Te Deum

The Te Deum

You are God: we praise you;

You are God: we acclaim you;

You are the eternal Father:

All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.

The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,

Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,

And the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,

The eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free

You did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,

And opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.

We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

Bought with the price of your own blood,

And bring us with your saints

To glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.

Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.

We praise your name forever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy;

For we put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:

And we shall never hope in vain

Rest in peace

 Pope Benedict is dead.  For his sake I wish that he'd refused the papacy to begin with. Was he a good pope? No, he fled from the wolves, just as he feared he would. That being said, I think it should  be clear to everyone by now that in order to clean and restore the Church it would require a fearless pope saint willing to embrace a white and possibly red martyrdom. Benedict was not that guy but  he was not just as bad as Francis as some people have been gleefully saying. He has gone to his judgement. May God have mercy on him and in us. 

Oh Holy Night

https://texasnuns.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/2006af4448_bourdichon_nativity.jpg 

Merry Christmas

 

CHRISTMAS EVE THOUGHTS

In the drab Nativity movie Mary is presented as a sullen teen who complains about being betrothed to man she doesn't know or love. This is silly. Nazareth was an itty bitty little town. Everybody knew everybody. It was in the eyes of the other Galileans, a crummy little backwoods place.

To this insignificant hamlet the angel of God, Gabriel came. An old hymn describes him as having wings of snow drift white and eyes like flame. I like that description it sounds like he was an awesome sight. And who did he come to? A young girl. Mary, just 14 or 15 and this angel asked her to be the mother of the messiah. Imagine that for minute. And Mary said yes. She said, "I am the Handmaid of the Lord." Archbishop Sheen once noted that in Aramaic she actually said, "I am the slave of the Lord." What perfect trust. What perfect acceptance. Oh thank you, dear Mother!


And think for a moment of Joseph. A good man, probably a young man ( the Jews of that day didn't like May-December marriages) already on his way to being a saint even then. When friends or neighbors approached him remarked rudely on Mary's pregnancy he had the presence of mind to say nothing. He knew the Child in her womb was not his but knowing Mary he surely couldn't have imagined that she did anything wrong. He would not denounce her to the world. He would not expose her to a death sentence. He decided to divorce her quietly. Divorce, not break off an engagement but actual divorce. Mary was not an unwed mother. It makes me sick when people say that, especially if it's a priest. I can't take the St. Louis, King of France option of dealing with blasphemy but when someone does I mentally check out from anything else they have to say regarding holy matters. Our Lord was spoken of by the prophets and the Angel Gabriel.  Many in Israel lived and died longing to see His coming. His birth was not unplanned. Do not allow the Holy Family to be insulted in your presence. 

 A betrothed couple were married under the law. They weren't living together yet but they were married. It was the opposite of what we do in the modern West. A man was expected to have his home in order before his wife entered after the wedding , not have the wedding, go into debt to pay for it and setting up the household. 

And then the angel spoke to Joseph and he believed. He did not argue like the educated priest Zachariah did. He didn't complain that this Event was going to change his life forever. He simply believed and quickly had the wedding ceremony performed and moved Mary into his home. Thank you dear Saint Joseph. You did not care what the neighbors and your buddies said, you rushed to obey the Lord and to protect your little bride.


And then the day came to go to Bethlehem. St. Joseph was not a starry eyed  improvident drifter. He was going to take part in the census and pay his taxes. It couldn't have been an easy trip. The pictures of Mary on a donkey look sweet but that's no luxury ride. But she and Joseph knew their scripture. The Messiah was foretold as coming out of Bethlehem, David's city. So she went. Bethlehem is a small town. Once Rocky and I were in Blacksburg and were trying to find a hotel for the night. Alas there was a football game that night and there were no rooms to be had as far as West Virginia. When Mary and Joseph arrived every inn was full of people come to pay their taxes. Inns in a tiny place like Bethlehem were simple affairs. One might have two or three private rooms and a courtyard where poorer guests could bed down with their animals and other people. No woman would want to have a baby under those circumstances. Commentators have guessed that Mary asked for privacy and Joseph wanted her to have it. They couldn't get a room and for some reason didn't want to join the swarm in the open courtyard or just staying with one of the caravans that surely must have been surrounded Bethlehem that night. Some inn keeper offered them his stable. I hope he didn't charge them too much for it.

The Child was born. Thank you, God for sending Your only Son. Thank you Jesus for leaving Heaven and coming to the world as a tiny Babe. You came not to live a pleasant life but to die. The Cross loomed over Your cradle. You came on a rescue mission to reclaim hopeless sinners. Thank you Lord!

Music from Clamavi De Profundis

I really like this group.

 

My Monday fight song,...

Random thoughts on a cold wet weekend

•  I'm a law librarian. One of my patrons is working on a case that involves young victims. My research required me to read some court documents on Friday that made tears fall from my eyes. No matter how tough you may think you are, or that you've heard it all,  there are dark things in this world that normal, decent people shouldn't even know about.  Lord, have mercy!
  
  
  
  
  
• I need something quiet and lovely this weekend. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I don't like Taylor Marshall but of late, I've noticed that  a lot  of the sniping at him from is coming off as silly and most especially to people who haven't followed his career it appears more like envy than serious, worthwhile criticism. If you're uneasy about him because of the Opus Dei connection or the Fisher Moore episode or his "Stop eating products with seed oils and lift weights or you aren't a man," kick, or you've been calling him Dr. Cut and Paste for ages then okay that all makes sense but if you think Pope Francis is anti traditional because of Marshall then you haven't been paying attention to what' Francis has been doing from day one. Cardinal Bergoglio's probably was a modernist before Marshall was even born. 
  
  
  
  
• At Mass, the priest said that St. John the Baptist thought that Jesus was going to bring immediate judgement and  became disappointed in Him while sitting in Herod's prison. This particular priest is a nice  man but I can't stand his homilies.  I sat in the pew and sighed internally.  Later I  read Chapter eleven from the St. Matthew section of the Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas as a restorative.   St. John the Baptist, the greatest of all the prophets did not lose hope in Our Lord. He wasn't offended because he was facing martyrdom and he did not think he knew better than the Lamb of God.
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Sciambra Apostatizes : Can we please stop running after Catholic celebrities?

• I can't say that I'm surprised by this. Joseph Sciambra came on to the scene like a meteor. He was treated like a celebrity and his past tragedy and personal decisions made in reaction to the monstrous violence that was visited upon him was seen as credentials to make him an expert on Catholicism.  When he started going on and on about the manly Orthodox someone-some wise layman or a stern and holy priest should have grabbed him and counseled him to get off social media and work on his salvation in private. There were people who cried a warning online but they obviously ignored. Now he's gone Orthodox and Fr. Kalchik who should know better is cheering him on.  What will Sciambra do when he realizes that Orthodox people sin just like everyone else and yes that includes sexual sin as well? For the love of  our Holy Faith can we finally stop creating these mini celebrities? This never ends well. Either they turn into grifters or they implode.