Surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia!
Greetings to the men of ROK, as we enter the final stretch of Paschaltide. This week, we take a break from the series on philosophy, to look at the Feast of the Ascension (which takes place the day before this article posts) and its relation to the Pentecost cycle.
Christ, the Author of the Seasons and Center of the Church’s Calendar
I was surprised to find some persons stating that Easter was a “pagan” holiday in my post about that. I’ll say a word about Easter, Ascension and Pentecost here in that regard.
The Scriptures, the Tradition and the Liturgy of the Church all associate our Lord’s Passion with the Jewish Passover, both as the fulfillment of the prophetic types of the Passover, and also as occurring on the eve of Passover in actual fact. The Church’s method of calculating Easter corresponds closely to Passover (which came later this year because it is a “leap year” on the Jewish calendar, calling for an whole month to be added). Easter is always the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, as this corresponded to the Sunday after Passover in the year of His Passion and Resurrection. In fact, in most languages the word for it has always been Pascha, from Hebrew pesach—“Passover.”
The Scriptures say that Jesus remained on earth for forty days (Acts 1:3), and then ascended, commanding His men to wait and pray for the promised Spirit to be sent to them, which the Scriptures tell us occurred at the completion of the Pentecost (Acts 2:1). This was the Greek word (meaning “fiftieth”) used by the Jews to refer to the feast of Shavuot, or “Weeks,” since it marked “A Week of Weeks” (i.e., seven weeks) from Passover, with the fiftieth day being the fulfillment of this period—also called “the counting of the Omer,” as per the Lord’s command in Leviticus 23: 15-16. In any case, now you know the correspondence of Easter, Paschaltide, Ascension and Pentecost to the exact events of the Bible.
The Feast of the Ascension is my favorite Feast, and is the dedication of my hermitage; our old webpage, “Idithun,” was a reference to the man by that name amongst King David’s choirmasters. The name was translated by St. Isidore of Seville as meaning “leaping up, or leaping over,” and was said to be suitable for the holy choirmaster because “by singing, he leapt over all those who keep their thoughts bent down low to the earth, thinking only of transitory things.”
As the psalms were always read as a prophetic book, full of prophesies and types of Jesus the Christ, this name was taken to be especially suitable to Him in reference to His Ascension. St. Notker’s Sequence takes up this theme, and marvelously explains the meaning of the feast. I give the Latin and English, underneath.
The music builds very deliberately in this sequence; it begins fairly monotonously, with the tones not straying far from the tonic. It begins to soar when it gets to the greatest of all ascents, the one made on this day by the Son of God. The sequence:
1. Summi triumphum Regis prosequamur laude.
2a. Qui cæli, qui terræ regit sceptra inferni jure domito.
2b. Qui sese pro nobis redimendis per magnum dedit precium.
3a. Huic nomen extat conveni’ens Idithum.
3b. Nam transilivit omnes strenue montes colliculosque Bethel,
4a. Saltum de cælo dedit in virginalem ventrem, inde in pelagus seculi.
4b. Postquam illud suo mitigavit potentatu, tetras Phlegethontis assiliit tenebras.
5a. Principis illius disturbato imperio.
5b. Maniplis plurimis inde erutis, mundum illustrat suo jubare.
6a. Captivitatemque detentam in ibi, victor duxit secum.
6b. Et redivivum jam suis se præbuit servis et amicis.
7a. Denique saltum dederat hodie maximum, nubes polosque cursu præpeti transiens.
7b. Celebret ergo populus hunc diem credulus cujus morbida, Idithum, corpora in semetipso altis sedibus cæli invexit Dei Filius.
8a. Et tremens, judicem expectat adfuturum, ut duo angeli fratres docuerunt,
8b. Qui Jesus a vobis assumptus est in cælum, iterum veniet, ut vidistis eum.
9a. Jam Idithum nostrum vocibus sedulis omnes imploremus,
9b. Ut a dextris Patris qui sedet, Spiritum mittat nobis sanctum,
10. In fine sæculi, ipse quocque semper sit nobiscum.
1. Let us enter upon the High King’s triumph with praise,
2a. Who rules heaven and earth with His sceptre, hell’s might being now destroyed.
2b. He gave Himself, o costly price!, for us, who needed redeeming.
3a. Thus, Idithun stands out as a fitting name for this Man,
3b. For mightily hath he leapt over all the mountains and hills of Bethel.
4a. From heaven, He leapt into the Virgin’s womb; from thence, into the world’s vast sea.
4b. After He calmed that by His power, He assailed the loathsome darkness of Phlegethon.
5a. With the prince thereof’s empire overthrown,
5b. And many delivered thence from their shackles, He illumined the world by His rising, like the Dayspring.
6a. And indeed, there He bound captivity itself, and led it behind Him as a Conqueror.
6b. At last He showed Himself to His servants and friends, alive again.
7a. Next, on this day, He made the greatest leap of all, passing o’er the clouds and heaven’s vaults with fleet-footed course!
