Thursday after Sexagesima-Carnival
novena to the holy face (Day 5)
Deuteronomy, Chapter 14, Verse 22-23
22 Each
year you shall tithe all the produce of your seed that grows in the field; 23 then in the place which the LORD, your God, chooses as the dwelling
place of his name you shall eat in his presence the tithe of your grain, wine and oil,
as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, that you may learn always to fear the LORD, your God.
The way I read this is God wants you to celebrate life; you shall eat
in his presence the tithe of your produce. Imagine what the world would be like
if everyone did this! If we all took time off with a tenth of the money, we made
to celebrate with God and our family and friends together. What a different
world it would be. Imagine all the celebrations you would attend. Maybe we
should all strive to take a 40-day retreat/celebration. Save your money for
this! What is on your bucket list; perhaps the Lord wants you and me to cross
off some of those things in His presence. If I were young again this is how I
would budget: 10% for His Presence (30 to 40 days’ vacation); 10% for
charity/church; 10% savings and live off the 70 percent; that is after the
government takes their 50%. Imagine if there was a flat tax…….A good resource
for financial advice is a book entitled, “The Richest Man in Babylon”[1]
The
weapon of Eucharistic adoration
Outside
of Mass, the other great refuge from the Devil and his wiles is prayer before
the Blessed Sacrament. St. John Bosco used to tell the boys who were under his
care:
·
Listen: There are two things the Devil
is deathly afraid of: fervent Communions and frequent visits to the Blessed
Sacrament.
·
Do you want Our Lord to grant you many
graces? Visit him often.
·
Do you want Him to grant you only a few?
Visit Him only seldom.
·
Do you want the Devil to attack you?
Rarely visit the Blessed Sacrament.
·
Do you want the Devil to flee from you?
Visit Jesus often.
·
Do you want to overcome the Devil? Take
refuge at Jesus’ feet.
·
Do you want to be overcome by the Devil?
Give up visiting Jesus.
·
Visiting the Blessed Sacrament is
essential, my dear boys, if you want to overcome the Devil. Therefore, make
frequent visits to Jesus. If you do that, the Devil will never prevail against
you.
One of the Precepts of the Church is to receive the sacraments
of Penance and Holy Communion at least once a
year, during Lent or Paschaltide. Catholics once dedicated the three days prior
to Lent as a special time to go to confession. Shrovetide arose from the desire
to prepare for the holy asceticism of the Great Fast. Once Lent begins,
however, confession should still be sought out: since Lent is a time for
frequent and frank examinations of conscience, confession is a sacrament that
should be liberally taken advantage of during this time.
Guardian
Angels[4]
Our lives always are better if we work with God rather
than against him. To this end God has assigned an angel to protect churches and
persons for indeed we are the true temples of God. We should be particularly
attentive to our own guardian angels, since they are specifically assigned to
our care. Our guardian angels want to help us cooperate with the will of God,
and they want to keep us from sin. They help us to comfort others-and they want
to keep us safe and from causing harm to others. They are our best friend in
that they always want what’s best for us even if it does not coincide with the things,
we desire the most and they will undoubtedly help us, especially when we ask
them. Learn to ask for what you need. Our angel helps us to answer Gods call
for holiness. As we are the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit our angel is charged
with protecting our temples and keeping us pure for the presence of God. We
must learn to speak to the angels.
No evil shall
befall you, no affliction come near your tent for he commands his angels with
regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall
support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You can tread upon
the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon.
(Ps.91:10-13)
It might sound
odd that during the period of "Carnival" there occurs some of the
most decadent feasting of the liturgical year. There is, however, a pious (if
not somewhat convoluted) logic behind this consumption. Because not only meat
but lacticinia (dairy products) were originally prohibited during Lent,
Christians knew
that they had to eat these foods before Ash Wednesday, or they would spoil. The
last days before Lent were thus spent in eating copious amounts of fat dishes.
