Cor Iesus sacratissimum, miserere nobis!

May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Dies irae, Dies illa!

"Every time I hear this chant or read the lyrics I cannot help but fear for my eternal salvation. I am hoping it might have the same effect on you too. Why? To prompt you to make haste and prepare! Go to Church, make use of the Sacraments, and pray that God sends you His good graces so that you may be saved!"

1
Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!

2
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

3
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulchra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

4
Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.

5
Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.

6
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

7
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?

8
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.

9
Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne me perdas illa die.

10
Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

11
Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

12
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.

13
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

14
Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

15
Inter oves locum præsta,
et ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.

16
Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.

17
Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

18
Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:

19
Pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1
Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets' warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

2
Oh what fear man's bosom rendeth,
when from heaven the Judge descendeth,
on whose sentence all dependeth.

3
Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
through earth's sepulchers it ringeth;
all before the throne it bringeth.

4
Death is struck, and nature quaking,
all creation is awaking,
to its Judge an answer making.

5
Lo! the book, exactly worded,
wherein all hath been recorded:
thence shall judgment be awarded.

6
When the Judge his seat attaineth,
and each hidden deed arraigneth,
nothing unavenged remaineth.

7
What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
when the just are mercy needing?

8
King of Majesty tremendous,
who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us!

9
Think, good Jesus, my salvation
cost thy wondrous Incarnation;
leave me not to reprobation!

10
Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,
on the cross of suffering bought me.
shall such grace be vainly brought me?

11
Righteous Judge! for sin's pollution
grant thy gift of absolution,
ere the day of retribution.

12
Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
all my shame with anguish owning;
spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!

13
Thou the sinful woman savedst;
thou the dying thief forgavest;
and to me a hope vouchsafest.

14
Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
rescue me from fires undying!

15
With thy favored sheep O place me;
nor among the goats abase me;
but to thy right hand upraise me.

16
While the wicked are confounded,
doomed to flames of woe unbounded
call me with thy saints surrounded.

17
Low I kneel, with heart submission,
see, like ashes, my contrition;
help me in my last condition.

18
Ah! that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!

19
Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,
grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.

My first try at poetry...

His Precious Blood:

"One drop of His Most Precious Blood,
Would have stopped the entire flood,
Of every sin and iniquity,
Committed by humanity.

Yet on that Cross outpoured,
All the Blood of my loving Lord.
In gracious measures did it flow,
To save me from eternal woe!

O Christ, most glorious King,
Forever shall I praise and sing,
Thy act of love upon the Cross,
Which saved me from eternal loss.

And though my sins as scarlet be,
Thou hast by Thy Blood forgiven me.
All honour, praise, and glory to Thee,
Most adorable and Blessed Trinity!"

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The greatest gift!

This was something I wrote down a few months ago, after reading a booklet, which I fear may be Modernist, but it had some powerful truths in it none the less. Verse 1 John 4:19* was quoted in one of the chapters of that little booklet, and it inspired me to write this. Although, what I came up with after meditating on what I read was not anything profound, it still touched me at the time.

I want- all people want- to be happy. God knows this. God also knows what will make us happiest.
I want- all people want- to have peace. God knows this. God also knows what will give us peace.
I want- all people want- to be loved. God knows this. God also knows what will give us love.

Happiness, Peace, and Love.

All these can be attained in their fullest through God, in God, and with with God.

God knows this...

That is why He gave us Himself.


*"Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us."

Monday, October 26, 2009

What is this all about?

Hello world!

My name is Ashley. I am 18 years old, until next year, February the 16th, in which case, if God Will's, I earn another year, and get to say I am 19. I am male, my name is commonly a girl's name, but there are male Ashley's out there. Think of "Gone With The Wind", for example.

I am South African by birth. I was born in a place called Durban, which is a city on the East coast of the Republic of South Africa. My mother, was born in Nice, France, but she grew up on the island of Mauritius. My father was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. For whatever reasons, I know them, but you don't need to, (Not that they are anything scandelous, it is just that I don't feel like typing it all out.) my parents arrived in South Africa, and Providence saw fit to place them together. Although I was born in Durban, I spent the majority of my life up on the "Highveld", that is in Gauteng Province, in a suburb of Johannesburg.

