A very happy and blessed St. Valentine's Day to all. May your heart be united to the hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and to the ones you love. Love is all about sacrifice so it's fitting it fell on Ash Wednesday this year, marking the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Take heart, those of you in the cold North. As the days lengthen and warm, you too, shall have buds and blossoms! We sang our first ever High Mass for this day and I was heartened to see so many cadets from the Citadel in attendance. It was beautiful.
My niece made this lovely card for my birthday and it's got the perfect recipe for Fridays. We love our beans! We'll be singing this beautiful hymn written by Pope St. Gregory the Great (AD 540-604), the one who gave us the heavenly Gregorian chant. You can read more about him and his prodigious output here: Pope Gregory I › Texts | Hymnary.org The Glory of These Forty Days | Hymnary.org Here's a link to a beautiful singing from the Trinity Chapel Choir.
The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;For Christ, by Whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.
Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God Who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.
So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s Name.
Then grant us, Lord, like them to be
Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace,
And give us joy to see Thy face.
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who art in threefold Name adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.
4 comments:
I noted that valentine's day came together with Ash Wednesday. How often does this happen? I think it's an unusual combination, because most think of valentine's as romantic love, not G-d's love.
Wishing you and yours a healing and rejuvenating Lenten.
I don't think it would happen very often, but it did in 2018. When Easter comes early, Valentine's is pretty close to Ash Wed. I was curious how early it could be and wow--it is Feb. 4th. Feb 2nd is Candlemas (when Baby Jesus was presented in the temple, 40 days after His birth), the end of the Christmas season.
Info from Wiki: Ash Wednesday is exactly 46 days before Easter Sunday, a moveable feast based on the cycles of the moon. The earliest date Ash Wednesday can occur is 4 February (which is only possible during a common year with Easter Sunday on 22 March), which happened in 1598, 1693, 1761, and 1818 and will next occur in 2285.[144] The latest date Ash Wednesday can occur is 10 March (when Easter Sunday falls on 25 April) which occurred in 1666, 1734, 1886 and 1943 and will next occur in 2038.
Blessings for a fruitful Lent!
Thank you Carol. You too!
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