From this necessity comes England's famous Shrove Tuesday Pancakes and northern
England's Collop Monday (a collop is made of sliced meat and eggs fried in
butter). This also gave rise to the most famous (or infamous, depending on your
point of view) Christian party of all:
Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," is the French
celebration of the final day before Lent. In this country it is associated
mostly with the Cajun and Creole cuisine of New Orleans, two culinary
traditions that provide a myriad of spicy, delicious dishes. One of the more
interesting customs of the New Orleans Mardi Gras is the baking of a King's
Cake, in which is placed a small doll of the Infant Jesus. The person whose
piece of cake has the doll must provide the cake for next year's party.
Postmodern man—and postmodern woman—don’t
know how to give a good party. It’s up to us Catholics to reclaim this lost art
and share it with the world.
Why? Because good parties are intrinsic to
our Catholic faith. The liturgical year is punctuated with a wide array of
feast days and celebrations, many of which are Christianized versions of
holidays that once closely tracked the agricultural calendar of planting and
harvesting. The two largest and best-known feasts are, of course, Christmas and
Easter, but there are also the two Christmas and Easter spin-offs, Epiphany and
Pentecost. In addition, there’s the feast of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s
Day); Ascension Thursday; Corpus Christi; the feast of the Immaculate
Conception; All Saints Day (with Halloween and the Day of the Dead); and, the
most famous party of all, Mardi Gras, which has strayed far from its Catholic
origin as the last celebration before the Lenten fast but still embodies a
certain Catholic sensibility. Above all, every Sunday for Catholics is a feast
day on which we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Only in Lent and the mini-Lent
of Advent is it not party time, but even in these two seasons, there are
exceptions for St. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, St. Nicholas’s Day, and
other feasts.
Of course, as the Church wisely realizes,
feasts are more fun if preceded by fasts. The stricter the fast, the merrier
the feast. Truly the Catholic tradition has mastered the art of well-timed,
heavily scheduled, carefully orchestrated good times.
The occasion of a sacrament—baptism,
confirmation, or matrimony—is the best possible opportunity for a good party.
In fact, many Catholics take it for granted that a wedding should be marked by
a grand feast. The bigger and more elaborate the feast, the more it conforms to
the biblical model in John 2:1-11 of the wedding feast at Cana. Mary, Jesus,
and His disciples all attend. In the middle of the party, the wine runs out.
Mary explains this difficult situation to her son; after all, the gospel
implies, it won’t be much of a party without wine. After an exchange with His
mother, Jesus asks those in charge to fill six stone pots with water. "And
they filled them to the brim," John says. When the host tastes the water,
he is startled to discover that Jesus has changed it to wine, and not just any
wine but the best they will have all night. Hence, Jesus’ first miracle was not
a solemn occasion, as one might expect, but a celebration.
Party Poopers
You might expect that such a remarkable
story as this, one that recounts Jesus’ first public display of divine power,
would be standard fare in evangelical Protestant pulpits, where the words of
the Bible take precedence over any liturgical design. Not so. If you have ever
attended a Southern Baptist wedding, for example, you know why: There is no
feast. The ceremony lasts perhaps 20 minutes at most, and then the entire crowd
descends to the social hall under the church to eat pastel butter mints and
cake and sip a tiny cup of fizzy, pink, nonalcoholic punch. Wine is forbidden by
tradition, so no one is looking for any. The whole affair is over in less than
an hour. Baptists may be people of the Book, but they certainly are not people
of the party. So much for living the words of Scripture.
How did the wedding feast, so joyously
celebrated at Cana, come to be the dreary occasion that it is in the Baptist
tradition? Like members of other non-liturgical faiths, Southern Baptists tend
to reject regularly scheduled intervals of joy, sadness, celebration, and
suffering, less for explicit doctrinal reasons than because it all just seems
too, well, Catholic.
