Our Lady of Ashes

In, The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God,  Stratford Caldecott explores the spiritual connections between the Seven Sacraments of the Church with other sets of seven in the faith: Seven Last words of Christ, Petitions in the Our Father , Theological + Cardinal Virtues ,  Gifts of the Holy Spirit , Days of Creation , etc. Neither the writers of scripture, nor the Fathers of the Church found sets sharing numbers as these to be coincidental, but reflective of a sacred order to Creation, especially when so ordered by the tradition of the Church. These organic spiritual links between all things bring a depth of understanding when meditating upon these sacred things and cause them to settle more firmly into our hearts, and minds and souls. This book of Ven. Fulton Sheen, (included in Caldecott's Bibliography as The Seven Capital Sins) focuses on two of those sets, the Last Words of Christ on the Cross and how those words demonstrate Christ's Victory over the ...

The Octave of Easter is Drawing to a close, and throughout the week, the liturgy has focused on the mystagogy of the Neophytes and the newly initiated into the Mysteries of the Church. But drawing deeper into the Faith is a lifelong journey, and for the newly initiated, it can seem like there's either too little, or too much in the way of suggested direction. The book The Four Signs of the Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly [ https://dynamiccatholic.com/the-four-signs-of-a-dynamic-catholic-free-copy ] would not be a bad place to start. It gives you a "program" so to speak of how to stay engaged in your Faith through Prayer, Study, Generous Giving, and Evangelization on top of regular participation in the Sacraments. After that, start reading the daily Mass Readings online [http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/index.cfm] which draws you into the liturgical rhythm of the church and will feed your prayer with the Word of God. For spiritual reading and study her...

Part three of my reflections on Coventry Patmore's short religious thoughts in  The Rod, The Root, and the Flower  [ Part I ,  Part II  and Part III ] From Magna Moralia: IV - 'Merit', as the word is used in Scripture and by the Church, means rather capacity  than right . Faith 'merits' because, without faith, there can obviously be no capacity. Christ took upon Himself the flesh and human nature of the Blessed Virgin, 'through whom we have deserved ' (or been made able) 'to receive the Author of Life.' Emptiness of self is the supreme merit of the Soul because it is the first condition of her capacity for God. 'My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.' The Soul's boast and merit, as it were her vanity, is the God-seducing charm of her conscious nothingness. She becomes through her Mere emptiness of self, the female twin Of Fullness, sucking all God's glory in. The Secret of obtain...

Faith is the light of the flame of love. Continuing my scattered commentary ( pt 1 here ) on parts from Patmore Coventry's The Rod, the Root, and the Flower . The quote above is from the final section of the book, "Aphorisms and Extracts" added posthumously by Patmore's son. Another of these Extracts sums up well the theme of Coventry's theme: God, in whose image we were made, Let me not be afraid To trace Thy likeness in what best we are. And this nicely sums up what Stratford Caldecott noticed as Prelude thoughts to the Theology of the Body: God has declared to his His mystic rapture in His Marriage with Humanity in twice saying, 'Hic est Filius meus dilectus in quo bene complacui'. [This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased] He expressly and repeatedly calls this marriage, and pronounces the marriage of Man and Woman to be its symbol. This is the burning heart of the Universe . A few more from the first section, "Aurea Dicta...

Coventry Patmore, portrait by John Singer Sargent The Rod, the Root, and the Flower  by Coventry Patmore is a collection of aphorisms expounding the culmination of Patmore's spiritual thought. Patmore is a poet of the the late nineteenth century, a member of the Christian Romantics, poets who found the Romantic movement in and of itself, too bereft of religion, intellect and philosophy, but found inspiration in the Romantics' rejection of the Rationalist philosophy, and their return to allegory, symbolism, and medieval imagery. Patmore was considered a mystic and was popular in his day though that waned after his conversion to Catholocism, which still made someone something of a persona non grata in England. Stratford Caldecott in " Why We Need Coventry Patmore " ( Communio  2014) notes that Patmore's writing is a poetic expression of St John Paul II's Theology of the Body almost a hundred years older than the Pope's groundbreaking exegesis of fa...

Reading Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread is a continuation of my reading the Bibliography from Stratford Caldecott's The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God as personal mystagogy.  Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread: A Guide to the Mass by Fr. Francis Randolph (Ignatius Press, 1998) is a very instructive description of the elements of the mass in the order they're celebrated, with a little prescriptive opinion thrown in to spice things up. The book is non-technical, free of theological or liturgical jargon, and easy to read. Fr Randolph is clear and concise in explaining the parts of the Mass, and several of his insights and explanations have altered the way I will be present to Mass and even the way I live out my every day participation in Christ's priestly office for the better. I recommend this to just about anyone who desires greater understanding and deeper participation of the Most Holy Sacrament. Years ago, I led a program called Reli...

Reading Heretics by G.K. Chestserton is a continuation of my reading the Bibliography from Stratford Caldecott's The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God as personal mystagogy. I am not new to Chesterton, and I'm sure to no one's surprise, his Heretics  inspires much self-reflection on the reader's assumptions and acceptance of modern philosophies, ideas and notions while provoking smiles with his paradoxes and ever-present humor. The book is not a description or refutation of formal Christian heresies— such as Nestorianism or Docetism—but reveals and criticizes the fallacious dogmas and ideals of the modern age including the glorification of progress, scientism, wit & solemnity for their own sakes, technocracy, tourism, aestheticism, modern ritualism, and bad democracy. While the essays within take on specific "heretics" of note from Mr Chesterton's time, each individual addressed is merely a lens by which Chesterton focuses his insight ...

Reading The Cross: Word and Sacrament is a continuation of my reading the Bibliography from Stratford Caldecott's The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God as personal mystagogy. Adrienne von Speyr's The Cross: Word and Sacrament (Ignatius Press 1983) is a profound reflection on Jesus’ Last Words after he is Crucified. She connects each saying from the depths of his suffering sacrifice to one of the Sevens Sacraments. These reflections connect the Paschal Mystery to the sacramental life and mission of the Church bringing new fruit to meditation on both. The book is very short (63 pages) and could be read in a single sitting, but each chapter deserves at least a day of reflection and prayer each. I see myself returning to this time and time again in the week leading up to Good Friday, devoting each day to the sacramental fruits of these mysteries. With an RCIA group sufficiently Catechized, I would also consider using this as the primary guiding text for a Holy...