Coffee and Canticles

02 Apr 2016 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

In my last post I referred you to Daria Sockey’s excellent blog post, “Breviary Bootcamp.” However, I should have mentioned that her entire blog is a unique resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Liturgy of the Hours, from novice to veteran. Her site has a few posts that are helpful overviews to various aspects of the Divine Office (a.k.a. the Liturgy of the Hours) plus the five years of  engaging posts and the lively comments provide a treasure trove of valuable information. You can find Daria’s conversation about praying with the Church, known as Coffee and Canticles, here:

http://dariasockey.blogspot.com

 

Praying with the Church

31 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Have you heard of the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours as it’s also known? If not you are in for a pleasant surprise. Many lay Christians in the Catholic Church and liturgical faith communities as well as other believers have been discovering this public prayer of the church–normally associated with the clergy–that stretches backwards across centuries of the faithful and around the globe to join a great host of brothers and sisters in Christ. One of its beauties is that it can be prayed privately or in conjunction with fellow believers. Rather than try to explain it in detail here I commend to you the excellent and accessible slim volume on the subject, The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, by Daria Sockey.

http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Catholics-Guide-Liturgy-Hours-ebook/dp/B00BSI816S/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1459421181&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=everyday+catholic%27s+guide+to+the+liturgy+of+hours

Additionally, should you just want an overview of the Liturgy of the Hours or start praying them, Daria has written an extended blog post called Breviary Boot Camp that is a terrific tool for throwing yourself into the Divine Office prayers–if you read about them and discover you are so inclined.

http://dariasockey.blogspot.com/p/breviary-bootcamp.html

For me, a previous participant in these prayers who eventually fell out of using them and then came back several years later, they have been serendipitous in helping my faith journey stay on course during some tough times over the past few months. Now that things are looking up I am addicted to continuing them as I can’t imagine trying to get through my day without their help. If you’re curious about the idea of praying the Psalms and other Scriptures regularly you should read Daria’s post and consider diving right in.

Finally, there’s a wonderful website you can use to get started without any outlay of cash. It provides the prayers in either visual or audio form and you don’t have to figure out where in the cycle of prayers you should be on any given day as the work has already been done for you. It is also available for purchase as an app for iOS, Mac OS10 Lion, Android, Kindle and Nook platforms.

http://divineoffice.org

If any of this sounds intriguing I encourage you to check it out. And remember: you don’t have to pray all the hours. You may be a Night Prayer user as my family and I were when our son was much younger and this was part of our family’s prayer routine. Or you may switch things up daily and pray whatever hour or hours that work for you that day. The beauty is that you can’t fail to benefit from whatever you pray in conjunction with believers all over the world, however that looks for you. No doubt if you become devoted to it your practice will change with the ebb and flow of the seasons of your life.

But no matter whether you stick to it faithfully or go on sabbatical you will always find it there waiting for you to pick up and be refreshed. Peace be with you as you draw closer to the Lord Jesus through the prayer of His Word.

Guardian Angels

02 Oct 2015 3 Comments

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

Today is the feast of the Guardian Angels and I found these two posts to be the best explanations of what Scripture teaches us about these wonderful helpers. Thank you, Lord, for my guardian angel!

http://lifeteen.com/blog/to-protect-and-serve-the-truth-about-guardian-angels/?utm_content=bufferf09dc&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

 

Music for Eastertide & Beyond

07 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: ,

If I had thought about it sooner, I would have posted this on Holy Thursday…

Music for the Triduum/Easter season:

Good Friday:

Traditional hymns: “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” “At the Cross Her Station Keeping,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” & “Were You There?”

Bach’s St. Matthew Passion or St. John Passion

Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri

Contemporary: Matt Maher’s “You Were on the Cross,” “Jars of Clay’s “O Come and Mourn With Me Awhile,” and Bruce Carroll’s “Driving Nails”

Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday:

Contemporary: Carman’s “Sunday’s On Its Way”–and for the young at heart, here’s a fun video:

Easter Sunday/Easter Season:

Traditional hymns: “Christ Arose”, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”, “Alleluia! Alleluia!” [Ode to Joy tune]

Classical: Bach’s Easter Oratorio & Widor’s Toccata from the Fifth Organ Symphony in F, Op 42 #1–Here’s a wonderful performance:

Contemporary:

Anthem: Matt Maher’s “Christ is Risen” (backing vocals by Audrey Assad); nice concept video done by a fan:

