Lift Up Your Hearts

Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy for Parish Use

Author: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB (Page 4 of 5)

Rev. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B. is a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and Director of Liturgical Formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute at Sant’Anselmo in Rome and has worked in the sacred liturgy since 1984. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Joy in Lent: Gaudium in Chapter 49 of the Regula Benedicti.

He has concentrated his study on the liturgical movement that preceded Vatican II and formed the background of Sacrosanctum concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. Consequently, he understands the liturgy as a theological reality into which the members of the mystical body of Christ are baptized and in which they live, and move, and have their being. The contents of the website are meant to provide an accessible theological background the celebration of the Catholic liturgy.

The parish bulletin inserts are written to provide a short and accessible but also a reflective theological understanding of the Catholic liturgy.

Other liturgical reflections are tailored more to theological reflection on the liturgical season or the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours.

The contents of this website are provided free of charge. It is only asked that the source be given as well as the website from which it is taken. (Further information is provided below.)

Homily: All Saints, November 1

June 17, 2017 /

“The Solemnity of All Saints”
This homily was given at the Pontifical North American College
Vatican City State,
by Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
November 1, 2015

It is particularly wonderful to celebrate this solemnity in the city of Rome because the celebration of today’s feast is so closely linked to this city. In walking through the city, so often we pass the Pantheon—originally built as a pagan temple, but then given by the emperor to Pope Boniface IV in the seventh century and transformed into a church. After the Pantheon had been purified, a great number of relics were transferred there and Pope Boniface dedicated it on May 13, 610, in honor of the Mother of God and all the holy martyrs—and so, in the church of Rome, the feast of All Martyrs was celebrated on May 13th. Perhaps due to the difficulty of procuring food in Rome in the springtime for the great numbers of pilgrims who came for this feast, Pope Gregory IV in the 9th century transferred the feast to November 1st and extended it to include all the saints. I think of that whenever I pass the Pantheon. How good it is to be here!

And so, today, the Church celebrates the ancient feast of All Saints–the great multitude mentioned in the Book of Revelation–which no one could count from every nation, race, people, and tongue—a testament to the great victory of the Lord.

It is hardly a catch-all as it is sometimes described: a day to celebrate all of the saints who otherwise get missed in celebrations throughout the year.

Much more, it is a celebration of sanctity—to which we all aspire—to be saints. We celebrate not only the unknown saints, but all the saints:
• From the Mother of God
• To the apostles
• To the martyrs
• To pastors, virgins, and all holy men and women.

It is the feast of those who stand before the throne and the Lamb in robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb–having survived the great period of testing and holding the palm branches of victory.

It is the feast of the vast number of saints to whom we are joined by faith in the Son of God–by our common baptism and by our sacramental life–and by our incorporation into the Mystical Body.

A significant example of that communion that we share with the saints whom we celebrate today can be seen in this community of our Seminary–persons previously unknown to one another, we have come together here for four or five years only because of our faith in Jesus Christ and our call to priesthood—to a seminary community that is built on our common communion of faith in the Lord, our communion in his Body and Blood, and our common call to priesthood–and nothing less—a noble and marvelous vocation—and a vocation where we all strive after sanctity.

For us as priests and future priests, our task is first of all to enter into the intimacy of the Lord’s first disciples, to stay close to him, and then to follow Jesus’ example in putting a human face on each person in the multitude–to help them become saints–embracing their conditions as their way to the Kingdom–and letting them know that God will never abandon or forsake them.

But first, today, here and now–we enter more deeply into these mysteries in the sacred liturgy and celebrate our communion in Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the presence of all the angels—and all the saints. To the glory of God to whom be all praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Homily: Christ the King

June 14, 2017 /

“The Solemnity of Christ the King”
This homily was given at the Pontifical North American College
Vatican City State,
by Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
November 23, 2014

Today, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Gospel presents to us the very last act of history–the General Judgment.

And in a few minutes, in the Creed, we will profess the immutable faith of the Church in Christ who “Will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead” and whose “kingdom will have no end.”

Today in the sacred liturgy, we anticipate the last act of history–

a history that began at the moment of creation when time itself was created and the light, and the earth, and the sun and the moon and the stars, and the birds and the fish and all the animals that roam the face of the earth–and God saw that it was good–and when Adam and Eve were created–and God saw that it was very good.

