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From the Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah made by St. Jerome, at Bethlehem, Book iv, c. xi
(read during Matins on the 2nd Sun of Advent)
"'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse.' From the beginning of the Book of this Prophet till the 13th chapter, where commences the vision, or burden of Babylon, the whole of the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, is one continual prophecy of Christ. We must explain it part by part, for if we were to take it all at once, the memory of the reader would be confused. According to the Jewish commentators, the rod and the flower would both relate to the Lord Himself. They take the rod to mean the scepter of His Royal dominion, and the flower the loveliness of His beauty.
"We, however, understand that the rod out of the root of Jesse signifies the holy Virgin Mary. She was a clean stem that had as yet put forth no shoot; as we have read above Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son. (Isa. vii. 14) And the flower we believe to mean the Lord our Redeemer, Who hath elsewhere compared Himself to a flower; I am a flower of the plain, and a lily of the valleys. (Cant. ii. 1)
"The Spirit of the Lord then shall rest upon this flower; this flower which shall come forth from the stem and roots of Jesse by means of the Virgin Mary. And truly the Spirit of the Lord did rest upon our Redeemer. It is written that In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Col. ii. 9) The Spirit was not shed on Him by measure, as it is upon the Saints (4 Isa. Ixvi. 13, 14. Isa. xlvi. 13). To Him we may apply the words of the Hebrew Gospel used by the Nazarenes; The whole fountain of the Holy Ghost shall be poured forth upon Him. The Lord is a spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. iii. 17)
"In that same Gospel of St Matthew we read: Behold my Son whom I have chosen; my elect in whom my soul is well pleased; I shall place my Spirit over him and he will mete out judgment to the Gentiles. This is to be understood of the Savior, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, that is, remained eternally."
With a little comedic intro... Our Church and our Nation need our prayers, especially now, in light of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. This prayer was composed by the first bishop of the USA, John Carroll, cousin to Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Welcome to Septuagesima! For those of you who don't follow my other channel, Gregorian Chant Academy, here is a video I made last year explaining the amazing mysteries and significance of the season of Septuagesima and Lent, etc. Needless to say, this is just a brief overview and there is soooo much more that could be said about this. Enjoy!
You may not hear from me very often but that is partially because I don't want to post simply for the sake of posting, or for the sake of popularity. When I post, I want it to be of value. Plus, I think as a society we spend far too much time on the internet and social media anyway. But today, I do have something to share and I'd like to share with you a little poem, beautifully written by Malcom Guite, about how careful we all need to be over our speech (and our thoughts). If you are not familiar with Malcom Guite, he is an Anglican priest (but with a lot of very Catholic ways of thinking at times) as well as an amazing poet and pipe smoking enthusiast from Britain. This poem is titled "What If" but could just as easily be titled "Every Idle Word". Anyway, without any further ado, here is his poem.
“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Mathew 12:36-37
What if ...
For anyone seeing this, I'm BACK! I've been super busy the past several months but I'm finally back with another interview, Independence Day Special Edition! Originally, I was supposed to be interviewing Dr Alan Harrelson of The Pipe Cottage, but due to his brand being attacked by the Cancel Culture recently, he has decided to cancel all interviews for the time being. Taking his place and returning to the show is my dad, William F. Jasper. We will be recording tomorrow, July 2, and I hope to release on July 5th or there abouts. So, if you're reading this, stay tuned and I'd delighted to have you join us! God bless America!
