Sunday, December 21, 2008

Benedicite gelu et frigus Domino

(O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord)

I'm currently staying with my family, and we're iced in by freezing rain that fell last night. The Weather Channel says that it won't get above freezing until Monday, which means I won't get to Mass. (We live on a hill, and the roads are too steep to drive frozen, even with chains.) I find this rather disappointing, even though I know that it is not sinful to miss Mass in this circumstance.

Trying to make the best of the situation, I pulled up a pdf of the Liber that someone sent me last night, and I prayed the Mass at home in the EF using the Ordinary for a low Mass and the proper for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. I made a spiritual communion at the end and then did a brief thanksgiving. It was very intense: my Latin is just at the point that I can understand most of the prayers as I read them, but past the twenty-minute mark I struggled to be attentive. In spite of this, though, beauty remained in the prayers and buayed my mind through any linguistic dificulty. I hope and look forward to someday being able to celebrate this liturgy as a priest.