But this is also a history of sin and forgiveness–

We celebrate today the King–the Child of Bethlehem who was born as our Redeemer and who at the Epiphany was adored by the Three Kings from the Orient bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

And we celebrate Jesus in his public life who in the Passion cycle, is adored as King, even if it is a kingship veiled by his sufferings–
· on Palm Sunday, in the procession we accompany our savior with the antiphon “Gloria, laus et honor tibi sit, Rex Christe, Redemptor”–
“Glory, praise and honor be to you Christ the King and Redeemer.”
· and from Palm Sunday on, the hymn appointed for Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours is the Vexilla Regis–The Royal Banners forward Go–which takes the famous line of Ps. 95 “Say among the nations that the Lord reigns” and adds the words “from the tree of the cross.”
· He reigns who during his interrogation before Pilate declared: “I am a King.”–And whose title upon the cross proclaimed: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
· And he reigns to whom the Good Thief prayed: “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And in the history of the Church, the kingship of Christ is exemplified in the Invitatories of the feasts of her members, the Saints, in the Liturgy of the Hours:
· Come, let us adore Christ, the King of apostles –or
· Come, let us worship Christ, the King of martyrs –or
· The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; Come, let us join in their worship.

Today, we celebrate Christ the King and are confronted with radiant divine light and the Lord himself who Revelation 19:16 calls the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As he hung upon the cross, Christ was mocked and told that if he was the Son of God, he should come down from that cross. But I propose to your consideration that precisely because he is the Son of God, and a King, he remains on the Cross.

In the new Blessed Sacrament Chapel that we will dedicate here at the Pontifical North American College on January 6th, there will be a crucifix of Christ the King and Priest–a crucifix that is rather Johannine. The section in the Gospel of John which deals with the passion and death of the Lord is called the Book of Glory, so here too, the glory of the Crucified Lord will shine through–the Lord and King whom we proclaim at every Collect of the Mass–who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

At the end of the four arms of this crucifix will be the signs of the evangelists–it is they who tell the story of divine mercy and human redemption–and in a very visible way, this crucifix proclaims that if you do not know the Christian story, you cannot enter into the Christian mysteries–including that of Christ, the King and Priest–and if you do not know what it means to reign from the cross–in pouring out your life as an act of ultimate freedom–you not know what either kingship or priesthood means.

And the Christian story goes beyond what one can see–we all know that–but a crucifix of Christ, King and Priest, gives us a glimpse of what true Kingship and true Priesthood means–Christ was never more a priest that when he offered his life on the cross for our salvation.

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., the preacher for the papal household, noted a number of years ago, that the fresco of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel was restored–and he remarked that it may well be time that the sense of the Last Judgement be restored in the hearts of Christians.

For as we saw earlier, the solemnity of Christ the King is the crowning point of history–a history that involved the fact that we were created in God’s image–with the nobility of a free will to always choose the good.

And God calls us always to those noble actions of
feeding the hungry
clothing the naked
visiting the ill and imprisoned

and all those other acts of mercy, kindness, and righteousness–so that Christ the King may recognize in us the image of his own nobility.

Today in the feast of Christ the King, we come face to face with the maiestas Domini, the majesty of the Lord.

All glory be to him now and forever. Amen.

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

 

Bulletin Insert: Candles and Their Use in the Sacred Liturgy

June 14, 2017 /

“Candles and Their Use in the Sacred Liturgy”

The use of candles in Catholic liturgy can best be understood in the context of Christ declaring himself to be the light of the world (Jn. 8:12) and promising that no follower of his will ever walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Candles with which we adorn our churches and our altars are a sign both of life and of truth. When one is baptized, the celebrant lights the baptismal candle from the paschal candle, and as he gives it to a member of the family he says: “Receive the light of Christ.” He then encourages the parents and godparents to keep that light burning brightly so that the newly-baptized may walk always as a child of the light.

