Epiphany of our Lord

 

Adoration of the Kings, by Gerard David. National Gallery, London

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. ~Matthew 2:10-11

Reflection: All of God’s creation gives Him glory and praises Him by its very existence. Psalm 143 states, “Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all shining stars. Praise him, highest heavens, you waters above the heavens. Let them all praise the LORD’s name; for he commanded and they were created…” Though creation gives praise to God simply by existing and thus, revealing its Creator, today’s solemnity commemorates the one moment in time when God used a star to manifest His eternal glory.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, it was commonly believed that a new star would appear whenever a new ruler was born. The Father in Heaven used this belief to honor His Son Who was born as the new King. The three Magi from the East were astrologers. When they saw this “new star,” they chose to follow it to discover the new King. Creation itself, in the form of a star, pointed the way, thus giving glory to the newborn King, manifesting Him to the whole world as symbolized by the Magi.

The word “Epiphany” means “manifestation.” Therefore, as we honor this moment in time when the Christ Child was made manifest to the world, we need to look into our own hearts. There, we discover Christ’s ongoing manifestation to us so that we can worship Him Who has also chosen to be born within our hearts. We must diligently seek out that manifestation of God within us and respond to it in the same ways that the Magi responded.

First of all, the Magi were determined. When they saw a sign from the heavens that pointed to a new King, they stopped everything and departed in haste to find Him. When God speaks to you and manifests Himself to you in some way, nothing could be more important than to be attentive to His voice and follow His manifestation with the same haste.

The Magi brought the Christ Child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God was honored and glorified through His creation by the giving of these gifts. God created gold to manifest His beauty and dignity. It was a gift that symbolized kingship. When we ponder the natural gift of gold given to the Christ Child, we are inspired to give Him our own gift of symbolic gold by prayerfully acknowledging Him as our own King to whom we pledge our complete submission.

Made from the sap of trees found in India, northeastern Africa, and the Arabian peninsula, frankincense and myrrh are also fruits of God’s creation. Used in worship to symbolize prayers rising to heaven, frankincense symbolizes the Christ Child’s divinity. We offer frankincense to Christ when we acknowledge His divine nature, since He is God in the flesh. Often used in burial, myrrh honors the Christ Child Who came to give His life as a sacrifice for many. We offer myrrh to profess our belief in the saving power of Christ’s death on the Cross and our need for that gift of salvation.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany, try to see it as a historical event in which you are invited to share. God wants to manifest Himself to you today. When this happens, you must respond with faith and worship, giving God the greatest glory by giving Him your very life and offering Him your spiritual gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Prayer: Most glorious Christ Child, the Father in Heaven honored Your birth by placing a star over the place where you lay. Through that new star, Your divine presence was made manifest to the world in the Magi who responded with faith and worship. Please manifest Yourself to me within my own soul where You wish to be born, and give me the love and zeal I need to follow the example of the Magi, offering You my own gifts in adoration and trust. Jesus, I trust in You.

1996 The Heart of Mary in the Latin Tradition: From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century Théodore Koehler University of Dayton

1996 The Heart of Mary in the Latin Tradition: From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century Théodore Koehler University of Dayton

 

 

Bede: Hom. 7, In Nativ. Domini (Luc. ii, 16-20); Hom. 4, In Adventu (Luc. l, 39-65); Jn Lucam 1 [Lk 2:34-35] (Chr 120:68; PL 92, 346C); (éa. 673-735).

 

The virgin will conceive and bring forth a son. She venerated these mysteries in the depths of her heart (in sui pectoris abdito). When Elizabeth, however, under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed these mysteries, Mary opened the heavenly treasure that she kept in her heart and the Magnificat sprang forth from it. Finally, in the sword predicted by Simeon (Lk 2:35) that would pierce her soul (the word heart is not used), Bede saw foreshadowed Mary's suffering during her Son's passion.

 

11^th Century:

 

Fulbert (Bishop of Chartres from 1006 to 1028): "Open the womb of your mercy by your intercession for me."

 

Anonymous prayer: "0 most beloved and most holy ever Virgin Mary, here 1 stand guilty before the face of your mercy." Finally, the image of the merciful hands is also biblical. Anselm of Lucca writes in a prayer for Countess Mathilde of Tuscany: "0 most glorious sovereign, I fly to your mildness and to your singular mercy: into your most holy hands I commend my soul and my body" {cf. Ps 30:5).

