One of the latter pieces of wisdom from the late Monsignor Moises Andrade, H.P. before his demise last year.

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Care of Supreme Pontiffs: Stability of Roman Liturgy as God’s Gift

By the late Msgr. Moises Andrade, Jr. H.P., at the University of Santo Tomas last January 7, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI offered his care for the Roman Liturgy in his motu proprio letter of July 7, 2007. Here, he conveyed his support for the maintenance of sacredness, reverence for God’s presence, and the participant’s awareness of sinfulness during the celebration of the Roman Liturgy.

1. Awareness of Sinfulness.

Keeping the hands joined, kneeled and bowing low in prayer, and the striking of the breast are bodily gestures expressing fidelity to God’s gift of Sacred Liturgy. They are occuring in various moments of the Holy Mass primarily. They instill to every officiating priest and all participants in Sacred Liturgy the readiness to welcome God’s gift of forgiveness and remission of sins.

2. Reverence for God’s Presence.

The Divine Presence in the Word of God and in the Mystery of the Eucharist are experienced in the epistles and gospels of a one year cycle of the 1570 Roman Missal and in the Roman Canon, conveniently articulated by the rubrics, when faithfully implemented. Rather than require the ability of so many trained ministers, servers, singers and other assistants, the availability of at least one ordained priest and his acolyte always makes accessible the sacraments in their solemn prayerfulness.

3. Maintenance of Sacredness

Focus on the salvific grace of Christ’s holy cross through ritual gestures and its sacred image at the central place at the altar will yield the harvest of piety and clear signal of the role of the priest – not so much as presider, but as a servant to facilitate the encounter of the living God with the praying people including the priest as well.

Conclusion

The awareness of the Roman Liturgy’s sacredness, reverence of God’s presence, and the consciousness of human sinfulness yet graced by God’s self-giving are constantly transmitted through the various historical periods of the Church’s liturgy and are especially expected through the exposure of the faithful to the ritual celebration elaborated extraordinarily in the 1962 Roman Missal (the 7th retouching of the 1570 mass book) and ordinarily, in the 1970 Roman Missal (the 8th retouching of tthe roman liturgical text).

… when he descended into Hades after His death on the Cross.

quia et Christus semel pro peccatis mortuus est iustus pro iniustis ut nos offerret Deo mortificatus carne vivificatus autem spiritu in quo et his qui in carcere erant spiritibus veniens praedicavit qui increduli fuerant aliquando quando expectabat Dei patientia in diebus Noe cum fabricaretur arca in qua pauci id est octo animae salvae factae sunt per aquam

(Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. )

1 Pet 3:18-20

For a handful of days ruminating on the various consequences of sin, lukewarm spirituality, and the dark night of the soul, a question that has haunted me since forever began resurfacing anew within my brain’s subconscious barracks: Quo vadis? For a long time have I not even attempted to go into introspection, to see myself against a world beleagured by secularism inasmuch for a handful of months I have been enticed to follow the world’s footsteps and undress my longings to be within the world but not of it. However, when the going gets tough, all epiphanies of glorious ascension towards spiritual serenity tends to dissipate into thin air:–which precisely characterises what I have been through in my mundane affectations. And now, in my quest to recover myself vis-a-vis chaos, I had reckoned my heart & soul as left merely–thoroughly–scathed by neglect.

I have yet to visit my spiritual director, for it seems he is currently busy throughout this esteemed Lenten season. My brain can hardly think, my spirit hardly able to breathe. Talk of St. John of the Cross or St. Teresa of Avila in their treatises on human nature’s weaknesses and the soul’s delight to project itself heavenward: I desire nothing but solace. Of course for more than a handful of moments and opportunities have I requested that I be prayed for by my dear friends and brethren in Christ, although in myself I find my own efforts inadequate. As humans living in this world–a territory relentlessly claimed by that maleficent Serpent Beelzebub–it cannot be denied that spiritual warfare is always necessary; and as Christians, we are at the hands of God’s mercy, and entirely at the brink of martyrdom not only in the physical aspect but all those that encompass the unseen dimensions of our whole existence. It is with thus that I flagellate myself, asking for penance: I am unworthy! The expediency of residing in the desert! I invoke therefore on myself holy detachment such that my yearnings for Heaven be full.

