Climate Change Refugee #?

Having just heard from a dear friend of mine in Tasmania, I learn to my chagrin that I will not be Climate Change Refugee #1 - there are already folk buying farms south of Hobart wherein to wait out the onrushing climatic apocalypse...

Seriously, while I hope that any change in climate will prove minor, my recent reading does tend to make me consider the "what if" scenario.  I assume that if things ever do become dire, Australians will all have to move south to Tasmania, tho' 20.6 million trying to fit into a State currently holding 0.5 million would certainly make the place rather fuller.

(Note that Sri Lanka has a population of 21.1 million in an area only slightly larger than Tasmania.  And they still have room enough to play cricket.)

Oh well, there's always New Zealand, comfortably off with only 4.1 million Kiwis, Pakeha and Maori, at present: even if every Pacific Islander moved in, they'd still have only 7 million or so in a landmass around about four times the size of Tas.

Sacraments out of Sync

It's never out of order to receive the Blessed Sacrament.

To-day, arriving just in the nick of time for our Missa cantata, I was able to be of some help to the ladies' choir by reminding them when to sing certain items, as Fr and they had asked me to do.  Our sermon was on the value of the liturgical year, whereby the Church sanctifies time and seeks thereby to sanctify our souls, that we may at length attain to the everlasting feast which God celebrates with His saints and angels in heaven.

One arresting thought: the Church has never established a separate feast for God the Father, since He, unlike the other Two Persons, has not appeared in a visible form; but in another sense all of Advent is devoted to Him, as it demonstrates the truth that "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that those who believe in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting."  (St John iii, 16)

(This comment must be understood in the light of the ministry of another Perth priest, whose lengthy true surname is abbreviated to Rowe, and who is a great partisan of devotion, some would say unusual devotion, to God the Father.  While he was operating at St Joachim's, the temporary Pro-Cathedral - as opposed to our own St John's Pro-Cathedral - the joke was, "Don't go to the false Rowe at the false Pro.!")

Another insight that I firmly share, and which I feel has been neglected in the reform of the liturgy to the general detriment: originally the Church celebrated the anniversaries of the triumphs of her martyrs, and later added to these the days of the birth into life eternal of her other saints; and from this came the celebration nearly every day of the feasts of saints, to the end that we may be moved to imitate their examples, venerate them for their fidelity to the Lord, and implore their glorious merits and mediation.  The modern atrophy in the cult of the saints, and the turning of weekday Masses into a most boring exercise in obscure lectio continua, is I feel a misreading of the established basis for daily Mass and acts to diminish what has down the ages proved to be the inspiration and training of Christians in virtue, by presenting to us the saints who have saved their souls by firm adherence to the grace of God.

I remembered one aspect of this after making a spiritual communion (feeling myself unworthy of the sacramental): the postcommunion of this Sunday, the 27th after Pentecost, being taken from the Mass of the 6th after Epiphany which went unused this year owing to an early Easter, is as follows:

Cælestibus, Domine, pasti deliciis: quæsumus; ut* semper eadem, per quæ veraciter vivimus, appetamus. Per...

(Having been fed, Lord, with celestial delicacies, we beseech, that* ever for the same, by which we truly live, we may hunger.  Through...)

with the addition at * of the words beati Philippi Confessoris tui meritis et imitatione (through the merits and imitation of blessed Philip Thy Confessor), it is the postcommunion of St Philip Neri, one of my favourite saints, who had a legendary love and desire for the Most Holy Eucharist.  Since I was not receiving, I read it instead as an act of desire for the Sacrament: Domine, quæsumus: ut semper eadem, per quæ veraciter vivimus, appetamus.  Per... (Lord, we beseech, that ever for these, by which we truly live, we may hunger.  Through...)

After Mass, I went up to the hospital as we do, and there grabbed a coffee, which took ages as there was quite a queue.  Looking at the time (just after 11 am), I turned round and popped into church again, where Fr Rowe was hearing confessions before the late Mass; and I made my humble confession, then said my penance.

Soon after, stopping to buy a salad wrap for lunch, I went for a walk around the CBD, and bought some books: a Latin dictionary; an account of a  Shackleton's Forgotten Men; and Acts and Precepts: The Aristotelian Logical Structure of Thomas Aquinas's Moral Theory, by Kevin Flannery.

