Good Annunciation Friday

What does the date of Christmas have to do with Good Friday? Good Friday is the reason that Christmas is observed on December 25.

There are many popular explanations for why Christmas is on December 25. These are mostly modern revisionist attempts to explain away the significance of Christian holy days and generally relate to supposed attempts to suppress or appropriate earlier pagan practices. For example, Christmas was supposedly meant to replace Saturnalia, but this Roman bacchanal began on December 17 and never extended later than December 23. Another popular myth propagated by Bill Maher in his "mockumentary" Religulous is that attempts to suppress the cult of Sol Invictus was the reason for fixing the date, but this is hard to believe because the cult of Sol Invictus dates from the late third century, well after Christmas was fixed, and Sol Invictus was on the day of the solstice, which is not December 25.

The reason for Christmas on December 25 is the date of Easter. Methods used to calculate the date of Easter in the early Church varied; some continued to observe 14 Nisan as the date of Easter based on the Jewish Passover feast whether or not it fell on a Sunday; in parts of the west such as Gaul, the date of Easter was fixed on March 27, a practice that continued right up to the 6th century, and therefore Good Friday was March 25. If you are aware of the temporal cycle of the Church's calendar, you probably know March 25 as the day that the Solemnity of the Annunciation is observed, and this is not by accident; a common belied in the ancient world was that a great man's date of death coincided with that of his birth or conception. The Fathers of the western Church used this common belief when they established March 25 as the date of commemoration for both the conception and death of Jesus.

There was a different method of calculation used in the east, but despite that the dates agree and March 25 and December 25 are also observed in the Byzantine Churches (although the Orthodox retain the Julian Calendar which is now 12 days behind). The reasoning was more theological: it was held that the day of the new creation (Resurrection) corresponded to the date of the first creation, and these also shared the date of the Incarnation. The understanding was that there is an inextricable connection between all the mysteries of salvation, beginning with creation and including all the mysteries of Christ. Therefore it was natural to celebrate the new creation annually with its cardinal mysteries of the Incarnation and Resurrection. (See Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy, 106).

It is obvious that December is nine months after March, but what I learned in Patristics class last semester is that the date of birth was figured from the date of conception, not the other way around as the importance assumed by the second holy day in contemporary public awareness might have led me to assume.

Resurrection and Annunciation, details from opposite doors of the Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grünewald, 1515.

This connection  between the feasts was lost later when the calculation of Easter was standardized for the most part (the calculation long continued to vary, not being fixed by a council until Nicaea in 325, which also explains the ancient Armenian observance of the Nativity and Theophany on 6 January because of a different Easter dating). Another reason the connection is lost is the later change that when 25 March falls within Holy Week, the Solemnity of the Annunciation is transferred to the second Monday of Easter. This preserves it as a separate celebration, which only makes sense if it is seen separately.

The Fathers of the Church intended that the whole mystery of Christ from Incarnation to Pasch be celebrated together and that they be seen as inextricably connected. Although this connection has been lost in all but historical record, the two coincide (at least formally) a few times a century when Easter falls on 27 March*, a unique occasion, especially in this Jubilee of Mercy, to reflect on the unity of history in Christ who makes all things new.

*This actually happened twice recently, 2005 and 2016, and will not recur until year 2157.

Saint Joseph, the Just Man

I was assigned to write a post for the Oblate seminarians' blog this week, so I took the opportunity to explain a little of what the Solemnity of St. Joseph means to us.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church. It is an important day for Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and not just because of zeppole and cannoli; St. Joseph is the patron of our Congregation.

In the late 19th century, there was an entire decade when the Oblates had no new vocations. After struggling through tumultuous times during the foundation and early years of the Congregation, the relative political stability following the unification of Italy in 1870 brought little peace. The Church was under attack from the modernist movement that caused many to question the relevance of faith and morals and even reject them outright, and Pope Pius IX responded by naming St. Joseph, the protector of the Holy Family, Patron of the Universal Church in 1870. At the same time, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary also named St. Joseph patron and began asking his intercession for vocations. There was much doubt; after enduring 40 years of struggle and abuse at the hands of political authorities and socially influential figures, was the Oblate mission over? Was God doing something new at a time when it seemed the charism was needed more than ever? Well, St. Joseph came through and the rest is history.

