata, on this feast of her Immaculate Heart. The three images are presented with my own annotations. I also pray that the Immaculata will watch over and protect EB whose birthday it is today: ad multos annos !

The Annunciation: setting

The first print is of the second image in a panel (shown below) forming part of the Armadio degli Argenti ("Wardrobe of the Silversmiths"), a series of tempera on panel paintings completed by Fra Angelico 1451-53. Designed for the Santissima Annunziata, a Florentine church founded in 1250,  the Armadio illustrates the life of Christ, culminating with His Passion, Death, Resurrection, the General Judgement  and the Coronation of Our Lady. 

Armadio degli Argenti. Fra Angelico. 1451-53.  Museo nazionale di San Marco in Florence

The image above shows the first nine of the Armadio series and depicts: 

 Ezekiel's Vision,                   the Annunciation,                             the Nativity

The Circumcision,                the Adoration of the Magi,               the Presentation of Christ in the Temple

The Flight into Egypt,           the Massacre of the Innocents          the Christ Child in the Temple.

                  

The Annunciation: a short commentary

The Annunciation. Fra Angelico. 1451-53.  Museo nazionale di San Marco in Florence

The painting features two scrolls with excerpts from Sacred Scripture:

ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabit[ur] nomen ejus Emmanuel

Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.[This verse is taken from Is vii. 14. Quaere reference to 'Isa. VI. C' - presumably Caput VI]

This is the prophecy of Isaias, made some 700 years before the Word was made flesh. 

There then follow the words uttered by Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Ecce concipies in utero, et paries filium, et vocabis nomen ejus Jesum

Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. [Luc. i. 31]

The parallels are striking: ecce, concipiet/concipies, pariet/paries, filium, vocabitur nomen eius/vocabis nomen eius, Emmanuel/Jesum. 'Emmanuel' means 'God with us' and 'Jesus' means 'God saves (us).'

Dominating the composition are two figures. Mary, who will one day be hymned as the Queen of Angels, is kneeling on the ground. Perhaps she was kneeling in prayer whilst, according to an ancient tradition, she meditated upon the prophecy of Isaias.  Her attention is now completely focused on the second figure, the Angel Gabriel ('Fortitudo Dei', the Strength of God). Despite his lofty status and his role as God's own envoy, he kneels before the future Theotokos ('God-bearer') and the Regina Cæli (Queen of Heaven). She listens attentively to his announcement. His finger points Heavenward and we catch sight of a dove descending towards Mary. We recall his words:

Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi. Ideoque et quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei.

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [Luc. i. 35]

The Holy Ghost is at the high point of a line dividing the composition into two almost perfectly symmetrical halves. This symmetry suggests a mirror and Mary, the Speculum Justitiae (Mirror of Justice) is also a mirror in other ways. She has been compared to a mirror of the Holy and Undivided Trinity; for she is the daughter of the Father, the spouse of the Holy Ghost and the mother of the Word. Kneeling in humility, she reflects this and all other virtues super-abundantly. Facing Gabriel, Fortitudo Dei, she is the mulier fortis (strong and valiant woman) par excellence (Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 2).

The setting is altogether ascetic in its simplicity and spareness. Fra Angelico, a Domican friar, was himself an ascetic and much of his work reflects the plain architecture and decor of the convent in Florence where he painted many of his works. Adding depth to the composition, the linear perspective has for its vanishing point the end of a 'strait and narrow' corridor, similar to the corridors in Fra Angelico's convent of San Marco.

The Flight into Egypt

This is a print of the seventh image in the Armadio panel (see above).

The Flight into Egypt. Fra Angelico. 1451-53.  Museo nazionale di San Marco in Florence

The texts from Sacred Scripture in this image are as follows:

Ecce elongavi fugiens; et mansi in solitudine.

Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.[Ps. liv. 8]

This is a Psalm of David (c. 1000 years before Christ): "A prayer of a just man under persecution from the wicked. It agrees to Christ persecuted by the Jews, and betrayed by Judas."[Douay-Rheims]

The bottom text refers to the instruction given to St Joseph by an angel:

Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et fuge in Ægyptum

Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: [Matt. ii. 13]

With light coming from the left and compositional lines and arrangement forming an arrow pointing to the right, a dynamic effect of movement is achieved. The shapes are solidly three-dimensional and depth is suggested by the diminishing proportions in a simple perspective and the slight transition from darker to lighter.

The Blessed Mother cradles baby Jesus tenderly as she gazes into the distance, pondering all these things in her heart.

