Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

As we continue through the Roman Canon (the first Eucharistic prayer), we first must see that the Roman Canon is poetic, one of the great poetic compositions in Western Civilization. Since it is written in Latin, we don’t experience the richness of the poetry so much in the translation of the Canon into English.

My Dear Friends,

We begin with the first Eucharistic prayer, the Roman Canon. At the time of the Reformation, many who left behind the Catholic faith and joined with Martin Luther or John Calvin or Queen Elizabeth, or Ulrich Zwingli did all they could to rid their new liturgies of this venerable Roman Canon that was composed before the reign of Pope St. Gregory the Great and remained unchanged until the reforms of the post Second Vatican Council.

My Dear Friends,

For over 1,500 years the Catholic Church of the Roman Rite used exclusively only one Eucharistic prayer, which is the prayer the priest prays while you are kneeling and the prayer that brings forth the transubstantiation of the bread and wine which will become our Lord’s Body and Blood. It is called the Roman Canon, or Eucharistic Prayer I in our new Mass since 1970. It is a very ancient canon and is closely associated with the city of Rome itself as the Catholic Church was in the early centuries forming itself as the center of the Catholic world.

My Dear Friends,

We have three Marian feast days in the next eight days. Today, September 8th, we celebrate her birthday. Thursday, September 12th, is the Holy Name of Mary. And next Sunday, September 15th, is Our Lady of Sorrows. Three opportunities to honor our Blessed Mother, although liturgically this year, we only celebrate the Holy Name of Mary since her birthday and Our Lady of Sorrows fall on a Sunday.

My Dear Friends,

September 3rd is the feast day of Pope St. Gregory the Great. He reigned as pope from 590 to 604 AD. He was a nobleman destined for a career in civil government in Rome but soon became disillusioned with Rome and entered the Benedictine order. He wasn't to be in the monastery for long, though, as Pope Pelagius II sent him to Constantinople as a papal legate.