 

12^th  Century

 

Ralph of Secures

 

"The power of God, the wisdom of God and all the treasures of wisdom and science were in Mary ... She kept all the words of the angels, of the shepherds, of the magi, and also of her own son, meditating on them in her heart" (Lk 2:19). Christ, the Word of God, dwelt in the heart of Mary there she kept the riches of this Word: "Never did anyone taste, as did Mary, how delightful God is" (Ps 33:9).

 

 

12^th Century

 

Saint Bruno of Asti

 

For this virgin, the most blessed among creatures, kept more than all the others the privileges of both lives: active and contemplative. She also, like Martha, and even better than Martha, received Christ not only in her house but even into the gates of her womb. She conceived him, she begot him, she brought him forth, she carried him and, more than Martha, and more frequently, she served him. Therefore, as did Mary of Bethany, she listened to his word, and not only listened but meditated about it in her heart, and kept it for us to be read, to be heard. For it is written, "Mary kept al these words pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19). She deserved to contemplate and know Jesus more, not only according to his humanity but even according to his divinity. Therefore, she has chosen the best part that will not be taken away from her.

 

Edamer

 

The heart of Mary was so well purified from all sin-if something still remained in her of sin, either original or present-that the Spirit of God truly could rest totally upon her ... and accept her more agreeably than any holocaust through the obedience of this very chaste and simple heart to the will of God; and give to the son of God a body taken from her, when the power of the Most High would take her under his shadow.

 

 

Richard of St. Victor

 

The compassion is in the heart, the passion in the body. Compassion is not visible, passion is manifest ... The Mother of God, like the red flowers of Jericho [Eccli 24:181, shined in our failing world by her compassionate presence with an admirable and singular way. For "a sword pierced her soul" (Lk 2:[35]). Who could becomingly weigh what sword of suffering she supported when she saw her son pending and dying on the Cross?"

 

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 

Rejoice, daughter of Sion, exult, daughter of Jerusalem (cf. Zech 9:9). Since joy and happiness were granted to you because you listened, let us now hear your answer of joy that we all want ... This is the supplication, 0 merciful Virgin, that Adam addresses to you in his affliction, with his miserable descendants excluded from paradise: Abraham, David and the other patriarchs, your ancestors, they ail implore you ... 0 Virgin 1 hurry to answer. 0 Our Lady 1 pronounces the word that is expected by all the earth, by the underworld and by the heavens. The King and universal Lord Himself wants this consent, as much as He desired your beauty, for He has proposed to you the salvation of the world ... Open, 0 blessed Virgin 1 your heart to faith, your lips to confess it, your womb to the Creator.

 

 

Saint Bonaventure: Mary as Queen; Queenship of Mary: Royal Dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Saint Bonaventure: Mary as Queen; Queenship of Mary: Royal Dignity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the great King by reason of a noble kind of conception according to the message given her by the Angel. "Behold," he said, "thou shalt conceive and shall bring forth a Son"; and again, "The Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be king over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." This is as if to say in so many words, "Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son who is King, eternally reigning on the royal throne, and because of this thou wilt reign as the Mother of the King, and as Queen thou wilt be seated on the royal throne." For if it becomes a son to give honor to his mother, it is also fitting that he share his royal throne with her; and so the Virgin Mary, because she conceived Him on whose thigh was written, "King of kings and Lord of lords," was Queen not only of earth but also of heaven as soon as she conceived the Son of God. This is indicated in the Apocalypse where it says, "A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."

 

Mary the Queen outshines all others in glory, as the Prophet clearly shows in the Psalm which particularly concerns Christ and the Virgin Mary. It first says of Christ, "Thy throne, O God, stands forever and ever," and shortly thereafter of the Virgin, "The queen takes her place at Thy right hand," that is, in the position of highest blessedness, for it refers to glory of soul. The Psalm continues, "In garments of gold," by which is meant the clothing of glorious immortality which was proper to the Virgin in her Assumption. For it could not be that the garment that clothed Christ, the garment completely sanctified on earth by the incarnate Word, should be the food of worms. As it was fitting for Christ to grant the fullness of grace to His Mother at her Conception, so it was fitting that He grant her the fullness of glory at her Assumption. And so, we are to hold that the Virgin, glorious in soul and body, is enthroned next to her Son.

