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Divine Office | The whole world awaits Mary’s reply

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from a sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 1153). Bernard was born near Dijon, in France, in 1090, of a noble family. In 1112 he joined the new monastery at Cîteaux. This had been founded fourteen years before, in a bid to reject the laxity and riches of much of the Benedictine Order of the time (as exemplified by the great monasteries such as Cluny) and to return to a primitive poverty and austerity of life. Bernard was a man of great holiness and wisdom, and although he was often in very poor health, he was active in many of the great public debates of the time. He strongly opposed the luxurious lives of some of the clergy, and fought against the persecution of the Jews. He was also a prolific writer, and the Liturgy of the Hours uses extracts from many of his sermons. For a reflection, "The whole world awaits Mary's reply," please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Divine Office | The operation of the redeeming Incarnation

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from the treatise "Against the Heresies" by St. Irenaeus (ca. 130 - 202 A.D.). Whenever we take up a Bible we touch Irenaeus’s work, for he played a decisive role in fixing the canon of the New Testament. It is easy for people nowadays to think of Scripture – and the New Testament in particular – as the basis of the Church, but harder to remember that it was the Church itself that had to agree, early on, about what was scriptural and what was not. For a reflection, "The operation of the redeeming Incarnation," please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Divine Office | God showed his love through his Son

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from the Letter to Diognetus (ca. 2nd c.).

The Letter to Diognetus is a Christian apologetic work dating from the 2nd century, probably from late in that century. It was initially attributed to Justin Martyr but is now agreed to be by an unknown author. Whoever it was by, the letter seems to have passed out of general knowledge very early, since none of the standard authorities such as Eusebius mention it. The identity of the recipient is equally unknown. It is valuable as showing the nature of Christian belief in those very early days, and it is different from other Christian apologies in that it seems not to be a spontaneous work of explanation or justification, but a detailed response to a detailed series of questions.

For a reflection on "God showed his love through his Son," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Divine Office | On humility and peace

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from "The Imitation of Christ" by St Thomas à Kempis (1379 - 1471).

Thomas à Kempis himself was born in Kempen, a small town not far from Cologne. He went to a school founded by Gerhard Groote, and in 1399 became a member of the recently founded Augustinian house of which John, his elder brother, was the first prior. He remained a member of this community for the rest of his life.

For a reflection, "On humility and peace," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!