"Genesis Chapters 1-11"

Here's a terrific video that showed up in my Twitter feed this morning; great animations and an excellent approach to interpretation:





 From the YouTube page:

Published on May 19, 2014

An animated walk through of Genesis 1 to 11.
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The
Book of Genesis can be broken up in two parts. The first part, chapters
1-11, trace the story of God and the whole world from creation all the
way to the tower of Babel.

The Bible Project is a non-profit
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Genesis P1 Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m...


About the authors:

Tim Mackie is a Pastor of Door of Hope church and a Professor at Western Seminary.

Jon Collins is a founder of Epipheo and Sincerely Truman and a veteran explainer video producer.

"Listen to services | King's College, Cambridge"

King's College, Cambridge has begun webcasting their sung services.

From October 2013 King's College is providing regular recordings of
choral services in the Chapel. For the first time in 500 years, these
services are available on demand thanks to a new recording system. For
information about forthcoming services, see the Chapel services page.

They also released this video, "King's College Choir announces major change," today:

J.M. Neale: The Hymnal Noted: Parts I & II

Here's a nice find at Google Books.     It's J.M. Neale's 1851 book of hymns from the Salisbury hymnal.  Included are chant scores and English translations - presumably Neale's own, which are always terrific - for all the hymns.

This is all there is by way of introduction to the book:

N.B.—In connection with the Hymnal Noted, are published :—

1. The ACCOMPANYING HARMONIES; for the use of Organists and Choirs.

2. The WORDS OF THE HYMNAL NOTED. 

The first part of the Hymnal Noted is complete in itself, and embraces the whole course of the Church's year.

The second part contains additional Hymns, for the sake of greater fulness and variety.

These two parts are combined in the complete edition, in the proper sequence for the whole course of the Church's year.

Published under the sanction of the Ecclesiologioal (late Cambridge Camden) Society.

The Evening Hymns on Festivals are put before the Morning Hymns, because, like the Collects, they are said at the Evensong of the day before, as well as on the day itself (except when otherwise marked)

Unfortunately, the links in the Table of Contents don't always go to the right place in the book.   A small inconvenience for the privilege of having access to such a great thing.

Heard today at Divine Service online: "They cast their nets in Galilee"

They sang a fantastic hymn (#661 in the 1982 Hymnal) as the Sequence today at St. Thomas:  "They cast their nets in Galilee."  It's one I'd never heard before (probably the Marketing people discourage its use); the tune is "Georgetown," and the words are by William Alexander Percy:

They cast their nets in Galilee
Just off the hills of brown
Such happy simple fisherfolk
Before the Lord came down

Contented peaceful fishermen
Before they ever knew
The peace of God That fill'd their hearts
Brimful and broke them too.

Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,
Homeless, in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teeming net,
Head-down was crucified.

The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod,
Yet, brothers, pray for but one thing -
The marvelous peace of God.

No audio or video of this hymn online, unfortunately - not even of the tune; it's still under copyright, as are the words above.

That hymn, of course, matches up with the Gospel reading that followed:

Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

The mass - the Missa Rigensis ("the Riga Mass") by Uģis Prauliņš - is one I've never heard before.  Here's the Kyrie:



Finally, in an amazing instance of cognitive-dissonance hymnody (considering "They cast their nets in Galilee" above), they sang "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" for the last hymn.   Hymn tune by CHH Parry ("Repton"); text by the Quaker John Greenleaf Whittier:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!

Drop thy still dews of quietness
Till all our strivings cease:
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Amen.

Here's that one, sung by the Choir of King's College Cambridge:

Monastero San Benedetto, Norcia Italy: Requiem

Here's another monastic community - that's a link to their blog - that posts daily audio files of their masses and of the Divine Office; they are Benedictines in Norcia, Italy.  Here's a 2-minute video about their community; they talk about chant but unfortunately don't include any here. 



Today's Mass - "AD MISSAM DE FERIA II : 2 SEP 2013" - is a Requiem, apparently; here's the mp3 of that.  Beautiful.

