The Virgin of the Passion (Our Lady of Perpetual Help)

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Here are portions of a reflection published in a recent bulletin of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest:

“The eight-point star on her forehead represents the Eastern idea that Mary is the star that leads us to Jesus. The letters above her head proclaim her the Mother of God (in Greek).”

“Jesus is not looking at us, or at Mary, or at the angels. Though he clings to his mother, he is looking away, at something we cannot see, something that made him run so fast to his mother that one of his sandals has almost fallen off, something that makes him cling to her for protection and love.”

“The figures that hover on either side of Jesus and Mary, the Greek letters above them identify them as Archangels Gabriel and Michael . . . they bear the instruments of Christ’s Passion.”

“On the left, Michael holds an urn filled with the gall that the soldiers offered to Jesus on the cross, the lance that pierced his side, and the reed with the sponge. To the right, Gabriel carries the cross and four nails. Jesus has seen part of his destiny, the suffering and death he will undergo.”

Information about how to read ikons in general and this ikon in particular can be found at Fish Eaters here.

Baptism of Desire

Dante, in his epic poem, The Divine Comedy, places characters in Paradise who have not been baptized. One might therefore ask, “Can someone who has not received the sacrament of baptism in the Roman Catholic Church be saved?”

Fr. Anthony Cekada presents a traditional view at Quidlibet here.

Image:
Wikipedia picture of Michelino’s “Dante and His Poem” from the Wikipedia article linked above.

Take Ye, and Eat

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me." (I Cor. 11:23-25. Douay-Rheims version.)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi -- The Body of Christ. The actual feast day was this past Thursday, June 11. The solemnity is celebrated on Sunday, however, for the good of the faithful.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Today is Trinity Sunday. The beloved hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy", was composed for Trinity Sunday in 1826 by an Anglican clergyman, Reginald Heber:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Image: El Greco's "Trinidad"