Christians Born for Combat

"Christians are, moreover, born for combat, whereof the greater the vehemence, the more assured, God aiding, the triumph: "Have confidence; I have overcome the world."(John 16:33)"

SAPIENTIAE CHRISTIANAE

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII 

ON CHRISTIANS AS CITIZENS

Majowe (May Devotion) with Pope Benedict in Czestochowa

When Pope Benedict visited Poland in May 2006, he took part in Majowe (May Devotion) with over 450'000 people in Czestochowa. This was really extraordinary event. You can hear how these many people sing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Vas Insigne Devotionis

Singular Vessel of Devotion

The word devotion exceeds the narrow meaning of devotional practice and refers to total dedication and fidelity in the service of God. Mary’s profession of faith, “I am the handmaid of the Lord,” most adequately expresses the meaning of this advocation. Her total dedication goes to her Son featured in the Mother-child image of the medallion. Total dedication has not only the meaning of service. It refers primarily to openness and receptivity of God’s will and grace. This attitude is illustrated in the lower half of this page with the story of the widow’s oil. On Elisha’s order the widow would pour oil in the vessels they handed her (2 Kings 4:5). God’s grace cannot be exhausted. It takes a “singular vessel of devotion” to receive its plenty, one that has been perfectly purified (“Egredietur Vas purissimum”) (Proverbs 25:4).

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Vas Honorabile

Vessel of Honor

The preeminent symbol in this illustration is the monstrance containing Our Lady, and simultaneously Mary containing and pointing to the radiating host on her chest. The Immaculata is herself a monstrance, meaning transparent of and to God. It is her honor to make God visible through her sinlessness and as dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and her Son Jesus Christ. Mary is, according to 2 Timothy 21 (paraphrased here), “a vessel for lofty use (vas in honorem), dedicated, beneficial to the master of the house." The master of the house here is Christ himself, present in the host held by the “vessel of honor," his mother Mary. She is indeed, as Immaculata, the work of the Almighty One, and thus an “admirable vessel." Monstrances with a Marian motif are typical of the Baroque period.

  

 

Good Reading for Sunday in May

AD DIEM ILLUM LAETISSIMUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X
ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS,
BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.

Venerable Brethren,
Health and the Apostolic Blessing.

An interval of a few months will again bring round that most happy day on which, fifty years ago, Our Predecessor Pius IX., Pontiff of holy memory, surrounded by a noble crown of Cardinals and Bishops, pronounced and promulgated with the authority of the infallible magisterium as a truth revealed by God that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was free from all stain of original sin. All the world knows the feelings with which the faithful of all the nations of the earth received this proclamation and the manifestations of public satisfaction and joy which greeted it, for truly there has not been in the memory of man any more universal or more harmonious expression of sentiment shown towards the august Mother of God or the Vicar of Jesus Christ.

Vas Spirituale

Spiritual Vessel

The noun “vessel” imperfectly expresses the intended meaning of this advocation. The Latin “vas” (vessel) is used to translates the Greek term “skeuos” which does not only mean vessel but also instrument or tool. Thus, the expression “spiritual vessel” should be rendered as “instrument of the Holy Spirit." Mary is both dwelling place of the Spirit and his “agent” in the Incarnation. “With and through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God” (CCC 723).

The imagery of this advocation highlights this idea. The caption accompanying the symbol of the Spirit refers to the promise of the Annunciation. The Spirit will overshadow you. Mary answers the Trinity in the words of 4 Esdr. (4:14), “If I have found grace with you, send your Spirit into me. ” The picture of Mary expresses both humility (her answer to God) and grandeur (scepter in the form of a lily). The table covered with various vessels underscores the fact that Mary is the most exquisite of God’s vessels. She is a “vessel for a noble purpose” (Romans 9:21).

Source

Litaniae Lauretanae de B.M.V. by Mozart

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed two Litanies of Loreto. Here is one of them - K109

Causa Nostrae Laetitiae

Our Lady is presented as autonomous figure, possibly pregnant as seems to indicate the Visitation scene in the lower half of this illustration. The medallion with Our Lady is flanked by Judith with the head of Holofernes and Esther dancing and playing the tambourine. The captions invite celebration and joy (Esther 10:10 and Nehemiah 12:43).