 

 Mary the Queen is also the distributor of grace. This is indicated in the book of Esther in the passage, "The little spring which grew into a river and was turned into a light and into the sun." The Virgin Mary, under the type of Esther, is compared to the out- pouring of a spring and of light, because of the diffusion of graces for two uses, that is, for action and for contemplation. For the grace of God, which is a healing for the human race, descends to us through her as if through an aqueduct, since the dispensing of grace is attributed to the Virgin not as to its beginning, but because of her position through merit. By position the Virgin Mary is a most excellent Queen towards her people: she obtains forgiveness, overcomes strife, distributes grace; and thereby she leads them to glory.

 

Lay Cistercian Practices and Charisms

I met a man, quite similar in appearance and temperament to me, who keeps trying to pray as much as possible in the hopes of becoming more like Christ and less like himself. The more he prays, he thought, the holier he would become and thus the closer he would become to his center (Philippians 2:5). In trying to use the World as a measuring stick for holiness (quantity equals quality), he overlooked the dimension of the heart. The mind is good at measuring quantity, while the heart looks for quality. It is not how much you pray but how much your heart can make room (capacitas dei) for Christ. He was seduced into thinking that prayer was all verbal and must be done in Church, while actually that is an important part of the contemplative life for a Lay Cistercian but there is always more. Formal prayers are not the end in themselves but only ways to be present to Christ, only the beginning of the process. This happens from the beginning of each day, which is why the Morning Offering prayer is so important. Prayer is not what you do as much as lifting the heart and mind to God wherever and however you seek God daily.

One of the ways to approach the Sacred is to follow a daily routine. Some people call it a habit. Do this every day for 30 days. If you are unable to do so, you might want to consider if your spirituality needs to go to the gym.  What follows is my exercise to move from self to God.

DAILY PRACTICES

Place this aide on your mirror. When you wake up in the morning, offer everything you do today as glory to the Father and for the grace to do God’s will, through Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Monday: In reparation for my sins and those of the Church, those on my prayer list

Tuesday: For all family, friends, teachers, classmates from St. Meinrad Seminary, those on my prayer list

Wednesday: In honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and St. Joseph, those on my prayer list

Thursday: For all Lay Cistercians, Monks of Holy Spirit Monastery, Monks of St.Meinrad Archabbey, priests and religious of Diocese of Evansville, Monks of Norcia, Italy and  those on my prayer list

Friday: For an increase in grace to love God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and my neighbor as myself.

Saturday: For all deceased, an increase in my faith through the Holy Spirit and for those on my prayer list.

Sunday: To give praise, honor, and glory to the Father through the Son by means of the Holy Spirit, the God who is, was, and is to come at the end of the ages

FIDELITY TO THE LIFE OF ONE WHO IS SIGNED WITH THE SIGN OF FAITH

In my life, it is important that I have a schedule to follow. I refuse to be used by a schedule (feeling that I have sinned if I don’t adhere to it perfectly) but would rather use it to help me seek God where I am and as I am, each day. I share with you my daily practices. I must emphasize the word “daily”. It is such a simple word but has crushed me more times than I would like to admit. These habits are what I do daily and I do not wish to impose them on you. You may wish to try some of them or none of them. If you do try them, do them daily and feel the struggle that it takes to be worthy of being an adopted son or daughter of the Father.

 EACH DAY, READ CHAPTER 4 OF THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT. NO EXCEPTIONS! — the Rule contains practices offered to his monks by St. Benedict (c. 540 AD). Most of the chapters contain practical guides on how to organize the daily lives of monks of his time.  If you go to this site, you will find a wealth of information about St. Benedict and also a tutorial from the Abbott on the meaning of each chapter of the Holy Rule. The key here is asking God to become what you are reading. https://christdesert.org/prayer/rule-of-st-benedict Here are some of the Chapters of the Holy Rule that I use to take up my cross daily and follow Christ.

• Prologue
• Chapter 4 Tools for Good Works
• Chapter 5 Obedience
• Chapter 7 Obedience
• Chapter 19 The Discipline of Psalmody
• Chapter 20 Reverence in Prayer

I read and try to practice these Chapters as one who is a professed Lay Cistercian of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit (Trappist) in Georgia, always mindful of the lifetime promises I made to Christ through the Abbott, Dom Augustine, O.C.S.O. I am not a monk living in a monastery. My monastery is the limits of the World in which I seek to find meaning. I am challenged to adapt the Rule to help me seek God daily where I am and as I am. Some days are better than others. I have discovered that it is the time I take trying to calm myself down so as to present myself to God properly, that is also a prayer.

