Rorate Caeli & Christmas Eve

Rorate caeli desuper et nubes pluant justum.  Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just.  (Introit of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, from Isaiah 45:8.)

Last Sunday was the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  The introit of this Sunday echoes one of the great hymns of the season, the Rorate Caeli, which you can listen to here:

The text for the hymn is:

Latin	English
Roráte caéli désuper, et núbes plúant jústum.	Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness:
Ne irascáris Dómine, ne ultra memíneris iniquitátis: ecce cívitas Sáncti fácta est desérta: Síon desérta fácta est: Jerúsalem desoláta est: dómus sanctificatiónis túæ et glóriæ túæ, ubi laudavérunt te pátres nóstri.	Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: the holy cities are a wilderness, Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation: our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee.
Peccávimus, et fácti súmus tamquam immúndus nos, et cecídimus quasi fólium univérsi: et iniquitátes nóstræ quasi véntus abstulérunt nos: abscondísti faciem túam a nóbis, et allisísti nos in mánu iniquitátis nóstræ.	We have sinned, and are as an unclean thing, and we all do fade as a leaf: and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away; thou hast hid thy face from us: and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Víde Dómine afflictiónem pópuli túi, et mítte quem missúrus es: emítte Agnum dominatórem térræ, de Pétra desérti ad móntem fíliæ Síon: ut áuferat ípse júgum captivitátis nóstræ.	Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people and send forth Him who is to come send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth from Petra of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion that He may take away the yoke of our captivity
Consolámini, consolámini, pópule méus: cito véniet sálus túa: quare mæróre consúmeris, quia innovávit te dólor? Salvábo te, nóli timére, égo enim sum Dóminus Déus túus, Sánctus Israël, Redémptor túus.	Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, my salvation shall not tarry: why wilt thou waste away in sadness? why hath sorrow seized thee? Fear not, for I will save thee: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.

Here is a robust polyphonic setting from the incomparable English recusant composer, William Byrd:

For more on the hymn, you should note: Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Rorate Caeli

The Visitation by Raphael

Today is the Eve of Christmas!

Fisheaters: Christmas Eve & Christmas

The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus de Voragine, OP, writes about this time of year, the end of Advent:
"As touching the coming of our Lord in our bodily flesh, we may consider three things of this coming, that is to wit, the opportunity, the necessity and the utility.

The opportunity of coming is taken by the reason of the man that first was vanquished in the law of nature of the default of the knowledge of God, by which he fell into evil errors, and therefore he was constrained to cry to God: Illumina oculos meos, that is to say, Lord, give light to mine eyes. After, came the law of God, which hath given commandment in which he hath been overcome of impuissance, as first he hath cried: There is none that fulfilleth but that commandeth. For there he is only taught, but not delivered from sin, ne holpen by grace, and therefore he was constrained to cry: There lacketh none to command, but there is none that accomplished the commandment. Then came the Son of God in time when man was vanquished of ignorance and impuissance. To that if he had so come tofore, peradventure man might say that by his own merits he might have been saved, and thus he had not been bound to yield thanks to God.

The second thing that is shown us of this coming is the necessity by reason of the time, of which the apostle Paul speaketh, ad Galatas the fourth chapter: At ubi venit plenitudo temporis, when the plentitude or full time of the grace of God was ordained, then he sent his Son that was God and Son of the virgin and wife which was made subject to the law. To that, that they be subject to the law he bought them again, and were received sons of God by grace of adoption. Now saith S. Austin that many demand why he came not rather. He answered that it was because that the plentitude of time was not come, which should come by him, that all things were ordained and made, and after when this plentitude of time came, he came that of time past hath delivered us, to that we shall bedelivered of time, we shall come to him whereas no time passeth, but is perpetuity. The third thing that is showed to us of this coming is the utility and profit that cometh for the cause of the hurt and sickness general. For sith the malady was general, the medicine must be general, whereof saith S. Austin that: Then came the great medicine, when the great malady was through all the world.

Whereof the holy Church remembereth in the seven anthems that be sung before the nativity of our Lord, where the malady is showed in divers manners, and for each demandeth remedy of his malady of prisoner out of the prison that sitteth in darkness and shadow of death. For they that have been long in prison and dark places may not see clearly, but have their eyes dim. Therefore, after we be delivered from prison, it behoveth that our eyes be made clear and our sight illumined for to see whither we should go, and therefore we cry in the fifth anthem: O Oriens splendor lucis eterne, veni et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis, O Orient that art the resplendour of the eternal light, come and illumine them that sit in darkness and shadow of death, and if we were taught, lighted, unbound, and bought, what should it avail to us but if we should be saved? And, therefore, we require to be saved, and therefore we say in the two last anthems, the sixth and the seventh; when we cry: O Rex gentium, veni et salva hominem quem de limo formasti, O thou King of peoples come and save the man that thou hast formed of the slime of the earth; and in the seventh: O Emmanuel rex et legifer noster veni ad saluandum nos, domine deus noster, O Emmanuel that art our King, and bearer of our law, our Lord, our God, come and save us.