As our Patron, St. Joseph is an important intercessor, but also a model of virtue. He is a man of obedience: he listened to what was spoken to him by God and acted accordingly (Matthew 1:24, 2:14, 2:21). In this St. Joseph is a model especially for us men in formation, when it is crucial to learn to listen to the voice of God in different ways- through spiritual movements, the discernment of superiors, the circumstances of community life- and to freely embrace his will.

I have personally experienced the important role of St. Joseph’s humble obedience in our Congregation’s works of accompaniment in spiritual direction and retreat ministry, both important for many people who are discerning the will of God in their lives. This ministry requires much preparation in spiritual and intellectual formation, which can seem like an endless uphill climb. But St. Joseph was a man of obedience before action. He is the Just Man because he sacrificed to God what was his due- the mind and heart that God has given to men for the custody of others. It is good for me to be reminded that before anything I study, practice, or preach, the only good I can really do for others is what God asks of me in ordinary daily life.

Novice No More: First Profession of Vows

It has been quite a long time since my last update and much has transpired. I am no longer a novice! It was my intention to continue updates throughout the year, but novitiate becomes progressively more intense as the year develops and it becomes hard to divert energy as well as time to sharing the experience as it unfolds. In order to understand this, observe the following illustration that sums up the novitiate year:

On August 5th, novitiate ended and two of us made our first profession of vows in the religious life with the Oblates.

I am very grateful that my parents and siblings were all present. It was not easy for everyone to make it to the furthest tip of the country and I am thankful that they could come. I got to spend time with the family in Boston and during a two-week trip back to Michigan during August.

 

A new phase of my journey in religious life is underway! I am now under temporary vows and have begun studying for a masters degree in theology. As of the last week of August, the gang has returned from vacations and pastoral assignments and reassembled for the academic year. We have two new postulants and a total of ten men in formation for the St. Ignatius Province.

New Advent

Preparing for the season of Advent today, I came across a recommendation for approaching the daily readings. This is very helpful for me because I meditate on the readings every day, but even if you only focus on the Sunday readings it is still beneficial for entering into the readings more deeply.

The Two Parts of Advent 

(from Creighton University's Online Ministries)

Part 1: up until December 16
While most liturgical seasons have the gospel as their main focus, during the first weeks of Advent, the Church gives us daily readings from the prophet Isaiah.  With the eyes of faith, these foretell the coming of the Messiah. Rather than a continuous gospel narrative familiar to us for most of the year, this part of Advent offers a wide variety of gospel readings that support the first reading of the day. 

After almost two weeks of Isaiah readings, we hear the foretelling of a Messiah from other prophets from the Hebrew scriptures - in Sirach, Numbers, Zephaniah and returning to Isaiah. With each passing week, the prophets speak more clearly of the coming of a Savior. 

So, in reading the first reading, for the first part of Advent, we listen to the anticipation, expectation, hope and promise.  In listening to the second reading, we listen for the fulfillment or connection with the gospel.

Part 2: December 17 - 24

In these last eight days before Christmas, the relationship between the readings changes.  Now the gospel brings us to our celebration of Christmas.  The gospels are taken from the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. 

Each of these days, the first reading is taken from the Hebrew scriptures, and chosen to match the gospel.  In many cases we can imagine Matthew or Luke having the first reading open on their desks while they wrote the gospel.

So, we can read the gospel first and then read the first reading.  The sense of anticipation and fulfillment builds as we read the story of the preparation for Jesus' first coming into this world for us.

The Lanterian Charism: Personal Charism

I have previously written some brief and deficient descriptions of the Lanterian charism of the OMV (here and here) and it is something I am continuing to elaborate as I progress in my formation this year.

Last week we had nine men in discernment visit the seminary and, although it was a busy week, it gave me excellent opportunities to reflect on my own discernment when I was at that stage and make a then/now comparison. I was also deeply involved in several discernment visits last year, but I have a very different perspective now in novitiate from studying the charism of the founder and the congregation closely.

The charism of the founder, an idea put forth and elaborated in Vatican Council II conciliar and post-conciliar documents, is something we have begun to unpack slowly over the past month.