The Nativity: Setting

This image comes from a different setting, being a fresco on the wall of Cell 5 of the Convento di San Marco in Florence. The Convent, dating from the 12th century, was renovated for the Dominican Order around 1440 and it seems this fresco was completed shortly after this date. Most of the cells have frescoes by Fra Angelico.

The Nativity. Fra Angelico. 1440-41. Fresco, 193 x 164 cm. Convento di San Marco, Florence. 

The Nativity: A short commentary

Fra Angelico painted the newborn baby naked and luminous, following the vision of the mystic St. Bridget of Sweden (c1303-1373). His halo bears the cross that he was Himself to bear before His salvific death on Calvary. The haloes are painted in two dimensions, representing the traditional format  in contrast to the three dimensional versions that the artist tried later in life (see above).  The Baby is lying on straw and His eyes are fixed upon His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who tenderly returns His gaze : Ad Jesum per Mariam...

Four figures kneel in adoration before the Christ child, Who is the Word made flesh. Apart from His mother, we see His foster-father, St Joseph. Behind Mary is St Catherine of Alexandria (martyred c 305 AD) and in the foreground to our right is St Peter the Martyr (1206-1252).

Saint Catherine was a virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. She became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of 18. Saint Peter Martyr was a Dominican friar (like Fra Angelico) as well as a priest. He was a celebrated preacher who was killed by an assassin sent by the Cathars. He is buried in Milan, in the Church of Sant'Eustorgio. According to tradition, he conversed with St Catherine.

In the background, a wooden structure has been added to a cave to create the stable where Christ was born. The ox and the ass are clearly visible next to the manger.

Cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe domini sui; Israel autem me non cognovit, et populus meus non intellexit.

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.[Isaiah i. 3]

Under the Law, the Jews were forbidden from mingling with the Gentiles. The ox (a castrated bull) was a clean animal but the ass was not; accordingly, the ox represented the circumcised Jews and the ass the Gentiles.

Non arabis in bove simul et asino.

Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.[Deut. xxii. 10]

The Incarnation was to change all this:

Non est Judæus, neque Græcus : non est servus, neque liber : non est masculus, neque femina. Omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Jesu.

There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Si autem vos Christi, ergo semen Abrahæ estis, secundum promissionem hæredes

And if you be Christ's, then are you the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.[Gal, iii.28-29].

In the celestial vault over the scene are four winged angels. Like the kneeling figures below, their hands joined in prayer: silent adoration, contemplation, wonder and  joyous peace.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

 

 

 

Assumpta est Maria in cælum

I am republishing last year's post as a gift to Our Blessed Mother, to celebrate her feast day by sharing images of a painting : The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin by Fra Angelico. I have added a few notes.

The images below are reproduced with thanks to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. 

Here is the first image showing the painting in its entirety.

    The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin by Fra Angelico. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Dimension Notes

Tempera with oil glazes and gold on panel, 61.8 x 38.3 cm (24 5/16 x 15 1/16 in.).

Provenance

Possibly commissioned for the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence by its sacristan Fra Giovanni di Zanobi Masi as one of four reliquaries around 1430. Remained at the church until at least 1754.

Collection of Rev. John Sanford (d.1855), Nynehead, Somerset by 1816. Exhibited at the British Institution, London in the same year.

Bequeathed by Rev. John Sanford to Frederick Henry Paul Methuen (d.1891), 2nd Baron Methuen, Corsham Court in 1855.

By descent to Paul Sanford Methuen (d.1932), 3rd Baron Methuen, Corsham Court around 1891.

Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealers Colnaghi & Co., London on 23 February 1899 for £4,000 through Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), American art historian.

Notes on the lower register

In the lower register, Our Lady's body lies on a stretcher covered in golden drape; her head rests upon a small pillow and the whole is supported by a low bed or mattress, also covered in golden material. Framed by a halo, her head is slightly raised. Her eyes are closed and we are given a glimpse of her right hand clasping her left. Her skin is pale but her lips show a natural colour. She wears a blue cloak and hood, edged with gold.

Her bier is surrounded by four lighted candles of unbleached wax, traditionally used for a Requiem Mass. 

Fifteen bare-footed figures surround Our Blessed Lady. Is it fanciful to catch an echo of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary?

In the centre stands Our Lord, gazing down at His mother. He holds in His arms a small figure whose hands are joined in prayer. This is said to represent Our Lady. His tunic is unique amongst those of the other figures - does it suggest Christ as the High Priest? The symbols appear to include the Greek letters Alpha and Omega.

