Welcome: Dominus Vobiscum

Well, it's finally happened: Matthaeus has entered the Catholic blogsphere in his own right!

Welcome to my blog. I hope that over the coming weeks, months and years I will have something to say that is of interest to others, and will be able to raise and explore issues beyond what I can do as a commenter on other peoples blogs.

If you are wondering about the choice of title for this blog, it translates as 'Under the shadow of His [Our Lord's] wings' and is a paraphrase of the responsary from Compline:-

V:- Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillum oculi.

R:- Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos.

(Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of an eye. Protect us under the shadow of your wings)

 

During my student days, I was privileged to attend weekly Compline during Lent, organised by the local Anglicans, and using the rite from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (which is essentially that of the old rite Breviarium Romanum translated into17th Century English). This took place in a beautiful 12th. Century church, and also involved me walking home afterwards across fields in the gathering dark. The experience gave me some idea of the significance of the words of the service.

Imagine, if you will, a  Monastery in the trouble times at the end of the first millenium closing up for the night, the Monks very aware of their own vulnerability and wondering whether they would actually still be there in the morning: night prayer would have been of great importance, potentially their last preparation for the next life.

 

In our modern world we often become complacent and lose awareness of our own frailty and our need for God and His divine help and protection. So hence this title. I hope it will remind me of these things each time I come to write a post.

 

So, once again, welcome, and may God bless you.