EACH DAY, RECITE THE OFFICE OF READINGS, THE MORNING PRAYER, AND THE EVENING PRAYER. These prayers are prayers of the Church Universal. Somewhere in the world, the faithful are reciting these prayers in praise of the Father through the Son in union with the Holy Spirit. They are public prayers of reparation for the sins and shortcomings of the Church and all members. It is praise and thanksgiving to the Father for considering us as adopted sons and daughters. Since before c 540 (St. Benedict), holy men and women have been praying these prayers seven times a day, 365 days a year, continuous prayer for all of us to the Father that He grant us mercy, sinners all. These Hours are not limited to “just Catholics”.  There is no such thing as Catholic prayers. Our Catholic heritage contains prayers that have been part of our tradition for twenty centuries. Anyone can pray these prayers because we don’t pray to the Catholic Church or any Church. Prayer is our communication with Christ, mind to mind, heart to heart, and also to love others as Christ loves us. No one can say that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit. Ecumenical groups also pray the Liturgy of the Hours together and are linked together by the Universal Prayer of the Church.

Watch the example of one of the Hours from Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (Trappist), in Georgia.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbE92dFGG50  What did you notice about this prayer? I was struck by how slow the monks sang hymns and prayed the Psalms. It was like walking in honey. 

EACH DAY, READ OR LISTEN TO SACRED SCRIPTURE — Some people read the Scripture to prove they are better than anyone else. How far away are they from the Kingdom of Heaven. St. John writes about why we have the Scriptures in John 20:30-31 when he says: “Conclusion.^*30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book.^s31But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”^t

The biblical quotation is from a website you should bookmark under CATHOLIC UNIVERSAL. It is the website of the Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20. 

EACH DAY, IN FACT, SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, DO LECTIO DIVINA.– When I first began doing Lectio Divina on June of 1963, I was very scrupulous to follow Guigo II’s Ladder of Contemplation. As I approach the end of my life on earth, I am much more forgiving of following the steps of Guigo II.  I pray Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) without realizing that there are steps.  Even seven years ago, when I first became interested in applying to be a Lay Cistercian, I have found myself having one, long session of Lectio. Now, my Lectio sessions total one, sometimes two hours per day, but I spread that out over three or four shorter sessions. My daily schedule is flexible, yet strict enough, that I pray at least once a day at 2:30 a.m. (twenty minutes), then do my Lectio Divina at my computer at 6:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., after Compline.   

If you are looking for a challenging read, open this URL. http://www.umilta.net/ladder.html

The Steps for Lectio Divina: Spiritual Reading (source unknown)

Step 1. Lectio (lex-ee-oh), “Reading”
Read the Scripture passage. Try reading it out loud. Try reading it several times. Let the words sink in deeply. Open your mind and heart to the meaning of the words.

Step 2. Meditatio (med-it-tots-ee-oh), “Meditation”
Reflect on the Scripture passage. Think deep thoughts. Ask yourself questions such as the following:
 What does this passage say to me?
 Who am I in this passage?
 What do I see? What do I hear?
 What do I think?
 Which character do I most relate to?
 What do I most need to learn from this?
Try taking notes on your answers to the questions. Try journaling about the insights gained with meditation.

Step 3. Oratio (or-o-t-see-ah), “Prayer”
Move into the heart of the matter. Feel deep feelings. Consider the following questions as you respond to God:
 What do I want to communicate to God?
 What am I longing for in my relationship with God?
What do I desire in my prayer life?
 What secrets of my heart are ready to be expressed? Is there joy? grief? fear? gratitude?
Express your intimate self to God in your own personal way.

Step 4. Contemplatio (con-tem-plot-see-oh), “Contemplation”
Simply rest in the presence of God. Be passive and just enjoy God. Settle into the tenderness of God’s love.

