An Interview-Book of Ratzinger Pope

Pope Benedict had a series of interviews this Summer with his German biographer, the journalist Peter Seewald, for a new interview-book to be published in the near future. It shall be the first such work of Ratzinger as Pope.

There are three Cardinal Ratzinger interview-books of which Seewald produced the last two (viz. God and the World, 2001; and Salt of the Earth, 1997; The Ratzinger Report, 1985, by Vittorio Messori, was the first).

God and the World is the least original and simplest of the three, often reading like basic catechesis. Salt of the Earth is a fine sort of autobiography, rich in personal details and spiritual and theological depth. And The Ratzinger Report is an excellent account of the status of the faith in the present world with an acute appraisal (still very necessary 25 years hence) of the major modern religious and moral dilemmas, in accord with it's original Italian title: Rapporto sulla fede (The Report on the Faith).

Il Blog di Andrea Tornielli was the source for the news on the upcoming volume.

Why I Wear the Cassock

Here is an interview of a Mainz priest who tells that wearing the cassock is an act of obedience, Catholic continuity and priestly service and authentic zeal.

Pope Benedict XVI UK Schedule

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE UNITED KINGDOM ON THE OCCASION OF THE BEATIFICATION OF CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN 16 - 19 SEPTEMBER 2010

PROGRAM
Live Broadcast by CTV
(Vatican Television Center)

Thursday, 16 September 2010
Rome
08:10 Departure from Ciampino Airport for Edinburgh

Edinburgh
10:30 Arrival at Edinburgh International Airport
State welcome at Edinburgh International Airport
11:00 Welcoming Ceremony in the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Courtesy Visit to Her Majesty Elisabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, in the Palace of Holyroodhouse
11:40 Meeting with State Authorities in the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse Address of the Holy Father
13:00 Luncheon with Papal Entourage at the Archbishop's House

Glasgow
17:15 Mass at Bellahouston Park Homily of the Holy Father
20:00 Departure from Glasgow International for London

London
21:25 Arrival at Heathrow International Airport (London Borough of Hillingdon)


Friday, 17 September 2010
08:00 Private Celebration of Mass in the Chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature in Wimbledon (London Borough of Merton)
10:00 Meeting with the world of Catholic Education in the Chapel and Sports Arena of St Mary’s University in Twickenham (London Borough of Richmond) Greeting and Address of the Holy Father
11:30 Meeting with Religious Leaders in the Waldegrave Drawing Room of St Mary’s University College in Twickenham (London Borough of Richmond) Address of the Holy Father
16:00 Courtesy Visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace (London Borough of Lambeth) Address of the Holy Father
17:10 Meeting with representatives of civil society, academic, cultural and entrepreneurial world, diplomatic corps and religious leaders at Westminster Hall (City of Westminster) Address of the Holy Father
18:15 Ecumenical Celebration at Westminster Abbey (City of Westminster) Address of the Holy Father

Saturday, 18 September 2010
09:00 Meeting with the Prime Minister in the Archbishop's House (City of Westminster)
09:20 Meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister in the Archbishop's House (City of Westminster)
9:30 Meeting with the Opposition Leader in the Archbishop's House (City of Westminster)
10:00 Mass in the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (City of Westminster) Homily and Greeting of the Holy Father
17:00 Visit to St Peter's Residence for the elderly (London Borough of Lambeth) Address of the Holy Father
18:15 Prayer Vigil on the Eve of the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, Hyde Park (City of Westminster) Address of the Holy Father

Sunday, 19 September 2010
08:00 Farewell to the Apostolic Nunciature in Wimbledon (London Borough of Merton)
08:45 Departure by helicopter from Wimbledon Park (London Borough of Merton) for Birmingham

Birmingham
09:30 Arrival at the heliport near Cofton Park of Rednal
10:00 Mass with the Beatification of Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman at Cofton Park of Rednal Homily of the Holy Father
Recitation of the Angelus Domini Words of the Holy Father
13:10 Private Visit to the Oratory of St Philip Neri, Edgbaston
13:45 Lunch with the Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales and the Papal Entourage at the Francis Martin House in Oscott College
16:45 Meeting with the Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland in the Chapel of the Francis Martin House, Oscott College Address of the Holy Father
18:15 Farewell Ceremony at the International Airport of Birmingham Address of the Holy Father
18:45 Departure from the International Airport of Birmingham for Roma

Rome
22:30 Arrival at Ciampino Airport

________________________________________
Time lag
Rome: + 2 UTC
United Kingdom: + 1 UTC

Quasi-Hermit

That is my assessment of the diocesan priesthood. The diocesan priest is neither a monk in a monastery nor an social activist. He must have deep interior life (a firm sacramental life of prayer and mortification) and must learn to love being often alone with God and to be interrupted at any time by men (and women!), with great joy. He is happy to be a quasi-hermit!

