June 2024 Newsletter & Readings
Greetings,
While it’s always risky to make definitive statements concerning the arrival of summer in Maine, I hope this newsletter finds you all enjoying what, well, appears to be consistently warmer weather.
In keeping with the “Vacationland” mindset, we will be taking a break from this newsletter for July and August.
Before signing off, however, we are happy to report that we were recently able to respond to a request from Fr. Cartwright for financial support that enabled him to purchase a full high Mass vestment set for the First Saturday Masses at Holy Martyrs.
These include a Marian Alta Parament, a Marian Cope & Stole for the Asperges/Vidi Aquam, and a vestment set, all of which taken together will enable Fr. Cartwright to enhance the beauty of the First Saturday Masses.
I wish you all a warm and blessed summer.
In Domino,
Jeff Rowe
Readings
Excerpt: The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite
Fr. Michael Fiedrowicz. Angelico Press, P. 92, 101-102.
The position of the Credo as the conclusion of the Mass of the Catechumens here expresses the agreement of the faithful with the Word of God that they have heard, rather than in the Spanish rite in which the Creed was intended as a proof of orthodoxy before Communion. Nevertheless, when used as a transition from the Mass of the Catechumens to the Mass of the Faithful, the Credo is the best means of preparing the faithful for Communion, as it devoutly professes the Incarnation of the eternal Son of God, allows the Eucharistic consecration to be recognized as a continuation of this mystery, and helps the sacred character of Communion to be considered in the light of this mystery. The spiritual preparation that the recitation of the Creed allows was already emphasized by the Council of Toledo (589) at the admission of the Symbol [symbolum] into the Spanish rite of Mass: “It should be sung by the people in a loud voice so that the true Faith may have a clear testimony and so that the faithful, if they are there to receive the Body and the Blood of Christ, may purify their hearts through the Creed.”
The Sanctus in the Western liturgy can be traced back to the first half of the fifth century, while the Benedictus that follows was common in the Roman Missal since the seventh century at the latest. Appropriately, both of these texts borrowed from the Bible stand at the beginning of the Canon, because in it, through the consecration, will take place a theophany that the Church already anticipates as she joins in the singing of the angels, which the Prophet Isaiah saw before the Throne of God (cf. Is 6: 1– 3), as well as in the cry of joy at the coming Messiah with which the crowd of people greeted Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem (cf. Mt 21: 9).
As the Hosanna, kept untranslated in the Gospel, is a cry of homage (“ praise,” “hail”) and is similar to the Benedictus, the Sanctus expresses the unending dignity, majesty, and sanctity of God. The threefold repetition of the singular Sanctus was already understood in the fourth century as testimony of the three divine Persons and the simultaneous unity of Their being. Both the Sanctus and Benedictus profess the central mysteries of the Faith, the Triune God and the coming of the Savior into the world.
As the praise of God by the angels (Sanctus) is followed by the people’s song of praise (Benedictus) and the Church Militant on earth joins in with the hymns of the Church Triumphant, the earthly liturgy once again unites with the celestial liturgy (“ Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty”: Rev 4: 8), deriving its worth from being the echo and reflection of the latter. The priest’s bent posture (supplici confessione dicentes: close of the Preface) is an expression of profound adoration, corresponding to the biblical description of the heavenly liturgy (cf. Rev 4: 8; Is 6: 2). At the joyful, triumphant hymn of the Benedictus, the priest rights himself again and crosses himself, since Christ comes to renew the sacrifice of the Cross on the altar in a sacramental form and to include the Church in this sacrifice.
The Liturgical Year
Very Rev. Dom Prosper Guéranger Abbot of Solesmes, 1833-1875
June 7 - The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
A New ray of light shines today in the heaven of holy Church, and its light brings warmth. The divine Master given to us by our Redeemer, that is, the Paraclete Spirit, who has come down into this world, continues his teachings to us, in the sacred Liturgy. The earliest of these his divine teachings was the mystery of the Trinity; and we have worshipped the Blessed Three: we have been taught who God is, we know him in his own nature, we have been admitted, by faith, into the sanctuary of the infinite Essence. Then, this Spirit, the mighty wind of Pentecost, (Acts 2:2) opened to our souls new aspects of the truth, which it is his mission to make the world remember; (John 14:26) and his revelation left us prostrate before the Sacred Host, the Memorial which God himself has left us of all his wonderful works. (Psalms 110:3) Today, it is the sacred Heart of the Word made flesh that this Holy Spirit puts before us, that we may know and love and adore it.
