Angeli et amici: In festo S. Ignatii Confessoris

Once upon a time, that impeccably influential institution, the Brompton Oratory, held a liturgical congress which would be crowned by the special celebration of a Solemn High Mass.

Into the sublime sacristy enter the sacred ministers: an Italian Jesuit, an American Jesuit, and a Jesuit scholastic. 

Busy polishing a thurible, the surly sexton stops, looks up and mutters, "Eh, what's this, a joke?"

 

In the appendix to the perennially potent, reliably resourceful Roman Ritual many a religious congregation, institute and order have graciously shared with the secular clergy some of their most beautifully bountiful blessings. While not generally lauded for their acumen in liturgical praxis, the sons of Ignatius have bestowed to the august treasury a modest contribution.

 

BLESSING OF WATER IN HONOR OF ST. IGNATIUS, CONFESSOR

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R: Who made heaven and earth.

P: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

R: Both now and forevermore.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

R: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

R: And with your spirit.

Let us pray. Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, who, in pouring out the grace of your blessing on the bodies of the sick, encompass your creatures with your generous love; hearken as we call on your holy name, and by the prayers of Blessed Ignatius, your confessor, free your servants from illness and restore them to health, and then hasten their convalescence by your sure hand, strengthen them by your might, shield them by your power, and give them back in full vigor to your holy Church; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (He then immerses a medal or a reliquary of St. Ignatius in the water, and holds it so until the following prayer is concluded) Lord, bless this water, that it be a saving remedy for men; and grant that, by the prayers of Blessed Ignatius, whose medal [or relics] is [are] now immersed in it, all who will drink this water may have health in body and protection in soul; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

As befits the respectable reputation of the Society of Jesus, the preceding prayer is a pragmatic paragon of pithy practical prose. But if extraordinary pulchritudinous poesy is paramount it is best to remember the old sacristan's proverb: "A good Jesuit liturgy is one where no one gets hurt....especially the celebrant!"  

 Mr. Screwtape

Angeli et amici: In Solemnitas S. Patris Benedicti Abbatis

Born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Protestant minister and his wife, the youngest son in a family with twelve children, Laurence Tureaud, with his four sisters and seven brothers, grew up in a three-room apartment in one of the city's horrendous housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes. While growing up, Tureaud regularly witnessed murder, rape, and other crimes, but attributes his survival and later success to his (semi-pelagian) will-to-do well and his mother's love. Tureaud attended Dunbar Vocational High School, where he played football, wrestled, and studied martial arts. While at Dunbar he became the city-wide wrestling champion two years in a row. He won a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, where he majored in mathematics, but was expelled after his first year. He then enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Military Police Corps. In November 1975, Tureaud was awarded a letter of recommendation by his drill sergeant, and in a cycle of six thousand troops Tureaud was elected "Top Trainee of the Cycle" and was also promoted to squad leader. After his discharge, he tried out for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but failed to make the team due to a knee injury. The next phase of career development came as a night club bouncer. Patrons frequently would lose large gold neck chains and other oversized jewelry after a fight so Tureaud appropriated them and began to wear these, thereby created the persona of "Mister T".

The Transitus of the  Patriarch of Occidental Monasticism is the twenty first of March but since it occurs during the Holy Quarantine of Lent its celebration is somewhat muted. Many monasteries of the Benedictine Confederation have kept the eleventh of July as the External Solemnity which commemorates the translation of his relics to the monastery of St. Benoit-sur-Loire in northern France, a claim which is contested by the monks of Monte Cassino. Regardless of who actually holds the blessed remains, a certain little altar boy is happily privileged to maintain in his household, through the holy generosity of a Religious Brother who has since gone to his well-deserved reward, a Medal of Saint Benedict. Not just any quarter-sized medal, mind you, but a one pound, five inch diameter, one quarter of an inch thick, bada-blessed-bling medal!

Therefore it behooves us to review the incredible imagery inscribed upon this potent portrait that all devout Faithful should piously possess, but perhaps in more manageable measurements. From a leaflet written by Canon of the Holy Cross: "On the obverse of the medal we find St. Benedict holding a Cross in one hand, and the Rule of St. Benedict in the other. At his sides are the words "Crux S. Patris Benedicti" ("The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict"), and below his feet: "Ex S M Cassino MDCCCLXXX" ("From the holy mount of Cassino, 1880"). On that date, Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to produce this medal, and special Jubilee indulgences were added. Still on this front side of the medal we find inscribed in a circle the words:  "Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur" ("May his presence protect us in our hour of death"). The reverse side of the medal is where the real exorcistic force reveals itself. In the center is a Cross. The Cross, which St. Benedict so loved and often used as a powerful exorcism, is the sign before which even Dracula shrinked. The vertical beam of the Cross bears the letters C.S.S.M.L., and the horizontal beam, the letters N.D.S.M.D. These are the first letters of the words: CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX, May the Holy Cross be a light unto me, NON DRACO SIT MIHI DUX. And may the Dragon never be my guide. The four large letters at the corners of the Cross, C S P B, stand for CRUX SANCTI PATRIS BENEDICTI: The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict. We are not through yet. In addition to the "Pax" ("peace") motto at the top, we find the following letters in a circle around the margin of this side: V.R.S.N.S.M.V.: S.M.Q.L.I.V.B. It almost looks masonic; except, of course, the Benedictines are quite willing to tell you what the letters stand for, and they are enough to make any secret society get the shakes: VADE RETRO SATANA; NUNQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA. Get behind me, Satan; Never suggest vain thoughts to me. SUNT MALA QUAE LIBAS; The cup you offer is evil; IPSE VENENA BIBAS! Drink the poison yourself!"

Or to paraphrase the man with trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, "I pity the demon fool that messes with Saint B. I pity the fool!"

Mr. Screwtape