I would highly reccomend

This Book. I've been reading it over vacation, and it's absolutely wonderful. His ideas of how to say the office reverently and devoutly are very helpful and you can see from hw he talks of the office and joining with the perpetual hymn of praise in heaven, and uniting ourselves with Christ the High Priest, that he predated but is completely consonant with Paul VI's Sacrificium Laudis.

Novena to the Most Blessed Trinity.

Litany to the Most Holy Trinity.

Month of the Sacre Heart.

"Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum sibi, ubi ponat pullos suos,Cor tuum, Domine, Rex meus et Deus meus."

The Book.

Mary, Queen of Apostles.

"The perfect model of this spiritual and apostolic life is the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of Apostles, who, while she lived on earth the life common to all, filled with labours and care of her family, was always most closely joined with her Son, and cooperated in the work of the Saviour in an entirely singular way. Moreover now, assumed into heaven 'by her motherly love she takes care of the brothers of her Son who are still on the way [to their eternal home] and who are involved in dangers and difficulties, until they are led to the blessed Fatherland.' Let all most devoutly honour her, and commend their life and apostolate to her motherly care."

Apostolicam Actuositatem,Chapter 1.

In the Kalendar, before local feasts were suppressed, there was a feast of Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, that was celebrated on this date.( The Saturday within the octave of the Ascension.)

Though the office for that feast had been supressed, in a way, it has been brought back in the new breviary. It's collect was revived in 1968 as an optional collect in the Common of the Blessed Virgin during eastertide:

"Deus, qui Apóstolis tuis, cum María matre Iesu orántibus, Sanctum dedísti Spíritum, da nobis, ut, ipsa intercedénte, maiestáti tuæ fidéliter servíre et nóminis tui glóriam verbo et exémplo diffúndere valeámus. Per Dóminum."

In the 80's, the mass was also restored in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Which same, alsp has the mas of Our Lady of Mercy, patroness of our Order.)

" At length he came upon Eve, the mother of all the living. She was that vineyard whose enclosure her own hands had enabled death to violate, so that she could taste its fruit; thus the mother of all the living became the source of death for every living creature. But in her stead Mary grew up, a new vine in place of the old. Christ, the new life, dwelt within her. When death, with its customary impudence, came foraging for her mortal fruit, it encountered its own destruction in the hidden life that fruit contained. All unsuspecting, it swallowed him up, and in so doing released life itself and set free a multitude of men.

He who was also the carpenter’s glorious son set up his cross above death’s all-consuming jaws, and led the human race into the dwelling place of life. Since a tree had brought about the downfall of mankind, it was upon a tree that mankind crossed over to the realm of life. Bitter was the branch that had once been grafted upon that ancient tree, but sweet the young shoot that has now been grafted in, the shoot in which we are meant to recognise the Lord whom no creature can resist."
- St.Ephrem

Our Lady's Month of May.

"Eve wept, but Mary laughed. Eve's womb was big with tears, but Mary's womb was big with gladness. Eve gave birth to a sinner, but Mary gave birth to the sinless One. The mother of our race brought punishment into the world, but the Mother of our Lord brought salvation into the world. Eve was the foundress of sin, but Mary was the foundress of righteousness. Eve welcomed death, but Mary helped in life. Eve smote, but Mary healed. For Eve's disobedience, Mary offered obedience; and for Eve's unbelief, Mary offered faith.

Let Mary now make a loud noise upon the organ, and between its quick notes let the rattling of the Mother's timbrel be heard. Let the gladsome choirs sing with her, and their sweet hymns mingle with the changing musick. Hearken to what a song her timbrel will make accompaniment. She saith: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden, for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is Mighty hath magnified me. The new miracle of Mary's delivery hath effaced the curse of the frail backslider, and the singing of Mary hath silenced the wailing of Eve."

-S.Fulbert of Chartres.

On the Passion of Christ.

O Lord, let my soul rejoice in you and find joy in your salvation, as I reflect on your most consoling words, your second utterance from the Cross, "Amen I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise". May these words, more tender because they came from you as you hung on your Cross, be often on my lips and still more often in my heart. Words addressed to me from the lips of my crucified Lord are most endearing and eloquent, and for this reason they merit more serious attention and profound reflection...

Let meditating on Jesus Christ and Him crucified be your daily prayer. Keep Jesus always before your eyes and keep ever near the foot of His Cross. Whether in life or death, enter the tomb with Jesus so that when Christ, who is your life, shall appear again, you will rise with Him in glory. Amen.

-Thomas a Kempis, On the Passion of Christ according to the Four Gospels.

(Image credit)

"Who is Christ if not the Word of God? "n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" This Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. He had no power of himself to die for us: he had to take from us our mortal flesh. This was the way in which, though immortal, he was able to die; the way in which he chose to give life to mortal men: he would first share with us, and then enable us to share with him. Of ourselves we had no power to live, nor did he of himself have the power to die.
In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.
The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves."

