Liturgi

I dag leste jeg til Matutin i 4., 5. og 6. lesning:

Reading 4:
From the Sermons of St Austin, Bishop of Hippo. 10th on the Saints.
Dearly beloved brethren, to-day we keep the birthday of those children, who, as we are informed by the Gospel, were massacred by the savage King Herod. Therefore let earth rejoice with exceeding joy, for she is the mother of these heavenly soldiers, and of this numerous host. The love of the vile Herod could never have crowned these blessed ones as hath his hatred. For the Church testifieth by this holy solemnity, that whereas iniquity did specially abound against these little saints, so much the more were heavenly blessings poured out upon them.

Reading 5:
Blessed art thou, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, which hast suffered the cruelty of King Herod in the slaughter of thy children; who art found worthy to offer at once to God a whole white-robed army of guileless martyrs! Surely, it is well to keep their birth-day, even that blessed birthday which gave them from earth to heaven, more blessed than the day that brought them out of their mother’s womb. Scarcely had they entered on the life that now is, when they obtained that glorious life which is to come.

Reading 6:
We praise the death of other martyrs because it was the crowning act of an undaunted and persistent testimony; but these were crowned at once. He That maketh an end to this present life, gave to them at its very gates that eternal blessedness which we hope for at its close. They whom the wickedness of Herod tore from their mothers’ breasts are rightfully called the flowers of martyrdom; hardly had these buds of the Church shown their heads above the soil, in the winter of unbelief, when the frost of persecution nipped them.

Slik leste jeg til Matutin i dag om den hellige Stefan, protomartyr:

Reading 4
From the Sermons of St Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspa, on St Stephen.
Yesterday we were celebrating the birth in time of our Eternal King; to-day we celebrate the victory, through suffering, of one of His soldiers. Yesterday our King was pleased to come forth from His royal palace of the Virgin’s womb, clothed in a robe of flesh, to visit the world; to-day His soldier, laying aside the tabernacle of the body, entereth in triumph into the heavenly palaces. The One, preserving unchanged that glory of the Godhead which He had before the world was, girded Himself with the form of a servant, and entered the arena of this world to fight sin; the other taketh off the garments of this corruptible body, and entereth into the heavenly mansions, where he will reign for ever. The One cometh down, veiled in flesh; the other goeth up, clothed in a robe of glory, red with blood.

Reading 5
The One cometh down amid the jubilation of angels; the other goeth up amid the stoning of the Jews. Yesterday the holy angels were singing, Glory to God in the highest; to-day there is joy among them, for they receive Stephen into their company. Yesterday the Lord came forth from the Virgin’s womb; to-day His soldier is delivered from the prison of the body. Y’esterday Christ was for our sakes wrapped in swaddling bands; to – day He girdeth Stephen with a robe of immortality. Yesterday the new-born Christ lay in a narrow manger; to-day Stephen entereth victorious into the boundless heavens. The Lord came down alone that He might raise many up; our King humbled Himself that He might set His soldiers in high places.

Reading 6
Why brethren, it behoveth us to consider with what arms Stephen was able, amid all the cruelty of the Jews, to remain more than conqueror, and worthily to attain to so blessed a triumph. Stephen, in that struggle which brought him to the crown whereof his name is a prophecy, had for armour the love of God and man, and by it he remained victorious on all hands. The love of God strengthened him against the cruelty of the Jews; and the love of his neighbour made him pray even for his murderers. Through love he rebuked the wandering, that they might be corrected; through love he prayed for them that stoned him, that they might not be punished. By the might of his love he overcame Saul his cruel persecutor; and earned for a comrade in heaven, the very man who had done him to death upon earth.

Julens Kalenda startet martyrologiet i Prim-bønnen julaftens morgen, før de vanlige martyrene ble nevnt (martyrologiet er alltid for neste dag):

December 25th anno Domini 2011
In the year 5199th from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the year 2959th from the flood. In the year 2015th from the birth of Abraham. In the year 1510th from the going forth of the people of Israel out of Egypt under Moses. In the year 1032th from the anointing of David as King In the 65th week according to the prophecy of Daniel. In the 194th Olympiad. In the 752th from the foundation of the city of Rome. In the 42nd year of the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus. In the 6th age of the world, While the whole earth was at peace, Jesus Christ, Himself Eternal God and Son of the Eternal Father, being pleased to hallow the world by His most gracious coming, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost, and when nine months were passed after His conception, (all kneel down) was born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlehem of Juda made Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh.

Fra Matutin julaftens morgen:

Reading 1
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matt 1:18-21
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost. (And so on.)

Homily by St Jerome, Priest at Bethlehem,
Book of Commentaries, on Matth. i.
Why was the Lord conceived of an espoused virgin rather than of a free? First, for the sake of the genealogy of Mary, which we have obtained by that of Joseph. Secondly, because she was thus saved from being stoned by the Jews as an adulteress. Thirdly, that Himself and His mother might have a guardian on their journey into Egypt. To these, Ignatius, the martyr of Antioch, has added a fourth reason namely, that the birth might take place unknown to the devil, who would naturally suppose that Mary had conceived by Joseph.