Peter, James and John. Fra Angelico. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The cross in the Redeemer's halo finds an echo in the pallium worn by the man on the left of the painting. The modern pallium is a circular band about two inches wide, worn about the neck, breast, and shoulders, and having two pendants, one hanging down in front and one behind. The use of the pallium is reserved to the pope and archbishops, but the latter may not use it until on petition they have received the permission of the Holy See. Bishops sometimes receive the pallium as a mark of special favour, but it does not increase their powers or jurisdiction nor give them precedence. The pope may use the pallium at any time. [Catholic Encyclopedia]. This is evidently Peter, the first Pope, who is reading or singing from a small volume. Perhaps it is a Psalter, or perhaps he is chanting the In Paradisum...

To Peter's left is a figure holding a bucket (aspersorium) and a sprinkler (aspergillum), still used in today's Requiem Mass.

The palm frond.  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

On the extreme right of the picture, a man is holding what may be a palm frond. Brian G. Svoboda identifies him as St John the Evangelist: see the Catholic Thing. St John, however, is traditionally portrayed as a clean-shaven young man and I suspect that he is the one with hands clasped in prayer next to St Peter. This would suggest that the man with the aspergillum may be St James, as Peter, James and John are frequently grouped together in the New Testament.

Notes on the middle register

In the middle register, Our Blessed Lady is rising Heavenwards, drawn aloft by the power of her Divine son. her cheeks and her complexion are no longer pale. Her eyes are now open and she is looking upwards. Her hands are raised in what the Abbé Fouard observes is the traditional Oriental manner of praying: in adoration, praise and thanksgiving. 

Her sky blue tunic and robe, edged with gold, with diaphonous and translucent scrolls, dazzle the eye. The golden motifs on her garments suggest tiny winged angels bearing her to Heaven; or perhaps a shower of gifts from the Holy Ghost, in the form of tongues, as it were, of fire. They are echoed in the robes of the Angels around her.

The Angels are portrayed in three groups. The lowest group are four in number and are kneeling before the Queen of Angels. The one on the left seems to be shielding his gaze from the dazzling brightness.

The Angels in the middle group are holding hands as though executing a celestial dance; their movement shows in the flowing pleats of their garments. Music is provided by the uppermost group, an angelic sextet, featuring two trumpets, a tambourine, a psaltery, a fiddle and a lute.

Notes on the upper register

The upper register features Christ in Heaven gazing down towards His mother as she is assumed by His Divine power into His Royal Court. The triangular cutaway in the frame suggests the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

Assumpta est Maria in cælum: gaudent angeli, laudantes benedicunt Dominum.

Mary was taken up into Heaven, the angels rejoice, and with praises bless the Lord. 

[Antiphon from Lauds, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary]

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

The Plague Cross : Crux Christi salva me

I was delighted to receive a letter with news from Golgotha Monastery Island (Papa Stronsay). There was a reference in this letter to "Plague Crosses:" 

"At the beginning of 2020, we blessed and strategically erected the powerful sacramentals called 'Plague Crosses'. Negotiating the past two years, by the grace of God, we were spared all the ill effects of the prevailing winds in all of the forms they blew upon us. Given that there are eighteen persons here and from all over, that is remarkable and thanksworthy."

Included in the envelope was a laminated card with the image which I have posted below. I had not heard of Plague crosses and had no idea what the mysterious letters signified below the image of the crucified Christ.

After research online, I found the letters come from a Latin prayer to Almighty God for protection against the Plague. Here is the Latin text with my English translation:

From Papa Stronsay.
July 2022

✠   Crux Christi salva me.

✠       Cross of Christ, save me.

Z    Zelus domus tuæ liberet me.

Z        May zeal for Thy house free me.

✠   Crux vincit, Crux regnat, Crux imperat; per signum Crucis libera me, Domine, ab hac Peste.

✠       The Cross conquers, the Cross reigns, the Cross rules; through the sign of the Cross deliver me, O Lord, from this plague.

D    Deus, Deus meus, expelle Pestem a me, et a loco isto, et libera me.

D        God, my God, drive this plague away from me and away from this place, and deliver me.

I     In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum, cor et corpus meum.

I        Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, my heart, and my body.

  

A    Ante Cœlum et Terram Deus erat, et Deus potens est ad expellendam Pestem ab hoc loco, et a corpore meo.

A        Before heaven and earth, God was; and God is able to liberate me from this plague.

✠   Crux Christi potens est ad expellandam ab hoc loco, et a corpore meo.

✠       The Cross of Christ has power to expel the plague from this place and from my body.

B    Bonum est præstolari auxilium Dei cum silentio, ut expellat Pestem a me.