The profit of his coming is assigned of many saints in many manners, for Luke saith in the fourth chapter that our Lord was sent and came to us for seven profits, where he saith: The Spirit of our Lord is on me, which he rehearseth by order; he was sent for the comfort of the poor, to heal them that were sick in sin, to deliver them that were in prison, to teach them that were uncunning. To forgive sins, to buy again all mankind. And for to give reward to them that deserve it.

And S. Austin putteth here three profits of his coming and saith: In this wretched world what aboundeth but to be born to labour and to die. These be the merchandise of our region, and to these merchandises the noble merchant Jesus descended. And because all merchants give and take, they give that they have and take that they have not; Jesu Christ in this merchandise gave and took, he took that which in this world aboundeth, that is to wit, to be born to labour and to die, he gave again to us to be born spiritually, to rise and reign perdurably. And he himself came to us to take villanies and to give to us honour, to suffer death and to give us life, to take poverty and to give us glory.

S. Gregory putteth four causes of the profit of his coming: Studebant omnes superbi de eadem stirpe progeniti, prospera vitæ præsentis appetere, adversa devitare, opprobria fugere, gloriam sequi: They of the world, in their pride descended of the same lineage, studied to desire the prosperity of this present life, to eschew the adversities, to flee the reproofs and shames and to ensue the glory of the world. And our Lord came incarnate among them, asking and seeking the adversities, despiting the prosperities, embracing villanies, fleeing all vain glory. And he himself which descended from glory, came, and he being come, taught new things, and in showing marvels suffered many evils.

S. Bernard putteth other causes, and saith that, we travail in this world for three manner of maladies or sickness, for we be lightly deceived, feeble to do well, and frail to resist against evil. If we entend to do well we fail, it we do pain to resist the evil, we be surmounted and overcome; and for this the coming of Jesu Christ was to us necessary. To that he inhabiteth in us, by faith he illumineth our eyes of the heart, and in abiding with us he helpeth us in our malady, and in being with us he defendeth our frailty against our enemies." (Golden Legend, Advent of the Lord)

Live well!

Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist

Today is the feast day of St. Luke the Evangelist!

St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin by Guercino, ca. 1650AD.

We know that St. Luke was born in Antioch, was not a Jew by ethnicity, and was a physician by trade.  Indeed, St. Luke, a companion of St. Paul (Luke 16:8) was called by the Apostle to the Gentiles "the most dear physician" (Colossians 4:14).

He is rightly famous for both his Holy Gospel, represented in art with an Ox, as it begins with the Temple sacrifice of Zachary (cf. Ezekiel), and the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Much more could be said of St. Luke's writing style, the service he rendered to the Church with his contribution to Sacred Scripture, and the wonderful details concerning the life of the Blessed Mother contained in his gospel.

Of course, St. Luke, too, is known by tradition to be an artist, and hence his patronage of artists!

Perhaps today is a good one to start a study of the Gospel of St. Luke?  Gospel of St. Luke

Maybe the Acts of the Apostles instead? Acts of the Apostles

After the death of St. Paul, he is thought to have preached in Greece, where he died.  His relics would end up in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua, Italy, in an area formerly part of the Venetian Republic.  Here is a link to that Church: Abbey of Santa Giustina

Interestingly, a bit of scientific research has been conducted on the relics of St. Luke, of which part are now also in Prague and in Greece.  Here is an article on the research: NY Times: "Body of St. Luke Gains Credibility"

Also worthy of note is the courtyard at the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura in Rome; there is a prominent statue of St. Paul in the center of that courtyard, pictured here:

[By I, Alberto Fernandez Fernandez, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2658277]

In the four corners of the same courtyard are four pedestals for statues.  Only one actually has a statue: that of St. Luke.  The other three pedestals are empty, as though for statues lost.  How can one not appreciate the connection with what St. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:
"Demas has fallen in love with this present world; he has deserted me, and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, and Luke is my only companion."

For more on this great Evangelist, you can read here:

Catholic Saints Info: St. Luke

Old Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Luke


Live well!

Friday Penance

Christ Crucified by Diego Velazquez.

It was on a Friday that our Divine Lord shed his blood for the salvation of mankind.

For this reason, Catholics observe the day as one of particular penance.  The penance most associated with the day is that of abstinence from blood meat; the Code of Canon Law expresses:
" The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed on every Friday of the year unless a Friday occurs on a day listed as a solemnity. 

The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year of age. The law of fasting, however, binds all those who have attained their majority until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors of souls and parents are to take care that minors not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are also educated in a genuine sense of penance."
(Cf., Code of Canon Law: Canons 1249-1253)

Clement of Alexandria, from book 1, folio 5 recto of Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres grecz, latins et payens (1584) by André Thevet.

