Candlemas

Image of Our Lady of Candlemas.

February 2

Forty days after the birth of Christ Mary complied with this precept of the law, she redeemed her first-born from the temple

Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed___Numbers 18:15

and was purified by the prayer of Simeon the just, in the presence of Anna the prophetess.

[A]fter the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord…[T]here was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. She was far advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. 37 And she was a widow until fourscore and four years: who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. 38 Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord: and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. 39 And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their cityNazareth.____Luke 2:22; 36

ECCE AGNUS DEI

"John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'."
___Saint John 1:29.

In pointing out the Lord as the Lamb of God, Saint John the Baptist calls attention to images in the Old Testament that clarify the mission of the Christ. The first of these is the Pascal Lamb that was prescribed in the Law of Moses as the sacrificial sign of God’s covenant with the children of Israel.

The Lord said to Moses…in the land of Egypt, "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar…Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.…The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish…You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb….For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first--born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt-I, the Lord!

But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.

___Exodus.

A second image that is presented to us by the title, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World, is that of the sorrowful servant in Isaiah 53.

Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence…He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief.…

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
___Isaiah

Finally as a point of interest, it should be noted that in Aramaic the term Lamb can also mean, in a casual sense, “Son” or male child. In other words when the Baptist points out Christ and calls Him lamb of God, he is saying: Behold the Son of God, He it is who takes upon Himself (and suppresses) the sins of mankind.

St. Vincent Pallotti, Apostle of Rome

St. Vincent Pallotti

Feast: January 22

St. Vincent Pallotti, was born in Rome in 1795, ordained a priest, he dedicated himself to the conversion of all non-Catholics to Christ but especially the Mohammedans. To this end he inaugurated a revolutionary program which envisaged the collaboration of the laity in the apostolate of the clergy. But St. Vincent was also well aware of the many deprivations in the natural sphere that hindered the spread of the Faith. He thus obtained and spent huge sums for the poor and underprivileged. He founded guilds for workers, agriculture schools, loan associations, orphanages and homes for girls - all of which made him the pioneer and precursor of Catholic Action. His great legacy was the congregation which he founded for urban mission work, known as the "Society for Catholic Action". He died in 1850 from a severe cold which he most likely caught on a cold rainy night after giving his cloak to a beggar who had none. The uncorrupted body of Saint Vincent rests in the Church of St. Salvatore in Onda, Italy.

The Baptism of the Lord

January 13th

Thus says the Lord:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

___Isaiah

Blessed Gregory X Pope

January 10^th

At Arezzo in Tuscany, blessed Gregory X, a native of Piacenza, who was elected Sovereign Pontiff while he was archdeacon of Liege. He held the second Council of Lyons, received the Greeks into the unity of the Church, appeased discords among the Christians, made generous efforts for the recovery of the Holy Land, and governed the Church in a most holy manner.

And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

R. Thanks be to God.

___Roman Martyrology.

One Year Ago

The London Oratory
January 2007

DECLARATION SUPPORTING ANY PAPAL INITIATIVE

TO ALLOW THE FREER USE OF THE 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM

We, Catholic laity and clergy, predominantly of various English-speaking lands, express our hope and desire to see the form of liturgy used prior to and during the Second Vatican Council given, again, greater freedom of use in the life of the Catholic Church and we express our enthusiastic support for any papal initiative to the same end.

We join in spirit as well with those figures of yesteryear who, in 1971, successfully petitioned the Holy See for the continued use of the classical Roman liturgy, deemed by them and by us as a spiritual and cultural treasure of inestimable value. Today in a similar spirit of love for the Church and her rich liturgical tradition, we unite our own voices with those heard in the recent past: with those of Agatha Christie, Cyril Connolly, Kenneth Clark, Graham Greene, Cecil Day Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge and Iris Murdoch. Moreover, we join with the likes of such esteemed individuals as Evelyn Waugh in expressing our profound attachment to this liturgical treasure of Church.

As such, we wish to voice our support for the possible initiative of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, which is thought to allow for the wider usage of the classical Roman liturgy in the hope that:

1. Pastorally, the "rightful aspirations" (cf. Ecclesia Dei adflicta) of Catholics attached to the classical form of the Roman liturgy might be more freely and readily realized in the Latin rite;

2. The ancient liturgical usages of the West might be fostered as living forms of worship in the Church, enjoying full right of citizenship in the same – the classical Roman rite as well as the ancient liturgical rites and uses of the religious orders and primatial sees which formed a part of the living, organic and legitimate liturgical diversity of the Church until recent times.

Finally, we believe that the presence of the classical form of the Roman liturgy in broader ecclesial and parish life will positively contribute to the ongoing efforts to implement the liturgical reforms promulgated by the Second Vatican Council as delineated in Sacrosanctum Concilium, and as envisioned by the Fathers of the aforesaid Council.

Saturday, January 6th, 2007
Feast of the Epiphany

Epiphania

January 6th

After their audience with the king they set out.

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,

until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

They were overjoyed at seeing the star,

and on entering the house

they saw the Child with Mary his mother.

They prostrated themselves and did Him homage.

Then they opened their treasures

and offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they departed for their country by another way.