Munificentissimus Deus

On the 1 November 1950 the Venerable Pope Pius XII declared that “by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” Munificentissimus Deus, 44

This solemn dogmatic definition indicates the bodily nature of the after life and thereby strengthens our hope in eternal life.

The creedal dogmas of the final judgment, heaven, hell and the intermediate state of purgatory are presupposed by the doctrine of the bodily assumption of the Mother of God. Venerable Pius in his dogmatic document showed how death and judgment are punishments due to sin stating: “God does not grant to the just the full effect of victory over death until the end of time has come.” (Ibid., 4) “…The bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each in its own glorious soul.” The body and soul are separated for a time at death and the body normally undergoes corruption.

However, Mary was preserved, by a special grace, from original sin and the consequent law of corruption. She is granted special exemption from the law of death and the usual waiting for the last day. Her exemption is proven in three moments: in the Immaculate Conception and in the angelic salutation “full of grace” and in the Virginal Birth. “God, who by an entirely unique privilege, preserved Mary from sin by her Immaculate Conception [and kept her a virgin through childbirth] exempted her from the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and so she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body. (Ibid., 5, 18) And since she is proclaimed “full of grace” one realizes that there is no corruption in her. Death and corruption are punishments due to sin, which punishments this Immaculate Virgin never deserved, she alone always being truly worthy of uninhibited union with the Most High God.

Moreover, Mary Immaculate’s glorious assumption, being the assumption of a woman, body and soul, is an early fulfillment of the last two articles of the Christian Creed (and even a cause of the knowledge of those truths of faith): “I believe in the resurrection of the body” and “I believe in the life everlasting.” A mere mortal man is in heaven in the person of the perfect Woman Maria. Our hope for our bodily incorruption on the last day is greatly strengthened today as we are assured in this ancient feast and modern definition of faith that together with Christ, the heavenly King, is also the soul and body of [the heavenly Queen—the Woman] who has already obtained the reward of heavenly glory in her flesh.

Optimam Partem

Luke 10:38-42 is the Gospel of the ancient Assumption Mass Gospel (1962 Missal) which ends "Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her," that also being the communion antiphon for that same Mass: Optimam partem elegit sibi Maria, quae non auferetur ab ea in aeternum.

This is a very legitimate analogical use of sacred scripture. One might legitimately ask: might not our Lord have also intended to mean the greatest Mary when he said that "Mary" has chosen the best part which would not be taken from her? In any case, God is the primary Author of scripture and he intends several levels of understanding in every text. Lazarus' and Martha's sister is here a type, a shadow, of The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Assumpta.

A similar application is made in reference to Saint Joseph using the Exodus passage referring to the patriarch Ite ad Joseph. Joseph the Patriarch is a type of Saint Joseph of Nazareth.

Personally, I think this Gospel is a better choice for the Assumption Mass than the entirely too often repeated Annunciation Gospel because at least it alludes to Mary's eternal reward which is the meaning of this feast.

The Virtue of Intolerance

God is intolerant and requires all believers to be intolerant of all errror, false worship and of immorality in all it's forms. Just consider the first commandment:

"I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments." Deuteronomy 5:6-10

The first necessary principle of respect for the human person and of right reason is to have solid ideas: i.e. to acknowledge the Absolute.

The truth imposes itself with apodictic force upon the intelligence and everyone who possesses or think he possesses it tries to spread it, to impose it on the rest of men and to remove the darkness of error which blinds them. And it happens, by the hidden relation and harmony which God has given to our faculties that intolerance of the will should follow this fatal intolerance of the understanding; and when it is firm and entire and the manly spirit of peoples has not been extinguished or whithered these should fight for an idea, at the same time with the weapons of reason and logic as with the sword and fire.

