In honour of the great St. Patrick I've posted the video below. It's a musical representation/adaptation of his great prayer - The Breastplate of St. Patrick. The musical version is commonly known as "The Deer's Cry" Happy St. Patrick's Day to one and all.
The full text translation of the prayer is found below and what better day than St. Patrick's day to pray it:
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Pope Benedict & that case in Munich
The articles found HERE and HERE seem to clarify the accusations made against Pope Benedict XVI with regard to an abusive priest in the Munich Archdiocese while he was Archbishop there.
It seems that the then Cardinal Ratzinger allowed the priest to live in a parochial house while he was undergoing treatment, but did not give him any parish ministry. This priest was later assigned parish duties - but that was after Cardinal Josef Ratzinger had moved to the Vatican and was no longer Archbishop of Munich.
One wonders if the media will report these facts with as much zeal as they reported the initial (and inaccurate) story.
The Way of the Cross - 14th Station
JESUS’ BODY IS LAID IN THE TOMB
John 19: 40-42
They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial custom. At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. Since it was the Jewish day of preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Romans 6: 3-6
All of us when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his; realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin.
Though the burial is done with haste and lacked the time necessary, the carefully and lovingly prepared body of Jesus is placed in a new tomb. A stone is rolled into place and darkness fall. The Passover has begun and the proper burial rites will have to wait a few days. Death seems to have won the day. His body sealed up in the bowels of the earth, Jesus’ tomb proclaims to the world that death has the final say, that evil has triumphed over good, that all is vanity and the life of man, any man, is futile and ultimately dissolves into nothingness. A few years and who would remember the carpenter from Galilee who ruffled a few too many feathers among those who mattered and paid the ultimate price for it. Until that day, every tomb that had been ever used told a similar tale of woe for mankind.
But this tomb was new, no one had ever been buried in it and certainly no-one like Jesus had ever been buried in any tomb before. The tomb which mocks man and puts an end to his hopes and aspirations, would become a symbol which would put new heart into him. As the Cross, that horrible instrument, a symbol of torture and death was to become the symbol of healing and life, so too in Jesus the tomb was to become a symbol of life. For though on Good Friday the tomb of Jesus seemed to proclaim the end, on Sunday morning that same tomb proclaims the beginning of new life, the conquest of sin and death. Death where is your victory, death where is your sting? For Easter Morning will deny you your ability to boast and taunt mankind.
Lord, help us to face death when it comes to us with great faith and trust. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life and so we submit ourselves to your holy will regarding our own time to depart this life. Give us the grace to be ready and we ask that you allow your Mother to prepare us well for that day, she whom we have countless times asked to pray for us at the hour of our death.
The Way of the Cross - 13th Station
JESUS’ BODY IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS
Luke 23: 50-53
And now a member of the Council arrived, a good and upright man named Joseph. He had not consented to what the others had planned and carried out. He came from Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he lived in the hope of seeing the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. He then took it down, wrapped it in a shroud and put it in a tomb which was hewn in stone.
Luke 2:7
And she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
Mary receives the life-less body of her precious Son from the Cross. Her heart on fire with joy she had received him from the Father’s hands, full of life, and she had wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Now her heart pierced through with bitter sorrow she must hand him back to the Father, life-less, and once again she wraps him in clothes, this time a burial shroud. Who can say what anguish filled her soul. Her Son the Redeemer has given every last drop of blood in his body as a sign of the extremes of love and extremes of suffering that the Father’s will has brought him to. She has no more tears left to give, all have been poured out in the preceding hours; signs of her co-operation in her Son’s work of Salvation, of the great sorrowful suffering which she offered in union with her Lord. And with great faith she renews now her yes: “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will.” She grieved her Son, but she grieved as one with hope, and no-one ever grieved as faithfully and filled with hope as she did. All according to your will Lord, according to your will.
We pray for all those who mourn the death of one they love, that they may not grieve without hope. Lord give them the strength to endure this bitter trial and give them the gifts of faith and hope, that even amid the darkness of death they may persevere in their expectation of the light of Resurrection.
And now a member of the Council arrived, a good and upright man named Joseph. He had not consented to what the others had planned and carried out. He came from Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he lived in the hope of seeing the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. He then took it down, wrapped it in a shroud and put it in a tomb which was hewn in stone.
Luke 2:7
And she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.