Symbolically, therefore, candles give forth light and remind us of Christ’s definitive victory of light over darkness. The Lord who is the light of the world has put an end to the rule of the evil one, the prince of darkness. Holiness and not sin has triumphed. But candles are consumed as they give forth light and warmth. Christ himself was consumed as a sacrifice as he showed himself to be the light of the world, even to the point of giving all he had and all he was on the cross. It can hardly be different for Christians whom the Lord calls the light of the world (Mt. 5:14). As they give forth light and warmth, they will be consumed as was their Lord. Light, truth, life, and the cross all go together—for the Lord and for us.

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Homily: Presentation of the Lord, February 2

June 13, 2017 /

“The Presentation of the Lord”
This homily was given at the Pontifical North American College,
Vatican City State,
by Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
Feb, 2, 2016

In the magnificent Cathedral of Chartres, there is a lovely 13th century stained-glass window commemorating this feast and the infant Christ is wrapped in swaddling clothes, presented in the temple, and placed on what is clearly an altar.

Today’s feast serves as a fitting transition from Christmas to Easter.

This small Christ Child is still in His Mother’s arms, but she is already offering Him in sacrifice—in the Temple, in the very place of sacrifice.

And there is a motif of light throughout today’s feast.

On Christmas the light shone out of the darkness and the Lord was adored by Mary and Joseph and the shepherds.

On Epiphany, the Magi as representatives of the Gentiles, guided by a star, came as a small company of three to adore to Lord.

Today on the Feast of the Presentation, Christ is proclaimed by the aged Simeon as the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of the Lord’s people Israel; that light which first appeared just to the small band of Mary, Joseph and some Jewish shepherds, and then to the more universal but still restricted group of the Magi, today bursts forth in a splendor that enlightens the whole world–and fittingly, as that light was placed into the hands of the aged Simeon who proclaimed the newborn Christ as the light of revelation to the Gentiles
–today we Gentiles have held in our hands lighted candles as signs of the Light of Christ which we have received and which we bear into the world.

In the Greek Church, this feast is called the “feast of meeting or encounter” because in the temple, Simeon and Anna met their Lord and here and now we meet Him in His word and in His sacrament, in the Eucharist, and in the Christian assembly.

When we receive Holy Communion, we take the role of Simeon who was privileged to hold the Lord’s anointed in his arms, but we receive him not into our arms as did Simeon of old, but into our bodies, into our hearts, and into our souls—or as the Fathers of the Church would say, in this sacramental encounter the body is fed and the soul is nourished—we receive him—so that he may bring his light into even the most hidden recesses of our lives as he becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves and that he may dispel whatever darkness lies hidden there—even the remnants of anger, lust, gossip, envy, and unholy fear and unnecessary self-doubt which need to put to flight by the light of Christ.

In reflecting on today’s feast, we see that today Jesus enters His Father’s house for the first time as an infant being dedicated to the Lord. We will meet Him again in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions, and finally, we will see Him on Calvary, making the Jerusalem temple itself obsolete as He himself becomes the temple, the altar, and the Lamb of sacrifice—and one day, God willing, we will see him as the risen Lord in the new and eternal Jerusalem which as we read in the Book of Revelation had no temple because the Lord, God the Almighty, is its temple—he and the Lamb—that temple which had no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

For the aged Simeon, there is nothing more that he wants from life. Having seen the Redeemer—the Messiah, he is overcome with gratitude and pours out from his soul, the night prayer of his life, Now Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace. His beautiful canticle, the Nunc Dimittis, serves as the gospel canticle for our daily night prayer, the official night prayer of the Church.

For us, who have been graced to live in the fullness of time, for us who in our liturgy participate “in mystery” in the worship of the choirs of angels and the saints, for us who will see the altar candles lighted for Mass and for Morning and Evening Prayer, again and again, day after day and year after year—these candles need always to remind us of Christ’s victory of light over darkness, the victory of good over evil, the victory of the Lord of Light over the prince of darkness, and finally they must remind us of the very freedom of the sons of God—because light, not darkness has definitively triumphed in the paschal mystery of Christ’s saving passion, death, and resurrection. They are not simple banquet candles dressing up a festive table—rather they are concrete symbols and reminders of Christ the Light whose feast we celebrate today.

