HAUNTED BY THE HOLY GHOST

The Nativity of John the Baptist: On the brightest day of the year, we echo the cry of from the Darkest Day:

Tramonto a Tropea 5 - Tropea Sunset 5, originally uploaded by Zurgo.

From December 21st Vespers, the Antiphon to the Magnificat

O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae,
et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina
sedentes in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.


O Day-spring, O Morning Star, O Breaking Sun, O Son of Righteousness
splendor of the light eternal and bright sun of righteousness:
come and bring light to those who dwell in darkness
and walk in the shadow of death.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

LET EVENING COME

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

Jane Kenyon

all of a sudden, i miss everyone.

all of a sudden, i miss everyone., originally uploaded by margot thorseth.

"we all do what we can, so we can do just one more thing."

O VITAL LIGHT, O BREATH OF ANGELHOOD

waterlily | bright, originally uploaded by barbara°.

 

The ink turned to little dried roses.

Writing in night- a Haiku


Light makes shadow dance,
as letters fall to the floor.
Dried, they are just words.

photo by Hot in Buffalo

Days out of joint, stretching forward without end...

An insightful meditation on Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel over at Father Freeman’s bog, "Glory to God for all Things:A Day at a Time

“...Such moments - even such a day - is like the fulfillment of Christ’s commandment to “take no thought for tomorrow.” It is not that tomorrow is unimportant but that it always threatens to capture us and take us away from today. There is a sense in Solzhenitsyn’s novel that one day is much like another. I could well imagine that would be so under such conditions. There is not really a tomorrow to consider - not without tempting insanity.

But there is also something insane about the tomorrows of our own existence - insane in its original meaning - not healthy. Tomorrow, when imported to today pushes aside the possibility of peace and recollection and replaces it with anxiety and a that cannot be a place to live...“
(my emphasis).
Read the rest here

Illustration:
Dante starts his journey to eternity
Salvador Dalí

Respice in me

Third Sunday After Pentecost

Look Thou upon me, O Lord, and have mercy on me: for I am alone and poor. See my abjection and my labor; and forgive me all my sins, O my God. -- (Ps. 24. 1, 2). To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, my God, I put my trust: let me not be ashamed.
INTROIT Psalms 24: 16, 18

At that time, the publicans and sinners drew near unto Jesus to hear Him: and the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And He spoke to them this parable, saying: What man is there of you that hath a hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost, until he find it?
GOSPEL ¤ Luke 15.

MEMORARE


Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother;
To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy, hear and answer me.
Amen

Metaphors, crypto-Nestorianism and The Feast of the Sacred Heart ?

The archives at  OCCIDENTALIS has an excellent post concerning the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

We do have the Feast of the Sacred Heart in the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, and it's based entirely upon the excellent liturgical texts from the Breviary and the Missal, not upon the excesses of the popular devotion (popular devotion can be crazy, whether its Orthodox or Catholic).

TO READ THE REST:click  here and scroll to the bottom of the page to the entry marked: Cor Jesu, amóre nostri vulnerátum
Dated January 6, 2007

___________________________________________________________

The Hymn for Lauds on the Feast of the Sacred Heart from the Roman Breviary

Cor, arca legem continens
Non servitútis veteris,
Sed gratiæ, sed veniæ,
Sed et misericórdiæ.

Cor, sanctuárium novi
Intemerátum fœderis,
Templum vetusto sanctius,
Velumque scisso utílius.

Te vulnerátum cáritas
Ictu paténti vóluit,
Amoris invisibilis
Ut veneremur vulnera.

Hoc sub amoris symbolo
Passus cruénta et mystica,
Utrumque sacrifícium
Christus sacérdos obtulit.

Quis non amántem redamet?
Quis non redemptus diligat,
Et Corde in isto seligat
Æterna tabernácula?

Jesu, tibi sit glória,
Qui Corde fundis grátiam,
Cum Patre, et almo Spíritu,
In sempitérna sæcula.  Amen.

