Gabriel Appeared

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A few weeks delayed, but I couldn't resist posting this, one of my favorite videos.  It is of a Russian Orthodox choir singing a very solemn hymn, "Gabriel Appeared."  See if you can follow the words along with the music, and pray for our absent brothers to rejoin under the Chair of Peter (and that the mainstream Catholics within the Church learn that worship must not only be under the Authority of God by the Chair of Peter, but also worship oriented to GOD, and not to each other).   These lyrics are so POWERFUL and the music is so expressive; it is easy to follow them even without knowing Russian. See, if you have time, if you can't follow them, and find the part where the soloist sings, "Rejoice, O depth hard to fathom!" and see how the choir follows this part. How very solemn, yes, indeed, Miss Caroline! (HINT in following: It seems that the choir sings the 'intro', with the soloist taking the part of the angel, St. Gabriel.)  Even the angel Gabriel finds that the depth of this mystery is even hard for him to fathom! And he beholds the beatific vision!

When the angels bow and tremble in awe, who are we not to be in the most solemn disposition interiorly and exteriorly when approaching our Lord's True Presence in the tabernacle, when entering a Catholic church, and most especially when anticipating and witnessing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

English translation:

Gabriel stood before thee, O Maiden, 

Revealing the pre-eternal counsel, 

Saluting thee and exclaiming: 

"Rejoice, O earth unsown!

Rejoice, O bush unburnt! 

Rejoice, O depth hard to fathom! 

Rejoice, O bridge leading to the heavens and lofty ladder, which Jacob beheld! 

Rejoice, O divine jar of Manna! 

Rejoice, annulment of the curse! 

Rejoice, restoration of Adam: the Lord is with thee!"

Our Greatest Loss

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Society's greatest moral loss is the sense of the sacred.

There is no wonder why many Christians today do not hold sacred even the Commandments from God.  The Most Holy Living Tabernacle of God the Son, espoused to the Holy Spirit and chosen by God the Father is regarded very little today by most folk.  She that was chosen from the beginning of time to be the woman who would "crush the head of Satan" (Genesis 3), is regarded little more than a utility for God for some short space in time, for so little is spoken of her in the amount of content in the Bible.  What nonsensical thoughts!   Such persons who believe such blasphemy *(and blasphemy it is, indeed, to belittle that which belongs to God in a most special way --- His most perfect creation --- as Christ was not created, but existed from the beginning, having later taken the flesh of the Holy Virgin Mary in time) do so because they do not have spiritual eyes, and have lost the sense of obedience with which comes the loss of the sense of the sacred.  

Jesus is not a human person.  He was and is a Divine person, one with two natures united to each other (hypostatically; the divine nature acted when also at the same time the human nature acted, and vice versa): human and divine.   It is undeniable that The Virgin Mary gave birth to God, although Jesus was needed to redeem her.  Jesus was needed to redeem her not for sin, since she had no sin and never sinned, but because the redemption given to mankind through/by Christ also gave sanctification to those in his Church, giving them the ability to be without sin (even while many do not yet remain in this grace and are in need of the redeeming graces of the Sacraments of Penance and our Lord Himself in Holy Communion).   Mary is the Mother of God, and since she is so, and God must be adored, it stands to reason that the Mother of God should be venerated that one may adore God.

The Blessed Mother is the New Eve and was born immaculate.  She is not less than the 1st Eve, but greater.  The first man and woman were brought into the world without sin --- Adam, from the pure slime of the earth, and Eve from the rib of Adam.  Did God the Father give flesh to Jesus by impure matter?   Not at all.  Such an accusation is blasphemous.  Honoring the Mother of God is honoring God Himself as she belongs to Him in a most special way, and brings Christ to us through her example of her most holy obedience.  Those who know her by way of prayer and veneration will benefit from her prayers on their behalf and subsequently grow in holy obedience, making the way for Christ to be formed in their own hearts.  The Blessed Virgin Mother, in this way, continues to be the Living Tabernacle of Christ, bringing those under her mantle to better know and love him.  

O Antiphons

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The Veni Veni Emmanuel is based on the "O Antiphons" in the Catholic liturgy.  

Read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_antiphon

Veni, Veni Emmanuel

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O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-star, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads to Thee,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come to lead us Adonai,
Who to the tribes on height of Sinai
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.