But for us, priests and future priests, today’s feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple has another meaning as well—in Chartres the stained-glass window depicted Christ as a child placed on an altar. For us—throughout our preparation for priesthood as well as in our priesthood itself, and perhaps especially in this time exams, it is good to recall that the candle in shedding its light, in burning brightly in the presence of the Lord—is itself consumed. For us, to be instruments of Christ’s light and love, we willingly place ourselves on the altar, and we will be consumed—or to use the words of Saint John the Baptist, the Friend of the Bridegroom, he must increase, I must decrease.

To Christ, the Light of the World—to our God who is a consuming fire—be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Bulletin Insert: Incense and Its Use in the Sacred Liturgy

June 13, 2017 /

“Incense and Its Use in the Sacred Liturgy”

The use of incense in Catholic liturgy is a sign of prayer and of reverence. Already in the Old Testament, they prayed: “Let my prayer rise before you like incense, and the raising of my hands like an evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141 [140]:2). In the Book of Revelation, we also read that the elders had vessels of gold filled with incense, which were the prayers of the saints, and the elders fell down before the Lamb of God in prayer (Rev. 5:8). The use of incense is, consequently, a visual and also a sweet-scented sign of our prayer rising before the throne of God. Symbolically, it both rises before the Lord and at the same time, in its sweet scent, reminds one of how pleasing the prayers and sacrifices of his holy ones are to the Most High God.

The use of incense in the sacred liturgy is also a sign of honor to persons and things that are considered sacred. Processions are sometimes led by a minister carrying the censer. At various times in the Mass, the altar, which is a symbol of Christ, may be incensed, as would be the crucifix. The offerings, which will shortly become the very Body and Blood of the Lord, may be incensed as well. The celebrant and the people may be incensed at the Offertory, as they are carrying out their noble function before God in the sacred liturgy. The consecrated host and the Precious Blood may be incensed when the host and the chalice are shown to the people at Mass. Finally, in processions with the Blessed Sacrament the censer-bearer processes immediately before the Blessed Sacrament to show the Lord the reverence that is due him.

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Bulletin Insert: Taking Holy Water When Entering the Church

June 13, 2017 /

“Taking Holy Water When Entering the Church”

According to an honored practice that goes back centuries, all Christians who enter a church take holy water and sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross as a reminder of their baptism. They cross themselves and say: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” This is so similar to the formula in which they were baptized when the celebrant of baptism inserted the person’s name and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” each time immersing or pouring water on the person being baptized.

Entering the church and blessing oneself with holy water reminds one of his or her baptism when they became an adopted son or daughter of God, when they were brought into the very life of the Blessed Trinity, when they had all of their sins forgiven, when they became a member of the Church, and when they became fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19). Entering the church and taking holy water, recalling one’s baptism, also reminds one that they have drawn near to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to a multitude of angels in festal gathering, to the spirits of the just who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant (see Heb. 12:22-24).

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Hymn: Evening Prayer Hymn until December 16 (inclusive), Conditor Alme Siderum

March 26, 2017 /

The Conditor Alme Siderum

The Hymn for Evening Prayer in Advent until December 16th (inclusive)

Revised: November 25, 2016

The hymn Conditor Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night), by an unknown author, is of the Ambrosian (Milanese) school and from at least the 9th century.  The Liturgy of the Hours as revised by Pope Paul VI, consistent with the tradition, has assigned it to the season of Advent.  In the manuscripts, it is found in the Vatican, Benedictine, Carmelite, Cistercian, and Premonstratensian Offices.

The Conditor Alme Siderum, in iambic dimeter, is one of the hymns that was revised in 1632 by a commission under the direction of Pope Urban VIII, a Humanist pope, in order for the hymns to reflect the forms and meters of classical Latin rather than Christian Latin.  That is why some know this hymn as Creator Alme Siderum.  Only the canons of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the canons of Saint John Lateran, and the ancient religious orders retained the original version of the hymns.  The original version of this and the other hymns of the Office were restored to the Liturgy of the Hours under the direction of Pope Paul VI.

