Cool Picture

 

I thought you guys might all enjoy a picture of our Archabbot introducing our College President (Mr. James Towey) to our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

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Here is President Towey's Blog entry which appeared on our college's website (the next day, Sept. 25), it seems appropriate to post as we gear up for the celebration of Archabbot Boniface's 200th birthday celebration!!!

 

Yesterday in Saint Peter’s Square when His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and our very own Chancellor Archabbot Douglas embraced and conversed about Boniface Wimmer, two of the most venerable traditions of the Church embraced: the papacy and Benedictine monasticism. 

While all of you were asleep, Saint Vincent College took center stage in the Eternal City. 

Under a crystal clear sky and with thousands of pilgrims from scores of countries in attendance, as well as three of Saint Vincent’s monks and a group of alums and pilgrims, your alma mater marked one of its proudest and most historically significant moments. 

Perhaps you know the story of Saint Vincent’s earliest days. It is worth recounting. A German Benedictine monk, Boniface Wimmer, traveled the Atlantic Ocean with 18 companions and in 1846 established the first Benedictine college in America on what would become our campus.

In January the College will celebrate the bicentennial of Father Abbot Wimmer’s birth. It is not possible to recount our college’s history and ignore the miraculous work of grace that has sustained us these 162 years. I speak often of the hardships and sacrifices of the Benedictines in those early years because they gave their lives for us. 

Think of the prayer and labor that was asked of the Benedictines who built the Basilica brick by brick at the turn of the century, or in more modern times, when a good bit of the campus burned to the ground, forcing so many Benedictines to actually work and sleep in their offices (trivia: it was during this time that both Bonnie and Gerry halls were hastily built). Today we enjoy a campus of unparalleled beauty and unprecedented prosperity because of these Benedictines as well as their successors – and the many lay men and women who have processed through the decades to come and labor by their side as faculty, administrators and staff. 

I love listening to alums tell stories about the old days. The more I hear, the more blessed I feel to be joined to Saint Vincent’s proud history. As I watched the Holy Father receive a beautifully bound edition of some of the letters of Boniface Wimmer from our Archabbot, I witnessed another chapter in that history being written. 

I had a chance to meet the Holy Father a few moments later and convey the love and gratitude of the entire College community - so if you felt a surge of grace around 5 a.m. yesterday, it was his apostolic blessing being conferred upon the entire campus! 

He congratulated our football team for winning our first game in 46 years and asked if Dan Brett was still SGA president. Ok, I made that up. 

But the rest, though dreamlike in its improbability and majesty, is true. Our students who went with Fr. Vincent in April to the Papal Mass in the Bronx know what it means to see the Holy Father in person. It is as if you are transported back to the time of Christ, to the company of Saint Peter and you hear those immortal words: You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church! 

An unbroken chain of succession stretches from Saint Peter to Joseph Ratzinger. It is a deep mystery. There is no human explanation for how the Church is still standing two millennia later despite all of the efforts from within and without to topple it. 

And today’s vicar of Christ - who like 15 of his predecessors took the name of the saint that inspired Boniface Wimmer, his companions, and their Benedictine successors in the foothills of the Laurel mountains – now knows about the marvel that is Saint Vincent College.

200th Anniversary of the Birth of our Founder!!!

Join the monks of St. Vincent Arcabbey as we celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the birth of our founder, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.  Opening ceremonies will take place during Solemn Vespers on January 14, 2009 with the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order (the Rt. Rev. Notker Wolf, O.S.B. delivering the homily).  For more information please check out:

www.bonifacewimmer.org

The History of the Advent Wreath

From:  www.catholiceducation.org

The Advent wreath is part of our long-standing Catholic tradition. However, the actual origins are uncertain. There is evidence of pre-Christian Germanic peoples using wreathes with lit candles during the cold and dark December days as a sign of hope in the future warm and extended-sunlight days of Spring. In Scandinavia during Winter, lighted candles were placed around a wheel, and prayers were offered to the god of light to turn “the wheel of the earth” back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth. 

By the Middle Ages, the Christians adapted this tradition and used Advent wreathes as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas. After all, Christ is “the Light that came into the world” to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate the truth and love of God (cf. John 3:19-21). By 1600, both Catholics and Lutherans had more formal practices surrounding the Advent wreath.

The symbolism of the Advent wreath is beautiful. The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying continuous life. Even these evergreens have a traditional meaning which can be adapted to our faith: The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering; pine, holly, and yew, immortality; and cedar, strength and healing. Holly also has a special Christian symbolism: The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns, and one English legend tells of how the cross was made of holly. The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ. Any pine cones, nuts, or seedpods used to decorate the wreath also symbolize life and resurrection. All together, the wreath of evergreens depicts the immortality of our soul and the new, everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, who entered our world becoming true man and who was victorious over sin and death through His own passion, death, and resurrection.

The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. A tradition is that each week represents one thousand years, to sum to the 4,000 years from Adam and Eve until the Birth of the Savior. Three candles are purple and one is rose. The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, when the priest also wears rose vestments at Mass; Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead.

The light again signifies Christ, the Light of the world. Some modern day adaptions include a white candle placed in the middle of the wreath, which represents Christ and is lit on Christmas Eve. Another tradition is to replace the three purple and one rose candles with four white candles, which will be lit throughout Christmas season.

In family practice, the Advent wreath is most appropriately lit at dinner time after the blessing of the food. A traditional prayer service using the Advent wreath proceeds as follows: On the First Sunday of Advent, the father of the family blesses the wreath, praying: O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.” He then continues for each of the days of the first week of Advent, O Lord, stir up Thy might, we beg thee, and come, that by Thy protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins and saved by Thy deliverance. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.” The youngest child then lights one purple candle.

During the second week of Advent, the father prays: O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for Thy only begotten Son, that through His coming we may be made worthy to serve Thee with pure minds. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.” The oldest child then lights the purple candle from the first week plus one more purple candle.

During the third week of Advent, the father prays: O Lord, we beg Thee, incline Thy ear to our prayers and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Thy visitation. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.” The mother then lights the two previously lit purple candles plus the rose candle.

Finally, the father prays during the fourth week of Advent, O Lord, stir up Thy power, we pray Thee, and come; and with great might help us, that with the help of Thy grace, Thy merciful forgiveness may hasten what our sins impede. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.” The father then lights all of the candles of the wreath.

Since Advent is a time to stir-up our faith in the Lord, the wreath and its prayers provide us a way to augment this special preparation for Christmas. Moreover, this good tradition helps us to remain vigilant in our homes and not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Saunders, Rev. William. “The History of the Advent Wreath.” Arlington Catholic Herald.

Annunciazione

Let us prepare for the coming of our Lord and King by meditating on the great mystery of God's love and the story of the first Chirstmas.

 

From: catholicism.about.com

While a novena is normally a nine-day prayer, the term is sometimes used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. This prayer is often called the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30) until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once; or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

  
Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Monasticism