An hour passed, and coming back to my car, I noticed the Pro. still unlocked, and resolved to go inside and say my Office, as yet unstarted.  I got through Lauds and Prime and into Terce; Fr Rowe still being present (he'd been busy in the sacristy), I asked him if he would administer Holy Communion to me, which he did: Confiteor... Misereatur... Indulgentiam... Ecce Agnus Dei... Domine, non sum dignus... Corpus Domini nostri... O sacrum convivium... Panem de cælo... Dominus vobiscum... Oremus.  Deus, qui nobis... Benedictio Dei omnipotentis...

It seemed to me, after a time in prayer, that the best thanksgiving would be to finish off the Little Hours; which I did.

On my way home, I walked round Heirisson Island (about 40 minutes), and now it's mid-afternoon; to-night, dinner with friends in honour of my upcoming birthday.

Converted Aged Ninety

While strolling through town after Mass, I rang some friends in Tasmania - to explain to them, as I put it, that I'm coming back as "the first Climate Change Refugee" (after reading, as Traddies like, some apocalyptic, but of the secular variety) - and heard the encouraging news that the nonagenarian mother of Mary's husband has just become a Catholic.

Apparently the family have been praying for this for years, but when Mary asked Fr Quinn, C.P., to visit her mother-in-law in hospital, where she was after suffering a serious accident, and at least to bless her, she added "And receive her into the Church if she asks" - to which Fr replied, "She'll never become a Catholic".  But what do you think was the first thing the dear old lady said to Fr?  She was baptized (sub conditione I presume) and received into the Church at her hospital bed, with four generations of her family in attendance.

Deo gratias!

I should add that Fr Quinn (the humblest of men) is known for his indefatigable hospital ministry; the number of persons he has received into or reconciled with the Church, the number of marriages he's regularized, the numbers he's baptized and confirmed, must be incalculable.  I consider that he has been given a special power or grace for this salvific work.  

For instance, on one occasion of which I'm aware, he came to the sole Catholic patient in a four-bed ward, and administered the sacraments to him.  No sooner had he left than the nurses came running, since the other three patients had all pressed their emergency buzzers: and they told the bewildered nurses, "We want him to do the same for us!"  He was recalled, and received all three into the Church.  True story.

Let's Rationalize Dioceses

Australia has too many dioceses - as should be clear to Blind Freddy, most of the country dioceses are unviable, having small populations, hardly any priests, few prospects of local vocations, and a general dearth of talent.  I suspect that the reason that several of them have remained vacant for over a year after their bishops retired is that no one offered them is willing to take them.  As should be obvious, the number of priests worthy to be made bishops now and in the future is very small, given the poor quality of Australian clergy, and this simply compounds the problem.

For a start, Sale diocese is only viable because two-thirds of its population reside in the burgeoning south-east suburbs of greater Melbourne: since the people there are in every sense Melburnians, it is ridiculous to have them look to Sale in Gippsland.  Better to reamalgamate Sale with Melbourne, and soon enough merge Ballaarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo) with Melbourne as well.  As for Hobart - after the retirement of its current incumbent - it can easily be run from Melbourne via a fax machine, as a number of priests once told me.

If in any of these dioceses there were oodles of practising Catholics, and a supply of home-grown vocations, of course they would be viable: but there aren't, so they're not.

For similar reasons, Adelaide should have Port Pirie given back to it; and Perth should retake Geraldton and Bunbury, while Broome could be given to Darwin (better still, the latter pair, by reason of their remoteness, should be downgraded to Apostolic Vicariates).

Now, I don't know much about Queensland, apart from it lacking any faithful priests or bishops apparently! - but, since it is more decentralized than other States, I assume that it needs more than one diocese (Brisbane).

In New South Wales, that dreadful and badly run diocese of Broken Bay should be merged back into Sydney forthwith.  However, beyond that I don't really know; some of the country dioceses are doing alright (e.g. Wagga Wagga, those in New England), while Wollongong, being in essence a city diocese, I assume is large enough to be self-supporting.  All agree that Wilcannia-Forbes and several of its neighbours won't last much longer, though: and these should be merged with other dioceses forthwith.  Why waste time?