So called tolerance is an easy virtue ; it is a sickness of sceptical ages or of no faith. He who believes nothing, nor hopes in anything, nor neither strives for the salvation nor is concerned about the damnation of souls, can easily be tolerant. But such meekness of character cannot depend except upon a weakness and emasculation of the power of understanding.

The second principle of respect of the human person is to acknowledge and promote the equality and liberty and supreme dignity of all men under God. Any proper principle of "tolerance" is based on the antecedent principle of intolerance (i.e. the truth must first of all be unshakable for any other principle to apply universally and to therefore have any meaning at all for the true good of each person and of humanity). "Tolerance" is therefore not tolerance at all but it's opposite: the intransigent upholding and defense of the inviolable dignity of each person, not tolerating any unjust opposition to that necessary respect for the person and for the truth on which his dignity depends!

The third principle of respect of the human person is union among believers. Catholics must be true and loyal to Christ and to the Church and so influence society by their love and commitment to the truth. They will thus live the virtue of intolerance and save themselves and all who would be saved.

cf. Antologia General de Menendez Pelayo, I Tomo: Madrid 1956 (pp. 49-51).

Ernesto Lecuona

Ernesto Lecuona (1896-1963), arguably the greatest Cuban musician of the twentieth century, produced some very fine classical Cuban music for piano, orchestra, opera and cinema.

The "Andalucia" (from his Suite Espanola) is magnificent piano!

His "Siempre en mi corazon" (1942) got a Grammy nomination and was beat that year by "White Christmas".

"Maria la O" (1930) is from his famous zarzuela opera of that name.

P.S. Please excuse this little Summer diversion into my Cuban heritage!

FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR

My 1907 first edition of some French plays by Corneille, with notes in English, published by Henry Holt and Company, has the Paris coat of arms impressed on the front cover with the motto: fluctuat nec mergitur ("It will toss but will not sink").

It is a motto which applies a fortiori to the bark of Peter:

ECCLESIA CHRISTI FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR!

Christian Certainty

An essential characteristic of Catholic belief is the certainty that it is indeed "Catholic," i.e. "universal:" for every man in every place, time and circumstance.

In other words, it is true: the Truth. The Catholic faith alone fully presents Christ to the world: the Way, the Truth and the Life.

If it did not always apply it would not really be true, and therefore, would not be Catholic!

Compare this claim with the claim of Christ Himself: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, noone comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6

The Church is simply passing on that same absolute certainty in the Absolute.

South African World Cup

As we approach the final games of the 2010 World Cup Soccer Championship in which Holland is still an underdog contender (having beaten highly favored Brazil), could we not see this as a victory for the South African European elite which is predominantly of Dutch descent?

A Holland win, in this sense, is a South African win (the triumph of the South African upper class). The landed gentry of South Africa must be very pleased so far and should be quite gratified to win the cup.

So, it is not true that all "African" teams are out! The team of the majority of the European settlers of the republic is indeed Holland!

Secular Humbuggery

Those who say the Church should not tell people how to act are actually presuming to tell the Church how to act. Shall we call it secular humbuggery, a key to the contradictions of "the age of reason."

Indeed, the age of reason has proven quite irrational in it's sundry supposedly foundationless dogmatisms. That is why every man needs the Pope! That is why the Pope is called "Peter" (Rock); he provides the only sure foundation in the world: Christ.

The Widow of Zarephath's Wealth

The moral of today's first reading (1Kings 17:7-16) is that God will take care of His faithful prophets/priests through others and He will care also for those who generously provide for His prophets/priests in his name.

Noone is too poor to share nor too rich to need to share.

Everyone needs to share with God in providing for those whom He sends.

Faith is the greatest wealth.

As Abraham said to Isaac: Deus providebit.

Heretical Lauda Sion Translation

The official Mexican translation of the Corpus Christi sequence makes several references to bread an wine which are absent in the original Latin of Saint Thomas.

Stanza 3

Laudis thema specialis,

panis vivus et vitalis

hodie proponitur.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving,

Is the quick'ning and the living

Bread today before you set.

(From the official English translation, which does not have the inaccurate content of the Spanish)

Gustosos hoy aclamamos

a Cristo, que es nuestro pan,

pues el es el pan de vida,

que nos da vida inmortal.