There is a mysterious connection between these three Feasts, of Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Sacred Heart. The aim of the Holy Ghost, in all three, is this,—to initiate us more and more into that knowledge of God by faith, which is to fit us for the face-to-face Vision in heaven. We have already seen how God, being made known to us, by the first, in himself, manifests himself to us, by the second, in his outward works,—for the holy Eucharist is the memorial, here below, in which he has brought together, and with all possible perfection, all those his wondrous works. But by what law can we pass, so rapidly, so almost abruptly, from one Feast, which is all directly regarding God, to another, which celebrates his works, done by him to and for us? Then again: how came the divine thought, how came, that is, eternal Wisdom, from the infinite repose of the eternally blessed Trinity, to the external activity of a love for us poor creatures, which has produced what we call the Mysteries of our Redemption? The Heart of the Man-God is the solution of these difficulties; it answers all such questions, and explains to us the whole divine plan.
June 18 – Saint Ephraem, Deacon, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church
Saint Ephraem, monk and deacon, the contemporary of St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzen and St. Gregory of Nyssa, was with them one of the glories of the Christian East so rich in testimonies to faith and sanctity during the first centuries. He takes his place in the liturgical cycle among the doctors of the Universal Church. It is only fitting that the ancient piety of Edessa and Nisibis should be represented in the Roman calendar by him who was always held to be the most illustrious of her sons. St. Ehpraem was honored by the whole Church for the depth and vastness of his doctrine, and the whole Catholic world rejoiced when Pope Benedict XV pronounced him worthy to be placed among the great doctors of the Church both Greek and Latin. No one was more worthy than the celebrated Deacon of Edessa of such an honor. Even during his lifetime men delighted to honor him with such titles as illustrious “doctor of the universe,” “prophet and sun of the Syrians,” “pillar of the Church,” and “harp of the Holy Spirit.” All the Orthodox fathers and doctors from St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome down to St. Francis de Sales at St. Alphonsus Liguori are unanimous in his praise. Seldom has reputation been more brilliant, authority more universally acknowledged than that of the humble Syrian monk: less than twenty years after his death his writings were read publicly in church after the Scriptures.
As theologian, poet and orator his literary work was immense. His writings comprise commentaries on the Scriptures, theological discourses and poems, moral and ascetic treatises, hymns in praise of Almighty God, our Lady and the saints. These form an inestimable treasure where successive generations have found not only weapons wherewith to combat error but also food to strengthen their souls. The works of St. Ephraem, written in Syriac, were at an early date translated not only into Greek, but also into all the languages of the East—Coptic, Ethiopian, Arabic and Armenian—so that his hymns and canticles are to be found in all the liturgical books of the Syriac Church, both Orthodox and Uniate, which thus remains indebted to his fruitful genius.
June 24 – The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
The Voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; behold thy God” (Isaiah 40:3-9) Oh! in this world of ours grown now so cold, who can understand earth’s transports, at hearing these glad tidings so long expected? The promised God is not yet manifested; but already have the heavens bowed down, (Psalm 17:10) to make way for his passage. No longer is He “the One who is to come,” He for whom our fathers, the illustrious saints of the prophetic age, ceaselessly called, in their indomitable hope. Still hidden, indeed, but already in our midst, — He is resting beneath that virginal cloud, compared with which, the heavenly purity of Thrones and Cherubim wax dim; yea, the united fires of burning Seraphim grow faint, in presence of the single love wherewith she alone encompasses him in her human heart, — she that lowly daughter of Adam whom He hath chosen for His mother. Our accursed earth, made suddenly more blessed far, than yonder heaven inexorably closed erstwhile to suppliant prayer, — awaits no longer aught, save that the august mystery be revealed; the hour is come for earth to join her canticles to that Eternal Praise Divine, which henceforth is rising from the depths, and which being itself no other than the Word Himself, celebrates God condignly. But beneath the veil of humility where His Divinity, even after as well as before His birth, must still continue to hide itself from men, — who may discover the Emmanuel? — who, having recognized Him in His merciful abasements, may succeed in making Him to be accepted by a world lost in pride? — who may cry, pointing out the Carpenter’s Son, (Matthew 13:55) in the midst of the crowd: Behold Him whom your fathers have so wistfully awaited!