Comments, please!

"Albert isn't here any more"

I always remember on St Albert's day an elegaic sermon preached by Fr Hilary, O.P., in which he reflected on the sadness of old age - for, as he told us, St Albert lived a great long life, became the wonder of his age for his prodigious learning in all spheres of knowledge, and yet, at the end, suffered the intellectual decline wrought by extreme old age, to the extent that, when a friar knocked at his cell asking for Master Albert, the saint replied "Albert isn't here any more".

I have been thinking on this because my own father is now in his eighties, having had a number of bouts of cancer, and only to-day Mum texted me that he'd suffered a fall, though praise God he seems alright.  His increasing ill-health and frailty is an important factor in my decision to move back to Tasmania for work; I think, and my sister also agrees, that I need to be closer at hand.

As my namesake Jesus son of Sirach says (Ecclus iii, 14f):

Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his life; and if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and despise him not when thou art in thy strength: for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten.

Dad when younger was always interested in learning, but nowadays he searches for the words he needs and doesn't always find them.  While his general health remains strong, I have a foreboding that all is not right; and my concern for Dad is especially that he's not a churchgoer, and so I worry that he needs to compose and settle his affairs with the Lord before much longer, as must we all.

I think the connexion with the Collect of St Albertus Magnus is clear enough:

Deus, qui beatum Albertum Pontificem tuum atque Doctorem, in humana sapientia divinæ fidei subjicienda magnum effecisti: da nobis, quæsumus, ita eius magisterii inhærere vestigiis, ut luce perfecta fruamur in cælis. Per...

(God, Who didst make blessed Albert Thy Pontiff and Doctor to be great in subjecting human wisdom to divine faith, give unto us, we beseech, so to inhere to the imprints of his magisterium, that we may enjoy perfect light in the heavens.  Through...)

Missa contra amicas

What to do when you’re a bloke feeling the call to priesthood or religious life - but also drawn to your beloved whom you’ve been courting?

Simple!

Get a certain Fr Joseph, O.P. [email address below, in the comments!], to offer his famous “Mass against girlfriends”, which by all accounts drives off the young lady, enabling you, good fellow, to bid the world adieu without regret.

This curious custom has been a long-standing joke among certain friends of mine in holy religion, some now rapidly approaching ordination...

(It can be taken too far, of course - one person I knew loudly proclaimed he wanted all his former beloveds weeping inconsolably at his ordination: but instead he discerned his vocation was to marry, after all...)

The precedent for this, BTW, is offered us by no-nonsense St Catherine of Siena: when a chap asked her what he should do with his life, she said, Be a priest; but he protested that he had a wife and family... Now don't you worry about that, said our Saint; and they all died of the plague within days.

Saints can be distressingly brusque.

What this potent formula? – perhaps the following Votive, a Missa contra amicas* (pro aliquibus locis) newly transcribed from a curious manuscript, may supply the answer, though I hesitate to post it lest this "secret men's business" inflame the age-old battle of the sexes…

[*amicas, accusative plural of amica, not amicos, ditto of amicus - now that would be an altogether graver problem!!!]

Mass against Girlfriends

[Violet Vestments]

Introit – Job xxxi, 1; Ecclesiasticus xxv, 28

Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis, ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.  (T.P. Alleluia, alleluia.)

V/.  Ne respicias in mulieris speciem, et non concupiscas mulierem in specie.

Gloria Patri...

(I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin.  (In Paschaltide: Alleluia, alleluia.) 

(V/. Look not upon a woman's beauty, and desire not a woman for beauty.

(Glory be…)

Non dicitur Gloria in excelsis.

Collect – for Continence & [sub una conclusione] against Evil Thoughts 

Ure igne Sancti Spiritus renes nostros et cor nostrum, Domine: ut tibi casto corpore serviamus, et mundo corde placeamus.

Omnipotens et mitissime Deus, respice propitius ad preces nostras: et libera corda nostra de malarum tentationibus cogitationum; ut Sancti Spiritus dignum fieri habitaculum mereamur.  Per... in unitate ejusdem Spiritus Sancti...