Mary receives the life-less body of her precious Son from the Cross. Her heart on fire with joy she had received him from the Father’s hands, full of life, and she had wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Now her heart pierced through with bitter sorrow she must hand him back to the Father, life-less, and once again she wraps him in clothes, this time a burial shroud. Who can say what anguish filled her soul. Her Son the Redeemer has given every last drop of blood in his body as a sign of the extremes of love and extremes of suffering that the Father’s will has brought him to. She has no more tears left to give, all have been poured out in the preceding hours; signs of her co-operation in her Son’s work of Salvation, of the great sorrowful suffering which she offered in union with her Lord. And with great faith she renews now her yes: “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will.” She grieved her Son, but she grieved as one with hope, and no-one ever grieved as faithfully and filled with hope as she did. All according to your will Lord, according to your will.
We pray for all those who mourn the death of one they love, that they may not grieve without hope. Lord give them the strength to endure this bitter trial and give them the gifts of faith and hope, that even amid the darkness of death they may persevere in their expectation of the light of Resurrection.
The Way of the Cross - 12th Station
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS
John 19:28-34
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: ‘I Thirst’. A jar full of sour wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath – since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then the other. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.
John 7: 37-38
Jesus stood and cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As Scripture says: ‘From his heart shall flow streams of living water’.”
As he hangs there suspended between heaven and earth all of human sin flows to him. His open arms are an invitation to human wickedness and a sign of his vulnerability. And the sin which has perverted the human heart will flow ferociously out against him. All the depravity which the human heart is capable of will flow into his heart. The river of sin seems endless, how is it possible that one man could embrace it all. But that river of sin flows into the endless ocean of merciful love that has gathered in his Divine Heart. Sin will exhaust itself as it rages against love. The more it raises its voice to scream ‘no’ the more the Saviour will quietly repeat his ‘yes’. And as the fresh water of a river flowing into the sea becomes lost in the salty deeps so the foulness of our most vile sins disappears when it is conquered by infinite love. Our sins fall upon him and his blood falls upon us. The full measure of our sins draws forth the full measure of his life’s-blood. From our wounds flow waves of death and destruction - the foul-smelling rot of sin. From his wounds flow waves of the cleansing Blood of the Lamb without blemish, the medicinal water that flows from the tree of life, from the side of the temple, which is his body; the sweet-smelling ‘yes’ offered to the Father from a truly human heart – the Divine Heart of his Son.
With each breath he takes the stench of sin and death fill his soul so that the author of life itself, moves ever closer to death. And when the last wave of the last sin ever to be committed breaks upon the shore of his suffering and he breathes deeply the stench of that sin too, he lowers his head in death, breathing out the Holy Spirit over those raging waters. “Quiet now, be still.”
Lord, by your wounds we are healed, and so we press our open wounds to yours that we may be healed.
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: ‘I Thirst’. A jar full of sour wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath – since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then the other. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.
John 7: 37-38
Jesus stood and cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As Scripture says: ‘From his heart shall flow streams of living water’.”
As he hangs there suspended between heaven and earth all of human sin flows to him. His open arms are an invitation to human wickedness and a sign of his vulnerability. And the sin which has perverted the human heart will flow ferociously out against him. All the depravity which the human heart is capable of will flow into his heart. The river of sin seems endless, how is it possible that one man could embrace it all. But that river of sin flows into the endless ocean of merciful love that has gathered in his Divine Heart. Sin will exhaust itself as it rages against love. The more it raises its voice to scream ‘no’ the more the Saviour will quietly repeat his ‘yes’. And as the fresh water of a river flowing into the sea becomes lost in the salty deeps so the foulness of our most vile sins disappears when it is conquered by infinite love. Our sins fall upon him and his blood falls upon us. The full measure of our sins draws forth the full measure of his life’s-blood. From our wounds flow waves of death and destruction - the foul-smelling rot of sin. From his wounds flow waves of the cleansing Blood of the Lamb without blemish, the medicinal water that flows from the tree of life, from the side of the temple, which is his body; the sweet-smelling ‘yes’ offered to the Father from a truly human heart – the Divine Heart of his Son.
With each breath he takes the stench of sin and death fill his soul so that the author of life itself, moves ever closer to death. And when the last wave of the last sin ever to be committed breaks upon the shore of his suffering and he breathes deeply the stench of that sin too, he lowers his head in death, breathing out the Holy Spirit over those raging waters. “Quiet now, be still.”