B        It is good to wait for the help of God in silence, that he may drive away this plague from me.

I     Inclinabo cor meum ad faciendas justificationes tuas, ut non confundar, quoniam invocavi te.

I         I will incline my heart to performing Thy just deeds, lest I be confounded, for I have called upon Thee.

Z    Zelavi super iniquos, pacem peccatorum videns speravi in te.

Z        I have been zealous over the wicked; seeing the peace of sinners, I have hoped in Thee.

✠   Crux Christi fuget Dæmones, Aerem corruptum, et Pestem expellat.

✠       May the Cross of Christ put demons and corrupt air to flight and may it drive away the plague.

S    Salus tua ego sum, dicit Dominus : clama ad me, et ego exaudiam te, et liberabo te ab hac Peste.

S        I am thy salvation, says the Lord; cry out to me, and I will hear thee, and I will liberate thee from this plague.

A    Abyssus abyssum invocat, et voce tua expulisti Dæmones ; libera me ab hac Peste.

A        Abyss calls to abyss,[1] and by Thy voice Thou hast expelled demons ; deliver me from this plague.

B    Beatus vir qui sperat in Domino, et non respexit in vanitates, et insanias falsas.

B        Blessed is the man who hopeth in the Lord, and who hath not looked upon vanities, and false extravagances.

✠   Crux Christi, quæ antea fuit in opprobrium, et contumeliam, et nunc in gloriam, et nobilitatem, sit mihi in salutem, et expellet a loco isto Diabolum, et aerem corruptum, et Pestem a corpore meo.

✠       May the Cross of Christ, which was once the cause of scandal and indignity, and is now in glory and nobility, be for my salvation, and expel from this place the demon, and corrupt air, and the plague from my body.

  

Z    Zelus honoris Dei convertat me antequam moriar, et in nomine tuo salva me ab iste Peste.

Z        May zeal for the honour of God convert me before I die and, in Thy name, save me from this plague.

✠   Crux signum liberet Populum Dei, et a Peste eos, qui confidunt in eo.

✠       May the sign of the Cross free the people of God, and those who trust in Him, from the plague.

H    Hæcne reddis Domino, popule stulte? Redde vota tua offerens sacrificium laudis et fidei illi, quia potens est istum locum, et me ab hac Peste liberare, quoniam qui confidunt in eo non confundetur.

H        Will thou, foolish people, return to the Lord? Make good on thy vows, offering a sacrifice of praise and faith to Him, because He is able to deliver this place and me from this plague; for whoever trusts in Him will not be confounded.

G    Gutturi meo, et faucibus meis adhærat lingua mea si non benedixero tibi ; libera sperantes in te ; in te confido, libera me Deus meus, fiat lubrica, et tenebrosa Diaboli potestas, qui ad hoc venisti, Fili Dei vivi, ut dissolvas opera Diaboli ; expelle tua potentiam a loco isto, et a me servo tuo Pestem istam ; discedat aer corruptos a me in tenebras exteriores.

G        If I will not praise Thee, let my tongue stick to my throat and to my jaws; deliver those who hope in Thee; in Thee I trust; deliver me and this place, O God, from this plague, for Thy name has been invoked in prayer.

F    Factæ sunt tenebræ super universam Terram in morte tua, Domine : Deus meus, fiat lubrica, et tenebrosa Diaboli potestas, qui ad hoc venisti, Fili Dei vivi, ut dissolvas opera Diaboli ; expelle tua potentia a loco isto, et a me servo tuo Pesto istam ; discedat aer corruptus a me in tenebras exteriores.

F        At your death, O Lord, darkness fell over the whole earth; my God, render the power of the devil tenuous and dim, Thou who for this didst come, O Son of the living God: so that Thou mayest destroy the works of the devil. With Thy power, drive out this plague from this place and from me, Thy servant; and may the corrupt air depart from me into the outer darkness.

✠   Crux Christi defende nos, et expelle a loco isto Pestem, et servum tuum libera a Peste ista, qui benignus es, et misericors, et multæ misericordiæ , et verax.

✠       Defend us, O Cross of Christ, and expel from this place the plague, and free Thy servant from this plague, Thou who art kind, and merciful, and of many mercies, and true.

B    Beatus qui non respexit in vanitates, et insanias falsas : in die mala liberabit eum Dominus; Domine, in te speravi, libera me ab hac Peste.

B        Blessed is he who hath not looked upon vanities, and false extravagances; on the day of evil the Lord will free him; Lord, I have trusted in Thee; free me from this plague.