(Burn with the fire of the Holy Ghost our reins and our heart, Lord: that unto Thee with chaste body we may serve, and with clean heart please Thee. 

(Omnipotent and meekest Lord, look favourably toward our prayers: and deliver our hearts from the temptations of evil thoughts; that we may deserve to be made worthy habitations of the Holy Ghost.  Through… in the unity of the same Holy Ghost…)

Epistle – I Corinthians vii, 25-33

Fratres:

De virginibus autem præceptum Domini non habeo: consilium autem do, tamquam misericordiam consecutus a Domino, ut sim fidelis.  Existimo ergo hoc bonum esse propter instantem necessitatem, quoniam bonum est homini sic esse.  Alligatus es uxori? noli quærere solutionem. Solutus es ab uxore? noli quærere uxorem.  Si autem acceperis uxorem, non peccasti. Et si nupserit virgo, non peccavit: tribulationem tamen carnis habebunt hujusmodi. Ego autem vobis parco.  Hoc itaque dico, fratres : tempus breve est : reliquum est, ut et qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint: et qui flent, tamquam non flentes: et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes: et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes: et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur: præterit enim figura hujus mundi.  Volo autem vos sine sollicitudine esse. Qui sine uxore est, sollicitus est quæ Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo.  Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.

(Brethren:

(Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity, that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed.  Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But if thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned: nevertheless, such shall have tribulation of the flesh. But I spare you. This therefore I say, brethren; the time is short; it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as if they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as if they used it not: for the fashion of this world passeth away. But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided.)

Gradual – Ecclesiastes vii, 27

Amariorem morte mulierem, quæ laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor ejus; vincula sunt manus illius.

V/. Qui placet Deo effugiet illam; qui autem peccator est capietur ab illa.

(More bitter than death is woman, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands.

(V/. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.)

Tract (from Septuagesima until Easter) – Ecclesiasticus xxv, 33. 17-19

A muliere initium factum est peccati, et per illam omnes morimur.

V/.  Omnis plaga tristitia cordis est, et omnis malitia nequitia mulieris.

V/.  Et omnem plagam, et non plagam videbit cordis.

V/.  Et omnem nequitiam, et non nequitiam mulieris.

(From the woman came the beginning of sin, by her we all die.

(V/.  The sadness of the heart is every plague: and the wickedness of a woman is all evil.

(V/. And a man will choose any plague, but the plague of the heart.

(V/. And any wickedness, but the wickedness of a woman.)

Alleluia – Ecclesiasticus xxv, 23

Alleluia, alleluia. V/. Commorari leoni et draconi placebit, quam habitare cum muliere nequam.  Alleluia.

(Alleluia, alleluia. V/. It will be more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a wicked woman. Alleluia.)

Second Alleluia (in Eastertide) – Ecclesiasticus xxv, 33

V/.  A muliere initium factum est peccati, et per illam omnes morimur. Alleluia.

(V/.  From the woman came the beginning of sin, by her we all die. Alleluia.)

Gospel – Matthew xix, 10-12

In illo tempore: 

Dicunt ei discipuli Jesu: Si ita est causa hominis cum uxore, non expedit nubere.  Qui dixit illis: Non omnes capiunt verbum istud, sed quibus datum est.  Sunt enim eunuchi, qui de matris utero sic nati sunt: et sunt eunuchi, qui facti sunt ab hominibus: et sunt eunuchi, qui seipsos castraverunt propter regnum cælorum. Qui potest capere capiat.

(At that time:

(Jesus’ disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.)

Offertory – Zacharias ix, 17

Quid enim bonum ejus est, et quid pulchrum ejus, nisi frumentum electorum, et vinum germinans virgines? (T.P. Alleluia.)

(For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?  (In Paschaltide: Alleluia.))

Secret – for Continence & [sub una conclusione] against Evil Thoughts

Dirumpe, Domine, vincula peccatorum nostrorum: et, ut sacrificare tibi hostiam laudis absoluta libertate ac munda mente possimus, retribue quæ ante tribuisti; et salva nos per indulgentiam, quos dignatus es salvare per gratiam.

