O Emmanuel - O God with Us

English translation:
O Emmanuel (God with us), our King and our Lawgiver,
the expectation of the Gentiles and their Saviour:
Come! to save us, O Lord, our God.

O Rex Gentium - O King of the Nations

English translation:
O King of the Nations, and their desire,
the keystone [with out the keystone the whole building collapses], who makes both [both peoples, Jewish and Gentile] One:
Come! and save man,
which from clay you have made.

O Oriens

English translation:
O Eastern Morning Star,
splendor of eternal light and Sun of justice:
Come! and illuminate those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

O oriens - this reflects the early Christian practice of all facing the same way to pray, even during Mass, to pray towards the East, the direction from which the Lord will come. They in joy prayed for his coming and showed this in their posture. This is why in the old days the priest who face the same way as the people during Mass (hence incidently he would have his back to them).

O Clavis - O Key

English translation:
O Key of David, and scepter of the House of Israel;
who opens and no one can shut;
who shuts and no one can open:
Come! and lead the prisoners from the prison [of sin],
and thos who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Radix - O Root

English translation:
O Root of Jesse, who stands as a sign among the people;
before whom the kings stand speechless,
whom the Gentiles shall seek,
Come! to liberate us, and do not delay!

O Adonai - O Lord!

English translation:
O Lord, and leader of the House of Israel!
who to Moses in the fire fo the bush appeared,
and to him on Sinai gave the law:
Come and redeem us with an out-stretched arm!

O Sapientia - O Wisdom!

During these last days before Christmas the Church sings and prays that the Messiah will come. We great him with these songs. At evening prayer for centuries these great "O Antiphons" were sung. Most of you are probably more familar with them than what you think - since these are the basis for the great hymn, "O Come, o come Emmanuel!" Each antiphon along with each verse of "O come, o come Emmanuel," is a specific title of Christ.

Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in Rome. It is not just that classes are off for the next three weeks. Nor is it the annual tradition of the Mexican seminarians at the Gregorian filling a pinata with candy and cigarettes for the other students to break (a fine Roman Christmas custom? - perhaps not). It is that Rome is actually frozen. Yes, frozen. This is a rare thing for southern Italy, even in the winter. Here are some pictures of the fountain in the courtyard of the North American College. It even threatens to snow. Snow! With lots of people travelling please send up a prayer that everyone will be safe and delays will not be too bad.

St. Josaphat

the incorrput body of St. Josaphat entombed in St. Peter's basilica,

the martyr of Christian Unity is buried in the basilica dedicated to the Apostle that Christ desired to unite Christians under,

"You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church."

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For the unity of Christians:

Let us pray:
for all our brothers and sisters
who share our faith in Jesus Christ,
that God may gather and keep together in one Church
all those who seek the truth with sincerity.

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Almighty and eternal God,

you keep together all those you have united.

Look kindly on all who follow Jesus you Son.

We are all consecrated to you by our common baptism.

Make us one in the fullness of faith,

and keep us one in the fellowship of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

(from the solemn petitions of Good Friday)

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On the night before he died, Christ, himself, prayed, That they might all be one. In this prayer he desired to draw all men into one Church. Today's saint, Josaphat, responded to the Lord's desire for Christian unity. This angered those who prefer to go their own way, and Josaphat was killed by a mob.

Pray for the unity of all Christians.

St. Josaphat...

...Pray for us

St. Martin's Day

Today is a double holiday for American Catholics. It is both the feast of St. Martin of Tours and Veterans Day. These two holidays are connected by more than a date. St. Martin was a Roman soldier, who converted to Christ. At the time of his conversion he laid aside his sword. He knew that he was now a soldier of Christ in the "army of peace." So he became, and still remains, a powerful symbol of the peace that we await from Christ. Since he was a powerful symbol of peace, traditionally peace treaties were signed on his feast day. This custom was maintained even at the end of World War I, which is what Veterans Day commerates.

"Let us speak frankly of those who want to kill us."

I debated whether or not to re-post this editorial to my blog.

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The violence against Christians in Iraq continues though. Christian homes are being bombed. It is a religious determined genocide.

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After re-reading the editorial, I decided to re-post. The author refrains from stereotyping, but rather offers a frank commentary on the violence committed by Islamic-extremist against innocent Christians.

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If the situation was reversed, where let's say innocent Muslims were slaughtered in prayer by Christian extremist, we know the media machine would be all over this. But now they are silent. Where they are not silent, they are mis-leading. Most of the innocent Christians were killed before the police entered. The survivors confirm this.

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This type of violence is a most extreme violation of human dignity. Which god will praise these men for this? Which god is glorified by this act?

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This type of violence should not be hidden under the dark shadow of polite "tea talk," nor should it be hidden within the coward's den of "political correctness." It must be called in plain language what is it: sense violence committed against innocents by extremists.

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Does the author in fact seem angry? He certainly does. For this reason I was thinking of withholding this post. But we cannot forget that in the face of such horrific injustice, anger is the appropiate response. Only a man with a cold dead pathetic heart would not get angry in response to the massacre of the innocents.