The essence of the Council's teaching is that the founder of each religious institute experienced a movement of the Spirit, a unique inspiration that educed a charism to serve the needs of the Church in a particular way according to the needs of their specific place and time. It is out of this personal charism of the founder that the charism of the institute springs, which is important because it explains why the Council's addresses to religious urged them to return to the "original inspiration and charism" of their founders in order to reform and renew their institutes; the charism of an institute is not precisely the same thing as the charism of a founder; some change over time and acquire new features, such as Jesuits spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and Marians of the Immaculate Conception adopting the Divine Mercy apostolate, but in some instances religious had strayed far from the original purpose of their foundation.

In practical application, many religious took this invitation and used it as an occasion to reform their institute in conformity with their vision rather than their founder's, but it was meant to be an occasion to return to the heart of the way of life and apostolic works proper to each institute according to the founder's charism. In almost all instances, it led to heated debate if not outright strife over how the rule/constitutions should be interpreted and what life for each institute should look like in the 20th century.

The OMV are not an exception to this. There was not much debate in the 1960s; the congregation was vastly more stable and assured of its identity and orthodoxy than the majority of religious institutes, which is precisely why the tiny Italian community began attracting large numbers of American seminarians at a time when Archbishop Fulton Sheen said he could not recommend a single seminary in the United States to any young men discerning the priesthood. It was some of these Americans who read the writings of the founder and discovered that the Ignatian aspect of the congregation's charism was not being practiced the way he had intended. This began a slow process of renewal and rejuvenation that has been progressing slowly but steadily, and not without resistance and disagreement.

Anyway, that is all background information to what affects me most directly.

We have also been learning about the personal charism of individual religious; these are the means by which each individual is constituted in relation to a founder and a community. A religious vocation is recognized by a community when an individual expresses the same movement of the Spirit experienced by the founder, or rather a similar movement or an echo of the founder's call. This immediately grabbed my attention because it expresses and formulates my experience in a way that I have not previously framed it.

When I was learning about the Oblates and reading Venerable Bruno's writings, I could not express my experience that clearly, and yet I felt a strong attraction to the founder's spirituality; I sensed that these were passions and desires that I shared, and that I wanted to participate in his mission. I felt that his Spiritual Directory was a way of life I had already felt drawn toward and that his passion for the Spiritual Exercises and media apostolate was exciting to me also.

Learning about this was timed perfectly with the discernment visit, giving me an occasion to reflect on my experience and what made me feel so strongly about my OMV vocation. Four years ago, my identification with the founder's charism seemed to be one reason among many that gave me enough certainty to leave everything and move to Boston, but looking back I now appreciate its importance more fully and understand the interior movements that preceded and followed my first encounter with the founder's charism and those that have continued since.

B.Phil.

In addition to birthday surprises planned by family and friends, my diploma arrived in the mail on Saturday! My ability to philosophize is now officially validated.

Fun fact: Saint John's is the only seminary and one of only five institutions in the United States that award a bachelor of philosophy degree. 

Postulancy 101

My first day as an oblate postulant! What to say? There was a lot of activity on moving day, but  I had some time to call family members while unpacking. But there were many other things to do besides unpack. Sundays are usually relatively free, but besides community prayer, meals, and recreation, orientation activities started as well. I have also figured out that there is more than arithmetic of time involved in figuring out how to stay in touch with everyone; community recreation usually ends ~ 8 pm and the Great Silence starts at 9 pm, thus the blog.

Some documentary footage of the new crib:

 My cell just after arrival. (The Michigan pennant was the first thing I unpacked.)

 Perhaps a little comfier after getting a desk chair, but it the eleousa icon makes it homey already.

My makeshift desk. Everything in this wing was recently remodeled and some of the new furniture has yet to arrive (in case you think it's spare even for a cell, I will be getting a desk and shelf).

The amazing all-in-one closet/bureau/library

It wouldn't be a cell without a sink!

Something to console me for probably not catching many games this fall.

My room overlooks the courtyard. It is below street level and has a fountain, so it is a very quiet and relaxing environment in the midst of a very busy part of the city.

The library: only two floors above me and 24/7 access. And you thought the sink was exciting!

Studying up for class!