Has tibi, Domine, offerimus oblationes pro salute nostra: quatenus animas nostras ab immundis cogitationibus purges, illæsasque custodias: et Sancti Spiritus gratia illuminare digneris.  Per... in unitate ejusdem...

(Break, Lord, the chains of our sins: and, that we may be able to sacrifice unto Thee the sacrifice of praise with absolute liberty and pure mind, restore what before Thou hadst given; and save us by indulgence, whom Thou didst deign to save by grace. 

(To Thee, Lord, these oblations we offer for our salvation: insofar as Thou mayest purge our souls from impure thoughts, mayest Thou keep them unsullied: and with the Holy Spirit's grace vouchsafe to enlighten them.  Through…  in the unity of the same...)

Communion – Apocalypse xiv, 4

Hi sunt, qui cum mulieribus non sunt coinquinati: virgines enim sunt. Hi sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit. Hi empti sunt ex hominibus primitiæ Deo, et Agno. (T.P. Alleluia.)

(These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.  (In Paschaltide: Alleluia.))

Postcommunion – for Continence & [sub una conclusione] against Evil Thoughts

Domine, adjutor et protector noster, adjuva nos: et refloreat cor et caro nostra vigore pudicitiæ, et castimoniæ novitate: ut per hoc sacrificium, quod tuæ obtulimus pietati, ab omnibus tentationibus emundemur.

Deus, qui illuminas omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum: illumina, quæsumus, corda nostra gratiæ tuæ splendore; ut digna ac placita majestati tuæ cogitare semper, et te sincere diligere valeamus.  Per...

(Lord, our helper and protector, help us: and may our heart and flesh reflourish with the vigour of modesty and the newness of chastity: that by this sacrifice, which we have offered to Thy piety, from all temptations we may be cleansed. 

(God, Who dost enlighten every man coming into this world: illuminate, we beseech, our hearts with the splendour of Thy grace; that we may be able ever to think things worthy and pleasing to Thy Majesty, and to love Thee sincerely.  Through…)

Please note that, though a bachelor, I am not a misogynist.  Remember that deathless retort of the Wife of Bath – 

“By God, if women had but written stories, / As have these clerks within their oratories, / They would have written of men more wickedness / Than all the race of Adam could redress.” 

(Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue”, lines 699-702)

Hierurgia

Hierurgia; or, The holy sacrifice of the Mass By Daniel Rock

In the seventies, the then-archbishop of Hobart, Sir Guilford Young, donated a very large number of religious books to the University of Tasmania.  Some decades later, these I perused while down at University; and of these, about the first that I read about the Traditional form of Mass - and from which I photocopied the Ordinary (pp. 4-62) so as to attend some of the first Low Masses I ever beheld - was Daniel Rock's Hierurgia; or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass... (1833).  

Imagine my delight to now find it online!

It was from this work, for instance, that I learned the older terminology of "Solemn High Mass" for Mass with priest, deacon, and subdeacon, as opposed to "High Mass" with priest alone - while nowadays I usually speak of the former as "High Mass", and the latter as Missa cantata or sung Mass.

I still recall with amusement Dr Rock's description of the priest's use of incense at the start of Mass as he first blesses it, "And afterward fumes the altar" (page 9); and of the use of it after the singing of the Gospel: "and afterward the Deacon incenses him [the Priest], and in his turn, is incensed by the Thurifer" (p. 22) - taking "incenses" in its other sense, of making angry!

He also inserts:

A prayer which may be said at the Epistle.  [p. 17f.]

Thou hast vouchsafed, O Lord, to teach us thy sacred truths by thy Prophets and Apostles ; Grant, therefore, O my God, that I may listen to thy divine instructions with profound respect, and docility of heart. But, above all, grant, that I may so improve by this sacred word in the love of thy holy name, and in the observance of thy law, as to show forth in my whole conduct, that I am truly thy disciple ; — that I may no longer follow the corrupt inclinations of flesh and blood, but may master all my passions ; and strengthened by thy grace, and directed by thy light, so walk on in the way of thy commandments, as never more wilfully to offend thee by any mortal sin ; for I know thou hast said : — Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only (St. James i. 22.) for not the hearers of the law are just before God; but the doers of the law shall be justified. (Rom. ii. 13.) 

and

The following prayer may be said instead of the Gospel.  [p. 21f.]

