'So was the Word made incarnation / In Mary’s womb, a son.' The Immaculate Conception

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, observed on 8 December, is a holyday of obligation in many countries, eg, Ireland, the Philippines. 

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 

Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

This is but one of many paintings of the Annunciation by El Greco.

The Incarnation

by St John of the Cross

Translation from the Spanish original by Roy Campbell

Then He summoned an archangel,
Saint Gabriel: and when he came,
Sent him forth to find a maiden,
Mary was her name.

Only through her consenting love
Could the mystery be preferred
That the Trinity in human
Flesh might clothe the Word.

Though the three Persons worked the wonder
It only happened in the One.
So was the Word made incarnation
In Mary’s womb, a son.

So He who only had a Father
Now had a Mother undefiled,
Though not as ordinary maids
Had she conceived the Child.

By Mary, and with her own flesh
He was clothed in His own frame:
Both Son of God and Son of Man
Together had one name.

This poem is in The Divine Office (Breviary) approved by the hierarchies of Australia, England and Wales, Ireland. I found it online here.

Ave Maria

Setting by Franz Biebl, Sung by Voces8

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae et concepit de Spiritu sancto.
(The angel of God declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.)

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

(Hail Mary, Full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.)

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

(Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, Holy Mary,

pray for us now and in the hour of our death. Amen.)

'They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.' Sunday Reflections, Palm Sunday, Year B

 

From The Gospel of John (2003) directed by Philip Saville

[John 12:12-16 runs from 0:00 to 0:56]

The Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-10 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

or

John 12:12-16 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey's colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Readings for Mass

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Chalice

Unknown Hungarian goldsmith [Web Gallery of Art]

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:23-24).

Christ on the Mount of Olives

Goya [Web Gallery of Art]

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mark 14:36).

Flannery O'Connor [Wikipedia]

(25 March 1929 - 3 August 1964)

Mary Flannery O'Connor, who was born on the feast of the Annunciation in 1925, grew up as a devout Catholic in Georgia, in the 'Bible Belt' of the USA. At the time fewer than one per cent of the population of Georgian were Catholics. In 1951 she was diagnosed with lupus, from which her father had died when she was 15. She said of her writings, The stories are hard but they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism. She also wrote, Grace changes us and change is painful. The following quotation reflects this [emphasis added]:

I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. A faith that just accepts is a child’s faith and all right for children, but eventually you have to grow religiously as every other way, though some never do. What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can’t believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God.

Source: The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor [Thanks to Plough]

May Holy Week be a time when each of us can embrace whatever share in the Cross God has in mind for us and may it prepare us to celebrate the Joy and Hope of Easter once again.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Palm  Sunday

The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 3-28-2021 if necessary).

The Blessing of Palms

Gospel: Matthew 21:1-9.

Mass

Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11.  Gospel: Matthew 26:36-27:66.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.

Annunciation

Alessandro Allori [Wikipedia]

Thursday, 25 March, is the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

Ave Maria (Angelus Domini)

A setting of the Angelus in Latin by German composer Franz Biebl (1906 - 2001)

Sung by a virtual choir in Indonesia

Conducted by Agustinus Bambang Jusana

The Angelus

Jean-François Millet [Web Gallery of Art]

 

'So was the Word made incarnation / In Mary’s womb, a son.' Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, observed on 8 December, is a holyday of obligation in many countries, eg, Ireland, the Philippines. This year it falls on the Second Sunday of Advent, which takes precedence over it. So the Solemnity is transferred to Monday 9 December. However, the obligation to attend Mass does not carry over.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 

Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

This is but one of many paintings of the Annunciation by El Greco.

The Incarnation

by St John of the Cross

Translation by Roy Campbell

Then He summoned an archangel,
Saint Gabriel: and when he came,
Sent him forth to find a maiden,
Mary was her name.

Only through her consenting love
Could the mystery be preferred
That the Trinity in human
Flesh might clothe the Word.

Though the three Persons worked the wonder
It only happened in the One.
So was the Word made incarnation
In Mary’s womb, a son.

So He who only had a Father
Now had a Mother undefiled,
Though not as ordinary maids
Had she conceived the Child.

By Mary, and with her own flesh
He was clothed in His own frame:
Both Son of God and Son of Man
Together had one name.

This poem is in The Divine Office (Breviary) approved by the hierarchies of Australia, England and Wales, Ireland. I found it online here.

Ave Maria

Setting by Franz Biebl, Sung by Voces8

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae et concepit de Spiritu sancto.
(The angel of God declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.)

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

(Hail Mary, Full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.)

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

(Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, Holy Mary,

pray for us now and in the hour of our death. Amen.)