Worship & praise: Adam Young (a.k.a. Owl City)’s cover of “In Christ Alone (I Stand)”

Contemporary hymn: “Easter Song” (Keith Green performance, although the 2nd Chapter of Acts is good, too)

Anthem: James Ward’s “Death is Ended”

Vintage anthems: Don Francisco’s “He’s Alive” & Dallas Holm’s “Rise Again”

Finally, I would be remiss to not include at least a few other year-round favorites that come to mind about the grace of God at work in our lives:

Bach’s Halellujah Chorus

Rich Mullin’s “Step by Step”

Audrey Assad’s “O Happy Fault,” “Sparrow,” & “Breaking Through”

U2’s “Magnificent” & “Pride”

Matt Maher’s “New State of Mind,” “Alive Again,” “His Grace is Enough”

Eleanor Farjeon’s “Morning Has Broken”

Johnny Cash’s “When the Man Comes Around”

Contemporary hymn: “You Are Mine”

Randy Travis’ “Three Wooden Crosses”

Any musical setting and/or performer for “Ave Maria,” although I’m especially fond of Andrea Bocelli and Perry Como’s versions.

 

Freestyle Fridays

03 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: ,

Here’s a slightly late helpful refresher guide to the Triduum, in handy infographic form. You can use it to help you better process what was involved and to prepare for what’s remaining. Remember, Sunday’s on it’s way!

http://www.focus.org/blog/posts/an-illustrated-guide-to-the-triduum-infographic.html

I’m looking forward to the Stations of the Cross and tonight’s Communion service as unfortunately I couldn’t attend The Lord’s Supper mass last night. But then there’s the Easter Vigil to look forward to tomorrow, after watching The Passion of the Christ for the second year in the row (I’m DVRing it tonight). I can’t watch all the scenes and use a ton of Kleenex, but in my opinion–and I put this off for over a decade–it’s well worth whatever you can manage viewing/hearing.

 

 

The Way of the Cross

02 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

Here’s an excellent reblogged post for Holy Thursday.

http://aquinasetc.com/2015/04/02/the-way-of-the-cross/

I hope you have had a blessed first day of the Triduum, whether it looked like what you had planned or not. We have two more days to focus on the Lord’s passion and then celebrate with Easter Sunday!

 

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

17 Mar 2015 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

I arise today                                                                                           Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

Amen.

Monday Musings

16 Mar 2015 2 Comments

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

Today I return to blogging after having one of the many versions of late winter illnesses that are going around. Mine wasn’t particularly horrible–just a cold that quickly went into my chest and kept me feverish and not sleeping nights for longer than I wanted. But in the end–although I’m still hacking–it was just a simple cold and once the fever subsided I had to keep marching on with life again. This reminds me of an old post that I’d like to share again, as it was good for me to reread today for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that we’re marching on toward Easter Sunday as we continue in our Lenten journey. I hope it will be encouraging to you as well.

https://beyouverywell.com/2013/08/09/marching-on/

 

Shrove Tuesday

17 Feb 2015 3 Comments

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Lest I forget, here’s my favorite verse for this day of feasting before our days of fasting (“There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven…” Ec 3:1, NJB)

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine
There’s music and laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!

Hilaire Belloc

 

 

Too Much Tuesday

17 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by Sabryna in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

I have decided I’d like to try blogging about when there’s too much of something in my life. Here’s a prime example:

“The worst way of speaking is to speak too much. Therefore speak little and well, speak little and gently, speak little and charitably, speak little and amiably.”

St. Francis de Sales

So, for Lent I am going to give up my habit to let my jaws start flapping the instant there’s an audience for whatever is on my mind and it feels like my head will explode if I don’t immediately share the idea, inspiration, information, or just plain old issuing forth on whatever subject is currently on “play”–a.k.a. rant mode (son’s nomenclature). In essence, I will be fasting from such frequent freedom with my tongue. This will be tough. It may even be laughable to those who know me best. I know I was surprised to find, upon meditation, that this was the direction the Holy Spirit was nudging me in. But be that as it may, I will give it my best shot. The downside for you, gentle reader, is that I am not placing that fast on my writing. So if I become even wordier and take longer than usual to make my point, I apologize in advance; Lent only lasts six weeks.

I am sure this will be the hardest thing I’ve ever given up for love of my Lord’s immense sacrifice for me and all of mankind, but it also will be a huge blessing to my family if I can even remotely pull it off (plus they provide built in accountability!).

Lord, have mercy!

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