Separated by a bunch of musical instruments, the scene of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth illustrates why Mary is cause of our joy. The moment Mary’s greeting sounded in Elizabeth’s ear, the baby leapt in her womb for joy (Luke 1:44). Mary’s role as announcer and cause of joy, the joy of redemption for all, is further visualized in two lateral scenes, one depicting the souls in purgatory, the other a group of Old Testament figures (among them Moses and David) awaiting the Messiah. "Our sadness will be changed into joy," says the lemma, meaning that there is hope for all who believe in the Good News made flesh in Mary, the cause of our joy. 

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Regina Poloniae

Today, May 3rd, we celebrate in Poland the feast of Our Lady, The Queen of Poland. This is also one of the titles of Our Lady that we invoke in the Litany of Loretto during the May Devotion.

Please keep people leaving in Poland in your prayers today.

Our Lady of Rokitno, The Queen of Poland

Collect of the day for dioceses of Poland:

Oremus
Omnipotens et misericors Deus, qui ad defensionem populi nostri in beatissima Virgine Maria, miriabile nobis auxilium constituisti : concede propitius ; ut tali praesidio muniti, certantes in vita, victoriam de hoste maligno consequi mereamur in morte. Per Dominum nostrum...

Oath of king Jan Kazimierz of Poland. The king (kneeling) pledged in the Lviv Cathedral before the altar of Our Gracious Lady, took vows of loyalty to God and declared the Mother of God to be the Queen of Poland-Lithuania and that he will drive the Swedes out of Poland.

Our Gracious Lady, Cathedral of Lviv.

Nabożeństwo Majowe still alive in Poland

In many places in Poland the traditional May Devotions to Our Lady are celebrated by the street shrines.

People usually sing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Beneath Thy Protection and some other Marian songs.

Is this tradition still alive in other places in the World?

Daily Practice of Ecclesia Militans

The best scene from Ranczo.

The prosecutor who is slandering the Priest, gets what he should get:

Prosecutor: “We do not like arresting priests, but sometimes if it is required, we must do it. We can always ask altar boys, what is happening in the sacristy when they take of the surplices. So better be careful, father.”

Sedes Sapientiae

Seat of Wisdom

The title called “Seat of Wisdom” refers to the throne of Solomon. Mary is personified wisdom sitting on Solomon’s throne made of ivory and gold (1 Kg 10:18-20). In fact, sitting on the throne of Solomon she comes to be the throne upon which her Son, “the Wisdom of the Father," is seated.

The cameo of mother and child is surrounded by symbols of science and knowledge (globe, telescope, square). The lower half of the architectural façade shows a group of seven feminine figures standing around the throne, which bears the simple inscription Verbum, the Word. The throne of Solomon is no longer that of human but of divine wisdom, the Word of God made man. The caption around the medallion of Mother and Child states this with the following words: “In the mother’s womb is seated the wisdom of the Father."

The lemma points out that “wisdom has built her house; she has set up her seven columns” (Proverbs 9:1). What are those columns personified by the seven feminine figures? It seems difficult to formulate a stringent answer. The artist may have intended to represent knowledge and wisdom. Thus the seven figures would be those of the liberal arts, of Trivium and Quadrivium. Another explanation seems to favor the seven virtues (theological and cardinal virtues) or the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:1-2).

Source

Leuven, Flanders, Pieterskerk

Speculum Iustitiae

"at present we see indistinctly as in a mirror, but then face to face" 1 Corinthians 13:1

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Mirror of Justice

The various symbolic meanings of the mirror highlight: (1) purity of the soul, (2) self-knowledge and moral integrity, as well as (3) its ability to reflect reality. Mary's soul is holy and pure. She reflects the Sun of Justice, meaning God's perfection and holiness. She is the mirror without blemish of God's majesty (Wisdom 7:6). The Sun of Justice is reflected in the image of Mother and Child. The angel with balance and sword, usually a symbol of justice, signifies God's perfection. There is a second and oval mirror whose surface is tainted and marred. In it, three shadowy silhouettes can be barely perceived, featuring Adam or sinful humanity between Good and Evil, that is Satan, beckoning and tempting, and the guardian angel watching over his protégé.

This mirror does not reflect light and perfection but darkness and sin, or at least the blurred human vision of God and eternity.

Thus Paul reminds us that "at present we see indistinctly as in a mirror, but then face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

 

Fresco of Melchior Steidl in the church of  Schönenberg

Litaniae Lauretanae B.M.V.

 

It is the month of May. Let's pray to Our Best Mother.