“ Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is: and

walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” - Jeremiah; Chapter 6, Verse 16.

June 28th

A.D. 2015

Fourth Sunday After Trinity

The Blind Leading the Blind By Sebastian Vrancx (1573 – 1647)

Flemish Baroque painter

2.

The Epistle for the Day; St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans; Ch.8 Vs. 18 - 23 Today’s Epistle and Gospel can also be found in the following sources:

1928 Book of Common Prayer; Page 194

The People’s Anglican Missal; Page C 61

St. Joseph “Continuous” Sunday Missal (1958 ed.); Page 716

Christians, as children of God, are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ and if they share

with Christ in His sufferings, they will also, as His brethren, share with Him in His glory. That

glory throws into insignificance the life time of sufferings that are the normal lot of Christians.

It’s very difficult, if not impossible for us to grasp, that a Christian’s lifetime, even if it be 100

years or longer, and even if it be filled with suffering and sorrow, will be nothing compared to

what unspeakable happiness awaits us, for a thousand years is as nothing to God. Suffering,

being what it is, can now hold within it, some degree of hopeful expectation. “…the earnest

expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Romans: Ch. 8,

Vs.19 ). Hope, is the great cornerstone of Christianity. None of the other monotheistic religions

offer this.

Today’s Epistle supplies us with material for an instruction on the existence, meaning, and

value of suffering. First, we must understand that suffering is universal: all humanity suffers.

Suffering can roughly be broken down in this way, but is not limited to:

Individually: in heart and soul: (whether it be crises of soul, cares, sorrows, worries, and varied

griefs), in mind: (mental illnesses, addictions, possessions, and dispositions), and in body (those

myriads of diseases, injuries, and pains).

Numbers: of families, races, and even whole nations: (economic crises, epidemics, ethnic

cleansings, wars, etc.)

Disorders in Nature: natural disasters as occur in nature or through interference by people.

A continuous concert of universal wailing comes from this. “For we know that the whole

creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” (Romans: Ch. 8, Vs. 22 ).

Let’s consider some of the sources of suffering and disorder (this list is by no means complete):

- Some of it follows necessarily from the constitution of the world as it has been

fashioned; i.e: “the ways of the world.”

- Much of it follows from Original sin. Mankind would have been saved from suffering if

it were not for the sin which deprived our race of its primitive supernatural gifts; and

nature was involved in the curse which followed the fall of mankind.

- Actual sin has greatly added to the sum of suffering: innumerable sufferings of body and

mind are due to sinful excesses and intemperance. These excesses, it should be noted, are

part of the ‘vanity’ which nature was made subject to. We attempt to dominate nature as

God made it, while allowing free reign to our own desires, concepts of morality, self-

restraints, and concepts of fairness. We have created an imbalance in our world (physical

and spiritual) that was never intended to be, by a loving and much further-seeing God.

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The purpose of suffering: It’s important to understand that there is hardly any suffering which

may not become a source of blessing. Physical pain is often a kind of sentinel, indicating to us

where danger threatens. Family and even national griefs bring people closer together (as we

clearly saw in the tragic days following 9-11). Disasters in nature are the outcome of the laws of

nature, but without these laws of nature our lives would be chaos at best, or non-existent. The

laws of physics that govern nature here on Earth include what goes on in space just as well!

Messing around with the designs that the Almighty has wrought is much like the story of

Pandora’s Box. That was a story however, reality is much harsher. We seem to have to learn the

hard way, and learn we will.

Suffering, within mankind, generally produces a spirit of sympathy, gentleness, mercy, and a

capacity for self-sacrifice. Suffering, to sinners, presents a potent means of repentance and

making amends. It enables Christians to make themselves like their crucified Master, Jesus

Christ.

It’s often asked by people of good will today; “why do bad things happen to good people?”

That’s a very valid question in view of all the unfairness that goes on within the human race and

begs an answer. We all would like to have an answer that once and for all might satisfy the many

examples of suffering that are so rampant. There is probably no sufficient answer for the worldly

that will content them. The following could be an answer, for the Christian, for starters anyways:

“… for we are saved by hope . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall

tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? . . .we

know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called

according to his purpose. . . The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. Nay, in all these things . . .

shall be able to separate (us) from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

( Romans; Ch. 8, Vs. 23 – 39).