7b. Therefore celebrate this day, believing populace, whose ailing flesh Idithun has, in His own Self, borne up to the lofty thrones of heaven, as God’s own Son.
8a. And, trembling, expect Him again as Judge, as angels twain taught the brethren:
8b. “This Jesus who was taken from you to heaven shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him going.”
9a. Now, with unceasing voices let us all implore our Idithun,
9b. That He Who sits at the Father’s right hand would send us His Holy Spirit,
10. That till the end of the age He too may abide with us forever.
I am drawn to the Ascension, for the way it seems to recapitulate in itself all of Christ’s dispensation, pointing backwards and forwards to everything. His departure from us, points back to His arrival amongst us at the Incarnation. There, God humbled and emptied Himself; now, He lifts us up with Him and promises to fill us with the Spirit. His departure also looks forward to the Parousia, when He comes again as Judge on Doomsday.
As His Apostles were with Him when He left, so shall they be when He returns for the Doom of man.
The Ascension also consummates the Paschal victory. Ancient conquerors used to return in triumph to their city with a train of captives and spoils; here the high King is returning to the heavenly citadel with His captives and spoils in train, the fruits of His war of conquest fought upon the Cross.
It also points forward to the Pentecost, and the descent of the Spirit. On account of the Incarnation and Redemption, man’s nature is now able to share by grace in the divine nature, as St. Peter says in His second epistle (1:4). Thus, in ascending, He promises to send the faithful the Spirit of Adoption, by which they call “abba, father.” His departure is thus a bittersweet moment, in which the frequent liturgical cry of Paschaltide—“Abide with us yet a while longer, Lord; for the day is now long spent, and eventide draws nigh”—becomes poignant, describing the current age of the world, which is now begun: the age of the Church, in which our Lord’s presence continues under the Sacramental veil, but His Person has ascended up from us. What joy, to see the God-man ascending over all; what sorrow, to see the Lord depart!
Yet in going, He promises to be with us through the activity of this same, promised Spirit, by Whom the Church is continually born and renewed, and the Sacraments are wrought, keeping Christ with us. And the Spirit indeed continues to deepen the knowledge of the Church, leading Her into all truth, though with no change in the substance of what she knew before. Thus, our Lord spoke truly when He said it was better for us if He departed, for know, in the Church formed and illumined by His Spirit, we can know Him better than we otherwise could have.
The nine-day period between Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost, in which the Apostles and faithful waited and prayed for the Spirit, became the basis of the devotional practice of “novenas”—nine days of prayer with a specific goal in mind. The men of ROK may wish to observe a traditional Novena to the Holy Ghost from this Friday to next Saturday. In the link just given, one finds prayers to be said every day on the right; click the days of the Novena for a prayer proper to each day, in addition to a brief description of each gift of the Holy Ghost, for those who do not understand them, yet. Those who find the English verses of poetry corny, may prefer to simply recite the original Latin verses, or another translation.
Next week we will speak of Pentecost and its significance, and prepare to take leave of this most sacred season. For now, I close with some of the Roman Breviary’s lessons (taken from Pope St. Leo the Great) for the Feast.
After the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein the Divine Power raised up in three days the true Temple of God Which the iniquity of the Jews had destroyed John ii. 19, God was pleased to ordain, by His Most Sacred Will, and in His Providence for our instruction and the profit of our souls, a season of forty days—which season, dearly beloved brethren, doth end on this day. During that season the bodily Presence of the Lord still lingered on earth, that the reality of the fact of His having risen again from the dead might be armed with all needful proofs. The death of Christ had troubled the hearts of many of His disciples their thoughts were sad when they remembered His agony upon the Cross, His giving up of the Ghost, and the laying in the grave of His lifeless Body, and a sort of hesitation had begun to weigh on them.
Hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been fearful at the finishing on the Cross, and doubtful of the trustworthiness of the rising again, were so strengthened by the clear demonstration of the fact, that, when they saw the Lord going up into the height of heaven, they sorrowed not, many there were even filled with great joy and, in all verity, it was a great and unspeakable cause for joy to see Manhood, in the presence of that multitude of believers, exalted above all creatures even heavenly, rising above the ranks of the angelic armies and speeding Its glorious way where the most noble of the Archangels lie far behind, to rest no lower than that place where, high above all principality and power, It taketh Its seat at the right hand of the Eternal Father, Sharer of His throne, and Partaker of His glory, and still of the very human nature which the Son hath taken upon Himself. Now do Thou, o Lord, have mercy upon us. Thanks be to God!
Read Next: The Relationships Between Skepticism, Dogmatism, And Certitude
Easter’s origins predate pagan influence. The Celtics did not celebrate the spring.
The Germans and people through that region did celebrate the spring. Eastre is one of the first documented names, likely the closest to how real pagans pronouced it. We don’t know a whole lot about ancient Germanic people in Germany or Austria. The old high German language preserved Ostara as the name for Easter. Mr. Grimm did have that indisputable fact.