Lord, by your wounds we are healed, and so we press our open wounds to yours that we may be healed.
The Way of the Cross - 11th Station
JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
Luke 23:33-34
When they reached the place of the Skull, there they crucified him and the two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’
Psalm 21
Many dogs have surrounded me, a band of the wicked beset me. They tear holes in my hands and my feet and lay me in the dust of death.
Despite the pain, the exhaustion and cruelty that surrounded him, would it not have been for Jesus an interior joy to mount that cross and so accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation. Beholding the wondrous cross would he not have contemplated the countless souls who would embrace that cross, would look upon it as the image of merciful love and so understand the extremes of the Father’s love for them. Forever that image of the Saviour, arms wide open on the cross, would inspire sinners to come and be embraced by the Saviour whose arms are forever open to receive them. We can imagine that he did not shrink before it, but as he had carried it with such resolution and love, so now he would stretch himself out upon it, willingly easing himself into position.
With three powerful blows the first nail tears through Christ’s flesh and lodges itself in the wood of the Cross. Then follows the second, then the third; each with ruthless efficiency. The executioners couldn’t see that this was a defining moment for mankind – deicide, the murder of God. Had they known the importance of what they were doing at that moment then they would have known that such a moment demanded solemnity, time, ritual and they would have carried out each movement in this tragic turn of events with greater attention, with greater care allowing each atrocious wound the time and space to speak for itself. But they are completely ignorant of all this – they do not know what they are doing. Here is a criminal to be disposed of in the usual way. What they must do they do quickly and in a moment the Saviour of the world is lifted up and the full horror of a world gone mad is displayed for all to see.
The first wave of human sin is passed, but there comes another and yet another in a relentless onslaught crashing on the shores of that Divine Heart. Each wave foams with the sins of every human being of every generation. Every injustice, every lust, every infidelity, every angry word, every violent action, every evil thought, every gun fired, every bomb dropped, every abortion, every life taken, every conceivable evil that ever was or will be flood his soul. Each presents itself to the eyes of Christ as one huge tsunami following another – a tidal wave of rejection that roars ‘no’ to the Father.
Hanging on the cross the sins of the world wash over him, invade him and cause him the most unbearable suffering. He has asked for this, he has desired that it be this way because this is his Father’s will. And as each sin falls upon his head and his grief increases he utters no word of condemnation, no judgement. Silently he bears it all. No sin will every force him to say: ‘Enough – I will have no more, away with this cross!’
And amid all these thunderous waves there are countless small waves too. These waves do not crash violently over him, but timidly, humbly exhaust themselves at his feet. These are the waves of the Magdalenes of this world whose sins are not hurled at the Saviour, rather they are laid at the foot of his cross. They may be waves of sin – perhaps waves of the greatest possible sins, but they are waves which foam with repentance. These sins do cause him to suffer but as bitter as they are for him to swallow they leave a sweet taste as he gazes upon another soul saved for the Kingdom. While so many sinners would use their sins to crucify him – these sinners would have them crucified with him.
And so, as he is lifted up into the air on that Cross, Jesus’ words are not words of condemnation. From this throne, the judgement is mercy, mercy, mercy. Here the Saviour sits on his throne of mercy and the blood which flows from his crucified body pleads with the Father: Father forgive them, Father forgive them – they do not know what they are doing.
He prayed not for himself, not that the Father would ease his suffering, but that the Father would accept his sufferings in expiation for our sins. In extreme agony his thoughts were not on himself but on us, and that because, though great his physical sufferings were, it is a greater torture to him that any sinner should be lost. Father forgive them – Father forgive us, we offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
When they reached the place of the Skull, there they crucified him and the two criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’
Psalm 21
Many dogs have surrounded me, a band of the wicked beset me. They tear holes in my hands and my feet and lay me in the dust of death.
Despite the pain, the exhaustion and cruelty that surrounded him, would it not have been for Jesus an interior joy to mount that cross and so accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation. Beholding the wondrous cross would he not have contemplated the countless souls who would embrace that cross, would look upon it as the image of merciful love and so understand the extremes of the Father’s love for them. Forever that image of the Saviour, arms wide open on the cross, would inspire sinners to come and be embraced by the Saviour whose arms are forever open to receive them. We can imagine that he did not shrink before it, but as he had carried it with such resolution and love, so now he would stretch himself out upon it, willingly easing himself into position.
