Sunday, December 13, 2020

St. John of the Cross: OCD: Supplement Liturgy of the Hours

 


EVENING PRAYER I

Soldier of the King eternal,

Valiant warrior, hail to thee!

Column raised to heights supernal

In unshaken majesty.

We revere thy glorious merits

And the tide of homage wells

From the fountain of our spirits,

Heav’nward rising as it swells.

 

Thou hast felt the strong protection

Of the Virgin Mother’s power,

Saving thee with sweet election

In the dread and dangerous hour.

Since thy youth she never swerveth

In her watchful care of thee,

And forever she preserveth

Him who vowed her slave to be.

 

Chosen offspring of our Mother,

In her labors thou didst share,

Aiding her, as son and brother,

Carmel’s beauty to repair;

Ruined shrine and temple raising

From the dust of slow decay,

Mary’s honor meetly praising,

In the dawn of fairer day.

 

Lo, the Cross thy weapon glorious,

As on Calvary’s height of yore,

When our Jesus reigned victorious,

Fallen nature to restore;

So thy burning love retrieveth

Glory of an ancient race,

And by suffering achieveth

Marvels of renewing grace.

 

Praise unto thy God be given

For the grace, O John, conferred,

When with chalice raised to Heaven,

Thine entreating prayer was heard:

In that first rapt celebration

Of the sacrifice divine,

Pledge of thine assured salvation

He hath deigned in love to sign.


Regis aeterni generose miles

 

OFFICE OF READINGS

O John, rejoice this hallowed day

The triumph of the Cross to hail,

Whereon with Christ ‘twas thine to stay,

Transfixed with pang of spear and nail!

 

Nor insults, scorn, nor cruel scourge,

Bondage, nor hunger can restrain

The love thy panting soul doth urge

To taste the bitter draught of pain.

 

Thine only joy, thy sole reward,

The boon for which thy spirit sighed,

To mirror here thy suffering Lord,

Like Him in anguish crucified.

 

While thou dost search the mystic night,

Through darkness gleams a radiant star,

And Carmel’s camp is all alight,

With flame that leads to heights afar.

 

Let them that dwell in bliss above

Praise Thee, O Christ, with joyful lay,

Let them that run to Thee in love

Pursue, like John, the thorn-strewn way.

Diem Ioannes advenit

 

MORNING PRAYER

Bearing His Cross, the gentle Lord drew nigh,

Offering the crown by merit richly won.

O Love! to quaff Thy cup and with Thee die,

Low answers John.

 

To live despised, in suffering and alone,

The one insatiate yearning of his breast;

To die devoid of honor, and unknown,

His heart’s request.

 

Death yielded triumph of the Cross at last,

While dazzling globes of fire from Heav’n descend,

And o’er his deeds the light of glory cast

To cheer his end.

 

His dying couch, with light irradiate,

Dims with celestial beam earth’s fitful flame,

Perfumes exhale, breathing of heavenly state

And saintly fame.

 

Honor supreme be to the Father given,

To Word and Paraclete in praise unite,

Upon whose Triune flame the hosts of Heaven

Feed with delight.

Dum crucem gestat Dominus, Ioanni

 

EVENING PRAYER II

Saint of the eagle eye,

Gazing enrapt on high

Mid dread abysses of Divinity;

Martyr by heart’s intent,

Virgin yet penitent,

Prophet and guide in realms of mystery.

 

Oft in thy life, ’tis told

Sweet converse thou didst hold

With the pure Virgin and her Son divine;

Thence came the wondrous light

Flooding with glory bright

Thy mystic page, for wisdom there did shine.

 

Clearly thou dost reveal

Secrets the clouds conceal

For thou hast seeped thy soul in rays above,

Pondering the mountain height,

Darkness of faith’s long night

And the reviving flame of mystic love.

 

When by God’s holy will

Thou dost His word instill,

Wondrous the marvels by the soul divined,

Like Him evoking light

From chaos deep as night,

Cheering with healthful beams the darkened mind.

 

O John, thy praise intone

Prostrate before the throne!

Thee hath the Father signed with light most true,

Gifts of the Spirit shine

And the meek Lamb divine

Openeth the book of life to thy pure view.

O satis felix! Speculator alti

No comments:

Post a Comment