My family celebrates with church, The Lord’s Supper, then we gather for a huge meal, color easter eggs to hunt, we decorate with rabbits and flowers. It is more pagan in origin then the Easter you celebrate.
Christmas and Halloween are far more pagan in origin, but all three were good for the same reason. If those monks hadn’t found a Christian reason to permit celebration near the equinoxes, many European pagans would have been brutally killed and tortured.
Easter has no relation to Freyja.
Absolutely. I have no problem with adapting Pagan holidays, especially the ones that simply mark the passing of the seasons, the equinoxes and solstices, etc., since this is also what the Jewish calendar did, and these observations merely reflect God’s own intent behind the seasons. Even other holidays, if whatever is good and true in them can be turned to a Christian purpose, fine.
And even then, there is good evidence for a late December birth of Christ, based on the account of the annunciation of St. John the Baptist’s birth to his father, which Tradition holds (with the strong implication of Scripture) to have occurred on Yom Kippur (mid-late September). Nine months later, the Church celebrates the Nativity of John the Lord’s Precursor; six months later, the Church celebrates the Annunication to the Blessed Virgin, in keeping with the Scriptures’ own account that this occurred in the sixth month of St. Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Nine months after that date (March 25), is Christmas Day.
So, there is ample reason from the Bible itself to believe that Christmas is a likely date for the birth of the Lord. Other dates put our Lord’s birth on the date of St. John’s birth, and vice-versa, assuming that the annunciation to St. John occurred during one of the other three dates that his priestly service would have brought him in to the temple (during the course of Abias).
Weren’t they using a different calendar in the 1st century?
Slightly different; they used the Julian Calendar. The only real difference, is that the Julian Calendar included a few too many leap years in order to compensate for the slight difference between an actual, solar day and 24 hours. Over time, this had resulted in the Julian Calendar drifting more than a week (now 13 days) behind important events like the equinoxes and solstices. The Gregorian Calendar (which we now use) corrected this, and limited the number of leap years, leading to a calendar that still gains some time, but at a much slower rate.
Of course, there were some other slight changes introduced by the Romans (name changes for months, adding a day to a month here and there, etc.).
the Orthodox use the old calendar, its two weeks ahead, that’s why Ukrainian Orthodox Easter is two weeks later.
I was told it coincided with the existing Greek king Midas. This was a holiday celebrated by the ancient world so assimilating the birth of Jesus with a celebrated holiday would increase evangelism.
Easter is Istar in Arabic/Aramaic – the Goddess of Fertility of the Fertile Crescent and Levant. She’s the Venus of the Middle East, but with some dark characteristics too. Ishtar is the Goddess of both war and sex. To celebrate Ishtar, the Arab tradition is to break out eggs. In Yemen the wedding tradition is use eggs as a sign of fertility. It’s not part of Yemeni wedding traditions, but rabbits are also a sign of fertility in the Middle East. The rights of spring were celebrated by pagans around the world.
You know what article I REALLY want to see? An article with advice on moving to a different country, complete with how credentials in popular fields would translate. It could be a series of articles. For example, I’m a paramedic. I’m looking to leave America. What countries in eastern Europe and Asia would be good for me? That’s just me though, I’m sure I’m not alone.
Thank you as always very interesting to find out that the tradition runs a lot deeper then what we hear in the media.
Your articles made me return to the mass and made me bring my children with me.
After seeing what is happening in Europe I finally see that the PC is bringing us to no good.
True enough. I pray that you find a real, solid Catholic parish. Sometimes, if one finds a bunch of Catholic impostors, the pc there can be stronger than anywhere else!
Benedicat vos Deus, intercedente Beatissima Deipara.
That problem is why my church had only 1 priest for several years – some of the would-be associate priests the bishop would have sent didn’t make the cut. (And this priest basically built the church and turned it into what it currently is [he retired a couple of years ago])
Thank you 🙂
I have been lucky to find a catholic parish that still celebrate the Latin mass. They received a special exception from Jean-Paul 1st about 20 years ago. They are not close to where we live so we only go once a month but in between we keep going the church near where we live. The priest there is still ok and nice.( but not too much PC).
Here in Montreal as there is so few people going to church they expect closing many churches in the following year. We will see what will happen as churches are so important in our culture/history.
The Latin community is very different as the church is full including a lot of young children and family. It remembered me the way it was when I was young.
http://www.st-paulmontreal.org/clsp_quisnous.php
All around the French and Italian catholic internet media people are not happy about the pope. The last nail of the coffin is his Charlemagne price as a great Europeist (good for European governance). Some other earlier recipients are Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton. Should we say more ?
Thank you for you light and your help
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic church where I am is fairly decent, as well as Coptic, Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Lebanese Orthodox – they have lots of kids running around and happy families. I am so glad to see Christians having interest in their faith and tradition. Culture is passed down through the church/mosque/temple etc.
http://www.ukemonde.com/church.htm here is a good list of alpha Ukrainian churches.