Choir Books, at the Biblioteca Nacional de España

Here's something interesting from a page at the National Library of Spain (Spanish language page here); a Chantblog reader just pointed it out to me:

Choir books

The collection of choir books belonging to the Biblioteca Nacional de España, which originated in large from the ecclesiastical confiscations of the 19th century, comprises almost one hundred liturgical books which came from a number of ecclesiastical centres and are now held in our library.

These lectern books provide key testimony to the tradition of Gregorian chant in Spain. It is very different from any other cathedral or monasterial a collection as its features are heterogeneous, both in terms of origin and format. This collection contains a wide codicological and melodic representation of the copious production of choir books over the centuries, which is of great interest both to musicologists and Gregorian experts and for philologists and scholars of ancient Spanish books.

All of this reveals the need to develop the current database to provide a solution and service to the various essential issues regarding cataloguing and research. On the one hand, it will enable the Library to achieve a more detailed level of bibliographic description, in accordance with the peculiarities of this repertoire. And on the other, this systematisation and standardisation of all the aspects of the lectern books (missals, graduals, antiphonal books, etc.) should become a benchmark for the Spanish-speaking world and any institution with this singular kind of bibliographic collection.

There are two links on the page:  one that gives Access to the database; the other links to The music and musicology collection.  I believe that "the ecclesiastical confiscations of the 19th century" is a reference to this event described at Wikipedia:

The Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal, Spanish: Desamortización Eclesiástica de Mendizábal, more often referred to simply as La Desamortización, encompasses a set of decrees from 1835–1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatisation, of monastic properties in Spain.

The legislation was promulgated by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, who was briefly prime minister under Queen Isabel II of Spain. The aims of the legislation were varied. Some of its impulses were fostered by the anticlerical liberal factions engaged in a civil war with Carlist and other reactionary forces. The government wished to use the land to encourage the enterprises of small-land owning bourgeoisie, since much of the land was underused by languishing monastic orders. The government, which did not compensate the church for the properties, saw this as a source of income. Finally, wealthy noble and other families took advantage of the legislation to increase their holdings.

Ultimately, the desamortización led to the vacating of most of the ancient monasteries in Spain, which had been occupied by the various convent orders for centuries. Some of the expropriations were reversed in subsequent decades, as happened at Santo Domingo de Silos, but these re-establishments were relatively few. Some of the secularised monasteries are in a reasonably good state of preservation, for example theValldemossa Charterhouse, others are ruined, such as San Pedro de Arlanza.

Shades of Henry VIII; I didn't know about this.

The database, though, is very interesting.  Things are happening!

Chanted monastic offices, live for desktop or iPhone

Here's something pretty interesting, from the Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux:

Listen to our offices live

“There is only one problem in the whole world: restoring spiritual sense in people. Showering on them something like a Gregorian chant.”

- Saint-Exupéry

The monks of Le Barroux invite you to follow live the liturgical offices, entirely sung in Gregorian in the extraordinary form of the Roman Catholic rite. This initiative is supported by Mgr Jean-Pierre Cattenoz, the archbishop of Avignon.

Four times a day, on your iPhone with the Barroux application, or on your computer, you will be able to connect to the great liturgical prayer of the Church.

The offices broadcast live are :

Prime: 7:45 or 8:00 (see the time-table)
Sext: 12:15 every day.
Vespers: 17:30 every day.
Compline: 19:45 every day.

They offer some help with office materials, too:

Books to follow the offices — Two choices are available :

Latin/French booklets containing the main part of the offices: psalms, antiphons and hymns of various liturgical periods : see the selection.

Monastic ‘Diurnal’ containing all of the day’s Benedictine office, in Latin/French (from Lauds with Compline), according to the monastic breviary of 1963, with all the festivals of Temporal and the Sanctoral : see the diurnal.

I had some problems getting the files to play on my PC from that site, and I don't have an iPhone - but there is another site, barrouxchant.com, that seems to post all four daily files for listening at any time during the day.  (Obviously, time zone differences have to be taken into account).