(Variation) Step 4/ Additional Step 5. Actio (ax-ee-oh); “Action”
Ask yourself the following questions in utter honesty:
 How is God challenging me?
 Is there a good thing God is calling me to do?
 Is there a harmful thing God wants me to stop doing?
 What is the next step I need to take?
Decide on a course of action

Mary, Mother of God

 

Prayer in Honor of Mary, Mother of God

Hail, Mary, Mother of God, venerable treasure of the whole universe, lamp that is never extinguished, crown of virginity, support of the true faith, indestructible temple, dwelling of him whom no place can contain, O Mother and Virgin! Through you all the holy Gospels call blessed the one whom comes in the name of the Lord.
Hail, Mother of God. You enclosed under your heart the infinite God whom no space can contain. Through you the Most Holy Trinity is adored and glorified, the priceless cross is venerated throughout the universe. Through you the heavens rejoice, and the angels and archangels are filled with gladness. Through you the demons are banished, and the tempter fell from heaven. Through you the fallen human race is admitted to heaven.

Hail, Mother of God. Through you kings rule, and the only-begotten Son of God has become a star of light to those who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Amen.

Dedication to Mary, Mother of God

O Mary, Mother of God and our mother,
we offer ourselves to your loving care.
Today we choose you as our mother, guide and friend.
May we always be faithful to you,
and desire, say and do only what is pleasing to you.
O most tender and loving mother,
we beg you through the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Divine Son,
to keep us especially dear to you
and to obtain for us the strength to lead a holy life,
a life of goodness, purity and love,
offered to God in thanksgiving and praise.
Be present with us at all times, O Blessed Virgin Mary,
and especially at the hour of our death.
Then Mary protect us from the Evil One, the enemy of our souls.
Guide us safely into the presence of Jesus, the Risen Lord,
so that we may, with you and all the saints,
share His life, happiness and love, forever.
Amen.

Benedicta Ward

 

Benedicta Ward

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The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalized and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the Church, they were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer, and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. First recorded in the fourth century, their Sayings—consisting of spiritual advice, anecdotes, parables, and reflections on life—influenced the rule of St. Benedict, set the pattern for Western monasticism, and have inspired centuries of poetry, opera, and art.

Organized around key themes—Charity, Fortitude, Lust, Patience, Prayer, Self-control, and Visions—this edition of the Sayings is fresh, accessible, and authoritative.

The treatise of St Hippolytus "On the Refutation of All Heresies"

 

The treatise of St Hippolytus "On the Refutation of All Heresies"

The word made flesh makes us divine

Our faith is not founded upon empty words; nor are we carried away by mere caprice or beguiled by specious arguments. On the contrary, we put our faith in words spoken by the power of God, spoken by the Word himself at God’s command. God wished to win men back from disobedience, not by using force to reduce him to slavery but by addressing to his free will a call to liberty.

  The Word spoke first of all through the prophets, but because the message was couched in such obscure language that it could be only dimly apprehended, in the last days the Father sent the Word in person, commanding him to show himself openly so that the world could see him and be saved.

  We know that by taking a body from the Virgin he re-fashioned our fallen nature. We know that his manhood was of the same clay as our own; if this were not so, he would hardly have been a teacher who could expect to be imitated. If he were of a different substance from me, he would surely not have ordered me to do as he did, when by my very nature I am so weak. Such a demand could not be reconciled with his goodness and justice.

  No. He wanted us to consider him as no different from ourselves, and so he worked, he was hungry and thirsty, he slept. Without protest he endured his passion, he submitted to death and revealed his resurrection. In all these ways he offered his own manhood as the first fruits of our race to keep us from losing heart when suffering comes our way, and to make us look forward to receiving the same reward as he did, since we know that we possess the same humanity.

  When we have come to know the true God, both our bodies and our souls will be immortal and incorruptible. We shall enter the kingdom of heaven, because while we lived on earth we acknowledged heaven’s King. Friends of God and co-heirs with Christ, we shall be subject to no evil desires or inclinations, or to any affliction of body or soul, for we shall have become divine.

  Whatever evil you may have suffered, being man, it is God that sent it to you, precisely because you are man; but equally, when you have been deified, God has promised you a share in every one of his own attributes. The saying Know yourself means therefore that we should recognize and acknowledge in ourselves the God who made us in his own image, for if we do this, we in turn will be recognized and acknowledged by our Maker.

  So let us not be at enmity with ourselves but change our way of life without delay. For Christ who is God, exalted above all creation, has taken away man’s sin and has re-fashioned our fallen nature. In the beginning God made man in his image and so gave proof of his love for us. If we obey his holy commands and learn to imitate his goodness, we shall be like him and he will honour us. God is not beggarly, and for the sake of his own glory he has given us a share in his divinity.