(Image credit)

Oh dearest Saint Catherine, I have never failed to remember you, how you suffered in your solitudes. How must I then ask you a favour, to help me remember my Creator in the days of my youth? I wish to spurn earthly longings, to draw myself towards the wells of detachment: that, like you my dear sister, I can hope for Heaven without hesitation nor delay…

The Pope, on his recent visit to the convent of the Oblate Sisters of Sta Francesca Romana in Rome, called contemplative communities as a sort of “spiritual lung” for the Church. A timely report indeed for this holy season of Lent, to remind us lay people of the value of contemplation amidst silence and detachment.

Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25319?l=english
Pontiff Says Contemplatives Give Breath to World

Calls Communities a “Spiritual Lung”

ROME, MARCH 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Contemplative communities are called to be a type of “spiritual lung” for the world, so that spiritual “respiration” is not strangled by the bustle of cities, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today when he visited the Oblate Sisters of Santa Francesca Romana. He stopped at the convent after having visited the headquarters of Rome’s civil authorities, where he addressed the mayor and other civil leaders.

Today is the feast day of St. Francesca (1384-1440), whom the Holy Father referred to as “the most Roman of saints.”

After spending some time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and in veneration of the saint’s body, the Pope addressed the sisters and students that reside at the center.

Referring to his spiritual exercises last week with the members of the Curia, the Holy Father said “he had felt once again how indispensable silence and prayer are.”

He noted how the convent is located at the heart of the city, saying, “How can we not see in it the symbol of the need to return the spiritual dimension to the center of civil coexistence, to give full meaning to the multiple activities of the human being?”

The Bishop of Rome told the nuns: “Your community, together with the other communities of contemplative life, is called to be a sort of ’spiritual lung’ of society, so that the performance, the activism of a city, is not devoid of spiritual ‘respiration,’ the reference to God and his plan of salvation. [...]

“A singular balance is lived here between religious and secular life, between the life of the world and outside of the world. A model that was not born in a laboratory, but in the concrete experience of a young Roman woman: written — it could be said — by God himself in Francesca’s extraordinary existence.

“It is no accident that the walls of this environment are decorated with images of her life, demonstrating that the real building that God wishes to construct is the life of the saints.”

In this context, the Pope stressed that also today “Rome needs women who are all for God and for their neighbor; women able to recollect themselves and give generous and discreet service; women who are able to obey their pastors, but also able to support and motivate them with their suggestions.”

This vocation “is the gift of a maternity that is made one with religious oblation, modeled after Mary,” the Pontiff reflected. “Mary’s heart is the cloister where the Word continues to speak in silence, and at the same time is the furnace of a charity that leads to courageous gestures, and also to a persevering and hidden generosity.”

Patristics is replete with sermons and exhortations regarding various forms of mortifications–both temporal and spiritual. St. Clement, along with the famous St. John Chrysostom (whom I recently quoted in regard to how one pious Catholic must regard fasting) has also been one of those whose elocutions on spiritual matters should never be bypassed.

This piece was sent to me via our Tridentine Mass listserv. This shall now be an addendum of sorts to St. John Chrysostom’s sermon I have previously cited regarding that revered–though mostly forgotten–practice of fasting.

FASTING

Fasting is abstention from food — from the ordinary meaning of the
word; but abstention or no abstention from food neither makes us holy
or unholy. Total abstention mystically means death. Thus, fasting
really means abstention from worldly things, for we would die as far
as worldly matters are concerned; and after that, when we partake of
food of divine nature, we will live in God.

Fasting empties the soul of matter, and presents the soul pure and
nimble to the body, according to the divine words. Then, on the one
hand, worldly nourishment consists of temporal life and iniquities,
while divine nourishment is faith, hope, love, patience, knowledge,
peace, prudence; as our Lord said in Matthew: “Blessed are they who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled,”
where truly He attributes this longing to the soul and not to the body.