Remarkable in its poetry and direct in its expression, this is one of the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours that the Church uses to introduce us to the mysteries of Christ as celebrated throughout the liturgical year.  As the days become shorter and the light of the sun diminishes, Christ is invoked as the Creator of the stars (Jn. 1:3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est/all things were made through him and without him nothing was made) and the eternal light of those who believe—a theme which is also found in the hymn for Morning Prayer for Advent, the Vox Clara Ecce Intonat (Jn. 1: 9 Erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum/He was the true light who enlightens everyone who comes into the world).  Already this hymn anticipates the victory of light over darkness, which we will celebrate on Christmas Day as the Light of the World is born among us.  Nonetheless, the theme of Christ as Judge, which we find dominating the first part of Advent, is present as well.

The Conditor Alme Siderum binds together in a marvelous way the first and the final comings of Christ.  In its initial two verses, this hymn invokes the Lord as the redeemer of all, one who is saddened at the destruction of the world through sin, and the medicine for those who have fallen.  Its third verse focuses on the Incarnation of the Word when the fullness of time had come and when the world had come to eventide.  It is then that the Lord as a bridegroom from his bridal chamber is born of the most pure womb of the Virgin Mother.  To understand the expression of the world coming to its close, one should keep in mind that for the ancient Christian, it was customary to divide the age of the world into six periods: the first from Adam to Noah, the second from Noah to Abraham, the third from Abraham to David, the fourth from David to the Babylonian captivity, the fifth from the Babylonian captivity to Christ, and the sixth from Christ to the final judgment.

The cosmic sense of the sacred liturgy is found in verse four where it echoes Saint Paul’s hymn in his Letter to the Philippians 2:10 speaking of how all things in heaven and on earth bend the knee to Christ and profess that they are subject to him as Lord.  Verse five then addresses Christ as the one who will come to judge the world, and the Church prays that, during this present time, the Lord preserve us from our treacherous foe.  Nevertheless, the theme of Christ as Judge reminds us of Saint Augustine writing the following: “How good it will be to have as judge, someone who a short time ago was our advocate before the Father” (see 1 Jn. 2:1).  Finally, the hymn concludes in the customary way with the doxology to the Most Blessed Trinity.

Bibliography

Ernetti, Pellegrino. Gli Inni della Liturgia delle Ore: Testo Latino e Versione Ritmica Italiana.  Venice: San Giorgio Maggiore, 1981.

General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours. Translation and Commentary by Reverend Willian A. Jurgens. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1975.

Lentini, Anselmo. Te Decet Hymnus: L’Innario della “Liturgia Horarum.” Vatican City State: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1984.

Reflections on The “O” Antiphons of Advent

March 24, 2017 /

 December 16, 2007

Revised: December 14, 2016

On December 17th, the Church’s Advent liturgy begins to focus in a particular way on the Nativity of the Lord.  The prayers, readings, and preface at Mass as well as the readings, antiphons for the Gospel canticles, intercessions, and prayers at the Liturgy of the Hours concentrate more resolutely on the coming feast of the Nativity of the Lord than they did during the preceding days of Advent.

The great “O Antiphons” have a particular role in these days as they have been used for centuries as the antiphons for the Magnificat.  Each antiphon, always sung in a very similar melody, begins with a title of Christ, usually taken from the Old Testament, and is followed by the petition that he come to us (veni) and act on our behalf:

December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)

December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)

December 19: O Radix Iesse (O Root of Jesse)

December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)

December 21: O Oriens (O Daystar) [after this date, the days begin to get longer]

December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)

December 23: O Emmanuel (O God-with-Us)

When taken together from the last title to the first, the first letters of each title form the wonderful Latin acrostic:

Emmanuel

Rex

Oriens

Clavis

Radix

Adonai

Sapientia

As such, they form the Lord’s response to the Church’s ardent petition that he come (veni):

Ero cras (I will be there tomorrow)!

Below are some reflections on the various “O Antiphons”.

O Sapientia

 The O Antiphons, which celebrate the incarnation of the Word of God who comes to make all things new, begin with the invocation of that Word as the very Wisdom of the Father. O Sapientia, O Wisdom, is personified in the Old Testament. We read in Sirach 24:3 exactly what we sing about at the beginning of this antiphon. Wisdom came forth from the mouth of the Most High and mist like covered the earth. We celebrate that same Wisdom who fixed his abode in Zion and who in the chosen city was given his rest. In the second part of the antiphon, Wisdom 8:1 is referenced which sings of that Wisdom which reaches from end to end mightily and governs all things well. In the Advent mystery, we celebrate and long for the Son of God who has gone forth from the Most High and who enters into our world for our salvation. Creative wisdom comes to create anew. It is this Wisdom of God who orders all things strongly and sweetly. We pray that he come (veni) and teach us the way of prudence, the virtue, as we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. Prudence is, therefore, known as the auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues) as it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure.