Coptic is the closest Christians have to early Christianity – try this http://www.stgeorgestjoseph.ca/framePage.htm
and this http://www.stmarkmontreal.ca/test/logged%20servants/all/indexlogged.php
Copts have happy families and kids just like Muslims – a lot of Muslim traditions were borrowed from the Copts, another alpha church.
I would be better at guiding you to mosques coming from a Muslim background but I am so happy to see you embraced your faith. To have a faith is better than to have none so your women fall for the SJW cult and turn your sons into cucks.
Ho thank you for this information. I live not far from St-Sophie’s orthodox church and so not too far also from St-Micheal’s Catholic church. I will probably take a peek to feel how much spiritual energy they muster. What I liked a lot about the Latin mass is the among of presence we feel as the ritual is going on.
I thank you very much for you information I’ve learn something today and I will use it.
SJW culture is very strong but it begins to show it’s dangers everyday to intelligent people. My older sons if going out with a nice girl that I slowly make her see the evidence. She is now finding feminism very ‘problematic’ One on one it is possible to bring them back because the SJW culture if full of lies and hate. As the wheel turn we are returning to the tradition I guest
Thank you very much 🙂
Brilliant about your son! The ritual is very important – that’s why I recommended all the old churches. You’ll enjoy them. If you are really in for the oldest ritual – you have to go to the Coptic church, its the closest to early Christian. Ukrainian one is less hard on the feet but also beautiful, you feel the presence of something profound and beautiful even if you do not share that faith.
This is very interesting, I thank you, I will begin to build a schedule around this. We more and more feel more fell from this spiritual energy. I will maybe be able to bring the open minded girlfriend more easily to an ethic mass then to a catholic mass first.. Good strategy 🙂
Thank you for such an uplifting piece. It’s easy to get caught up in the gloom down here. Thank for showing us that darkness in this world is but a passing thing to the glory that is and is yet to come again.
Being close to God, is the most important thing during this troublesomely time.
Agreed. Those in the Ark will not perish in the Flood.
Your comment reminded me of a passage from RF Laird’s “Boomer Bible”:
“We’ll take out all your cities of doom
And your ivory towers of tears.
We’ll crush the siege of randomness,
And hang all the high priests of fear.
We’ll bury the mummy-wrapped corpse of your minds,
In the rubble of dried-out assumptions.
We’ll find the water you hid in the fields,
And launch a great flood of redemption.
And if you want, you can build an ark
And take two of each kind of despair.
But we’ll be waiting on the mountaintop:
When you land we’ll slaughter each pair.
And If you want, you can ask us why
And pretend you’ve done nothing wrong
But we believe you’ve done nothing right,
And held onto nothing too long.
It’s nothing we’re after, make no mistake,
We’ll rape that giant mother zero,
And sire a child, a bastard called hope,
And Raise him to be a hero.”
Ways 4-9
Mr. Pertinebit, throughout these troublesome times and lack of light and warmth, I feel the protectorate of Providence near me day by day. Your articles come as a confirmation of my feeling. Thank you, friend. God bless !
Well, say goodbye to London as it was.
Excellent article Aurelius. I appreciate your direction and explanations. Is there a way to contact you with personal questions?
Thanks for the kind sentiments. I have an email with this handle at both gmail and tutanota.com and you can reach me at either (tutanota gets checked somewhat more regularly).
Excellent writing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The manosphere needs more content like yours.
On the topic at hand. I get so tired of leftist hipsters and neckbeards tauting their new age counterfeit paganism/spirituality staking claim in what are now clearly Christian holidays.
Their spittle flecked arguments are as meaningless as they are stupid.
Passing of the seasons, apples on a tree, evergreens, weddings, countless types of food. You name it, I’m sure some degenerate pagan at one time or another touched it.
So what?
The May Magnificat doesn’t list the novena in honor of the Holy Spirit. Thanks, Brother, for the links.
Thanks be to God. Also look here, for information on this devotion’s tradition and the opportunity to obtain two plenary indulgences:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/05/novena-to-holy-spirit-paraclete.html
Yes. Easter derives from the pagan term Ishtar. Catholics are pagans. They just aren’t smart enough to know it.
This has already been discussed and thoroughly refuted go read the comment section under Aurelius’s Easter Article if you wish to allieviate yourself from arrogant ignorance.
Sorry to say but dunces, specially speaking of the Protestant variety seem to be immune to education or refutation. Very much like their SJW cousins (yes, Protestantism begot a lot of the sh*t we have to deal with now) their arguments come from emotions not from reason. However I think apologetics most useful service is to the onlookers who might be tempted to reconsider their viewpoint.
Yes, blatantly pagan:
Eggs, hares: fertility, sex rites, etc.
Easter: Astarte, Ashtoroth, etc.
The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), did a great job intertwining traditional paganism with a burgeoning Christian faith.