In this verse, in addition to the text's reference to the living and life-giving bread (pan de vida que nos da vida inmortal [both scriptural terms]) it adds, Christ is our bread (Cristo, que es nuestro pan). That expression is unfamiliar to the Christian tradition and confuses the truth about the Eucharist. Christ is not "our bread!" He is "the living bread come down from heaven" and "the bread of life" both in a metaphorical sense. But never "our bread." Why? Well, the Eucharist is not bread at all!

Stanza 14

Caro cibus, sanguis potus:

manet tamen Christus totus,

sub utraque specie.

The flesh food, the blood drink:

Yet under each species

what remains is all Christ.

(My own translation, the official English being very loose.)

Su sangre es nuestra bebida;

su carne, nuestro alimento;

pero en el pan o en el vio

Cristo esta todo completo.

The Latin does not mention the bread and the wine explicitly but just the word specie (a clear doctrinal term referring specifically to the accidents of bread and wine as opposed to the substance which is completely Christ. The point being made is that, while the flesh is food and the blood is drink under the appearances of bread and wine, none of their reality is present but only Christ, Who fully replaces the bread and the wine with his flesh and blood self: Christus totus. The totus is in reference to the filling of the reality of the species of bread and wine. They are fully taken over by Christ. They are entirely Christ! And that it is the complete Christ present under either of the forms.

The Spanish text should read, instead of "pero en el pan o en el vino" (a heretical statement: Christ is in the bread and the wine) "pero bajo cada forma".

Stanza 21

Ecce panis angelorum,

factus cibus viatorum:

vere panis filiorum,

non mittendus canibus.

El pan que del cielo baja

es comida de viajeros.

Es un pan para los hijos.

No hay que tirarlo a los perros!

Panis angelorum is "the bread of angels", not simply "the bread which descends from heaven," which could be confused with the manna of the desert. The "bread of angels" is a distinctive Thomistic term for the Eucharist and should be translated literally and presented to the faithful as part of this extraordinary hymn.

Stanza 22

In figuris praesignatur,

cum Isaac immolatur,

agnus Paschae deputatur,

datur manna patribus.

Isaac el inocente,

es figura de este pan,

con el cordero de Pascua

y el misterioso mana.

The Latin does not mention "this bread" (este pan) at all!!! The implicit subject of the sentence is panis angelorum, "the bread of angels!"

This is a casual observation by a parish priest who over the past decade has seen a gradual but sure deviation from doctrinal clarity in the texts being published for Spanish worship music, especially in the eucharistic hymns. They often sing the praises of bread and wine!!! We do not adore bread and wine. We do not worship bread and wine. The Eucharist is not bread and wine at all! And that is what we need to sing, worship and adore, the absence of bread and wine!

May the worshipper beware of bread and wine idolatry which is being pushed down the throat of the hispanics in America, in place of the worship of the Flesh and Blood of the living God. Behold one of the insidious snares of vernacular worship. If we simply used Saint Thomas' Latin text we would all be better off.

The Symbolism of the New Pastoral Staff

There is a blog on papal clothing which tells the significance of the new staff.

A New Year a New Pastoral staff – Alleluia!
11/28/09 01:18:38

At last Pope Benedict has his own pastoral staff which has been donated by the Circolo San Pietro. It will be used during the First Vespers of Advent in the Vatican Basilica on Saturday evening, the service which marks the beginning of the new liturgical year.

Monsignor Guido Marini made the announcement on Friday in L'Osservatore Romano. He said it is similar in shape to the staff of Pius IX, which the Pope currently uses, and this can be considered the papal staff of Pope Benedict XVI. It is 184 centimetres high, weighs about 2.5 kilos and is easier to handle than the staff of Pius IX, because of its smaller size. It is also lighter by 140 grams than the silver staff with a crucifix made by Lello Scorzelli, which was used by Pope Paul VI, and later by Pope John Paul I and John Paul II. It was also used by Pope Benedict for the first three years of his papacy.

From Palm Sunday 2008, he began to use the gold Greek cross, which belonged to Pius IX, also donated to the Pope by St. Peter's Circle in 1877. This ancient Roman association now renews its tradition of loyalty to the Pope since its foundation in 1869.