With three powerful blows the first nail tears through Christ’s flesh and lodges itself in the wood of the Cross. Then follows the second, then the third; each with ruthless efficiency. The executioners couldn’t see that this was a defining moment for mankind – deicide, the murder of God. Had they known the importance of what they were doing at that moment then they would have known that such a moment demanded solemnity, time, ritual and they would have carried out each movement in this tragic turn of events with greater attention, with greater care allowing each atrocious wound the time and space to speak for itself. But they are completely ignorant of all this – they do not know what they are doing. Here is a criminal to be disposed of in the usual way. What they must do they do quickly and in a moment the Saviour of the world is lifted up and the full horror of a world gone mad is displayed for all to see.
The first wave of human sin is passed, but there comes another and yet another in a relentless onslaught crashing on the shores of that Divine Heart. Each wave foams with the sins of every human being of every generation. Every injustice, every lust, every infidelity, every angry word, every violent action, every evil thought, every gun fired, every bomb dropped, every abortion, every life taken, every conceivable evil that ever was or will be flood his soul. Each presents itself to the eyes of Christ as one huge tsunami following another – a tidal wave of rejection that roars ‘no’ to the Father.
Hanging on the cross the sins of the world wash over him, invade him and cause him the most unbearable suffering. He has asked for this, he has desired that it be this way because this is his Father’s will. And as each sin falls upon his head and his grief increases he utters no word of condemnation, no judgement. Silently he bears it all. No sin will every force him to say: ‘Enough – I will have no more, away with this cross!’
And amid all these thunderous waves there are countless small waves too. These waves do not crash violently over him, but timidly, humbly exhaust themselves at his feet. These are the waves of the Magdalenes of this world whose sins are not hurled at the Saviour, rather they are laid at the foot of his cross. They may be waves of sin – perhaps waves of the greatest possible sins, but they are waves which foam with repentance. These sins do cause him to suffer but as bitter as they are for him to swallow they leave a sweet taste as he gazes upon another soul saved for the Kingdom. While so many sinners would use their sins to crucify him – these sinners would have them crucified with him.
And so, as he is lifted up into the air on that Cross, Jesus’ words are not words of condemnation. From this throne, the judgement is mercy, mercy, mercy. Here the Saviour sits on his throne of mercy and the blood which flows from his crucified body pleads with the Father: Father forgive them, Father forgive them – they do not know what they are doing.
He prayed not for himself, not that the Father would ease his suffering, but that the Father would accept his sufferings in expiation for our sins. In extreme agony his thoughts were not on himself but on us, and that because, though great his physical sufferings were, it is a greater torture to him that any sinner should be lost. Father forgive them – Father forgive us, we offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
The Way of the Cross - 10th Station
JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
Genesis 3: 21-24
The Lord God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, ‘Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live forever.’ So the Lord God expelled him from the Garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Psalm 22.19
They divide My garments among them, and they cast lots for my clothes.
The Lord finally arrives at the spot of his crucifixion. And now he is stripped of his garments in front of everyone. Naked he stands before the eyes of the world. His body is torn and the onlookers can see the extent of the damage that has been inflicted on him so far.
Adam stood naked too; when he had sinned. God took pity on Adam and Eve and clothed them to ease their sense of shame. Here Christ stands sholder to shoulder with Adam. The New Adam has entered into solidarity with the Old Adam. Adam stood despoiled of the garments of grace; his sin had stripped him of it. His exterior nudity points to an interior despoiling of the soul. Jesus who is the source of all grace, allows himself to stand exposed, stripped of his dignity and allows himself to be taken as yet another sinful son of Adam who has followed the path of his father, the path of disobedience and sin. But he is the innocent one, it is not his own sin that has left him exposed to sin’s horrible consequences, but the sins of the whole world which are placed on his shoulders. “For our sake he made the sinless one a victim of sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).
God clothes Adam before expelling him from the Garden as a sign that one day he will once again clothe him in the robes of righteousness before his re-entry into Paradise. To do this God allows himself to be stripped; as the final movement of that stripping away which began with the Incarnation, when he stripped himself of his glory, and became one of us, like us in all things but sin. And so great was that self-emptying, that stripping away, that he now stands on the verge of death, offering to strip himself of life itself in order to give us eternal life.
Lord we ask you to clothe those who have been despoiled of the baptismal robe of righteousness through their sins. Bring many to the sacrament of confession so that they may be restored to the state of grace and the divine friendship which is your will.
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