Here's the blurb from the barrouxchant.com site:

The monks of the Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux stream their chanted Office each day as explained on their website. For those of us who do not live in European time zones, this project attempts to automatically record their hours and make them available for download.

You can also subscribe to the hours as a podcast or on iTunes.

These are automatically generated, so there may be some errors. If you find any (or if you have any other comments), please let me know!

I did have some problems playing a couple of the files from that page; perhaps they'll work out the kinks eventually.  (The podcast seems to work well, though; I just listened to Vespers in its entirety, without a problem.  The feed is run through Feedburner and points to files on archive.org.)  There are links at barrouxchant.com to the office texts at DivinumOfficium.com; the texts are side-by-side in Latin and English, so it's very easy to follow along.  (You can always go to DivinumOfficium.com directly and find these texts, anyway!  Use the arrows at the top of the page to get the right date, and choose the office itself in the links at bottom; the BarrouxChant seems to point generally to "Pre-Tritdent Monastic.")

So, interesting things are happening!   As far as I can tell, this is a new monastery; the history given at the site begins in 1970, and starts this way:

August 24th, 1970: A Benedictine monk arrives on a moped, with a few belongings, at the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalen in the Vaucluse region of south-east France. What is he doing here ? At a time of turbulent change, he intends simply to continue his monastic life with his Abbot’s permission and to live according to the tradition of prayer, silence, manual work, the divine office in latin and the traditional liturgy. What will the future hold ? “That’s God’s business !”, replies Dom Gérard.

Here's a picture of the place; image by "Jean-Marc Rosier from http://www.rosier.pro."

David Bentley Hart: "Christianity and Its Fashionable Enemies"

I don't know if anybody's got any energy for the "new atheists" debate any longer, but here's a lecture given (somewhere) by David Bentley Hart at least a couple of years ago on the topic .  (He speaks of Christopher Hitchens in the "is" tense, so it was before he died.) It's an interesting discussion, if a bit dated now; I'm thinking this talk was probably part of a promotion for his 2010 book.

For me, one highly entertaining moment comes when Hart describes exactly how Richard Dawkins constructed his "proof" against the existence of God!  Hilarious, and worth listening to, I think, if only for that.  But there's something interesting stuff about Nietzsche, too.


HT All Manner of Thing.

New York Polyphony: Devices & Desires

About:

The outcome of a highly successful online Gregorian chant remix competition sponsored by Indaba Music, Devices & Desires puts a modern spin on the Medieval. Newly expanded for 2013, this experimental 11-song digital-only EP features groundbreaking remixes of ’Victimae paschali laudes’, ’Gaudeamus in omnes Domino’, and ’Beati mundo corde’, three of plainchant’s most celebrated melodies.

From the pointillistic explorations of David Minnick to the halo of Eileen Carpio’s vocal harmonies, the remixes chart new creative ground. And when paired with the original chants—recorded exclusively for this collection by New York Polyphony—they combine to create a fascinating juxtaposition of ancient and modern music.

For more information on Devices & Desires and to go behind-the-scenes with the remix creators, follow this link. (And if you really want a treat, check out the music video for Alex B’s remix of ‘Victimae paschali laudes’!)

Here's that video:  



Apparently many interesting things have come out of this project!   From NYP's Facebook page:

Last year, with the help of Indaba Music, we sponsored the FIRST-EVER online Gregorian chant competition. It was a huge success. We received hundreds of remixes in a dizzying array of styles from musicians all over the world!

The winning remixes (alongside our original chant recordings) are available on DEVICES & DESIRES, an 11-track digital-only release. More details on our website.

One of the winners, Alex B, produced a music video for his remix of Victimae paschali laudes. (WARNING: his guitar solo at 4:48 will blow your face off.)

Messe des Rameaux

Palm Sunday mass, broadcast in French, from St. Peter's:



If you don't speak French, though, that voice-over narration might be kind of annoying.  Here's the straight-ahead stream, without narration; really beautiful:



Here's another one, from (perhaps?) Notre Dame:

"Palm Sunday Liturgy and Procession 03.24.13" from Trinity Wall Street

Here, including the sung Passion - not Gregorian, but their own composition - from Luke's Gospel.

