And now, a little palate-cleanser…
This is one of my favorite chants, and one we hear often this season at my parish: the Regina Caeli. (Our cantor sang it after communion last Sunday, as she will every Sunday during Easter season, and it was like hearing from an old friend.)
For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia
A lovely interpretation, below:



posted April 13, 2010 at 9:11 am
They also do a nice version of AVE MARIS STELLA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOipola4doE
Ambrosians perhaps?
posted April 13, 2010 at 10:56 am
Have you read the Bible where God is fiercely opposed to the “Queen of the Heavens” religions? And “Pray for us to God?” Jesus said don’t ask him to pray for you but pray to the Father yourself for he loves you! That was the whole purpose of the veil being torn by the sacrifice of Jesus! And the claim by this religion that Mary was without sin is the opposite of what the Bible says. First, she was still alive when we are told no one is without sin and she even at one point tried to stop Jesus and was turned away and he said those who do the will of the Father are his mother. None of the books in the Bible teach Mary idolatry, but look in the old testament and you see “Queen of the Heavens” idolatry which is evil. And there is NO way that the pope is infallible there because look at church history and the stuff popes say, some of which is contradictory and some of which is complete evil.
posted May 1, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Drew, relax. I hope that after listening to such a beautiful and earnest display of faith you came away with something more redemptive than what you expressed here. Catholic theology is indeed complex and evolving, as is the spiritual growth of humanity. There are subtleties that you seem to disregard, and motives that you presume, when you use words like ‘evil’. Be careful not to get caught up in semantics when comparing scripture to scripture, or to religious tradition.
There are so many belief systems across the world that I do not understand, or accept as part of my faith. That is quite different than condemning them. While I am a Catholic and struggle with the challenges presented by the human institution of my church, and the greater challenges presented by God, I must accept that God has a reason for everything. In the spirit of ecumenism I must be willing to accept that there is some merit in those outward expressions of faith I do not understand, especially when they come from good people who are children of God. This does not contradict a wholehearted devotion to the practice of my own faith.
Listen again. This time with your heart. At least consider the hand of the divine in such beauty.
posted May 7, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Larry,
Theology is not evolving – not if the God we are talking about God the father of Jesus, God the creator. When Jesus said it is finished, he not only finished the work he set out to accomplish, but also all of the requirements humans need to reach God. “Queen of heavens” undermines, the FINISHED work of Christ, the author and finisher of THE FAITH. Now if Catholicism is not that faith, I am fine with that, of course I believe in folks right to believe in error – as people do believe in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam or any of the myriad false religions. Just because something is beautiful its not true. Not even when good people believe it. Who the children of God are, are known to God and obey his revelation. There are no two ways about it.
However I am willing to agree with you on the parts of the faith we all believe in, God the creator sent His only begotten son to die on the cross. He rose up on the third day so that whoever believes in Him, and is baptized in His name, will have eternal life.
If we can agree on this we can gloss over our other differences – however somehow I believe this will not be as foundational to you as all the other trappings of religion, the grandeur and awe and smoke holy water ritualistic sprinklings and convoluted mystic deep religious paraphernalia that goes about the exercise of religion. You might as well be a hindu, and in this context all such things lead us the same place – no where. There is definitely no context in the Bible from which you can defend worshipping Mary or the apostles or even the angels. God and God alone is worthy of worship and Jesus is God personified. It’s quite basic.