Can’t beat’em, join’em… or dumb it down.
I don’t care if anyone observes the holiday, but don’t bandy it about as Christian when it clearly and blatantly has pagan overtones.
Easter, eggs, etc., are not mentioned in the Bible in regardsto Christianity. And as far as I can tell, through study, the only tradition commanded by Christ to observe, was the annual memorial of his death/ passover fulfillment. (Luke 22:19)
I can only assume one would want to use critical thinking skills when examining what the scriptures teach vs. traditions.
If some of these traditions aren’t mentioned in the Bible, one would have to reason, “Well, where do they come from?”
(Eph 5:10, 2 Tim 3:5, 4:3-4)
You mention “critical thinking skills” so please use them to do ten minutes of research. Eggs were originally completely abstained from during Lent, so they were one of the things included in Easter feasts. They were dyed red to represent the sacrifice of the cross. The Easter bunny is a bit of a mystery but it originated with German Lutherans (the original “Bible” Christians), several centuries after the last pagan German died, and from them spread to the US. “Easter” is a word unique to English. In most other languages Easter is “Pascha” or some variation. According to Bede, it appears to come from the pagan name for the month that the Christian celebration usually happened in. Lest you balk, remember that the days of the week are named after pagan gods too.
And “sex rites?” Have I been missing out all these years?
A lot of things aren’t mentioned in the Bible. Christ founded a Church, not a Bible.
“The use of painted and decorated Easter eggs was first recorded in the 13th century. The church prohibited the eating of eggs during Holy Week, but chickens continued to lay eggs during that week, and the notion of specially identifying those as “Holy Week” eggs brought about their decoration. The egg itself became a symbol of the Resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the tomb, the egg symbolizes new life emerging from the eggshell. In the Orthodox tradition eggs are painted red to symbolize the blood Jesus shed on the cross. In the United States Easter egg hunts are popular among children, and in 1878 Lucy Hayes, the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, sponsored the first annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn.
chocolate Easter bunnies [Credit: Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz]The custom of associating a rabbit with Easter arose in Protestant areas in Europe in the 17th century but did not become common until the 19th century. The Easter rabbit was said to lay the eggs as well as decorate and hide them. In a way, this was a manifestation of the Protestant rejection of Catholic Easter customs. In some European countries, however, other animals—in Switzerland the cuckoo, in Westphalia the fox—brought the Easter eggs.” From encyclopedia Brittanica http://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday
Well, I’ll be… I guess you win.
What, exactly, is “pagan” about an egg?
Are Christians not allowed to notice, as the Pagans did, that birds lay their eggs at this time of year? That the rabbits mate and start coming out? That the whole world is returning to life, even as the time of Christ’s Resurrection is near? What, precisely, is the problem? What is “Pagan” about this, as opposed to simply “natural?”
Every fucking language that isn’t Germanic calls it “Pascha” you retard.
The mere word of “Easter” derives from a Pagan goddess, whose Equinoctial feast was celebrated near the same time as Pascha, by Germanic peoples. So does the word “East.” Is it pagan to move in an easterly direction?
All the days of the work week are named from pagan deities. Does this make all the weekdays of pagan origin? Or are you able to distinguish between the pagan origin of a word used to describe a thing, and the thing itself?
The actual holiday of Easter corresponds exactly to Passover and the events of Jesus’ life, and so is called “Pascha” in almost all Christian countries’ languages. Does this mean that Easter is Pagan in Germanic lands, but Christian in Greco-Roman lands? Do you begin to see how silly this is?
Oh, tell me more… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/016a639592b601c995f68bd51000d55b54a598b91242756881f347c52b522346.jpg
Dude, itll keep spamming if you reply to it.
Bots are a sign of a lively community.
Hi bro. Aurelius. I am one of the persons who has written that Easter is a pagan celebration. This is not be confused with the celebration and victory of Yehushua Hamasiach on the cross; hence we biblical followers celebrate the Ascension. Also note, it is anti-Christ to celebrate a holiday needs that incorporates Ashtar, Ishtar, Isis, Beyoncé, Easter Babylonian worship. The main gripe with bible followers is that the RCC (Romanist paganism) adopted traditions from other religions as part of their all inclusive culture agenda (all roads lead to the same God, etc). Furthermore, when pope JPII and many of the Vatican II policies were made public, the pandering to the PC culture ran rampant. We knew the great whore of babylon has revealed herself. Yehushua told us simple truths: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man gets to the father but through me”, not jump around with bunny rabbits invoking the whore priestess of Ishtar fertility ritual.
The only coherent statement in your spaghetti post was the fact that Vatican II Church is not catholic, not even Christian.
