Our Lady of Ashes

Terms or phrases from the Catechism of the Catholic Church the editors wanted to make sure you knew in Hebrew [Hb], Greek [Gk] or Latin [Lt]. Aeiparthenos  - [Gk] the "Ever-virgin", title of Mary (CCC 499) Akathist  - [Gk] hymn of praise in the Eastern Liturgies (CCC 2678) animi cruciatus  - [Lt] (affliction of spirit) and  compunctio cordis  (repentance of heart) (CCC 1431) auriga virtutum  - [Lt] "the charioteer of the virtues"; i.e. Prudence (CCC 1806) bara  - [Hb] the verb "create" - always has God for its subject (CCC 290) basileia  - [Gk] can be translated by "kingship" but often translated Kingdom, as in "Kingdom [basileia] of God" (CCC 2816) Dominicus character - [Lt] "the seal of the Lord" (on us) (CCC 1274) Ecclesia domestica - [Lt] "the domestic church" i.e. the family (CCC 1656) epiousios  - [Gk] (epi-ousios) "super-essential"; translated as "daily" in the L...

A poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins for Friday's fasting (" The can must be so sweet, the crust / So fresh that comes in fasts divine! ") and a necessary reminder that God's grace is ever present, but the acceptance of that grace, and the life worthy of its gift, is a matter of discipline, habit, the repetition of small sacrifices for the love of God, a thousand, daily, tiny steps toward heaven ... The Habit of Perfection Elected Silence, sing to me And beat upon my whorlèd ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be The music that I care to hear. ...

Song of the Tendency In the infinite longing Through which I come to Thee I know Thee As the eternal love that breathes me in And draws my soul to Thee. Thou dividest me from me My soul strives to quit me I am lost in Thy charity I am but nothingness which loves. In the heart, the captive of Thy invisible hand, Thy flaming secrets seem to part half-open; All our senses – useless outpaced servants – Seek after sleep to be more thoroughly Thine. And yet I wake – watching for Thee to pass, My spirit tends to Thee who can alone fill it, To seize Thee I have only the touch of the soul And this love, this love which binds me. Sometimes to bear the weight of Thy presence, My wailing breath breaks into a chant A strange melody, song of the tendency To Thee of whom I have a mysterious cognition More certain than my life. – Raissa Maritain