O LORD JESUS CHRIST who eamest down from heaven to instruct us in all truth ; and continuest daily to teach us by thy holy Gospel and the preachers of thy word : grant me grace, that I may not be wanting in any care necessary for being instructed in thy saving truths. Let me be as industrious in my soul's concern as I am for my body ; that while I take pains in the affairs of this world, I may not, through stupidity or neglect, suffer my soul to starve and perish everlastingly. Let the rules of thy Gospel be the direction of my life, that I may not only know thy will, but likewise do it ; that I may observe thy commandments ; and resisting all the inclinations of corrupt nature, ever follow Thee, who art the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; for thus only, O Jesus, can I be thy disciple ; and thus only canst Thou be my master.

Those Luminous Mysteries

When I heard a media report that the late Pope had added new mysteries to the Rosary, I just didn't believe it, assuming that the religiously ignorant fourth estate had stuffed up again.

However, having learnt that their reports were correct, I must say I accepted the Pope's suggestion (which he was careful to state was only that, it being for Catholic piety to determine whether it be a lasting addition or not) with no troubles at all, since the new luminous mysteries do enrich the Holy Rosary.

Now, unfortunately even so harmless a suggestion as adding new mysteries pro opportunitate (not taking away nor altering the old) has in too many brought out the worst paranoid tendencies in Traditionalists: too many have I heard complaining about them in conspiratorial tones, and saying such mad things as "Our Lady didn't give them to St Dominic!"  - who do they think suggested them to John Paul II, Old Nick?

As my mate Justin pointed out recently when confronted by this immobilist attitude, seconding what I have read elsewhere, these mysteries of light act as a most powerful lens to focus upon Western Catholics the treasured interest of the Eastern Churches in these sacred mysteries of the life of Our Saviour:

1. The Baptism of Our Lord by His holy prophet and forerunner John "for the fulfilling of all righteousness" is the great mystery of the Theophany, the revelation of the Trinity in the Son, the Voice, the Dove - and see what is made of all this by Aquinas (Summa Theologiæ, III, xxxix);
2. The miracle at Cana was the first sign worked by Our Blessed Lord, at the intercession of His Holy Mother, and was a foreshadowing both of the Eucharist and of the eternal nuptial feast in heaven, as well as a blessing of marriage as a most holy covenant (hence its use as the Gospel pericope read at weddings in the Byzantine Rite);
3. The preaching of the Gospel and the Divine call to repentance uttered by Our Most Blessed Lord - is this not His preëminent ministry, His exposition of sacred doctrine for our salvation, the handing over of His saving word to us by Him, the saving Word, during three years? - so thought Aquinas (Summa Theologiæ, III, xlii);
4. The Transfiguration - one of the greatest of the Eastern feasts, the strengthening of the disciples in belief in Christ as King of Glory before their trial of faith at His Passion, the Passage from death to life He was to accomplish for us all at Jerusalem, the revelation of the splendour effulgent of His sacred humanity, the pledge of the Beatific Vision and our future glory (see also Aquinas, Summa Theologiæ, III, xlv);
5. The Institution of the Eucharist, and therefore of the Priesthood, by Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ: Se dat suis manibus! - who would not love to dwell on this, so inextricably linked with the Sacrifice of Calvary?
   

Again, while having a constitutional round Lake Monger, I said my Rosary German-style, and thought on these deep truths: may I "imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen."

Birthday Mass

My birthday approaches, and as a special favour I've tentatively arranged for Fr Rowe to offer an additional, special Mass at the Pro. on Wednesday the 19th at 5.30 pm (I'll serve, as is fitting).

Initially I'd thought that the Mass for any necessity would be a good choice, but having reviewed the texts I find such hilariously inappropriate sentiments as "deliver us from those punishments our sins have deserved" (Collect) and "Forgive us our sins... lest the heathen say, Where is their God?" (Alleluia verse!).  While I do need forgiveness, as do all men at all times, I think to have a penitential Mass would be a strange way to celebrate the anniversary of my birth.

