Pentecost is very dear to me; I was baptized on this feast, confirmed and houselled. Despite all backslidings, I do consider myself called to have special devotion to the Holy Ghost; for this amongst other reasons I feel an affinity to St Philip Neri, who was so much the faithful instrument of the Third Person of the Trinity.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus!
(My N.Z. trip should see me motoring back to Christchurch to-day. If all goes well, I can attend a Extraordinary Form Vigil Mass at the Cathedral, at 5.30pm...)
'Houselled'? Do remind me of what this means...
ReplyDeleteIt's just me being eccentric, by using a very old word for the Eucharist...
ReplyDeleteI did post on this soon after I began blogging, but here goes:
"housel" (noun and verb) is cognate with the Gothic "hunsl", a sacrifice - hence, the Eucharist as offered and received; specifically, one receives "housel" i.e. Communion, and one is thus "houselled" i.e. given Communion by the priest.
Shakespeare, I think, refers somewhere to dying "without shrift and housel" - that is, without Confession or Communion; but you'll have to find the reference...
Thanks, Joshua; I remembered as soon as you said it!
ReplyDeleteYes, Shakespeare talks a lot about being shriven... oh, I wonder why...? tum te tum...