Author: Unknown, 18th cent. Meter: Iambic dimeter. Translation from the Marquess of Bute’s Roman Breviary. There are seven translations. Liturgical Use: Hymn for Lauds on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The translation below  and one by Rosa Mulholland—“O tender Heart, strong ark which doth enshrine,” are found in several hymnals. Both are in the Annus Sanctus.



O Heart of Jesus, ark divine
That doth love's Latter Law enshrine,
The grim Old Law of servitude
Thou didst annul upon the Rood.

O Lord, thus thou Law's temple art;
Its Holy Place, thy Sacred Heart;
Whose rended veil doth well unfold
A worth beyond Law's shrine of old.

Thus willed thy love to open wide
A wound upon thy sacred side,
Through which to shew how sins impart
Wounds else unseen, hid in thy Heart.

Its blood and water (two-fold sign)
Shew priestly sacrifice divine,
First offered on the bloody Tree,
Now on our altars bloodlessly.

Though sinners, thou didst die for us!
Who can but love one loving thus?
Thou, in thy Heart, hast made a place
Of refuge for our lawless race.

Saint Basil, Bishop & Confessor

Evening Prayer of Saint Basil the Great from the Great Compline

Lord, O Lord, You delivered us from every arrow that flies in the daylight!
Protect us against any difficulty that lurks in the darkness of night.
Accept our uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice.
Make us worthy to spend the night without blame and fully sheltered against all evil.
Protect us against all disturbances or fear of the devil.
Grant reverence to our souls and diligence to our minds, that we may understand Your dread and just judgments.
Nail down our bodies with fear of You.
Let our passions die out, so that in the stillness of this night we may be enlightened by the thought of Your commands.
Keep far away from us all indecent dreams and harmful cravings.
Awaken us in time for prayer, strengthened in the faith and able to obey Your commands.
Through the mercy and kindness of Your only-begotten Son, with whom You are blessed, together with Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

 

Time past and time future

Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present. -
T. S. Eliot

Graduation: Hillsdale College, 2007

Reason #376 Why ADD persons should have digital, and not film, cameras: There is no film to lose.
And we are at it; reason #36 why ADD persons should not own cameras made before 1952; there is no warning sign you have no film loaded, and there is no warning you still have the lens cap still in place.
But Nikon doesn’t make a better 105 lens than the one that only fits my F2.
Sooner or later I figure things out and the pictures are more than worth it.
An as for the lost film, and most things I misplace: it eventually turn up (I’m not telling where it has been sitting for the past three weeks-but dog-berry acts like ADD is just another name for defying the laws of physics and space, and time...things can’t possible get there from here...but with ADD, anything is possible. It makes life interesting.
Somehow it always works out, and I get at least one shot that makes it all worth it.
And his picture is my favorite shot of the whole weekend.
This smile on dad’s face, and other tender moments are the memories we will keep.

Others we will do our best to let fade into the mist:

• Hero’s name being left out of the program, because her graduation was in jeopardy at semester’s beginning (read here: Hero break the laws of time and space on a daily basis)

• The bevy of security guards following Bea (and me-dont ask) around the entire afternoon; It was not paranoia. I don’t care what they say; if someone is talking into their wrist watch, and you are in Hillsdale, you are “on the radar”, and background checks are being run.

• The horrendous campaign speech by Mitt Romney, and holding down Bea to prevent her from stabbing herself in the eye to distract herself.

• Hero’s cat getting underfoot and attempting to commit Grandmacide;

• Grandma being more horrified at Bea’s Obama ‘08 T-shirt than the-12 inch Monstrosity of a tattoo marring her upper back.;

• The Suzuki Saxophone quartet that could only play one song;

• The“ Hillsdale ambiance” which is a cross between “1984” and “Children of the Corn”.

Photography, Art, Beauty, Faith: Beating back the encroaching insanity of the world.

It is too, a monstrosity, for a tattoo; but it could have been worse:

but all is forgiven because she is my best  model; mostly because she doesn’t care a whit if there is a camera 3 inches from her nose; And she lets the camera fathom depths  she would not reveal to the human eye. That is not carte blanche for another tattoo.