F     Factus est Deus refugium mihi : quia in te speravi, libera me ab hac Peste.

F         God is become my refuge; because I have trusted in Thee, free me from this plague.

R    Respice in me, Domine Deus meus Adonai de sede sancta Majestatis tuæ, et miserere mei, et propter misericordiam tuam ab ista Peste libera me.

R        Look upon me, O Lord my God, Adonai, from the holy seat of Thy Majesty, and have mercy on me, and because of Thy mercy, free me from this plague.  

S    Salus mea tu es ; sana me, et sanabor : salvum fac, salvus ero.

S        Thou art my Salvation: heal me, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved.

[1]  [8] Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me.

        Abyssus abyssum invocat, in voce cataractarum tuarum; omnia excelsa tua, et fluctus tui super me transierunt.  [Ps xli 8]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

The Feast of St Peter and St Paul

El Greco. (1590-1600).Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. 

***This is a cross-post from the Life of Christ site.***

Background

This site (The Life of Christ) was established in 2019 to provide a platform for presenting and illustrating the life of Christ. This was in response to an idea which seemed to speak from the last line of the motto I had adopted in the same year (see below and at the end of each post):

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

I have, D.G., so far produced three versions:

• The first Life followed the format of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ by the remarkable artist James J Tissot (1897). The posts began on the 14th of October 2019 and concluded on the feast of the Ascension, the 21st of May 2020.
• The second Life followed the work of l'Abbé Constant Fouard:  La Vie de N-S Jésus-Christ (1880). The first post was published on the feast of Corpus Christi (11th of June 2020) and the series concluded on the 4th of October 2020.
• The third Life followed the Gospel of St Mark, making extensive use of a work by Madame Cecilia published in 1904 entitled The Gospel according to St Mark. This Life opened on the Feast of St Mark (25th April 2022) and concluded on the 26th of June 2022.

St Peter and St Paul

It seems highly propitious that the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul should fall so swiftly after the conclusion of our series based on the Gospel of St Mark, who was so close to St Peter. I pray, accordingly, that the feast will serve as a suitable launching point for a new series on the Acts of the Apostles, in which St Peter and St Paul feature so prominently. Apart from the natural continuity this offers to the series on the Life of Christ Our Lord, I am also keen to explore my patron saint's life after the Ascension; I have, moreover, long felt a desire to look more closely into the life and writings of St Paul.

Exposition in the chancel of Corpus Christi.
Andy Scott. CC BY-SA. 2018.

The image here shows the chancel of Corpus Christi Church in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. The statues of St Peter and St Paul are set in elevated niches on either side of the altar. Like the rest of the interior, these statues have been extensively and richly restored since the days when I first  knew the church.

Following treatment in King’s College Hospital for an injury received in the Brixton riots in April 1981, I was making my way back home across London when I stumbled by chance upon this church. I decided to pop inside and, quite providentially, I was just in time for Mass. There was an almost palpable atmosphere of reverence and I was especially impressed by the solemn demeanour and dignity of the priest, Father Henry Dodd. I was to return many times and the church was to play an important part in my family, albeit for a tragically brief period of time.

Fr Dodd was especially impressive in his sermons where, without any notes, he displayed a powerful eloquence and an effortless erudition - so much so that some of his expressions remain with me to this day. He had a particularly strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Blessed Lady. One Saturday each month he led devotions which included all the mysteries of the most Holy Rosary, interspersed with readings and hymns, and which finished with Benediction. This devotion was nicknamed the "Mariathon."

In praying that St Peter and St Paul will, on this their feast day, extend their help to this project, I offer the work to our gentle Queen and Mother, with a petition that she present it as an act of reparation to her Divine Son so as to heal the wounds, repair the damage and undo the scandal caused by sins against His Most Sacred Heart and against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour

 

On today's great Marian feast, I have posted this image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help taken from a prayer card which recalls the Redemptorist Mission during Lent 1984 to the church of Our Lady and St Joseph (Balls Pond Road, N1).

Please remember in your prayers Fr Kay, the good and holy Parish Priest in that era, as well as the two Redemptorist priests, Fr Creech and Fr Gallagher.

On a personal note, I offer the Memorare to Our Blessed Mother with special intentions for the members of my family:*

MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem præsidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum. Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere; sed audi propitia et exaudi. Amen.

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

*E, E, K, P, T, E & E; E & A

P.S. Ten years ago to this day, I was in the Brompton Oratory and was present when Fr John Hunwicke said Mass at the Lady Altar. This was his first Mass in full communion. For a summary, see his Liturgical Notes blogspot for today's date.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.