Protestants have traditionally found the
Catholicity of Christian holidays deeply problematic. During the colonial
period, Massachusetts actually outlawed Christmas, and the controversy about
whether to put up a lighted tree in church still erupts in evangelical
congregations. If Protestant Americans had been left to their own devices, we
would celebrate only Thanksgiving (which is actually a version of St. Martin’s
Day, November 11) and the Fourth of July.
This aspect of the Catholic faith is as
conspicuous to outsiders as it is taken for granted by us: One day we are
eating pancakes and throwing parties for Fat Tuesday, and the next day, Ash
Wednesday, we are walking around with ashes on our foreheads repenting for our
sins. What is it about us Romanists and our ways?
Biblical Partying
The
Bible, it turns out, is filled with fabulous parties. Think of the parable of
the prodigal son. When he returns to his father’s home with a contrite heart
after living the high life, he is not given broth and sent to bed. No, his
father says, "bring hither the fatted calf, kill it, and let us eat and be
merry; for this my son," as if to show that home is where the high life
actually is. St. Clement of Alexandria wrote: "The repentant son came to
the pitying father, never hoping for these things—the best robe, and the ring,
and the shoes—or to taste the fatted calf, or to share in gladness, or enjoy
music and dances; he would have been contented with obtaining what in his own
estimation he deemed himself worthy." Instead, he got it all. Given this
spirit of liberality in one of Jesus’ own parables, a good Catholic should be
prepared to throw a great party whenever the opportunity arises. Now, it’s true
that merrymaking cannot be the sum total of the way we live. The ever-stern St.
Francis de Sales, in his Introduction to the Devout Life, warns against
excessive frivolity. But he does affirm that balls and festivities are not evil
in themselves and can even be used for good. "It is lawful to amuse
yourself, to dance, dress, feast, and see seemly plays," he affirms. The
proviso is that the good times must not hinder, but help, devotion.
Boring Parties
·
What
is striking about modern life is how dull our attempts at frivolity often turn
out to be, not only because they are not interrupted by fasting and prayer, as
they should be, but also because we have lost the art of how to throw a good
party.
·
We’ve
all had the experience of walking into a party where we know only a few people,
and all the rest are talking among themselves. We find someone we know and hope
he doesn’t mind if we talk exclusively to him for, oh, the entire length of the
party.
·
We
know we are supposed to mingle with the others, but no matter how many tips on
that we’ve heard or read, mingling never seems to work. Some people resent
intrusions into their conversations, and in any case, there usually doesn’t
seem to be much to talk about. The most we can hope for is a good opportunity
to make an inconspicuous exit.
·
Thousands
of parties like this come and go without leaving any impression on the guests.
The host is left with a huge mess and not much else to show for it. It’s no
wonder that many people are disinclined to hold parties, or that they do it
only when they have to, or that they invite only the in-crowd when they can get
away with it, or that they never attempt much in the way of food and drink
beyond chips and beer.
Find a Reason to Party
It doesn’t have to be this way. All
parties should have an ostensible reason for being. This is what makes them
communal occasions and provides a reason why all these people should be
together in one spot at the same time. With a theme, people have a mental hook,
so that they can later think: "I loved that St. Cecilia party"
Fortunately, our liturgical calendar provides plenty of ideas for themes.
Saints’ days are the perfect excuses for celebrations, and it helps that these
days rarely step on the more conventional party excuses of everyone else.
Here’s why theme parties are out of
fashion: We live in a culture obsessed with the fear of violating someone
else’s conscience. We don’t impose our values on others, and we never assert
the superiority of our own or point out problems with others’ points of view.
If we happen to have values, that’s fine, but we dare not suggest that others
should adopt them. That would be bad form. A theme party is typically seen as
an imposition on the conscience. For example, say you invite guests to your
house to celebrate the feast of St. Blaise on February 3. What if they don’t
like this saint, or they think saints are generally weird? What if they aren’t
in the mood? Why should your priorities trump theirs? Isn’t it manipulative to
tell people how they should feel? These are the kinds of deconstructionist
fears that tacitly haunt us and keep us from setting a theme for an evening.