O Adonai

 This antiphon considers Christ more specifically as Adonai, the God of the Covenant, and the Ruler of the house of Israel. O Adonai focuses on Christ’s divine nature and speaks of how Christ himself appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 3:7-10, we read that God called out to Moses from the burning bush and told him that he witnessed the affliction of his people in Egypt, that he heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, and that he knew well what they were suffering. He, therefore, tells Moses that, for that very reason, he has come down to rescue them and lead them out of Egypt into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. In the Advent mystery, we encounter Christ who as God comes to rescue his people from slavery and lead them into freedom. He takes them from the drudgery of slavery to the freedom of divine worship, in the words of the Benedictus: he set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. We pray that he come (veni) and redeem us with outstretched arm. The Church, then, rejoices in the power of God, evident in the Incarnation, to save his people, bringing them from slavery to the freedom of the very children of God.

O Radix Iesse

 The symbol of the root of Jesse forms the context for the antiphon O Radix. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 11:1 we read that a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and that from his roots a bud shall blossom. Further on, Isaiah 11:10 states that on that day the root of Jesse set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.  Finally, Isaiah 52:15 reveals that because of him kings shall stand speechless. Both the lowliness and the glory of the kingdom are present here. The Davidic kingdom was dethroned with the Babylonian exile, but the stump of Jesse, the father of David, will again spring forth and serve as a banner for the nations. The Incarnation begins in this world in lowliness and poverty, but for those with the eyes of faith, the dwelling of the Lord in the womb of the Virgin Mary is nothing if not glorious. In the Advent mystery, the growth of the Kingdom becomes apparent. From humble and unimpressive beginnings, the Kingdom becomes a unifying banner around which people of every race and tongue gather, as the hymn for Evening Prayer for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross states: Vexilla regis prodeunt/The royal banners forward go. We pray that our Lord come (veni) and not delay and free us from all those things that keep the Kingdom from truly blossoming in our lives—or as we pray more directly in the Our Father: thy Kingdom come.

O Clavis David

 The power of Christ, and therefore, the definitive deliverance of the People of God from the power of the Evil One becomes more evident in the antiphon O Clavis. Christ, who identifies himself as the First and the Last, the One who lives, and the one who holds the keys of death and the nether world, speaks in Revelation 3:7 of himself as the Key of David the holy and the true One, who wields David’s key, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open. In the Advent mystery, Christ comes as the undisputed ruler of heaven and earth and the one who has given the power of the keys to Peter. As we read in Matthew 16:18-19: You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We pray that the Lord come (veni) and lead out of captivity those who are bound in prison and those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Oriens

 As the birth of the Savior approaches and as the days are about to get longer, O Oriens, becomes a panegyric on Christ the light of the world (John 8:12), whom we proclaim in the Nicene Creed as, light from light and true God from true God. The incarnate divine light is born in the darkness of our world, and as December 21st is the shortest day of the year, Christ appears as the true Sol Invictus, the true Unconquered Sun. He is the Oriens ex alto/the dawn from on high whom the Church celebrates every morning in the Benedictus. The Advent mystery makes real what one reads in Wisdom 7:26, that Wisdom (recall O Sapientia on December 17) is a reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness. As we prayed yesterday in O Clavis, we pray again today that the Lord come (veni) and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, but we cannot do this without recalling again the Benedictus which concludes with the words illuminare his, qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent, ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis/enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and guide our feet into the way of peace.