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A brief quote from the author, "Let us speak frankly about those who want to kill us. 'Allah akbar,' (God is great!). So those Catholics on Sunday heard the jihadists shout in the church. Can there be any greater sacrilege than to kill the innocent at prayer, while shouting that God is great?"

Deacon Ordination.

There are two essential parts of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. If either of these parts is missing, there will be no sacrament. If either of these parts is missing the man does not become a deacon (or a priest). Thanks be to God that both parts were clearly present (they usually are). The first which is pictured above, is that the bishop will lay his hands on the head of the soon to be deacon (or priest). The second is the prayer of ordination in which we ask God, through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the very being of the man into a deacon (or priest).
Immediately after the prayer of ordination is finished, the men, who just a moment before were not deacons, rise, and they are now new deacons. Since they are truly deacons, and will be for the rest of their lives, they can function as deacons immediately. I was one of the two fortunate new deacons, to be able to assist as a deacon for the rest of the ordination Mass. Above you will see new-Deacon James Dodson and myself assisting Bishop Hebda with the incensation of the altar.
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Below you see a number of my classmates, including myself, as newly vested deacons.
Immediately after the prayer of ordination is finished, the first liturgical action is the vesting of the new deacons as deacons. Just as all Christian "put on Christ" in their baptism, the deacons (and later the priest) "put on Christ" in a particular way at their ordination. This is what this part of the ordination mass symbolizes. In the prayer of ordination Christ configures the men to himself, makes their very being "look" like him in his servant-hood. This is an invisible change. By putting on the vestments of the deacon, the new deacons make the invisible change visible to others.

I have posted more pictures on Facebook if you would like to check them out.

How can one hate such a kind, gentle, and yet BRAVE man?

My heart has been suffering no lack of distress over the recent media attacks on the HOLY FATHER. At this point it is please that the New York Times and SNAP no longer care so much about truth. They do not even care about the victims at this point. They only care about hate. They hate the Church, and they want us to hate also. They oppose the man who bravely proclaims, Deus Caritas Est GOD IS LOVE. So please read this article AN OPEN LETTER TO HANS KUNG. So do you chose to hate or do you chose to cooperate with the love of Christ?

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Pray for the Pope.

St. Anselm: Why study theology?

Today's saint is St. Anselm. I doubt that many have a strong devotion to him, but he is highly important. I write on him in relation to my studies. Why study theology? Or perhaps a better question: How is the study of God even possible?

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St. Anselm saw theology as simply Faith seeking understanding. The mysteries we believe in -- the Trinity, the coming of Christ into the world (Christmas!), the Sacrifice on the Cross, the Resurrection -- are mysteries. All Christians are called to kneel before them in contemplation. But we can also inquire into them - this is not an impossible task. They remain mysteries, since they are deeper than the mind dig, but our faith seeks to be understood by us. The fact that the Ask Father Box at most parishes is full almost every week indicates this.

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But is it not pride that we seek to understand these mysteries that are so far "above" us? Yes and no - if we see these mysteries as an object of scientific inquiry, than yes that is pride -- this is not a physical science. However, we are not only called to know God, but to love Him. We see the person we love the most and we seek to know Him better. You would never put your spouse through the rigors of scientific inquiry, that just doesn't make sense, but over the years of marriage you come to know him or her very deeply. This is the knowledge that our faith seeks about God. It is not pride, because God has made us to know and to love him. He made us in His image and likeness, so we are "like unto God" in a certain way of speaking, and hence can learn about him.

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So why does the seminarian spend so much time studying theology? Because our callings to follow Christ as one of his priest springs from His love for us, and our response to love him in return. Just like the spouse seeks to know his beloved in love and even to contemplate her; the Christian soul on fire for the love of God seeks to know Him and to contemplate Him.

Holy Hour

Today is the third in a series of Holy Hour homilies that my seminary class has been sponsoring as part of our preparation for diaconate ordination. The basic concept is that during the normal time of exposition, which on other days is reserved for silent private prayer, our class invites a priest to preach on a particular topic relating to the sacrament that we will be receiving in October. The sermons have already covered the Promise of Obedience, and another one that was supposedly on prayer. Today's sermon will be delivered by Fr. Bob Barron, of Word on Fire Ministries, and will be on celibacy.

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The reason that the homilies on the life of a deacon are given in the context of a preached holy hour is simple: to highlight the importance of prayer in living the life of a deacon and later the life of a priest. In fact, prayer is important for any Christian that wishes to seriously live the Christian life. Christian claim to love Christ. Prayer is spending time with Christ. How can any serious Christian claim to love Christ, if he never spends any time with him?

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Prayer is part of each day. Each day there is Mass and Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer as a seminary community, along with a prolonged time of private prayer (usually about an hour). During walks to lectures I pray the rosary, and other prayers.

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I try to pray each morning, but when sleep seems to win the battle in the morning, I pray in the afternoon. What blood is to the life of the body, prayer is to the life of the soul. The body will not live long without blood, so the spiritual life of the soul will quickly be drained without the infusion of prayer. It is never to late to begin praying.