PRAYER & LITURGY

The Feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, is the Birthday of the Church when after the Ascension the disciples received the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus. The Third Person of the Trinity, the Advocate whom the Father sends to us, was described as "dew" in the 2nd century homily of St. Irenaeus:

If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well.

On this day we pray for an outpouring of the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, fortitude, knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord, so that the Spirit, dwelling in us, may guide us on our mission to bear witness to the Gospel. Our pascahl candle is now spent. It has burned throughout Paschaltide and as it melts the "nails" have been falling to the ground. There is a poignancy in seeing the flame now so close to the symbol of the Omega. On Pentecost after Compline and the singing of the Vidi Aquam for the last time, the flame is extinguished signaling the end of Paschaltide.

The beautiful sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus is sung at Mass on Pentecost Sunday. We are pleased to offer you an original English translation by classicist and friend of the community, Joseph T. Moller. Joseph includes the historical background to the sequence:.

This hymn clearly dates from the 12th century; its authorship has been the subject of scholarly discussion, but the Cistercian Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, seems the most likely author. This sequence which became know as the 'golden sequence', is one of the few sequences that survived the reform of the liturgy after the Council of Trent. The poetic, theological, and musical felicities of this sequence make it one of the great masterpieces of Gregorian chant.

Listen to the monastic choir of Regina Laudis sing the Sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
et emitte caelitus
lucis tuae radium.
Veni, pater pauperum,
veni, dator munerum,
veni, lumen cordium.

Consolator optime,
dulcis hospes animae,
dulce refrigerium.
In labore requies,
in aestu temperies,
in fletu solatium.

O lux beatissima,
reple cordis intima
tuorum fidelium.
Sine tuo numine,
nihil est in homine,
nihil est innoxium.

Lava quod est sordidum,
riga quod est aridum,
sana quod est saucium.
Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.

Da tuis fidelibus,
in te confidentibus,
sacrum septenarium.
Da virtutis meritum,
da salutis exitum,
da perenne gaudium.
Amen. Alleluia.

Come, Holy Spirit,
And send out the heavenly
Light of your radiating.
Come, father of the poor,
Come, giver of ministering gifts,
Come, light of hearts.

Consoler best,
Sweet guest of the soul,
Sweet refreshing.
In toil, rest
in heat, cooling
In weeping, solace.

O light most happily blest
Fill the heart's inmost spaces
In your faithful ones.
Without your divine presence
Nothing is there in man,
Nothing, that is not hurtful.

Wash what is soiled
Flood what is desert
Heal what is wounded
Bend gently what is stubbornly rigid
Warm what is cold
Straighten what is deviant.

Give to your faithful ones,
To those in you trusting
The holy gifts sevenfold.
Give virtue's merits,
Give salvation in the end
Give eternal joy.
Amen. Alleluia.

PRAYER & LITURGY

Lument Christi This year we had a beautiful celebration of the Triduum and Easter, our first with our new chaplain in residence, Father Ezekiel Lotz, O.S.B. Our Oblates, guests, and interns enriched our celebration of the Holy Week Sequence beginning on Palm Sunday and culminating in an Easter Vigil. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the intensity and significance of the Triduum in this way:

These three days could be considered one single day. They reveal the heart and are the key to both the liturgical year and the life of the Church.

Each morning of the Triduum during Tenebrae, the haunting Lamentations of Jeremiah were sung by Father Ezekiel, monastic community members, and our oblates. When the service begins, all of the candles on the Tenebrae Candelabra called a Hearse have been lighted. As each psalm is completed, a candle is extinguished until only one remains for the singing of the Benedictus, signifying Christ, the source of light, amidst the gathering darkness of the Passion.

Our Sacristan, Mother Dilecta prepared a unique Easter Fire, incorporating palms, bark, remnants of wood and newspaper. On Holy Saturday the rain held off in the early evening and once ignited, the fire blazed brightly. Our candlemaker at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Mother Lioba Postel, inscribed our Paschal candle this year with a brilliant orange gold, chosen especially for Mother Hildegard since this is her Jubilee Year, celebrating 50 years of vowed life. As Father Ezekiel embedded the incense into the Pascal candle held by our pre-postulant Mary, he prayed:

By His holy and glorious wounds, may Christ the Lord guard us and protect us.

When the Paschal candle was lit Father Ezekiel led us into the Chapel proclaiming: Lumen Christi!

Enjoy this gallery of the celebration of Holy Week and Easter 2023 at Our Lady of the Rock. (Click to enlarge.)