I have no common truck with such men as JPII or Francis, manifest heretics and antipopes. The Catholic Church has always insisted on the altogether irreconcilable difference between the only Faith, and other religions; the Ecumenism is a very novel approach, hence its advocates stand condemned by the Faith itself. Yet many customs, especially based on feasts connected to the seasons and agricultural cycles, reflect natural religious truths that can easily be put to a Christian purpose (for so God made them). In a modern culture where everyone is deracinated this seems superfluous, but the Church has always seen that old customs die hard in people with deeply rooted cultures, so she has preferred to turn these customs to a Christian application rather than do violence to a natural and essentially good desire, making herself an enemy of noble aspirations.
I assure you that Astoreth and Beyoncé’s Babylonian Magic Jammies have not been incorporated into our holy and unstained religion.
Well, I’m glad you feel that way with JPII and Francis. But regarding “Christianizing” cultural customs; wouldn’t that be anti-Biblical (excluding the use of vernacular)? 2 Corinthians 6:14; unequally yoked can also be said of mixing pagan customs (the unbelievers) with Christian truths (believers).
“Yet many customs, especially based on feasts connected to the seasons and agricultural cycles, reflect natural religious truths that can easily be put to a Christian purpose (for so God made them)”
Excuse my lack of comprehension, but this could sound close to pantheism.
Well, one can take many verses of the Bible and apply them however one likes. But in fact, no, I don’t think it’s a problem to put a morally neutral custom to Christian use.
What I mean about God implanting truths in nature, is that nature itself moves in cycles which were intended by their Creator. And we see that the Lord put the high festivals of the Old Covenant at astronomically significant times, which bear a resemblance to the meanings of the holidays of Pagans occurring at the same times of year. The first Christians did not think that the Pagans were entirely unclean; rather, just as the Old Covenant of the Jews was a direct preparation for the Gospel, so also the Pagans, though less perfectly, had echoes of God’s Law in their own hearts and cultures. St. Paul says as much in his epistle to the Romans, and in his preaching to the Greeks upon the Areopagus.
Thus, many of the Pagan tales contain echoes of God’s Law and Truth.
Take, for example, Holly and Mistletoe. Northern European mythologies told of the war between the Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King rules the waxing year (from Christmas to Midsummer, while the Sun gets stronger in the North); the Holly King rules the waning year (from Midsummer to the Winter Solstice, right around Christmas). At those times of year, they “battle” for control in Pagan lore. Mistletoe is associated with oak, since it especially loves to hang from its branches and, when it does, this was held sacred. One of the rights of the Druids was to cut down mistletoe hanging from the sacred oak, to sacrifice two unblemished, white bulls, and to make an elixir that was reputed to banish barrenness and poison. Throughout Advent, and up to Christmas, holly predominates. But then comes the Mistletoe on Christmas, and folk kiss under it. Of course, nowadays everyone is so degenerate that this “kiss” is something dirty. But in the past it was the simple, social “kiss of peace,” a sign of reconciliation.
Also, in Pagan lore the mistletoe was sacred to the Goddess Frigga. Her son, Baldr, was most beloved of the gods. He was the god of forgiveness, peace, light, truth, justice and chiefly wisdom, whose palace in the heavens is said to be the best of all. At his birth, Frigga went through the world and made all creatures swear not to harm her son, but overlooked the humble mistletoe. Loki the mischief-maker marked this, and made an arrow from it, tricking the blind Hodur into shooting Baldr and killing him. Frigga wept over the arrow of mistletoe, and her tears became its white berries. Some later versions of the tale give it an happy ending, where all the creatures of the universe agreed to weep and mourn for Baldr, releasing him from death; the original has a single giantess (said to be Loki in disguise) refusing. This is a common theme in many ancient stories – the thwarted resurrection; until the Christ would come, nobody was allowed out of Hell!
Now, there is rich fruit for contemplation when one considers how these Pagan stories tied to the natural plants and seasons of Northern cultures, contain shadows and hints of the Gospel. The Christmas carols and stories about Holly, the plant of the dying year, all speak of Holly as a plant that foretells the Crucifixion, and how Christ was born specifically for the purpose of dying. “The Holly bears a blossom as white as any flower” referring to the Virgin Birth of Christ. “The Holly bears a berry as red as any blood, and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to do us sinners good;” “The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn, and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn;” “The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall, and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.” They also hung the mistletoe, a symbol of hope of resurrection at this time.
And, for those who can approach Marian spirituality without emotional hang-ups, there is much to be seen in this mistletoe, too. The early Church quickly realized that the Virgin Mary, though she needed to be redeemed like every other person, played a special role in the redemption of mankind. While other Christians cooperate insofar as they can with Christ’s work, cooperating with grace, putting to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit, etc., the blessed Virgin had a special role, for only she contributed directly and immediately things that were necessary for Christ and our redemption. She consented to the Incarnation, and to the divine maternity; she raised and cared for the Lord; even at His Passion, only she and a few others remained, weeping for her Son’s sufferings with unbroken faith in His work of redemption. And as all Christians are members of Christ, she has become the mother of the whole Christ, the whole Church, and all members Thereof.
