Catholic Fire

Carthusian monks Chant, some music and images from Grande Chartreuse France, as well as Carthusians in Spain, Italy , Slovenia, and others in France. http://chartreux.org - http://wikimapia.org/9586... ~ Via Catholiques1 .

On the evening of December 17 the final phase of preparation for Christmas begins with the first of the great "O Antiphons" of Advent. These prayers are seven jewels of liturgical song, one for each day until Christmas Eve. They seem to sum up all our Advent longing for the Savior. Read More here. "O" Antiphons for December 17 : Wisdom "O'Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!" Related: What are the "O" Antiphons? by Fr. William Saunders

Te Deum Laudamus (Chanted by the Benedictine Monks Abbaye Saint-Maurice- Clervaux, Luxembourg 1998). The mp3 for this chant is here. Video via Catholiques. Today's feast honors all the saints of the Church, known and unknown, whose virtues and efforts in this life are considered to have earned them an eternal reward with God. On this day, Catholics are asked to reflect on holiness and sainthood and to celebrate the holiness of men and women who gave their lives in faithfulness and service to God, and whose witness continues to inspire us today. According to tradition, Catholics did honor Christian martyrs on May 13. Pope Boniface IV created Feast of All Martyrs in 615. Pope Gregory IV changed the date to November 1 to put in the place of pagan festivities in 844. He also moved it on the practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it. In 741, the feast was used to celebrate everyone in Heaven. The name of the day changed t...

The Banners of the King ~ Gregorian NOT the PoP group 'Gregorian' but actual Benedictine Monks of Randol Abbey Chanting. http://www.randol.org/ The banners of the king advance. Here shines the mystery of the cross, where Life has suffered death, and his death made life. On the side, pierced by iron cruel spear, flow, to clear our crimes, blood and water. So fulfilled the oracle of David saying the nations in his verses inspired: God reigns by The wood. Tree precious and shining glory, dressed in the purple of the King, was called you in your noble trunk to reach members if saints. Happy Cross! At your arm is suspended The ransom of the world! You're the scales where Corps was weighed , which has abducted from hell its prey. This part is sung while kneeling: Hail, O Cross, our only hope! O Trinity, principle of our salvation, that all Spirit glorifies You. You give us the victory by the Cross, add our reward. Via Catholiques.

Saint Hildegard, Benedictine abbess, mystic and visionary, lived from 1098 to 1179. She was born at Bermersheim, south of Mainz in present day Germany. She was the tenth child born to a noble family. As was customary with the tenth child, which the family could not count on feeding, she was offered to God by her parents as a child oblate. A very gifted young woman, Hildegard began to have visions of luminous objects at the age of three, which she kept to herself. At the age of eight, Hildegard was placed under the care of the anchoress, Jutta, a relative, who lived in a nearby hermitage. In time this developed into a full Benedictine community which was subject to the male abbey of Saint Disibod. Hildegard received the habit at the age of fifteen and for the next seventeen years lived a strictly enclosed contemplative life. Her visions were later written down in a book called Scivias (an abbreviation of Scito vias Domini, ‘Know the ways of the Lord’). In 1136 she was elected abbess of...

A Song of Ascents. -My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth-. 1I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. Released 1995 A collection of Twelve Psalms, Six Canticles and Six Chants in English, Latin and Greek sung by John Michael Talbot and the Monks of Little Portion Hermitage

A glance at life and liturgy in the Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods.

One of Northern Scotland's most unusual attractions and one which is unique in Britain, is Pluscarden Benedictine Abbey, near Elgin. It is the only medieval monastery in Britain still inhabited by monks and being used for its original purpose.