qui de excelso illo fluxisti,
quod divinitas tetigit,
tu flos es,
quem hiems de flatu serpentis
num quam lesit.”
“O ruby blood
which flowed from on high
where divinity touched.You are a flower
that the winter
of the serpent’s breath
can never injure.”
I was browsing my collection of sacred music, and stumbled onto this antiphon written by St. Hildegard von Bingen. Sometimes there is a piece of religious writing, poetry, a hymn or a reading from the Scriptures which truly grips you. I thought I should share this with you seeing as how today is the Fourth of July, our national Day of Independence, and a day upon which much blood hung in the balance, and seeing as how we are all also called to be martyrs, in one way or another, for Our Lord. I hate to get preachy on you, but at least I’m not an alb-sporting nun “homilizing” at Mass.
Anyways, this antiphon of St. Hildegard points out to us that the Blood which flowed from Our Savior’s side is a source of unimaginable grace and spiritual comfort. In it one can find all nourishment and all satisfaction, for what is more all-satisfying than that which the blanket of our base lives of sin cannot cover or obscure? The serpent’s breath of which Hildegard wrote is something which comes in many forms, with which some of us in Western New York are very well acquainted, indeed. The “smoke of Satan” leeks into our lives whenever truth is perverted. This festering of truth, indeed, the Truth, comes, ultimately, from the profanity seen in our sanctuaries and upon our altars. We must pray that the blood which has been shed by the Church’s martyr’s be not wasted on the roots of the tree of progressivism. For only a tree of righteousness and strength has the right to be nourished by such sweet a nectar.
The winter of evil which was referenced is, in my opinion, no specific event or date. Rather, it is the times which sin enters inot our lives in a freely-chosen manner. Its chilling and pentrating effect is undeniable, for we have all seen how, in time of spiritual weakness, the devil may enter in. It appears as if the Holy Spirit loses the battle and Satan has St. Michael under tread rather tha
n the other way around. However, no sin is unaviodable, for all sin is a choice. We choose to do evil, and we choose to embrace it rather than to place our trust in He whom we ought. Our founding fathers realized this and, while only one or two of the signers of the Declrataion were Catholic, the vast majority were at least “Deists.” These men of faith could see the dangers lurking for the people of the colonies and they could see just as well the abuses of power coming from across the Atlantic. Let us learn from the example of these patriots, that we may find the courage to stand up against the tyanies which confront us. Name them and
combat them with all resolve, for to do anything but would be to breath the winter of the serpent’s tongue into our midst and, thus, into the Church.
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We are fighting to protect our Church in the Diocese of Rochester, 365 days a year.
If you attack our Church, we will find you and expose you to the world, on the Internet.
The Bishop and his small group of dissidents will not stand long, against the power of the Internet.
We certainly hope and pray that one day, these dissidents will come to their senses and stop offending the Church.
Preach all you want, genjlcgetty's, you are doing a far better job than anything I hear in a Diocese of Rochester parish. God bless this blog and all the Rochester blogs who proclaim the truth.
Yes, I thank you too, genjlcgetty!! You are a modern day St. Paul.
Imagine, if you will, had the internet and blogs been around during those Vatican II days (daze ;), I think the outcome would have been much different. Any thoughts about that anybody? I'm been inclusive here and would really like to hear what you think, even RG.
Pax et bonum!
Communication was a lot slower back then, and one could control it as they please. We saw this with the U.S. coverage of the Council, all this glorified talk of needed changes and reforms. If only the truth were being revealed on an Internet back then. All the lies exposed. All the Protestant experts being used revealed. There would have been a serious uproar then. We would have had a completely different outcome for the Council, I agree 100%.
Indeed. So much of the pressure put on the "reformers" comes from the internet and other similar means of communication. After all, how many times have people here asked for diocesan emails and Vatican websites etc . . . to report abuse? The answer is "a lot." I think it's an infinite blessing that the traditional, orthodox and conservative have all latched onto the web as a means of evangelization.
And I think you're being awfully kind, he who is in the choir loft, saying I'm St. Paul. I'd settle for more of a Mother Angelica. lol
Lol at "I'd settle for more of a Mother Angelica"
Cleansing Fire has moved its way to the top of my bookmarks, keep up the great work.
Gen: I say that about you because once I was speaking with a priest that is on EWTN and he said we Catholics have to "start kickin' heretic butt" , especially on the Internet. And you, Gen, seem to have them "on the run" and "ridin' roughshod'.
Apparently the libs were pretty darn slow about using the net.
Conservative are so high-tech savvy!
Choir: "Conservative are so high-tech savvy!"
I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed this, but doesn't it seem like a lot of conservative Catholics are in computer-related fields? Let us continue to explore this technology to promote the message of fidelity to the Holy Father and the Catholic Church.