From the Silence of the Soul...to the Silence of God in His Glory

Probably familiar to any of my online friends, (I'm soooooo out of things) but this is a new blog to me, Canticum Salomonis.
What caught my eye was this message from the great Cardinal Sarah to the Association Pro Liturgia.

It is entitled From the Silence of the Soul United with Christ, to the Silence of God in His Glory
A small taste:

I would like us to reflect together on one of the essential elements of Gregorian chant, namely sacred silence. At first it might seem paradoxical, but we shall see that if Gregorian chant, which you defend and promote with so much zeal, has great importance, it is due to its indispensable capacity to draw us into the silence of contemplation, of listening to and adoring the living God. From the silence of the soul that is united to Jesus, to the silence of God in his glory: this is the title of this brief message that my friendship and support extends to you today. In fact, we shall see that Gregorian chant and its splendid visible raiment, the illuminated manuscript of the liturgical book, is born out of silence and leads back to silence.

"Saying 'Yes' to the Whole Task of the Priesthood"

In case there actually ever was  anyone foolish enough or agenda-driven enough to believe Father Benedict was "only a theorist of theology with little understanding of the concrete life of a Christian today," an ivory tower, airy-fairy academic, totally lacking in a pastoral heart, or even, as I have actually heard claimed, in pastoral experience, his own words remembering his days as a seminarian when he considered these very questions should disabuse them of that notion:

It became clearer and clearer to me that there is more to the priestly vocation than enjoying theology, indeed, that work in the parish can often lead very far away from that and makes completely different demands. . . The Yes to the priesthood meant that I had to say Yes to the whole task, even in its simplest forms.
Since I was rather diffident and downright unpractical, since I had no talent for sports or administration or organization, I had to ask myself whether I would be able to relate to people-whether, for example, as a chaplain I would be able to lead and inspire Catholic youth, whether I would be capable of giving religious instruction to the little ones, whether I could get along with the old and the sick, and so forth. I had to ask myself whether I would be ready to do that my whole life long and whether it was really my vocation.
Bound up with this was naturally the question of whether I would be able to remain celibate, unmarried, my whole life long. . . I often pondered these questions as I walked in the beautiful park of Furstenried and naturally in the chapel, until finally at my diaconal ordination in the fall of 1950 I was able to pronounce a convinced Yes.

(And not for the first time, God bless everyone who creates Magnificat )

Having read it only yesterday morning, it was fresh in my mind when my own pastor preached last night about his  joy in the idea of the priesthood, his ordination and his First Mass when the immense privilege of being called to "do this in memory" of the Great High Priest gave him such joy.
(Oh, and I am slightly, no, very ashamed. I arrived at church, saw no chairs and thought, not bothering with the mandatum, great.... and then when Mass began I realized he was sick, had obviously dragged himself out of bed to come say Mass and then hear confessions, and that he all but needed to altar to brace himself and remain upright.I should remember better than most how difficult is the life of the man who sacrifices his whole life to be Alter Christi.

Pray for priests!!!!!

Tiny Victories

(Seriously, it's been that long since I blogged?)
After almost a year of singing them, offering to teach them whenever I was thanked or complimented, making copies to use at church, telling people they could take them home, making recordings both fine and feeblish amateur for those put off by thinking they need to sound like... oh, Chanticleer, writing a simple article when requested by TPTB, after all this -  three timid voices, (regulars, I judged from the sound, but I didnt want to turn around and put them on the spot,) sang along with the seasonal Marian Antiphon at the end of Mass.

Just my opinion, but Ave Regina Caelorum, being the most "hymn-like," is the easiest of the four for anyone not already familiar to sign along with.