Second to Nun
Happy feast of Corpus et Sanguinis Christi!
I always love to hear the traditional hymns for this feast, with their use of the expression "faith alone":
...thus showing that even the formulas used by those who attacked the Church in certain periods of her history find a place when put in the correct context; the faith is Catholic, universal. In the context of totality, even the "sola" has its place.
As a convert to the Church, I remember feeling that the more sincere Protestants tended to make the Bible a "mystery"; it couldn't be put into context without a lot of trouble, "sola Biblia" made it a kind of monolith.
Well, the same could be said of the Eucharist, except that for us the Mystery is a joy! We gladly acknowledge that it's an ultimate mystery, and that faith alone can grasp it. But the difference is that this Mystery makes sense of everything, really everything we experience, whereas you can only take Bible-centricism so far (admittedly quite far!) because the Bible is not the whole mystery (though it is also essential).
Anyhow, the Beeb has kicked off a second Religious Reality show!
The Convent (it's second to Nun).
I watched with great enjoyment last night. I thought the use of a typical modern phrase like "de-tox for the soul" is really perfect. It shows, to me, the fact that even the most mundane of modern yearnings, the self-help mentality with which we approach our problems, can be fulfilled (though in a new and unexpected way) in Christ; it was a joy to hear all those nuns talking about all the usual self-help-type issues (I won't knock them, we all have them!) but in reference to an experience of community and prayer. Who would expect it?
It beats Big Brother (more on that later!) hands down...
I always love to hear the traditional hymns for this feast, with their use of the expression "faith alone":
Verbum caro panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit;
Fitque sanguis Christi merum;
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.
...thus showing that even the formulas used by those who attacked the Church in certain periods of her history find a place when put in the correct context; the faith is Catholic, universal. In the context of totality, even the "sola" has its place.
As a convert to the Church, I remember feeling that the more sincere Protestants tended to make the Bible a "mystery"; it couldn't be put into context without a lot of trouble, "sola Biblia" made it a kind of monolith.
Well, the same could be said of the Eucharist, except that for us the Mystery is a joy! We gladly acknowledge that it's an ultimate mystery, and that faith alone can grasp it. But the difference is that this Mystery makes sense of everything, really everything we experience, whereas you can only take Bible-centricism so far (admittedly quite far!) because the Bible is not the whole mystery (though it is also essential).
Anyhow, the Beeb has kicked off a second Religious Reality show!
The Convent (it's second to Nun).
I watched with great enjoyment last night. I thought the use of a typical modern phrase like "de-tox for the soul" is really perfect. It shows, to me, the fact that even the most mundane of modern yearnings, the self-help mentality with which we approach our problems, can be fulfilled (though in a new and unexpected way) in Christ; it was a joy to hear all those nuns talking about all the usual self-help-type issues (I won't knock them, we all have them!) but in reference to an experience of community and prayer. Who would expect it?
It beats Big Brother (more on that later!) hands down...
posted by Anonymous at 3:23 AM
2 Comments:
Translate the latin!!!!!!!
Esperanta
Sorry. But the translation is on the first link (the hymn page on New Advent) in my blog-post.
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