Reading 2
Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. She was found, that is, by Joseph, but by no one else. He had already almost an husband’s privilege to know all that concerned her. Before they came together. This doth not imply that they ever did come together the Scripture merely showeth the absolute fact that up to this time they had not done so.

Reading 3
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. If any man be joined to a fornicatress they become one body; and according to the law they that are privy to a crime are thereby guilty. How then can it be that Joseph is described as a just man, at the very time he was compounding the criminality of his espoused? It must have been that he knew her to be pure, and yet understood not the mystery of her pregnancy, but, while he wondered at that which had happened, was willing to hold his peace.

De siste dagene før jul (f.o.m. 17/12) har egne messer, her er bønner og antifoner i dagens messe – 23/12:

Inngangsvers
Et barn skal fødes for oss, og han skal kalles mektig Gud; i ham skal alle jordens slekter velsignes. Kfr. Jes 9,6, Sal 72 (71),17

Kirkebønn
Allmektige, evige Gud, festen for din Sønns fødsel er nær. Derfor ber vi deg: La oss, dine uverdige tjenere, finne miskunn hos ditt Ord, som ble kjød i Jomfru Maria og reiste sin bolig iblant oss, han som lever og råder …

Bønn over offergavene
Herre, la dette offer som rommer fylden av vår tilbedelse, bringe oss forsoning med deg, så vi med rent hjerte kan feire vår Frelsers fødsel, han som lever og råder fra evighet til evighet.

Adventsprefasjon II

Kommunionsvers
Se, jeg står for døren og banker på, og til den som hører min røst og åpner døren, vil jeg tre inn og holde nattverd jeg med ham og han med meg. Åp 3,20

Slutningsbønn
Herre, vi er blitt mettet med din guddommelige gave. Gi oss din fred og forsoning, så vi blir rede til å løpe din elskede Sønn i møte med brennende lamper når han kommer, Kristus, vår Herre.

Fordi du har sett meg, Thomas, tror du; salige er de som ikke har sett, men (likevel) tror.

Slik (over) var antifonen til Benedictus i dag, og under ser man Matutins fjerde lesning:

The Apostle Thomas, called Didymus, or the Twin, was a Galilean. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, he went into many provinces to preach Christ’s Gospel. He gave knowledge of the rules of Christian faith and life to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, and Bactrians. He went last to the East Indies. Here he provoked the anger of one of the idolatrous kings, because the holiness of his life and teaching, and the number of his miracles, drew many after him, and brought them to the love of Christ Jesus. He was therefore condemned, and slain with lances. He crowned the dignity of the Apostleship with the glory of martyrdom, on the Coromandel coast, not far from Madras.

Fra Prim i de tradisjonelle tidebønnene (dagen før, martyrologiet er alltid ‘anticipert’, uten at jeg vet hvorfor):

December 14th anno Domini 2011 (the 19th Day of Moon) were born into the better life:

At Alexandria, (in the year 250,) the holy martyrs Heron, Arsenius, and Isidore, and a lad Dioscorus. In the persecution under the Emperor Decius the judge caused Heron, Arsenius, and Isidore to be lacerated with divers torments, and, when he saw them to be all equally steadfast, to be burnt. Dioscorus was heavily whipped, but God was pleased that, for the comfort of the faithful, he should then be set at liberty.
At Antioch, the holy martyrs Drusus, Zosimus, and Theodore.
Upon the same day, (in the year 284,) the holy martyrs Justus and Abundius. Under Olybrius the President, in the persecution under the Emperor Numerian, they were cast into the fire, and when they appeared thence unburnt, they were beheaded.
At Rheims, the holy martyrs Nicasius, Bishop, (in the year 400,) of that see the Virgin Eutropia, his sister, and their Companions, who were slain by the savage enemies of the Church (in the year 407.) In the island of Cyprus the blessed Spiridion, Bishop (of Tremithos) he was one of those Confessors whose right eyes were put out and their left thighs hamstrung, and were condemned to penal servitude in the mines by the Emperor Galerius Maximian. He was illustrious for the gift of prophecy, and the fame of miracles, and at the Council of Nice, (held in 325,) he confuted and converted to the faith a heathen philosopher who attacked the Christian religion, (and died after the year 347.)
At Bergamo, the holy Confessor Viator, Bishop (of that see.)
At Pavia, holy Pompey, Bishop (of that see.)
At Naples, in Campania, (in the year 596,) holy Agnello, Abbat (at Naples,) famous for the grace of miracles, who, when the city had been beleaguered, had often been seen with a flag marked with a cross, delivering it from the enemy.
At Ubeda, in Spain, the holy Confessor John of the Cross (died in 1591) a companion of holy Teresa in reforming the Carmelites, whose feast is kept upon the 24th day of November.
At Milan, the holy Hermit Matronian.

