Posted by September Ember Friday: Missa “Lætétur cor“
For the fourth time in Her year, Holy Church comes claiming from Her children the tribute of penance, which, from the earliest ages of Christianity, was looked upon as a solemn consecration of the seasons. The Quatuor Tempora (Four Times) include the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of four separate weeks, which fall roughly near the changes of the four seasons of the year. We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months (Zach. 8: 19). Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Rabanu Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that the Eastern Rites do not observe this fast.
We have already spoken of the necessity of private penance for the Christian who is at all desirous to make progress in the path of salvation. But in this, as in all spiritual exercises, a private work of devotion has neither the merit nor the efficacy of one that is done in company with the Church, and in communion with Her public act; for the Church, as Bride of Christ, communicates an exceptional worth and power to works of penance done, in Her name, in unity with others. St. Leo the Great is very strong on this fundamental principle of Christian virtue. We find him insisting on it in the sermons he preached to the faithful in Rome, on occasion of this fast, which was then called the fast of the seventh month. (The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months.) “Although,” says he, “it be lawful for each one of us to chastise his body by self-imposed punishments, and restrain, with more or less severity, the concupiscences of the flesh which war against the spirit, yet there is need that, on certain days, a general fast be celebrated by all. Devotion is all the more efficacious and holy, when the whole Church is engaged in works of piety, with one spirit and one soul. Everything, in fact, that is of a public character is to be preferred to what is private; and it is plain, that so much the greater is the interest at stake, when the earnestness of all is engaged in it. As for individual efforts, let each one keep up his fervor in them; let each one, imploring the aid of divine protection, take to himself the heavenly armor, wherewith to resist the snares laid by the spirits of wickedness; but the soldier of the Church, though he may act bravely in his own private combats, yet will he fight more safely and more successfully, when he shall confront the enemy in a public engagement; for then he has not only his own valor to which to trust, but he is under the leadership of a King Who can never be conquered, and engaged in a battle fought by all his fellow-soldiers; so that, being in their company and ranks, he has the fellowship of mutual aid… See, most dearly beloved, here is the solemn fast of the seventh month urging us to profit by this invincible unity… Let us raise up our hearts, withdraw from worldly occupations, and steal some time for furthering our eternal welfare… In the eyes of God, my dearly beloved, it is a great and precious sight, when all Christ’s people are earnest at the same Offices; and when, without any distinction, men and women of every grade and order are all working together with one heart.”
Let us not, in our prayers and fasts, forget those preparing for Holy Orders. The Ember Saturday of September is a traditional day for ordinations, although it is historically of less prominence than other such days in the liturgical year. The sublime function, to which the faithful owe their fathers and guides in the spiritual life, has, however, a special interest at this period of the year, which, more than any other, is in keeping with the present state of the world in its rapid decline towards ruin. Our year, too, is on the fall, as we say. The sun, which we beheld rising at Christmas as a giant who would burst the bonds of frost asunder and restrain the tyranny of darkness, now, as though he had grown weary, is drooping towards the horizon; each day we see him gradually leaving that glorious zenith, where we admired his dazzling splendour on the day of our Emmanuel’s Ascension; his fire has lost its might; and though he still holds half the day as his, his disc is growing pale. So it is with our world. Illumined as it was by the light of Christ, and glowing with the fire of the Holy Ghost, it sees, in these our days, that charity is growing cold (Matt. 24: 12), and that the light and glow it had from the Sun of Justice are on the wane. Each revolution takes from the Church some jewel or other, which does not come back to Her when the storm is over; tempests are so frequent, that tumult is becoming the normal state of the times. Error predominates, and lays down the law. Iniquity abounds. It is Our Lord Himself Who said: “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find, think ye, faith on earth?” (Luke 18: 8)
INTROIT Psalm 104:3-4
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord: seek the Lord, and be strengthened; seek His face evermore. (Psalm) Give glory to the Lord, and call upon His name; declare His deeds among the gentiles. Glory be to the Father. Let the heart…
COLLECT
We beseech Thee, O almighty God, grant that as year by year we devoutly keep these sacred fasts, we may please Thee both in body and mind. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
LESSON Osee 01:2-10
Thus saith the Lord God: Return, O Israel, to the Lord thy God: for thou hast fallen down by thy iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord, and say to him: Take away all iniquity, and receive the good: and we will render the calves of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more: The works of our hands are our gods, for thou wilt have mercy on the fatherless that is in thee. I will heal their breaches, I will love them freely: for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be as the dew, Israel shall spring as the lily, and his root shall shoot forth as that of Libanus. His branches shall spread, and his glory shall be as the olive tree: and his smell as that of Libanus. They shall be converted that sit under his shadow: they shall live upon wheat, and they shall blossom as a vine: his memorial shall be as the wine of Libanus. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I will hear him, and I will make him flourish like a green fir tree: from me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know these things? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall in them.
GRADUAL Psalm 89:13,1
Return, O Lord, a litte and be entreated in favor of Thy servants. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, from generation to generation.
GOSPEL St. Luke 7:36-50
At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him; so He went into the house of the Pharisee and reclined at table. And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner, upon learning that He was at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment; and standing behind Him at His feet, she began to bathe His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with ointment. Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw it, he said to himself, This Man, were He a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Master, speak. A certain money-lender had two debtors; the one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. As they had no means of paying, he forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more? Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave more. And He said to him, You have judged rightly. And turning to the woman, He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has bathed My feet with tears, and has wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to you, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little. And they who were at table with Him began to say within themselves, Who is this Man, Who even forgives sins? But He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you, go in peace.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Psalm 102:2,5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; and your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.
SECRET
May the gift of our fasting, we beseech You, O Lord, be acceptable to You, and by its purifying power make us worthy of Your grace and bring us to the eternal bliss You have promised us. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
PREFACE of the Common
It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them, we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise:
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Psalm 118:22,24
Remove from me reproach and contempt, because I have sought out Thy commandments, O Lord; for Thy testimonies are my meditation.
POSTCOMMUNION
We beseech You, O almighty God, that, showing gratitude for the gifts we have received, we may obtain yet greater benefits. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
R. Amen.