Instead, I now consider the best and most obvious option is a Mass of Thanksgiving.  This in turn raises a further issue, in that such a Mass is marked by the use of the appropriate collect, secret and postcommunion, but these being added (under one conclusion) to the equivalent prayers of a Mass of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, Our Lady or any saint.  What to choose?

After some consideration, while initially favouring a Votive of the Holy Ghost with prayers of Thanksgiving, I think it best to ask Fr Rowe to celebrate a Votive Mass in honour of St Joshua, my patron saint, adding the Thanksgiving orations as per the rubrics.

Now, St Joshua (while being a bona fide saint, appearing in all martyrologies, old and new, East and West) has no proper Mass, so the texts must be taken from the Common of Confessors not Pontiffs, and there are two Mass formulæ from which to choose, viz. Os justi and Justus ut palma.  While both have admirable contents, I think that in particular the Epistle for the latter (I Cor. iv, 9-14), and also to a lesser extent the Gospel (St Luke xii, 32-34) don't quite suit the life and career of St Joshua, while the lessons appointed for the Mass Os justi fit better, being Ecclus xxxi, 8-11 and St Luke xii, 35-40.  Therefore, I'll suggest to Fr that he use Os justi.

As per the long rubric at the head of the Masses of the Sanctoral Cycle, the text of the Collect must be altered since it will, God willing, be used on the 19th of November, and not on St Joshua's actual feast day of the 1st of September: so annua must be omitted, solemnitate changed to commemoratione, and natalitia replaced by memoriam (note that natalitia is a neuter plural, and so in form could be either nominative or accusative; as I perceive it to be an accusative, it must be changed to memoriam, not memoria):

Deus, qui nos beati Josue Confessoris tui commemoratione lætificas: concede propitius; ut, cujus memoriam colimus, etiam actiones imitemur.

[Deinde, sub una conclusione:]

Deus, cujus misericordiæ...  Per...

(God, Who dost rejoice us by the commemoration of blessed Joshua Thy Confessor: graciously concede, that we may moreover imitate his actions, whose memory we celebrate.  

[And then, under one conclusion:]  

(God, Whose mercy...  Through...)

All this reminds me: please pray also for my sister, whose birthday is to-morrow.

German Rosary

(Looking south across the lake to the CBD; the suburb in the foreground is Leederville, and beneath the two tallest trees on the skyline should be St Michael the Archangel Chapel, at the Catholic Education Office.)

While circumambulating Lake Monger after work (forgive my odd style, I just like words and syntax, especially if archaic and arcane), a walk of about three and a half kilometres (a bit more than two miles), I was moved to say the Rosary, and tried it, not in German, but in a German manner (or so I believe), in that, to try and avoid distraction and focus on the mysteries at least verbally, in each Hail Mary, after "...and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus", I added a phrase appropriate to each mystery, as "who rose from the dead", or "who ascended into heaven".  This, as well as stating which mystery I was to consider at the start of each decade, and at the end of each saying "May the grace of the mystery of the ______ come down into my heart and soul and abide there for ever", seemed to help ever so slightly. 

So, dear reader, if you feel so inclined, try it and see if it's a help or hindrance for you.

Polish Mass for Martinmas

At James' suggestion, I went over to the Polish church (manned by Polish Franciscans, for the benefit of Polish migrants) for evening Mass at 6.30 pm.  Since it's in Polish, I brought along my old missal and basically followed the old Mass for St Martin, mutatis mutandis, not forgetting to commemorate St Mennas.  (I give the responses sotto voce in Latin.)  Polish seems to be a very long-winded language: to say anything in Polish seems to take longer than in English, let alone in Latin.

What amused me hugely at the offertory was that the younger and larger of the two concelebrating priests suddenly produced a guitar, and accompanied himself while he sang a charming if strangely familiar Polish song - I nearly burst out laughing at the incongruity of it all, especially when the mournful chorus "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia" revealed it as a pop ballad of yesteryear appearing in translation!!!

I made my communion kneeling, as a lady did without scandal ahead of me (everyone else genuflected before receiving on the tongue), so I had no concerns about having to revert to modern reception methods.