When my mother and father divorced, I was 5 years old at the time, my father moved to the neighbouring North-West Province, and lives on a farm out in the rural area. As my mother and father still have a cordial, nay, even friendly relationship, to this day; my childhood was spent equally between mother in the city, and father on the farm.


I am the eldest of two children. My younger brother is two years younger than I. To the less mathematically inclined, that makes him 16 years of age, at this very point in time. We are like chalk and cheese, but we are brothers and we love each other, he is also a wonderful litmus test, if I can use that analogy, for determining patience in a person!

I finished my High School education last year December, having completed my 12 (long) years of education, I was finally "free" and entered into the "big world."

I suppose at this stage, my little autobiography must have you near the state of sleep, and you must be feeling sorry for having left the delights of Youtube and Facebook. But dear reader, if there are any, this blog is not so much for your joy and entertainment, as it is for myself.

Which introduces the point of this blog.

At the age of 15 I believe I recieved a vocation to the Roman Catholic Priesthood and/or Religious life. I will not go into the whys, hows or doubts at this point in time, nor even in this post, as a matter of fact, but let it just suffice for the time being, that I have a vocation.

Since that time, to now, that has been my only thought, desire and goal: to recieve ordination in to the Roman Catholic Priesthood.

As explained earlier on, I completed my schooling last year. From December 2008, until June 2009, I then worked for my father, at his company, an electrical engineering firm. Who says nepotism is a bad thing? From the spoils I earned there, I had the financial security to "leave the nest" and spend a year in Europe, to pursue my vocation and discern it more earnestly. The reasons I came to Europe, and specifically to France, although I don't speak French, is because:

1) I have a cousin(s)* in the Priesthood, who lives in France. Being a firm supporter of nepotism, see above, I decided to seek help from him.

2) The Catholic Church and Catholic Culture is much better in France, and in Europe, than in South Africa, where Catholicism is a small minority, and Traditional Catholicism is almost non-exsistant.

3) Europe has many opportunities for me to pursue my vocation within Traditional Catholicism.

Now, dear reader, if there are any, you may be thinking to yourself, "What does all this have to do with the point of this blog?"

Well, there are, again, a number of reasons. I told you all of this, just so that you could get a little introduction into my life.

My father told me that I have a gift for writing. Now, despite whatever you may think of the quality of my written work; and I will be the first to admit that the grammar and punctuation etc, will not always be of the best standard, I will try, however, to keep some sort of a standard.

However, dear reader, if there are any, my father's words showed me that I have a hidden talent. Perhaps that is a bit presumptious on my part, but I like to write, and seeing as I won't be hurting anyone, save the odd Grammar Nazi, if any happens to pass by that is, I will continue to express myself through the means of this blog.

My father suggested to me that I keep a journal, he even bought me a delightful diary to write my thoughts and experiences in. There is, however, a problem, the book has a limited amount of pages and I am not fond of the quality of my handwriting. I was in a bit of a dilemma, until I came accross the blog of a friend of mine. His work, well not so much what he said, but the fact that he was saying it, inspired me to create my own blog, to post my personal thoughts, experiences, and the like.

So, dear reader, your quest for the reason of the exisitence of this blog finally comes to an end. The aim, the vision I see of this blog, is that it will be a means of "penning" down my musings and thoughts on life, especially with regards to my spirituality and pursuit of my vocation.

As the title of the blog suggests, this blog will be a place for me to mull and "ruminate" over my journey towards God, and towards doing His Will. Dear readers, if there are any, this will be the place where I will record my attempt to make the journey to heaven, and to see the face of God.

Lord, Thy Will be done!

*I am currently at a house of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, in the South of France. It turns out that one of the Priests here is a distant cousin of mine. His mother is related to my grandmother, on my Mother's side of the family...It is a Mauritian thing, we have cousins everywhere!