The association of abstinence from blood meat on Friday is, indeed, a particularly ancient Christian practice.  The old Catholic Encyclopedia includes this passage on the practice:
"From the dawn of Christianity, Friday has been signalized as an abstinence day, in order to do homage to the memory of Christ suffering and dying on that day of the week. The 'Teaching of the Apostles' (viii), Clement of Alexandria (Stromata VI.75), and Tertullian (On Fasting 14) make explicit mention of this practice. Pope Nicholas I (858-867) declares that abstinence from flesh meat is enjoined on Fridays. There is every reason to conjecture that Innocent III (1198-1216) had the existence of this law in mind when he said that this obligation is suppressed as often as Christmas Day falls on Friday (De observ. jejunii, ult. cap. Ap. Layman, Theologia Moralis, I, iv, tract. viii, ii). Moreover, the way in which the custom of abstaining on Saturday originated in the Roman Church is a striking evidence of the early institution of Friday as an abstinence day." (Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Abstinence)

The "meat" envisioned by the practice is that, typically, of warm-blooded animals (mammals & birds), with a few peculiar local exceptions (capybara, beaver, et al.).

It is particularly fitting to abstain from eating the meat of warm, red-blooded, animals on that day that Christ shed His Most Precious Blood for us!

It is also the case that Canon Law allows for substitutions of other required penances aside from that of abstinence from meat and the discretion of local bishops:
"Can.  1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast."

In the Dioceses of the United States of America, the Bishops have allowed for the substitution of abstinence for some other penance on Fridays outside of the season of Lent, writing in 1966:
"Every Catholic Christian understands that the fast and abstinence regulations admit of change, unlike the commandments and precepts of that unchanging divine moral law which the Church must today and always defend as immutable. This said, we emphasize that our people are henceforth free from the obligation traditionally binding under pain of sin in what pertains to Friday abstinence, except as noted above for Lent. We stress this so that 'no' scrupulosity will enter into examinations of conscience, confessions, or personal decisions on this point."

They would go on to emphasize that they hoped that the people of God would continue the practice, now voluntarily: "Among the works of voluntary self-denial and personal penance which we especially commend to our people for the future observance of Friday, even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat. We do so in the hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law."

The bishops also had particular recommendations of other penances that might be undertaken:
"Friday, please God, will acquire among us other forms of penitential witness which may become as much a part of the devout way of life in the future as Friday abstinence from meat. In this connection we have foremost in mind the modern need for self-discipline in the use of stimulants and for a renewed emphasis on the virtue of temperance, especially in the use of alcoholic beverages."

The bishops, then, in making the specific observation of Friday abstinence optional outside of Lent, hoped that the practice would be freely embraced by the faithful, and even accompanied by another particular penance, such as abstinence from alcoholic beverages!

You can read their whole statement here: Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence: A Statement Issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops November 18, 1966

Live well by doing penance!

Lenten Friday Abstinence

Catholics can eat this fellow on a Lenten Friday (a speciman of Salvelinus fontinalis)

As we have entered Lent, it is a fine time to recall the discipline of abstinence that, by canon law, binds Catholics of a certain age on Fridays of the season, in addition to Ash Wednesday.

Abstinence from the flesh of warm-blooded creatures on the day that Christ shed His Precious Blood for us is both fitting, as we refrain from shedding blood in a kind of symbolic way, and a helpful way in which to recall His Sacrifice for us, even in what we choose to eat!

The 1983 Code of Canon Law lays down for us the current law:

"Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance."
[cf., Code of Canon Law]

Further, the entire season of Lent is a time of general penance -- penance that traditionally includes fasting, even if that is not required by Church law!  In a similar way, every Friday of the year is a day of canonical penance for Catholics.

Finally, the age of those bound to abstain from meat on Friday is for those that have turned 14 years old until the "beginning of their sixtieth year."

The following link goes to an entry of a commentary on Canon Law that explains the above canons a bit more -- in particular as regards what is meant by "meat":
New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, canon 1251.

That commentary sites the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Paenitemini, in Chapter III, as he expresses the currently understood interpretation of abstinence: "The law of abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, the products of milk or condiments made of animal fat."
Cf., Pope Paul VI: Paenitemini

It is well worthwhile to recall the traditional practices and laws on the subject, as they are the context in which we understand the current legislation and customs of the Church.  Here is the text of the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
"Can 1250. Abstinentiae lex vetat carne iureque ex carne vesci, non autem ovis, lacticiniis et quibuslibet condimentis etiam ex adipe animalium."
translated:
"Canon 1250. The law of abstinence prohibits meat and soups made of meat but not of eggs, milks, and other condiments, even if taken from animals."

Giving yet a more lengthy explanation of the background of the discipline of abstinence, including the medieval world, is this article in the Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Old Catholic Encyclopedia: Abstinence

This site, too, gives some good perspective it what has been traditionally observed as far as abstinence, and fasting, is concerned: Fisheaters: Fasting

One of the interesting details is that, considering the understanding of the prohibition as extending to warm-blooded animals only, reptiles, amphibians, and fish would not break one's Lenten abstinence.  Fr. Zuhlsdorf has a splendid entry on that subject: Fr. Z's Blog: Lent and the Old Alligator Dilemma

May your Lent be fruitful, may your penances draw you ever closer to love of God, and may you ever remember the blood shed by Christ for our redemption -- blood shed on a Friday.

Live well!