The plants and whatnot of the Jews do not all grow in Northern Europe. So, when Christmas comes around, I look at all the lore surrounding the local plants, corresponding also to the times of year when our Lord took flesh, suffered His Passion, etc. I look at Holly, symbol of waning life, foretelling of Christ’s Passion at the time of His birth, when it is conquered by the Oak, the symbol of Resurrection with the mistletoe, which also was hung from a tree and was watered with the tears of the mother of a god, and which is now become a symbol of reconciliation and peace. This symbol of Baldr, slain by Loki through the blind Hrodur in a trick, reminds me also of Christ, slain by Satan who tricked the blind synagogue. I also see the time of the Law, which gave knowledge of sin and death, giving way to the time of grace, when the God of Wisdom, Light and Truth would die and rise again. I see the mistletoe and think of the prophetic psalm: “justice and mercy have kissed,” their ancient combat is over. I see, in the waxing sun after the Solstice, the “Sun of Justice, rising with healing in His wings,” God of light, grace, wisdom, justice and truth.
I see in this the clear hand of providence, which has not deprived even the Pagan gentiles of all knowledge of the Law: “For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these having not the law are a law to themselves: Who shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending one another…” Their lore, their insights into the seasons and the changes in the heavens, though obscured with some falsehoods, bear tremendous truths even amidst the falsehoods. This is not to say that there is no difference between Christ and Baldr; God forbid! Only that God, Who always brings good from evil, hid Himself in the lies of the devil and played a trick of His own upon him. Knowing that my pagan ancestors saw the truths of their own lore fulfilled in the Gospel when it was preached to them, I value their lore not less, but more, and I am glad now to honor the holly and the mistletoe as they did, but with a more perfect understanding of the things they only dimly perceived in them.
I hope that makes it more clear.
…valde ridiculum, sacerdos…Magna Dea Ostara, Horus et Tammuz, sine intermissione de omni corde suo rideant… ))
Ita. Rideant risum sine laetitia numina inferna semper. Nam sic filium hominis derisere. Quamquam electuris Domini ridere risum felicitatis coram Christo cum risum similem cineribus in gula peccatores rideant. Sapienter elige quomodo rideas.
….Oh, comminationes ex ore simiae loquantis..delectamentum!. ;D
… Eh…vae Tibi misere, frater junior….Risum continuat; semper et identidem, ampli clavi accincti sunt…cogitesne, homuncule?… 😉
Non puto te loqui latinam tam bene quam putas. Tamen ex illis clavis fons victoriae venit, et mihi et tibi et omnibus.
Superbia….)) Prorsus gutturi meo…)) …..la-la-la….la plume de ma tante….))
Cultor diaboli (aut sciens aut nesciens) loqui de superbia audet? Num ioculum facis? Interea, spero te esse in fine ad veram fidem venturum. Latina bonum principium sed exercenda tibi ultra est.
Oh, doce me, Dominus….doce me…)))….
(errata corrige?) ;))) Domine?….))
OK. Primum, scripsisti “Dominus” non “Domine.” Tu male subjunctiva abusus es quoque, inter alia.
Gratia Tibi, Professor…) Infernum necessitas grammaticam….veritas….))
Cathedra tua expectat te. )
‘necessitat…))
Ita, male discipule, sed ego non “errata” sed “errores” rectos feci. Tua dictio inusitata est.
(quidquid latine dictum, sit altum videtur….eh, discipule Jesu?..))
Ha ha. Erat bonus ludus sed mi exeundum est. Vale!
Vale! 😉
Ultimum: venia tua, reveni tu iterum, cum Aurelius scribat, ad scribendum Latinam. Fere oblitus sum quantum ioculosi esse possit. Mi ignoscas degradienti sed eo iamiam bibendi cum amicis causa. Nunc “vale” verum.
Te video: tu es infirmios …Nomen morbi – “Morbus Ultimae Addictionis”…)) Tempus sanabo Te. 🙂
Etiamnunc amicus tuus, Malum Minor
*sanabat 😀
Sic et ego semper arbitrabar, sed hanc bene redarguisti sententiolam.
P.S. comma melius “sit” sequitur
One thing I don’t understand about this website. It has beautiful religious articles like this one which is amazing and draws people closer to God. But then the same site has articles giving tips to men and about how to have premarital sex with women. That is a sin, and sin separates people from God.
I’m a woman so I know I really shouldn’t be commenting on this site but this topic is close to my heart. Your brothers in Christ shouldn’t be encouraging you to sin. It’s ungodly. Sex outside of marriage is damaging to both men and women. It’s apart of Satans plan of deception.
I’m sure Aurelius has his own reply, but I’ve gotten in arguments on other websites that are exclusively Christian concerning why any Christian would visit a manosphere website, yet alone write for return of kings.
This is going to be a long post, as the answer is not simple, so bear with me. This isn’t only for you but for many Christians who have brought up this very issue.