"Praying Our Lives: Daily Videos for Lent 2013" from the SSJE

At their site.  Here's today's video:

Webcasts from the Choir of New College Oxford

Thanks to Saturday Chorale for pointing out this page of Webcasts from the Choir of New College Oxford.

Mostly Evensong, there are some Communion and Carol services here, too; check the archives page as well.  Listening just now to February 17; the canticles are Howells' Collegium Regale - and both the choir and the sound quality are really very, very good.

Read the Catechism in a Year: "The Lay Faithful" (Day 132)

Here:

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section2:The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)

Chapter3:I Believe in the Holy Spirit (683 - 1065)

Article9:"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church" (748 - 975)

Paragraph4:Christ's Faithful — Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life (871 - 945)

II. THE LAY FAITHFUL

Participation in Christ's kingly office

908     By his obedience unto death, Christ communicated to his disciples the gift of royal freedom, so that they might "by the self-abnegation of a holy life, overcome the reign of sin in themselves":

That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal power over himself. And because he knows how to rule his own person as king, so too does he sit as its judge. He will not let himself be imprisoned by sin, or thrown headlong into wickedness.

909     "Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice, favoring rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will impregnate culture and human works with a moral value."

910     "The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate with their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake of its growth and life. This can be done through the exercise of different kinds of ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has been pleased to bestow on them."

911     In the Church, "lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this power [of governance] in accord with the norm of law." And so the Church provides for their presence at particular councils, diocesan synods, pastoral councils; the exercise of the pastoral care of a parish, collaboration in finance committees, and participation in ecclesiastical tribunals, etc.

912     The faithful should "distinguish carefully between the rights and the duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as members of the human society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously, remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a Christian conscience, since no human activity, even of the temporal order, can be withdrawn from God's dominion."

913     "Thus, every person, through these gifts given to him, is at once the witness and the living instrument of the mission of the Church itself 'according to the measure of Christ's bestowal."'

Dig deeper: Scriptural and other references for today's section here.

---

Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. [Buy hard copy of Catechism here.]
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Read the Catechism in a Year: "The Lay Faithful" (Day 131)

Here's the citation:

Read the Catechism: Day 131

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section2:The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)

Chapter3:I Believe in the Holy Spirit (683 - 1065)

Article9:"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church" (748 - 975)

Paragraph4:Christ's Faithful — Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life (871 - 945)

II. THE LAY FAITHFUL

897     "The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the World."

The vocation of lay people

898     "By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will. ... It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer."

899     The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church:

Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church.

900     Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.

The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office

901     "Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit — indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born — all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives."

902     In a very special way, parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian education of their children."

903     Lay people who possess the required qualities can be admitted permanently to the ministries of lector and acolyte. When the necessity of the Church warrants it and when ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply for certain of their offices, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to preside over liturgical prayers, to confer Baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion in accord with the prescriptions of law."

Participation in Christ's prophetic office

904     "Christ ... fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy ... but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses and provides them with the sense of the faith [sensus fidei] and the grace of the word"

To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer.

905     Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, "that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay people, "this evangelization ... acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world."

This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers ... or to the faithful.

906     Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communications media.

907     "In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons."

Dig deeper: Scriptural and other references for today's section here.

---

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Read the Catechism in a Year: Day 99

It's Read the Catechism: Day 99; today's reading examines the clause "He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father" from the Nicene Creed; it's also a summary of the themes celebrated at the Feast of the Ascension - and how they apply to Christian faith itself.

I am thinking of beginning a project - a book, perhaps? - that focuses on the Great Church Year, and how the Feasts and Fasts address various aspects of the human condition and psyche.  It would be a look, IOW, at how the Calendar actually operates to our benefit in a myriad of different ways:  psychologically, emotionally, and mystagogically, for three.  (This is so right up my alley that I'm surprised it hasn't occurred to me before this!  It will, though, be quite a bit of work, now that I think of it....)

