December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception
Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 62 The Priests of the Monastery- Ch 65 The Prior of the Monastery
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,
MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,
PRAY FOR US.
O Sapientia! Come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Adonai! Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.
O radix Iesse! Come to deliver us, and tarry not.
O clavis David! Come and lead to freedom the prisoner who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Oriens! Come and illuminate those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Rex gentium! Come and save mankind, whom you fashioned from clay.
O Emmanuel! Come and save us, O Lord our God!
Welcome to the Third Sunday of Advent and the days of the glorious "O" Antiphons that help us prepare in a more direct way for the Nativity of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus! So how about we join Saint John the Baptist and cry out in the desert or city or country, or wherever we find ourselves and say, "make straight the way of the Lord!" Let's start with ourselves though and make straight the way of the Lord in word and deed. What is it you might do this week to prepare for the Lord? And some of our voices of the week just may lend a helping hand. Keep going!
In the hymn "On Jordan's Bank," we sing Let us lay down a road for Him who is drawing near. So as we prepare for Him who is drawing near, let's hear what Anthony Esolen has to say:*
That's some work. Clear the land, get rid of the rocks, dig down for a foundation, and lay the paving stones. And while we're at it, we must get to work on our hearts, furnishing them making them clean and sweet, so that there will be a fit room there in the inn for the Lord at His birth, and He may abide in us, and we in Him (Jn 15:4).
Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.
(Saint John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor, 1542-1591)
Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?
(Saint Gerard Majella, 1726-1755)
The direction of oneself toward God and toward solitude in Him prepares the soul for the acquisition of that peace that helps us in the most distracting, most active external work ... Man's silence makes room for God's word. When man is silent, God is heard. And once we listen intently to God we maintain our silence even in the midst of our speech.
(Blessed Stefan Wyszynski, 1901-1981)
The greatest things are accomplished in silence-not in the clamor and display of superficial eventfulness, but in the deep clarity of inner vision; in the almost imperceptible start of decision, in quiet overcoming and hidden sacrifice. Spiritual conception happens when the heart is quickened by love, and the free will stirs to action. The silent forces are the strong forces.
(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)
None of the great things in human life spring from the intellect; every one of them issues from the heart and its love. If even human love has its own reasoning, comprehensible only to the heart that is open to it, how much truer must this be of God's love!
(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)
We know that God gives us every grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.
(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)
Faith lifts the soul; hope supports it; experience says it must and Love says ... let it be!
(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)
Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm.
(Isaiah 7:9)
Whatever you do, think not of yourself but of God.
(Saint Vincent Ferrer, 1350-1419)
As we go forth this week, united in faith and prayer, we heed the words of Saint Paul:
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstance give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Th 5:17-18)
And at the same time, we receive Saint Paul's blessing:
May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will also accomplish it.
(1 Th 5:23-24)
BLESSED SCUBILION,
SAINT GATIAN OF TOURS,
BLESSED POPE URBAN V,
SAINT FACHANAN OF KILFENORA,
SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS,
SAINT PETER CANISIUS,
SAINT JOHN OF KETY,
SAINT CHAEROMON,
PRAY FOR US.
*A. Esolen, The Poetry of Praise "He is Near," in Magnificat, December 2023, p. 206.
Today's photo: As the earth brings forth its plants and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.
© Gertrude Feick 2023
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