-S.Augustine, homily, matins of Monday in Holy Week.

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

At the blessing of the Palms:
Ant: Hosanna to the Son of David

Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God,we pray thee, sanctify and bless + these palms with thy benediction, that we, who exultantly follow Christ the King,may through him arrive at the eternal Jerusalem.
Who liveth and reigneth.
Second prayer:

Let us pray.
INCREASE, we pray thee, O God, the faith of thy devoted people, and mercifully give ear to their humble supplications; that, they who this day honour the triumph of Christ by the carrying of palms, may through him offer unto thee the the fruit of good works.Who liveth and reigneth.
The palms are sprinkled and incensed.

V.Let us, imitating the acclaiming crowds, proceed in peace.
R.In the name of Christ. Amen.

Ant.Pueri Hebraeorum..portantes.

Ant.Pueri Hebraeorum...vestimenta

Hymn: Gloria, laus, et honor.

Responsory: Ingrediente Domino
Collect of the mass:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given to mankind an example of humility to follow in Our Saviour's taking upon him flesh and suffering the death of the Cross: mercifully grant that by following the example of his patience, we may also merit to be made partakers of his resurrection. Through the same

Passion Tuesday.

And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace, and of prayers: and they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn.
-Zacharias 12:10

En acetum, fel, arundo

Lo, with gall His thirst He quenches!
see the thorns upon His brow!
nails His tender flesh are rending!
see His side is opened now!
whence, to cleanse the whole creation,
streams of blood and water flow.

Faithful Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world's Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Blessing, honor, everlasting,
to the immortal Deity;
to the Father, Son, and Spirit,
equal praises ever be;
glory through the earth and heaven
to Trinity in Unity. Amen.

-En acetum, fel, arundo(Hymn for lauds during passiontide) Translated by Fr.Caswall

Passiontide.

(Since people seem to like this one, I'll re-post it. And by 'people', and mean the two people who read this who both said they liked it.)

It's almost time.
Time is running short, and soon, our lenten disciplines will come to an end. It almost seems too short, really. We've spent these last days preparing for the greatest festival of the church year, the festival that the whole year anticipates.
But even before it, we have a mini-season for further preparation. We call it 'passiontide'. In it, we should seek to the best of our ability so draw away from the world and spend time with our lord, waiting with him as he prepares to fulfill all that was told of him. We have a week left to grow closer to our savior, and more importantly, to grow close to him in his passion, lest the horror and desolation of Good Friday and holy Saturday overtake us too much. And mother church assists us in our devotion.
For all the year, for all of lent, we've had the crucifix displayed as a help to our meditation on our Lord's passion, but now it is veiled. Now we must draw on the experience of a past life of prayer, without the aid of a visual reminder. In sorrow, the Queen of Saints and her court veil themselves to mourn our beloved Jesus, soon to die for us all.

Almost suddenly, the mass and divine office speak of the suffering of our lord rather than our lenten fasting and other disciplines. At the office, we sing the hymn 'Vexilla Regis Prodeunt' at vespers, and 'Pange Lingua Gloriosi...Certaminis' broken into parts for matins and lauds.
The short chapters at lauds and vespers speak of christ "Like a gentle Lamb led to slaughter"(Monday, Lauds) "suffering ouside the gate" and "bearing abuse" (Thursday, Vespers) and that "he was marred beyond human apearance"(Friday,Lauds). Even more, we are told that we "shall mourn, looking upon him whom they have pierced" (Tuesday, lauds)

And we hear more of why the chief priests and the crowds wanted to kill him. At Wednesday, the antiphon at lauds tells us that they wanted to kill him because he taught the truth. But who wants to suppress truth? What man of God would desire to suppress what is of God? Why would they not listen? As our lord asks in the antiphon at Friday's vespers, for which of his good works do they want to kill him? Christ himself explains, saying quite bluntly that the reason they do not listen and want to kill him because they are not of God.(Thursday, lauds)

And on Friday, we are given the tender commemoration of our sorrowful mother Mary, standing the foot of the cross. In the collect of this day in the new roman missal, which asks that we may imitate blessed Mary in devoutly contemplating Christ Crucified, we pray 'Grant we beseech you, the intercession of the same Virgin,that we might in these days adhere more firmly to your only Begotten Son, and come at last to the fullness of grace.' In some places, permission is even given to sing the Stabat Mater at the office.
These days. These last days before our lord is "offered as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to the father". (Wednesday, vespers.)
So the almost halcyon days of lent are fading away, and the more turbulent times of passiontide are nigh.
"O good cross, made beautiful by the body of the Lord, long have I desired thee, ardently have I loved thee, unceasingly have I sought thee, and now thou art ready for my eager soul. Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master, so that He, who redeemed me through thee, shalt receive me through thee. Amen."
-S.Andrew the apostle, before being crucified.