On the front of the new staff there is a paschal lamb at the centre and at the four points of the cross symbols of four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The gold is etched with the pattern of a net -a reference to St Peter the fisherman. Engraved on the back in the middle is the Chi Rho, the first two Greek letters for the word Christos, which is the monogram of Christ. At the four points are the faces of the fathers of the Eastern and Western Church, Augustine and Ambrose, Athanasius and John Chrysostom. His coat of arms is on the top of the cross. "The lamb and the monogram of Christ at the centre - says Monsignor Marini - reflect the unity of the paschal mystery: the cross and resurrection."

Thank goodness the Pope will no longer have to wrestle with the Pius IX staff which was always far too big and unwieldy for him. It is a pity that he did not go immediately from using the Scorzelli staff - so deeply associated with Papa Wojtyla, and which was a potent symbol of the transition from one great Pope to another - to his own staff. Using the staff of Pius IX gave the impression that the Scorzelli staff was being "abandoned" and that this abandonment signified something far more than a mere change in style. For those who vividly recalled the way the Scorzelli staff served as a visible support for Papa Wojtyla during his years of suffering, it was hurtful to see it replaced by the brash and brassy staff of Pius IX.

Now at last Papa Ratzinger has his own staff. I hope he lives many long years so that it becomes indelibly associated with him.

The New Papal Cross

Here is a fine photo of Pope Benedict with his third papal crosier. It seems to fit his character and liturgical bent most appropriately because it is elegant, traditional and subtle (of a rich simplicity).


I got the picture from a Spanish traditional liturgical website:

http://sacramliturgiam.blogspot.com/.

Giovannipaulomagno blog has some closer observations on the subject, viz. that his first papal staff was passed down to him from Paul VI, JPI and JPII; and his second (used from 16 March 2008 until 28 November 2009) was previously used by Pius IX and Pius XII. As far as we can tell this one is finally uniquely his own.


Here is an article from the Bulletin of the Circolo San Pietro, the official journal of the organization which has been the benefactor of all the papal crosses.

UN NUOVO PASTORALE PER IL
SANTO PADRE BENEDETTO XVI
Il Santo Padre ha inaugurato l’anno liturgico utilizzando un nuovo
pastorale, simile a quello che usava il Beato Pio IX. La particolarità è
insita nel fatto che entrambi i pastorali sono un omaggio del Circolo S.
Pietro: il primo fu donato dallo storico Sodalizio a Papa Mastai nel
1877, in occasione del cinquantesimo anniversario della Sua ordinazione
sacerdotale. Papa Ratzinger lo aveva ricominciato ad utilizzare in
occasione della domenica delle Palme del 2008. Il Circolo rinnova così
la tradizionale fedeltà al Successore di Pietro, testimoniata in tutti i 140
anni della sua storia.


“Sabato pomeriggio, durante i primi vespri di Avvento nella basilica Vaticana, il Papa userà un nuovo pastorale”.

Lo annuncia monsignor Guido Marini, alla vigilia della celebrazione con cui si apre l’anno liturgico.

“Simile nelle fattezze alla ferula di Pio IX finora in uso - aggiunge il maestro delle Celebrazioni liturgiche pontificie - questo può essere considerato a tutti gli effetti il pastorale di Benedetto
XVI”.

Donato dal Circolo San Pietro, è alto 184 centimetri, pesa 2 chili e 530 grammi e ha una miglior
maneggevolezza rispetto a quello di Papa Mastai Ferretti, grazie alle più ridotte dimensioni del
bastone e della croce. Ed è anche più leggero di 140 grammi, addirittura di 590 rispetto a quello di Giovanni Paolo II.

Va infatti ricordato che Papa Ratzinger ha utilizzato inizialmente il pastorale argenteo ormontato dal crocifisso – realizzato da Lello Scorzelli – introdotto da Paolo VI e poi usato anche da Giovanni Paolo I e da Papa Wojtyla. Successivamente, dalla domenica delle Palme del 2008, ha cominciato ad adoperare la ferula dorata a forma di croce greca, appartenuta a Pio IX, anch’essa donata al Pontefice dal Circolo San Pietro nel 1877. L’antico sodalizio romano rinnova così la propria tradizione di fedeltà al Papa, testimoniata sin dalla fondazione risalente a 140 anni fa, nel lontano 1869.