Tribulation produces endurance. Endurance produces tested virtue. Tested virtue produces hope.

Prayer for the day: The Lord is my light and salvation, whom then shall I fear ?

The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom then shall I be afraid? - Ps. 27

H O L D F A S T

Tattooed hands of the ‘old salt’ from the film: Master and Commander

4.

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: O Lord my God, in thee have I put my trust: save me from

all them that persecute me and deliver me. – Psalm 7

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Feasts and Fasts

July 2nd

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Nothing is impossible to God.” This was proven by the angel Gabriel when he informed

Mary that her kinswoman Elizabeth, the barren wife of Zechariah, had conceived a son and was

even then in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Mary hastened to her cousin’s home and

remained with her until shortly before the birth of John the Baptist. Sixth century pilgrims were

shown the site of Zachariah’s summer residence, about 4 miles from Jerusalem, near the village

of Ain Kareme :“ vineyard spring”, where the Church of the Visitation now stands, near Mary’s

Well, located on the terraced slopes of a mountain identified as the hill country of Judah where

Mary met Elizabeth ( see St. Luke: Ch. I,Vs. 39–56).

As Mary greeted Elizabeth, “the child leapt in her womb” and this was interpreted as John’s

pre-natal recognition of the presence of the Messiah. The two babies, in the later Middle Ages,

were sometimes shown in the wombs of their respective mothers, John inclining his head as

Jesus made a gesture of blessing, demonstrating that John, although like all mortals inheriting

5.

Original Sin, was thus sanctified before birth. This artistic rendering, gave way to a more

dignified rendering in which the prospective mothers embrace, Elizabeth, the elder figure,

bowing or kneeling, as though saying, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me?”

An embroidery from about 1410 A modern icon of the Visitation

Illustrating the Visitation Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, uttered the words later incorporated in the acclamation,

Ave Maria: “Hail Mary, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”

Mary responded with the Magnificat, that hymn sung at Vespers or Evensong (Evening Prayer),

so named from the first word of the Latin text: Magnificat anima mea Dominum : “My soul doth

magnify the Lord.” Some early Latin manuscripts, which circulated before St. Jerome produced

the Vulgate translation of most of the Bible, attributed this canticle to Elizabeth, but more

dependable Greek texts support the generally accepted attribution to Mary.

The Visitation, from the eighth century onward, was the theme in the monastic lectionaries in

the Advent Embertide and during the week preceding Christmas, but there was no actual,

authorized commemoration of the event until Pope Urban VI (1378 – 89), proposed a festival,

hoping that Mary’s intercession would end the schism brought about by rival claims to the

papacy. Urban’s successor, Boniface IX (1389 – 1404), in 1401, declared the feast universal, but

it was only observed by those religious Orders which accepted his authority. The date chosen

was July 2 in the Eastern Church, marking the festival commemorating the placing of the Holy

Robe of the Mother of God in the church of Blachernae, a suburb of Constantinople. There was

an attempt to regularize the festival throughout the Church in gratitude to Mary, for the eventual

ending of the schism. This was made at the Council of Baisle (1431 – 49), but it failed because

the later actions of the Council were not universally recognized, the wounds of the schism not

6. fully healed. Pope Sixtus IV (1471 – 84), the builder of the Sistine Chapel and a Franciscan

devoted to the Blessed Virgin, following Christian military victories over the

Turkish fleet in 1475, finally instituted the festival, believing that it would secure Mary’s

intercession to the conclusion of the war with the Ottomans. He dedicated the Church of Santa

Maria della Pace: “Our Lady of Peace” to the Feast of the Visitation in 1482. The church was

restored in 1656 to the baroque style by Pietro da Corrona.