 O Rex Gentium

 The will of God that all may be saved shines forth in O Rex Gentium, and one cannot help but recall with joy and gratitude that the Roman Martyrology two days later, on December 24th, is going to celebrate the feast of Adam and Eve, the progenitors of the human race.  The text of the Martyrology on December 24th is itself remarkable: The commemoration of all the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of Adam, that is to say the ancestors who pleased God and were found just and who died in faith—those who did not receive the promises but who beheld them and greeted them from afar, of whom Christ was born according to the flesh and who is God over all things and blessed for ever. Already, Jeremiah 10:7 asked who would not fear you, O King of the Nations. Again, Ephesians 2:11-22 relates how both Jew and Gentile have been brought near through the blood of Christ, and how Christ broke down the barrier of hostility that kept them apart, and that they form a building with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. The Advent mystery celebrates the power of that blood poured out for our salvation, the blood already coursing through the infant Christ about to be born, the blood that he inherited from all of his ancestors, and which he gives to us in the Eucharist. With good reason, we pray that he come (veni) and save all people, both Jew and Gentile, whom he formed from the dust of the earth.

O Emmanuel

Already, Isaiah 7:14 had prophesied that the virgin would be with child and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel.  Then again, in Matthew 1:23 we read how the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and told him that what had been said through the prophet would be fulfilled in the Virgin Mary. So it is that Emmanuel, God with us, is the object of our longing; but through the incarnation he has come to dwell among us in a way beyond all our imagining. Isaiah 33:22 had already referred to him as king and lawgiver, but the birth of the Virgin Mary’s Son meant yet more. In his Dogmatic Tome to Flavian, Pope Saint Leo the Great wrote that in the new order there was a new nativity. He who was invisible in his own nature became visible in ours; he who is true God is also true man. In him, the humility of humanity and the loftiness of the godhead both meet. The Advent-Christmas mystery is the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God so that he may be one with us, sharing in our suffering and death so that we may share in the very life of God who cannot die. So, we pray with utmost confidence and gratitude (veni), come to save us, O Lord our God—and it happens in a way beyond all imagining.

Bulletin Insert: “These Sacred Mysteries” (Part IV: The Mystery of Christ in You, Your Hope of Glory)

December 3, 2016 /

[Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV]

“These Sacred Mysteries”
Part IV: The Mystery of Christ in You, Your Hope of Glory

The sacred mysteries, which are the mysteries of Christ, are for us and for our salvation, so much does God love us. Even in the words of the consecration, the fact that the mystery of redemption in Christ is a result of God’s love for us, is evident when the priest says: “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.” The sacred mysteries which we celebrate are given to disciples, those who have believed and who have been baptized into the mystery of the life of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The mystery of Christ is a gift of God’s grace and is nothing that we could ever earn. It is the gift beyond all others. But it is a gift in which we participate, because of our baptism and all of our sacramental life. The Lord of Glory died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and now is enthroned at the right hand of the Father. This same Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ, has invited us to share in his divine life and makes that life real through his sacraments. Christ is present, and God’s plan of salvation is being realized in our life in Christ. In him, we live and move and have our being. But we unite ourselves to him as well by embracing our joys and our sorrows, our weeping and our rejoicing, and ultimately our life and our death in the light of Christ and his suffering, death, resurrection, and glorification. Christian life is ultimately life transformed and transfigured, and always lived in union with the life of Christ himself. Let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

(to be continued next week)

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

Bulletin Insert: “These Sacred Mysteries” (Part III: The Mystery of Christ, Hidden and Revealed)

December 3, 2016 /

[Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV]

“These Sacred Mysteries”
Part III: The Mystery of Christ, Hidden and Revealed

The mystery of Christ, however, is not a mystery which is unknown as happens in the case of a mystery novel. Rather, it is a mystery whose content has been revealed to us through Christ himself. In the first chapter of the letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians, we read that the mystery that was hidden from ages and generations in the past is now revealed to God’s holy ones. God willed to make known to them the glory which the mystery brings, the mystery of Christ in them. For the Christian, the mystery of Christ is the plan of salvation that God had in mind from before the beginning of time and which he has made known to us. Knowing that our first parents would sin, God in his wisdom, which is beyond all understanding, planned to send his Son as the Redeemer of the world. Consequently, the “mystery” of Christ involves the revelation to us of that mystery, how the very Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, would take human nature upon himself, suffer and die for our salvation, and rise again on the third day. For this reason, the Church, throughout the liturgical year celebrates the mysteries of Christ which call us out of darkness into the very light of life of God.

(to be continued next week)

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

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