Living Without School: Within the Octave of the Nativity

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Within the Octave of the Nativity

Seventh Day Within the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord.

And the Commemoration of St Sylvester, pope.

And the last day of 2008.

From the St. Andrew Missal, 1961 ~

Soon after the peace of Constantine which set free the Church from her shackles (313) , Pope Sylvester governed her for more than twenty years (314-35). The organization of worship in the first great Roman basilica, the assembling of the first ecumenical Council at Nicea at which the Arian heresy was condemned, are the principal events of a pontificate which began for the Church entirely new conditions of life.

INTROIT. John 21: 15-17; Ps 29:1.

Si diligis me, Simon Petre, pasce agnos meos, pasce oves meas. Ps. Exaltabote, Dominie, quoniam suscepisti me, nec delectasti inimicos meos super me.

If thou lovest Me, Simon Peter, feed My lambs, feed My sheep. Ps. I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me; and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.

In Bulgaria, they celebrate St Sylvester's Day. On the evening before young men go to “propose” to the young lasses and to demonstrate that they are capable of keeping house. They enter the stable and shovel out the garbage. The hosts leave a bag full of food – sausage, bacon and a bottle of wine as a treat, hanging the bag on a nail behind the door. The young woman secretly puts in a branch of box-tree for her beloved, tied with a bright red thread and wrapped in a multi-colored cloth - a sign that she is waiting for the matchmakers to come.

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Prayer of Consecration of St. Maximilian Kolbe

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to thee. I, N___, a repentant sinner, cast myself at thy feet humbly imploring thee to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to thyself as thy possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases thee. If it pleases thee, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of thee: "She will crush your head," and, "Thou alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world."

Let me be a fit instrument in thine Immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed Kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever thou enters, one obtains the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through thy hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise thee O Sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thy enemies.

Prayer of St Bonaventure

Pierce, O most Sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, with true, serene, and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with love and longing for Thee, that it may yearn for Thee and faint for Thy courts, and long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the bread of angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delight of taste; let my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, upon whom the angels desire to look, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst after Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the richness of the house of God.May it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, attain Thee, meditate upon Thee, speak of Thee, and do all things to the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, and with perseverance unto the end.May Thou alone be ever my hope, my entire assurance, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my fragrance, my sweet savor, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession and my treasure, in whom may my mind and my heart be fixed and firmly rooted immovably henceforth and for ever. Amen.