First of all know that, despite the excellence of several authors here (OK actually more like two), the threshold for getting an article up seems to be pretty low, so some of the stuff here is just click-bait or articles intended to “trigger” the usual types who will feed the site more hits. There is also an emphasis on self-improvement, so you’ll also see work-out tips, firearms handling, and similar content. And yes there is a lot of advice on how to get girls, some of it good, some of it aweful.
So why do many Catholics (and others) support a Catholic monk who writes here? In short, because of what elsewhere is called the “culture war.”
More or less every man who finds the manosphere has been screwed over by a woman and wants to know what he did wrong. Eventually he finds out that most of what he’s been told about women is a lie, hence the “red pill” metaphor. Women simply don’t respond well to the neediness and submission that most men have been inculcated with since birth. To the average manospherean, the difference between his education on romance and reality sometimes seems as stark as the contrast between the matrix and the reality in the movie. Naturally enough, most men, immediately after receiving their new found awareness, begin to practice “game” (honestly, I hate all the lingo, but it seems to be here to stay), or practiced charisma, so they can be more appealing to women. This is about as far as most get.
For quite a few, however, doubts merely multiply and satisfaction remains elusive. Some dig deeper right away, but others only begin to search after years of profligacy. Common questions asked are “If I’ve been lied to about women, what else have I been lied to about?” and “Have things always been like this, or was it different once?”
I’ll assume good faith, and that you genuinely believe Christianity is true and aren’t just devout for the social benefits (which for someone of a certain temperament, like me, are worse than useless). If someone’s belief is genuine, he would no doubt shout “Of course! You’ve been lied to about a great deal!” and “Naturally things were once different. There is a mighty Tradition all around you, if you’d only look!” in answer to each of these questions.
There are a lot of angry young men out there who have been lied to, denigrated, seen their culture mocked and destroyed before their very eyes, and they want answers. Many end up on websites just like this, looking for a piece of the puzzle. Return of kings casts a wide net, and a lot guys coming here for dating advice were introduced to Aristotle for the first time just a few weeks ago, thanks to one of Aurelius’ other articles. The collective response was “Aristotle just blew my mind! Why was I never taught this before?” Many men are thirsty for the truth, they just need a few drops of it first, which have largely been denied to them.
Aurelius is here to show them the truth of Christianity, a truth that the modern culture has failed to provide. The Church has failed and abandoned men in recent years, and we are going to need angry young men to fight the battles in the tribulations ahead.
Now, you may reply that women are victims of the current apostasy too, and you’d have a fair point, but the World, the Flesh, and the Devil are all three ascendant right now, and women simply aren’t made for going against the current. I’ve only met a single women who has expressed any discomfort with the general spirit of modernity (by which I mean religious indifference, mass entertainment, globalism, breakdown of the family, abortion on demand, denigration of Beauty, et cetera ad nauseam). It was honestly so shocking that I was a little afraid that she would disappear; I’d just never heard anything like that from a woman’s lips before, but from men I hear such things all the time. Women simply don’t believe, as a whole, that anything is wrong. It is going to be men who will make things right, at least at first.
If you agree with even a little of what I wrote here, then stop being a “concern troll” and join the discussion (but grow a thick skin for this site). If you disagree, then please leave, but remember that God did not take on a human form so everyone can be “nice” to one another, but so that we can spread His glory to the ends of the earth.
Did she delete her own comment or a moderator? Either way I’d still be interested to see what people think, given that this comes up so often.
I didn’t delete it, but there’s a general rule against women commenting, so it wouldn’t surprise me if another mod did.
Your thoughts essentially mirror mine. I’ll also add that Jesus went to people who were ready to hear and to change, most of whom were sinners in His day. In our day, too, it seems that many nominal “Catholics” (especially their leaders) are asleep at the wheel and, if they let on that something may be vaguely amiss, they are entirely failing to raise the hell that should be raised; gone is the spirit of Evangelical holiness. So, though I am a sinner with many imperfections, I hope at least to hold forth the old beauties and the high ideals of the unchanging spirituality of the Church for whomever cares to listen. In our days, the only people I ever find who care, are young men waking up from the absurdity of modernity.
Thanks for your contrubutions at ROK Aurelius. I enjoy your thoughtful posts.
Many thanks to you.
What cr*p. These delusions and psychotic religious propaganda material whether in Latin or in any other language is the same “food” which has been handed down as “life-saving” for generations to weak minded people by those who realized how easy it was to brainwash and manipulate others in order to get advantages out of them. The result is for all to see: the world is in a mess. The solutions which have been “revealed” obviously have not worked. Nevertheless, there are still people peddling them and other ones stupid enough to let themselves be manipulated even if the evidence of their failure is there to be seen, and increasing every day.
Amazing.
Wake up for good, the resurrection is something that has to happen inside of you, and it cannot be imitated by taking madmen as an example. Only when you really resurrect to what you are you ascend to being alive.
But until you “follow” all you can achieve is to be a “following zombie,” someone who is already dead which someone else someday will bury. Or burn. No “ascension” there. Only food for the worms, or fertilizer for plants.