A Fragrance of God

 

The Magi

Mosaic_of_the_nativity_lourdes_basilica_france
Matthew 2:1-12

New International Version (NIV)

Matthew 2

The Magi Visit the Messiah

 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

 

The O Antiphons

250px-vladimirskaya

The Octave before Christmas Eve is a time which is called the Golden Nights

Traditionally, the O Antiphons were said in Vespers during this time.  The Antiphons are prayers that address Jesus with a unique title from the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah.  These titles are:-

Sapientia
Adonai
Radix Jesse
Clavis David
Oriens
Rex Gentium
Emmanuel

and, reading backwards, the first letters of each form the Latin phrase Ero cras which means Tomorrow I come.

The first, O Sapienta means Wisdom.

The prophetic readings are

Isaiah 11:2-3

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of might,
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;

and

Isaiah 28:29

29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty,
   whose plan is wonderful,
   whose wisdom is magnificent.

Wisdom
O Wisdom, who didst issue out of the mouth of the most High, and dost reach from one end of the world to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

 

A Bridge by which Man could pass

Jesus_reconciler_and_bridge_builder

Catherine of Siena was a fourteenth century mystic who, when in a state of ecstasy, dictated conversations with God.  The resulting manuscript is known as the Dialogue, and is her great spiritual testimony.

In the section entitled the Treatise of Divine Providence, God speaks to Catherine about the work of Jesus as a Bridge:

How the road to Heaven being broken through the disobedience of Adam, God made of His Son a Bridge by which man could pass.

"Wherefore I have told you that I have made a Bridge of My Word, of My only-begotten Son, and this is the truth. I wish that you, My children, should know that the road was broken by the sin and disobedience of Adam, in such a way, that no one could arrive at Eternal Life. Wherefore men did not render Me glory in the way in which they ought to have, as they did not participate in that Good for which I had created them, and My truth was not fulfilled. This truth is that I have created man to My own image and similitude, in order that he might have Eternal Life, and might partake of Me, and taste My supreme and eternal sweetness and goodness. But, after sin had closed Heaven and bolted the doors of mercy, the soul of man produced thorns and prickly brambles, and My creature found in himself rebellion against himself.

"And the flesh immediately began to war against the Spirit, and, losing the state of innocence, became a foul animal, and all created things rebelled against man, whereas they would have been obedient to him, had he remained in the state in which I had placed him. He, not remaining therein, transgressed My obedience, and merited eternal death in soul and body. And, as soon as he had sinned, a tempestuous flood arose, which ever buffets him with its waves, bringing him weariness and trouble from himself, the devil, and the world. Every one was drowned in the flood, because no one, with his own justice alone, could arrive at Eternal Life. And so, wishing to remedy your great evils, I have given you the Bridge of My Son, in order that, passing across the flood, you may not be drowned, which flood is the tempestuous sea of this dark life. See, therefore, under what obligations the creature is to Me, and how ignorant he is, not to take the remedy which I have offered, but to be willing to drown."

Catherine was intelligent, cheerful and intensely prayerful. From her prayer life developed a public apostolate,  and she worked tirelessly for the poor and the church.

Catherine

 

 

The Light of the World

Christ_the_light_of_the_world_in_sparklers

In John 8:12 Jesus applies the title to himself while debating with the Jews and states:

  I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

 

Slow down!

Speed_of_light-1

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Take time to be aware that in the middle of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehems of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present.

 

Facebook shrinks 'six degrees of separation' to just FOUR | Mail Online
Media_httpidailymailc_xcsdj
via dailymail.co.uk

Four 'hops' enough to connect anyone to anyone else! We are all getting closer!

 

Faces of Jesus |:| rejesus.co.uk
Media_httpnewrejesusc_uvgrb
via rejesus.co.uk

This face of Jesus is from a very early icon of Christ Pantocrator that has been kept in St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai for centuries.
If you look closely you can see that the left and right sides of the face seem to be different. The two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's dual nature as fully God and fully human.
Prayer

Jesus, invincible power
Jesus, unending mercy
Jesus, radiant beauty
Jesus, unspeakable love
Jesus, Son of the living God
Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner
Jesus, hear me, for I was conceived in iniquity
Jesus, cleanse me, for I was born in sin
Jesus, teach me, for I have been a fool
Jesus, enlighten me, for I have been in darkness
Jesus, purify me, for I am defiled
Jesus, restore me, the prodigal
Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Hymn from the Eastern Church

 

Faces of Jesus |:| rejesus.co.uk
Media_httpnewrejesusc_rietz
via rejesus.co.uk

I really love this face of Jesus, an early painting found in the Catacombs in Rome. The early Christians were reluctant to paint the Messiah, so there are very few representations of what he might have looked like.

Prayer

In Christ, we have everything…
If you want to heal your wound, he is the doctor.
If you are burning with fever, he is the fountain.
If you are in need of help, he is strength.
If you are in dread of death, he is life.
If you are fleeing the darkness, he is light.
If you are hungry, he is food.
O taste and see that the Lord is good!
Happy are they who take refuge in him.

Ambrose of Milan (339-97)

 


 

Advent resources- www.textweek.com


On-Line Resources for the Season of Advent

via textweek.com

All the Advent resources you will ever need, from this really useful website.

Advent_candles

 

The Dark Night of the Soul

Revealing_the_presence

One dark night,
fired with love’s urgent longings
- ah, the sheer grace! -
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled.

In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, disguised,
- ah, the sheer grace! -
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.

On that glad night,
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything,
with no other light or guide
than the one that burned in my heart.

This guided me
more surely than the light of noon
to where he was awaiting me
- him I knew so well -
there in a place where no one appeared.

O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the Lover with his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.

Upon my flowering breast
which I kept wholly for him alone,
there he lay sleeping,
and I caressing him
there in a breeze from the fanning cedars.

When the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair,
it wounded my neck
with its gentle hand,
suspending all my senses.

I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased; I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.

John of the Cross

112
To Posterous, Love Metalab