A very timely piece, inasmuch as Lent had just opened its doors yesterday for another 40 days of nourishing our impoverished souls (although the calendar for the Extraordinary Form had already started Lent preparations with Septuagesima Sunday three weeks ago). I acknowledge in myself that fasting has proved tedious for me, given my maladies which intensify with lesser food intake or none at all. Nevertheless this I see as truly worthwhile to share.

ON FASTING
St. John Chrysostom

The value of fasting consists not only in avoiding certain
foods, but in giving up of sinful practices. The person who
limits his fast only to abstaining from meat is the one who
especially lowers the value of it.

Do you fast? Prove it by doing good works. If you see
someone in need, take pity on them. If you see a friend being
honored, don’t get jealous of him. For a true fast, you cannot
fast only with your mouth. You must fast with your eye, your ear,
your feet, your hands, and all parts of your body.

You fast with your hands by keeping them pure from doing
greedy things. You fast with your feet by not going to see
forbidden shows or plays. You fast with your eyes by not
letting them look upon impure pictures. Because if this is
forbidden or unlawful, it mars your fast and threatens the safety
of your soul. But if you look at things which are lawful and
save you increase your fast, for what you see with your eye
influences your conduct. It would be very stupid to eliminate or
give up meat and other foods because of the fast but feed with
your eyes upon other things which are forbidden.

You don’t eat meat, you say. But you allow yourself to lis-
ten to lewd things. You must fast with your ears, too. Another
way of fasting with your ears is not to listen to those who speak
evil or untrue things about others. “Thou shalt not receive an
idle report. “This is especially true of rumors, gossip,
untruths which are spoken to harm another.

Besides fasting with your mouth by not eating certain foods,
your mouth should also fast from foul language or telling lies
about others. For what good is it if you don’t eat meat or
poultry, and yet you bite and devour your fellow man?

Article courtesy of the EWTN Library

[Edit: Related reading - APPETENTE SACRO (On the Spiritual Advantages of Fasting), Encyclical of Pope Clement XIII promulgated on Dec 20, 1759) ]

Tomorrow’s readings for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and the corresponding reflection:

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

INTROIT ¤ Ps. 83. 10, 11

COLLECT.–Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual mercy: and because, without Thee the frailty of man is wont to fall, save it ever by Thine aid from all things hurtful, and lead it to all things profitable to salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .

EPISTLE ¤ Galatians 5. 16-24
Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Galatians.

[Let us walk in the spirit and we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The flesh makes us commit all kind of sins.]

Brethren, Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh: for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest; which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things, shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 117. 8, 9

GOSPEL ¤ Matthew 6. 24-33
† Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.

["You cannot serve God and mammon." "Therefore be not solicitous for your life . . . nor for your body . . . For your father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God and His justice."]

At that time Jesus said to His disciples: No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will sustain the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air; for they neither sow nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not of much more value than they? And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin; but I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. Now if God so clothe the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more you, O ye of little faith! Be not solicitous therefore saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? for after all there things do the heathen seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice; and all these things shall be added unto you.

OFFERTORY ¤ Ps. 33. 8, 9

PREFACE
Preface of the Most Holy Trinity

COMMUNION ¤ Matthew 6. 23

POSTCOMMUNION.–May Thy Sacraments, O God, ever cleanse and defend us: and lead us to the attainment of eternal salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .

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One-Minute Reflection

We can behold that the readings for this Sunday mainly pertains on how we live our lives in accordance to a genuine Catholic-Christian perspective. The First Lesson (Paul’s Letter to the Galatians) started with the exhortation “Walk in the Spirit” as a meaningful manner by which we can ward off the tempations of the flesh; for who can be called a true Christian if not for the resolve to truly dispense of any dichotomies between his spiritual identity (i.e. that of being a Christian) with that of on his behaviour in the midst of a sinful world!