Well, that was my first Novus Ordo since the 2nd of October; it's been so long between drinks that I can now adopt the stance of a disinterested spectator.  A curious experience.

I must say, though, I feel worse, not better, and must hope to be well enough for work to-morrow...

Martinmas: Remembrance Day

Having had to go to the doctor this morning, being unwell and unable to work, I was privileged to unexpectedly attend (while waiting) the eleven o'clock Remembrance Day service at the Bassendean cenotaph directly opposite the doctors' chambers; there were at least eighty names of men killed in the Great War upon the obelisk, all of them locals; the same story is repeated throughout every town and suburb of Australia (in the suburb where I grew up, the rotunda in the park bears a plaque listing the many fallen for King and Empire).  

A bemedalled veteran (the local R.S.L. branch president, I assume) gave a speech, then called for the two minutes' silence, as we recalled the ninetieth anniversary of the Armistice, when the guns fell silent on the Western Front at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, after more than four years of terrible war, "The War to End All Wars", that had cost perhaps thirteen million lives, among them the finest flower of a whole generation in every combatant nation - and twenty-one years later, it happened again, at much greater cost.  

As we also say on ANZAC Day, Lest we forget.

On my way home from the doctor, after collecting my Medicare rebate (unlike some benighted lands, at least we have universal health care here, in addition to one's private insurance) and grabbing a coffee, I stopped off at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, to pray Terce, Sext, and then Matins of St Martin, a patron saint of mine, as well as a famous monk, bishop, and apostle of Gaul or France.  

Interestingly, since his feast was formerly of such high rank - on account of him being the first confessor given a saint's cultus in the West, his feast used to have an Octave, just as did that of St Stephen the Protomartyr - there were proper responsories, and also antiphons for Matins (just as there are for Lauds and Vespers - mainly from his Life by Sulpicius Severus; see also his Letters, Dialogues II and III, and Sacred History II, chapter 50) and the use of, not the psalms for a confessor, but those for a martyr (Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 14, and 20), reflecting the fact that for him, as Protoconfessor, the Church at first ranked him with the martyrs (as his Magnificat antiphon suggests, when it says that he gained the palm of martyrdom despite not being struck with the sword), and only later developed the liturgical category of confessor.  Similarly, the hymn Iste confessor Domini, now used for the Common of Confessors, is in fact proper to him, being written for his feast day in the eighth century:

Iste Conféssor Dómini coléntes,

Quem pie laudant pópuli per orbem,

Hac die lætus méruit beátas,

Scándere sedes.

Qui pius, prudens, húmilis, pudícus,

Sóbriam duxit sine labe vitam,

Donec humános animávit auræ

Spíritus artus.

Cujus ob præstans méritum, frequénter,

Ægra quæ passim jacuére membra,

Víribus morbi dómitis, salúti

Restituúntur.

Noster hinc illi chorus obsequéntem

Cóncinit laudem celebrésque palmas,

Ut piis ejus précibus juvémur

Omne per ævum.

Sit salus illi, decus atque virtus,

Qui, super cæli sólio corúscans,

Totíus mundi sériem gubérnat,

Trinus et unus.  Amen.

As this is the Southern Hemisphere, there is no St Martin's Summer, but, given our blessedly cool weather since mid-October stretching now well into November, perhaps we've been given a Winter instead: very considerate of my patron, who knows I dislike the heat.

Apparently to-day one really ought eat goose and drink wine; there's no goose to be had, I'm afraid (albeit I did have some duck curry yesterday), but considering my indisposition, I think it best to follow the inspired advice of the Apostle and "drink a little wine for thy stomach" (I Tim. v, 23).  And, as is fitting on the feast of one who gave his cloak to a beggar and thereby clothed Christ (Martínus, adhuc catechúmenus, hac me veste contéxit - the first antiphon of Matins), I must give to the local St Vincent de Paul Society some old clothes of mine...

A final oddity: Luther, being baptized on this day, was named after good St Martin!

In the words of the last antiphon of Matins, 

Sacérdos Dei, Martíne, pastor egrégie, ora pro nobis Deum.

(Priest of God, Martin, worthy shepherd, pray for us to God.)