The Catholic liturgy, however, assigns themes to practically every day. We are
supposed to mourn on Good Friday and then two days later shout,
"Alleluia" Is this manipulative? Not at all. Theologian Michael Foley
of Boston College points out that the purpose of gathering together is to
experience something together. He writes in his online liturgy manual (www.holytrinitygerman.org):
"From the exilic pining of Septuagesima to the austerity of Lent, from the
grief of Passiontide to the jubilance of the Pasch, the Church, by staggering
its feasts and observances in a particular order, enables the faithful to
experience a number of holy feelings as one. Indeed, the emotional range of the
traditional Roman rite is perhaps the most variegated in all of
Christendom." Liturgical themes for parties are great, especially if they
involve a sacrament. But the theme doesn’t have to be solemn and liturgical. It
can be a mere excuse: to celebrate the opening of a great bottle of wine, to
commemorate the hanging of a new painting, to mark the first day of summer, to
eat an unusual food, to blow off steam after final exams. It takes very little
creativity to come up with a good idea for a party. Even foolish themes are
fun, like the "white elephant" parties of the 1950s, to which guests
brought worthless gifts.
The Big Moment
·
Even
more important than the theme of the party is the central moment of the party:
Someone clinks a glass and makes an announcement that unifies the guests as a
group. Ninety-nine percent of parties do not include this crucial feature,
which is why most are unsatisfying. A group event of some sort underscores the
reason for the party and gives people something to remember about it besides a
few isolated conversations.
·
Toasts
are invaluable for this purpose. When making a toast, don’t worry about being
eloquent. Something as simple as "To St. Joseph the Worker" is
enough.
Lose the Chips and Dips
Whatever happened to dinner parties? They
are becoming ever rarer. Today, food at parties mostly consists of snacky
things you can pick up with your fingers, the better to stay on the move with.
But the whole premise of moving around a party is wrong. It’s important that
people be able to sit, so they can listen and share a group moment. Try having
a dinner party and see what happens. You don’t have to have a huge dining
table. Even if everyone is sitting on folding chairs eating chili, it is far
better than yet another round of chips, dips, and existential isolation. And by
the way, today’s emphasis on the quality of food at parties is wildly
misplaced. You can hire the best catering service in town or knock yourself out
cooking for days, but if you have no theme, no central moment, and no place for
your guests to sit, the best snacks on the planet are not going to save your
party.
Pick Your Poison
It happens all the time. You walk into
your friends’ house for a party. They ask you what you want to drink and then
run through a list of options: orange juice, diet and regular Coke and Sprite,
Miller Lite, Bud Lite, sparkling water, V8, cran-apple juice, Fresca, coffee,
ten more unappealing liquids, and, finally, water. You suddenly get this vague
sense that maybe the V8 has been around awhile, or the Sprite may be flat, or
the coffee not made, or the Fresca—do they even make that anymore? In the end,
someone finally says, "Oh, I’ll just have a glass of water." Someone
else concurs. Folks, when that happens, the party is over before it begins.
The way to avoid this catastrophe is to
have one official drink of the evening. "Tonight," you announce,
"I am serving champagne cocktails" Who wouldn’t cheer? Serve them
with a cherry or an orange slice, and you have created a memorable drink.
Alternatively, you could serve martinis, or mint juleps, or some slushy, fruity
concoction from the freezer. Whatever it is, stick to it. If someone doesn’t
drink, he’ll say so. You should always have some fancy water available for nondrinkers
and throw in a slice of lemon or lime for good measure.
What to Wear?
What people should wear to a party is a
tricky subject. This much is an incontrovertible fact: The best parties feature
people dressing up, or at least not wearing torn cutoffs and worn sneakers. But
if you tell your guests to come casual, cutoffs and sneakers is what you will
get. Such is the nature of the times. Just look at what people wear to Mass
these days! You can hardly expect them to show up at your party dressed any
better.