Thus in the Gospel, it is very much evident that such moral pointers must be understood by everyone who wishes to follow His teachings–that, if to serve two masters does not actually comply with tangible reality, then more so with offering ourselves in the service of both God and mammon (or the longings of the flesh). No one serves God while uniting himself with the devil, as this will automatically fall under hypocrisy and unfaithfulness: two main setbacks the ancient Israelites had fallen into while still sovereign over their own lands. The Prophet Isaiah had this to say of God’s people as they erred so wickedly:

Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

(Isaiah 29:13-14)

There had been no other reasons as to why Isaiah had to utter such strong condemnations of Israel and her children except for their laxities in sinning incessantly while feigning faithfulness to the Lord. This the Lord abhors; and so, inspite of perennial endowments of mercy and forgiveness upon the Chosen People, the Lord had then resolved to teach them a lesson, purifying them in exile such that they may be prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

As Christians, we are now privileged to be included in the Vineyard of God, the Kingdom of God. Just as Israel had been prepared that they may recognise God’s salvation through His Son, let us also make the necessary arrangements to honour God not only by our lips but also for what we are–a living sacrifice, holy & acceptable to Him. May we continuously ask for God’s grace in order for us to always walk in the Spirit, as we wholeheartedly minister unto Him with a holy love while rebuking any distractions towards holiness.

I found it rather imperative to post this piece by St. John Chrysostom, it being in direct consonance with last Sunday’s Gospel reading in the Missal of Bl. John XXIII. I got this said reflection through e-mail.

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TRUE HUMILITY

In whatever you do for a fellow-servant, remember that your Master
has done before. Listen and shudder. Never be pleased by your
humility. . .perhaps you laugh at that statement, as if humility
could puff you up. But don’t be surprised if it puffs you up when it
isn’t genuine. How and in what way could it do this? When it is
practiced to gain human favor and not God’s favor. When it is
practiced so that we could be praised and be considered great. For
this is of the devil.

Those who boast because they aren’t boastful please themselves by
their humility and high regard. Have you done any act out of
humility? Don’t be proud of it, otherwise all its merit is lost.

The Pharisee was like this. He was puffed up because he gave his
tithes to the poor, and, as a result, he lost the honor of the deed.
But not so with the tax collector. Nor with Paul who said, “I know
nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified.” But in every way
lowers and humbles himself, even when he had arrived at the summit.

When you think about admiring yourself because you are humble,
consider your Master. Remember what He descended into and you won’t
admire or praise yourself anymore.

by St. John Chrysostom

Readings for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite today focus on virtue, and what our Lord teaches on the laudable characteristics of humility and the consequences of pride.

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Green, Semi-double

INTROIT ¤ Ps. 54. 17, 18, 20, 23

COLLECT.–O God, who dost manifest Thine almighty power most chiefly in sparing and showing mercy: multiply upon us Thy mercy: that as we hasten towards Thy promises, Thou mayest make us partakers of the heavenly treasures. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth . . .

EPISTLE ¤ I Cor. 12. 2-11 Lesson from the first Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. [Our acts are not only supernatural if they proceed from the Holy Ghost; without His aid we are powerless and given to sin; we are not even able to pronounce the Name of Jesus, affirming His divinity, save by His inspiration.] Brethren, You know that, when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith Anathema to Jesus; and no man can say: The Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all. And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another the grace of healing in the one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, interpretation of speeches. But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as He will.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 16. 8, 2

GOSPEL ¤ Luke 18. 9-14 † Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke. [Our Lord stigmatizes the pride of the Pharisee which makes him put his trust in himself and which always shows itself in his contempt for others.] At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one was a pharisee, and the other a publican. The pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers; as also is this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner.² I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

OFFERTORY ¤ Ps. 24. 1, 3

SECRET.–Let the appointed Sacrifices be offered to Thee, O Lord: which Thou hast granted so to be offered to the honor of Thy Name, that they may themselves become healing remedies unto us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .

PREFACE Preface of the Most Holy Trinity

COMMUNION ¤ Ps. 50. 51, 21

POSTCOMMUNION.–We beseech Thee, O Lord, our God, that in Thy goodness Thou wilt not deprive of Thine aid those whom Thou dost not cease to renew with Thy divine Sacraments. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .

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This parable of the Pharisee and his not-so-similar counterpart the Publican raises one question on our being Christians: is our piety just for show or does it constitute a clear disposition of total resignation to God’s will? Humility is the recognition of one’s weaknesses, and the acknowledgement that God is “all in all”: that He, in His infinite power, has the sole jurisdiction on the life of man as well in his drawing near to all things just.