Nella parte anteriore del nuovo pastorale di Benedetto XVI sono raffigurati al centro l’agnello pasquale e ai lati della croce i simboli dei quattro evangelisti Matteo, Marco, Luca e Giovanni. Il motivo della rete riprodotto sui bracci della croce richiama quella di Pietro il pescatore di Galilea. Sul retro sono incisi: al centro, il monogramma di Cristo – formato dalle prime due lettere della parola Christòs in greco, la X e la P intrecciate insieme – e alle quattro estremità, i volti dei
padri della Chiesa di Occidente e di Oriente: Agostino e Ambrogio, Atanasio e Giovanni Crisostomo. “L’agnello e il monogramma di Cristo posti al centro – commenta monsignor Marini – riflettono l’unità del mistero pasquale: croce e risurrezione”.

Soffermando lo sguardo sull’anello sottostante la croce, si notano: nella parte superiore, il nome di Benedetto XVI “che lo personalizza e lo rende suo” spiega il maestro; in quella inferiore, quello dei donatori, cioè il Circolo San Pietro. Un ultimo elemento significativo, infine, si ritrova nella parte alta del bastone, dov’è impresso lo stemma di Papa
Ratzinger.

Here is the original article is from the Vatican announcing the introduction of the new pastoral staff at the beginning of last Advent.

Priestly Character

The bishop, when anointing the hands of a priest at ordination says

"...That you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God."

The character of orders enables the priest to make people holy and to connect earth with heaven with the Holy Mysteries of the sacraments, especially the offering of the Mass (Christ on the Cross to the eternal Father for the forgiveness of sins and for the love of the Father).

In the presentation of the chalice and the paten the bishop then says

"...and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord's cross."

In other words, be holy yourself. Live the holiness, the holy sacrifice, of Christ. May the offering of holy things spur you to personal holiness, that you too may attain the grandeur of Christ's communion with the Father.

Two Classic Hymns to the Holy Spirit

Come, True Light

Come, true light. Come, eternal live. Come, hidden mystery. Come, treasure without name. Come, ineffable reality. Come, inconceivable person. Come, happiness without end. Come, light without sunset. Come, infallible hope of all who must be saved. Come, awakened of all who sleep. Come, resurrection of the dead. Come, O powerful one who ever make and remake everything and transform everything with your power alone. Come, O invisible one, totally intangible and impalpable. Come, you who always remain still and at the same time are constantly moving. Come to us who languish in the nether regions, you who are above all the heavens. Come, O beloved name, everywhere invoked, whose being it is absolutely impossible for us to express, whose nature we can never know. Come, eternal joy. Come, incorruptible crown. Come, O scarlet robe of the great king. Come, crystalline belt clustered with jewels. Come inaccessible sandal. Come, royal purple. Come, truly sovereign right hand. Come, you whom my miserable soul has always desired. Come, the Alone to the alone, for you see that I am alone. Come, your who have separated me from everything and made me a solitary person in this world. Come, you who have become your desire itself in me, you who have caused me to want your, you, the absolutely inaccessible. Come, my breath and my life. Come, consolation of my poor soul. Come, my joy, my glory, my delight for ever. (Simeon the New Theologian, Hymns 949-1022)

Come, O Come

Come, O come, most excellent counsellor of the suffering soul...Come, you who cleanse from ugliness, you who cure plagues. Come, strength of the weak, supporter of the fallen. Come, doctor of the humble, conqueror of the proud. Come, O tender father of the orphans...Come, hope of the poor...Come, star of sailors, port of the shipwrecked. Come, O shining glory of all the living...Come, your who are the holiest of the spirits. Come and take pity on me. Conform me to yourself. (John of Frescamp, 1060 To the Holy Spirit)

Elementary Classic Latin Texts

Gesta Romanorum is among the fine selection of classic latin texts provided at this Saint Louis University website which is very user friendly.

Here is a blog that specializes in Latin classics.

Custody of the Eyes

Priestly Purity has at least three aspects:

Custody of the eyes (an essential form of modesty) is the moat,

Celibacy is the solid ground,

Chastity is the castle fortress.

It all starts with the eyes, we must focus and constantly refocus on Christ (God)!