Anyway, here's today's Catechism selection.

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section2:The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)

Chapter2:I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God (422 - 682)

Article6:"He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father" (659 - 667)

665     Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf. Acts 1:11); this humanity in the meantime hides him from the eyes of men (cf. Col 3:3).

666     Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him for ever.

667     Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

They've started to include each day a link to a pretty interesting website that has as its title "The Catechism API."  It cross-references and links every line in the reading to its Biblical, Patristic, or other source - and to other similar catechism pages, I think, too.  Good going, there!  (There are also supposed to be daily mass readings, but that function doesn't seem to work yet.)

"Read the Catechism: Day 13" vs. "Article XIX"

Today's reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section1:"I Believe" — "We Believe" (26 - 184)

Chapter2:God Comes to Meet Man (50 - 141)

Article2:The Transmission of Divine Revelation (74 - 100)

III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH

The dogmas of the faith

88     The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.

89     There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.

90     The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ. "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."

The supernatural sense of faith

91     All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all truth.

92     "The whole body of the faithful... cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."

93     "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),... receives... the faith, once for all delivered to the saints... The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."

Growth in understanding the faith

94     Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:

• "through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts"; it is in particular "theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth".
• "from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience", the sacred Scriptures "grow with the one who reads them."
• "from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth".

95     "It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls."

Article XIX:

Of the Church

The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God is preached and the sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred: so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.

De Ecclesia

Ecclesia Christi visibilis est coetus fidelium, in quo verbum Dei purum praedicatur et sacramenta, quoad ea quae necessario exiguntur, iuxta Christi institutum recte administrantur. Sicut erravit Ecclesia Hierosolymitana, Alexandrina, et Antiochena: ita et erravit Ecclesia Romana, non solum quoad agenda et caeremoniarum ritus, verum in his etiam quae credenda sunt.

Oops. 

(Well, it's another example of why we need our own good, deep Catechism - why we need to explain ourselves in a different way.)

"Read the Catechism: Day 10"

Today's reading:

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section1:"I Believe" — "We Believe" (26 - 184)

Chapter2:God Comes to Meet Man (50 - 141)

Article1:The Revelation of God (51 - 73)

IN BRIEF

68     By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.

69     God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words.

70     Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.

71     God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.

72     God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.

73     God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever. The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.

"Read the Catechism: Day 9"

Today's reading:

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section1:"I Believe" — "We Believe" (26 - 184)

Chapter2:God Comes to Meet Man (50 - 141)

Article1:The Revelation of God (51 - 73)

II. THE STAGES OF REVELATION

God forms his people Israel

62     After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Savior.

63     Israel is the priestly people of God, "called by the name of the LORD", and "the first to hear the word of God", the people of "elder brethren" in the faith of Abraham.

64     Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel's salvation. The purest figure among them is Mary.

III. CHRIST JESUS — "MEDIATOR AND FULLNESS OF ALL REVELATION"

God has said everything in his Word

65     "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word — and he has no more to say... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

There will be no further Revelation

66     "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67     Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

"Read the Catechism: Day 8"

Today's reading:

Part1:The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)

Section1:"I Believe" — "We Believe" (26 - 184)

Chapter2:God Comes to Meet Man (50 - 141)

Article1:The Revelation of God (51 - 73)

II. THE STAGES OF REVELATION

In the beginning God makes himself known

54     "God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. And furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation — he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning." He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and justice.

55     This revelation was not broken off by our first parents' sin. "After the fall, [God] buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing."

Even when he disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death... Again and again you offered a covenant to man.

The Covenant with Noah

56     After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. The covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the "nations", in other words, towards men grouped "in their lands, each with [its] own language, by their families, in their nations".

57     This state of division into many nations is at once cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel. But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism.

58     The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek — a figure of Christ — and the upright "Noah, Daniel, and Job". Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad".

God chooses Abraham

59     In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house, and makes him Abraham, that is, "the father of a multitude of nations". "In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

60     The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church. They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe.

61     The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church's liturgical traditions.