Slik leste jeg i dag til Matutin, om den hellige Lucia (286-304):

Lucy a virgin of Syracuse, noble by birth and by her Christian faith, went to the tomb of St. Agatha at Catania and obtained the cure for her mother, Eutichia who was suffering from a hemorrhage. Soon after, she gained her mother’s permission to distribute to the poor all the possessions which were to have served as her dowry. As a result of this charitable action, she was accused of being a Christian and brought before Paschasius the Prefect. When neither promises nor threats could induce her to sacrifice the idols, Paschasius became enraged and commanded Lucy to be taken to a place where her virginity would be violated. But the power of God gave the virgin a strength that matched the firmness of her resolution, so that no force could move her where she stood. And so the prefect commanded a fire to be kindled all around here, but the flames did not harm her. After she had suffered many torments, therefore her throat was pierced through with a sword. So wounded she foretold that the Church would have peace after the deaths of Diocletian and Maximilian, and on December 13 she gave up her spirit, to God. Her body was first buried at Syracuse, than taken to Constantinople, and finally transferred to Venice.

Katolsk.no har også en grundig artikkel om den hellige Lucia.

I dag er evangeliene i den nye og den gamle messen nesten like; i den nye messen hører vi fra Joh 1,6-8.19-28, i den gamle messen Joh 1:19-28. Og slik leste jeg om dette evangeliet i dagens matutinbønn:

Joh 1:19-28
In that time sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to John, to ask him: Who art thou? … (And so on.)

Homily by Pope St Gregory (the Great) – 7th on the Gospels.
Dearly beloved brethren, the first thing which striketh us in to – day’s Gospel is the lowly – mindedness of John. He was so great that it was thought he might be the Christ; yet he soberly chose rather to seem only what he really was, than to let the belief of men invest him with a dignity which did not belong to him; for he confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ, at the same time he would not deny what he was in reality; and thus his very truth – speaking made him a member of Him Whose title he would not by falsehood take. In that he arrogated not to himself the name of Christ, he became a member of Christ. While he humbly strove to confess his own weakness, he earned by his simplicity a part in the grandeur of his Master.

Eller det burde vel være helt vanlig, for det er den nye (ordinære) messen som feires, av en katolsk biskop, i en vanlig (noen hundre år gammel) katolsk kirke, slik de aller fleste kirker så ut fram til 1965. Men noen vil sikkert mene at det er upassende at kirkens hovedalter (og også kommunionsbenken) brukes, at alle de geistlige samt (de mannlige) ministrantene bruker tradisjonelle klær etc.

Det er biskop Mario Oliveri, i bispedømmet Albenga-Imperia i Italia, som feirer messen – og jeg har tatt dette fra NLM-bloggen.

Slik leste jeg i dag til Matutin:

Ambrose, bishop of Milan, son of Ambrose, who was a Roman citizen, was educated in the City in the liberal arts. Appointed by the prefect Probus to govern Liguria and Aemelia at his order and with his authority. Ambrose went to Milan. There Auxentius the Arian bishop had died and the people were quarreling about the choice of a successor. In the exercise of his official duty, Ambrose went into the church to quell the riot that had arisen and, when he had spoken at length and eloquently on the peace and tranquility of the state, suddenly a boy’s voice exclaimed, «Ambrose bishop!» Then the whole populace with one voice demanded that he be elected. And so he received baptism (for he had been only a catechumen), the other sacraments of the Christian initiation, all the degrees of orders according to the custom of the Church, and was raised to the dignity of the episcopate. In carrying of his office, he courageously defended the Catholic faith and the discipline of the Church both in speech and in writing, and converted many Arians and other heretics to the faith, among whom was St Augustine, whom he begot to Christ Jesus as his spiritual child. Worn out by all his labors and cares for the Church of God he died on April 4 in the year 397.

Artikkelen på katolsk.no forteller mer, bl.a. (til slutt) om hvorfor han feires 7. desember, og ikke på sin dødsdag 4. april:

Den eldste avbildning av ham (til høyre) finnes i et kapell som er viet hans bror Satyrus i Sacello di S. Vittore in Ciel d’Oro i kirken Sant’Ambrogio i Milano, det dreier seg om en mosaikk fra rundt 470. Da Achille Ratti, den senere pave Pius XI, var ved Det ambrosianske Bibliotek i Milano, påpekte han at St. Ambrosius’ høyre øye satt lavere enn det venstre. Som støtte for teorien viste han til dette tidlige portrettet av ham, hvor denne deformitet er umiskjennelig. Til da var alle gått ut fra at det var en feil som skyldtes kunstnerens udyktighet.

I 1295 utnevnte pave Bonifatius VIII Ambrosius til kirkelærer med sammen med Kirkens tre andre store latinske kirkefedre: Augustin, Hieronymus og Gregor den Store. Han har tittelen «den honning-tungede doktor». Han nevnes i den ambrosianske messens kanon.

Hans kult er eldgammel og veletablert. Siden 1000-tallet er hans fest feiret i Roma den 7. desember, dagen for hans bispevielse, og det er også i dag hans minnedag, selv om han noen steder feires den 4. april, dagen for hans død. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.

En ny morsom video ser på en del misforståelser rundt Vatikankonsilets vedtak – filmen under begynner med at en ny prest nå snur «ryggen til menigheten» ….