People act nicer and smarter, however,
when they wear nice clothes. They sit straighter and generally feel as though
something special is taking place. Grubby clothes and truly memorable times
just don’t mix, unless you are at the lake or repairing a house or in some
other situation that specifically calls for casual attire.
Dress codes can seem like an imposition to
some these days. I handle it by telling guests, "Feel free to dress
up" or, "I’ll be in a coat and tie." It’s a way of leaving their
options open while delivering a strong hint. Finally, don’t rule out telling
your guests that the dress is black tie. If it’s New Year’s Eve, this can make
the evening even more joyful.
Setting the Mood
Can we have a break from rock music,
please? Classical music is perfectly festive. Try Schubert’s Trout Quintet,
Mozart’s string quintets, Bach’s orchestral works, or even light operas.
Chamber music works better at parties than symphonies. Pre-World War II jazz
has an endless capacity to charm. Old and new movie soundtracks are always fun.
How about bluegrass? The idea is to play something that is not too intrusive but
isn’t boringly familiar either.
Catholic liturgical music is great, but it
should be reserved for Mass and Vespers, not parties. Always remember Pope St.
Clement’s dictum from the first century: no pagan music at liturgy and no
liturgical music at minstrel shows or other non-sacred occasions. That doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t listen to and enjoy Machaut and Byrd at home, but parties
aren’t the right times to push this repertoire.
My final musical note: If someone in the
group can play the piano and there’s one in your home, it should be compulsory
that he play.
It’s Party Time
More important than the specifics of a
party are the spirit. The spirit of a good party is a variant of the spirit of
good liturgy: a work of a community of people that follows a plan. "Every
religion has its feasts," the Catholic Encyclopedia says, "but
none has such a rich and judiciously constructed system of festive seasons as
the Catholic Church."
It’s time we lived up to our religious
tradition by putting some effort and thought into our parties. Given the
generally dull tenor of the times, you will suddenly become a famous and
much-heralded host or hostess by making a little effort at being
countercultural. And you will also help demonstrate to others, in the tradition
of Cana, that we Catholics are not always dour and penitent, but also, at the
right time, fun and hospitable people who display our hope that someday we will
join the heavenly banquet, the most wonderful party of all. It’s part of our
heritage and our faith.
NOVENA
TO THE HOLY FACE
DAILY
PREPARATORY PRAYER
We now implore all the Angels and Saints to intercede for us as we pray this Holy Novena to the Most Holy Face of Jesus and for the glory of the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fifth
Day
Psalm 5 1, 10-11.
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your Face and blot out all my guilt.
Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, Pardon and Mercy.
Prayer to Saint Joseph
Dear Saint Joseph! Adopt us as thy children, take charge of our salvation; watch over us day and night; preserve us from occasions of sin; obtain for us purity of body and soul, and the spirit of prayer, through thy intercession with Jesus, grant us a spirit of sacrifice, of humility and self-denial; obtain for us a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet, tender love for Mary, our Mother.
Saint Joseph, be with us in life, be with us in death and obtain for us a favorable judgment from Jesus, our merciful Savior. Amen.
Pray
one (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.
O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine. (Three times)
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a father.
And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will only
stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so you
will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in the
end you will be a more worthy soul."
Examine yourself: slowly, courageously. Is it not true that your
bad humour and your gloominess, both without cause — without apparent cause —
are due to your lack of determination in breaking the subtle but real snares
laid for you — cunningly and attractively — by your concupiscence?
Daily Devotions
·
Hike and Meditate on the Divine
Mercy Novena Day 6 and pray for the souls of the meek and humble and of
children especially those who are to be born.
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Richest_Man_in_Babylon_%28book%29
[2]Thigpen,
Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.
[4] Hahn, Scott, Signs of Life; 40 Catholic
Customs and their biblical roots. Chap. 5. Guardian Angels
[7]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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