This feast was retained by the composers of the Book of Common Prayer as it was based

upon a scriptural passage. It was retained as a “Black Letter”, or minor feast day. It is observed

in most religious Orders in the Roman, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches, however the date has

been moved around among the Catholic denominations. It should logically fall before the Feast

of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24th

and was moved from July 2nd

to May 31stin

the Roman Catholic calendar in 1969. Here at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory, we follow

the custom of the Medieval Sarum Calendar for the most part, from which much of the Prayer

Book drew its Sanctorale (feast-days), so we honor the Blessed Mother’s special feast day on

July 2nd

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Invite Mary into your home !

is produced by the Benedictine Community of: Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Priory

4 Shaw Road

Raymond, Maine 04071

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7.

PLEASE NOTE: Sunday Public Mass at the Priory Chapel commences at 9:00 a.m.

followed by the Monastic Office of Terce.

PLEASE NOTE ALSO: There are No public restrooms so please plan accordingly.

PRIORY KALENDAR

Week of June 28th

to July 5th

- A.D. 2015__________________

In Trinity-tide

Sunday, June 28

th . . . . The Fourth Sunday After Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . in Octave of John Bap.

Monday, June 29th

. . . . St. Peter; Ap. & Myr. 1st cent. ( comm. St. Paul) . . . . In the Octave

Tuesday, June 30th

. . . . St. Paul; Ap. & Myr. 1st cent. ( comm. St. Peter) . . . In the Octave.

Wednesday, July 1st . . . The Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . (Note 1 )

Thursday, July 2nd

. . . . The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Friday, July 3rd

. . . . . . . Requiem Mortorum: Monthly Requiem suggested today

Saturday, July 4th

. . . . . Independence Day ( missa pro Patria ) . . . comm. St. Martin of Tours: B. & C.

Sunday, July 5th

. . . . . . Fifth Sunday After Trinity. . . comm. St. Vladimir of Russia; K. & Myr.

Note(s): 1: Today is the Octave Day of the Nativity of St. John Baptist.

KALENDAR KEY: Ab. = Abbot, Abs. = Abbess, Abp. = Archbishop, Anc. = Anchorite, Ancs. =

Anchoress, Ap. = Apostle, Bl. = Blessed, Br. = Brother, Bp. = Bishop, Card. = Cardinal, C. or Conf. =

Confessor, Comm. = Commemoration, Dcn. = Deacon, Doct. = Doctor of the Church, Ev. = Evangelist, H. =

Hermit, LBr. = Laybrother, LSr. = Laysister, K. = King, M. = Monk, M.M. = Month’s Mind ( 30 day

requiem for the departed ), Myr. = Martyr, N. – Nun, Obl. = Oblate, P. = Priest, P. or Po. = Pope, Pr. =

Prior, Prs. = Prioress, R. = Recluse, RM = Requiem Mortorum, ( monthly requiem of the departed) ,

Q. = Queen, Ven. = Venerable, Vir. = Virgin, W. = Widow,

RELIGIOUS ORDERS: C.O. = Congregation of the Oratory –Oratorians, C.P = Congregation of the

Passion – Passionists, C.S.J. = Congregation of the Society of Jesus – Jesuits, Er. Cam. = Camaldolese

Hermits, F.P.O. = Franciscans of the Primitive Observance, O. Car. = Carmelite Order, O. Cart. =

Carthusian Order, O.C.D. = Order of Discalced Friars = Carmelites, O.F.A. = Augustinian Order, O.F.M. =

Order of Friars Minor – Franciscans, O.F.M. Cap. = Capuchins, O.P. = Order of Preachers = Dominicans

(Blackfriars), O. Praem. = Order of Cannons Regular – Norbertines ( White Monks), O.S.B. = Order of St.

Benedict – Benedictines, O.S.U = Ursulines, O.C.O. = Order of the Cistercian Observance – Trappists,

O.C.S.O. = Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance = Trappists. FASTING: ………………….. A = Abstinence, F = Fast, F & A = Fast and Abstinence

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8.

St. Innocent of Alaska – Eastern Orthodox Saint

Feast Day October 6th

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Animal News We are truly grateful for those people who contribute to the lives of the very

special creatures that are brought to us and spend their lives here with us. The

days are already getting shorter and tho’ no one wants to consider the coming

winter with summer having just begun, we must. If you can help or know

someone that can, we appreciate your generosity. Our “Animal Angels” are in

our prayers daily. Our animals wish you all a very safe and happy summer.

Sage visits with Jack the cat

P a x