The Annunciation.

Something I've been working on.

Monday.

CONVERT us, O God our Saviour, and, that our Lenten observance may profit us, instruct our minds in heavenly disciplines. Through Our Lord Jesus thy Son, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

*And I hope I'm not the only one who was reminded of the Unde Gnomes by this.

I no longer feel very vain.

But I do feel imprudent.

Because, I've decided not to replace the breviary my dad bought me. Something about the possibility of using that book until I'm a corpse lying on my bier just seems so right.

So, with my mother paying for it, I'm going to make another attempt to have it restored and rebound. I've decided not to go the cheap route this time. With the help of THIS wonderful site (Which I've been following for the past year, unofficially) I've narrowed it down to Paul Sawyer, who I'd absolutely love to rebind it*, (Here's an example of his work. Great, innit?) Leonard's (Examples HERE.)And Melching (Probably the most likely. I'm not really impressed with the quality of their raised bands, but it's close by and probably more affordable)

In any case, what I mainly want is something that will LAST. I had a friend who got a binding from Paul Sawyer and I'm amazed at how much it's been through with very little damage. To put it bluntly, this book is very precious to me, not just because it's a latin prayer book, nor because I've used it for a while, but also because it was almost like a peace offering. I at first didn't think my dad would buy such a thing. A Latin prayer book for his papist son. But he was glad to do it, he even had me ship it to his job to make sure it would be picked up if it was delivered while he was at work and my brother and I were at school.That was about the time he started being really cool about me being Catholic now, so much so that he came to mass with me when we went on vacation.

SO yes, precious book, it's broke, I need it fixed ASAP.

Fleshiness.

Y'know, I think one of the biggest obstacles I've ever had with living a spiritual life is that all of my prayers and devotions have always tended toward the 'fleshy' side of the faith. The first thing I learned as an anglo-catholic is the importance of seeing catholicism as an incarnational religion. Everything in prayer, worship, and the spiritual life is a reflection of the great mystery of God becoming man, and as a newly minted Christian, I was totally and completely wrapped up in amazement at that mystery. And so were my devotions: The Sacred Heart, The Five Wounds, Christ in his passion, Our Lady of Sorrows, St.Joseph, and Mary as Mother of God. These were and are my favourite devotions and subjects for prayer.

I think it probably has a lot to do with my personal life. It's easier for me to connect with God, the Trinity, by using these profoundly real and human means. It's one thing to say that God became man. It's another to say that God cried, God had to be fed, to learn how to walk, to talk, to feed himself, to read. It's one thing to say that Mary was the mother of God. It's another to say that she taught him, loved him, wept for three days over losing him, stood proud as he grew, and suffered in silence as he died. It's one thing to say that Our Lord Jesus had a real, human family. It's another to say that he grew up working in his foster father's trade, helping his mother, suffered seeing his foster father die, and saw his mother sorrowing interior at his own death.

It all says that God is Real, and he intervened in human history, lived a real life. Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh was a real man. He had wounds. He had a heart. He had a mother. And ot some extent, devotion to these human attributes is essentially devotion to the divine. Because there is only one Christ. He is'nt split into a divine half and a human half. He is one person of two natures.It's really all very beautiful. Christ is the image of the father, the brightness of his glory. He is the one by whom we know the Father. And how was he known on earth?

Happy Feast day!

Today, of course, is the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus,

INCENSE.

For Christmas, my mom bought me an incense burner and some incense. I don't know where she got the incense- It's two different kinds, one is just pure frankincense, and the other is a mixture of gums with rose oil- very nice. The burner, however, is just a regular brass-plated burner that you can usually buy from the Muslim shops on 52nd street in West Philly. It's nice though- it comes on three chains with a heavy base for setting it on furniture,and there are little cross-shaped holes in it.

Adam Lay Ybounden.

"Deus, qui hominem delapsum in mortem conspiciens, Unigeniti tui adventu redimere voluisti: praesta, quaesumus, ut qui humili eius incarnationem devotione fatentur,ipsius etiam Redemptoris consortia mereantur."

O God, who beholding man fallen into death, didst will to redeem him by the coming of thine only-Begotten: grant us, we pray thee, that as we profess his Incarnation with humility and devotion,we may likewise merit the fellowship the very same Redeemer."

Adam Lay Ybounden.

Advent devotions.

Not trying to show off or anything, but I thought I'd post my advent devotions: (Usually done right before I go to sleep at night.)

Prayer "Per signum crucis"
Advent litany to Christ.
Reading from "Jesus, The Model of Religious"
Prayer to the Holy Ghost.
Scripture reading (From Isaiah. I should be on chapter 18 by now, but I'm lazy so I'm only on chapter 10.)

St.Andrew Christmas Novena prayer. "Hail and Blessed, etc."