St. Mary Star of the Sea. Largs Covid-19 News Bulletin, No. 7 23rd December 2020   Dear Sisters and Brothers   It was 9th October when I wrote the last Covid-19 Bulletin. At that time, I was hopeful that we were on the way out of our current predicament, slowly...

O Emmanuel! O Emmánuel, rex et légifer noster, exspectátio géntium et salvátor eárum: veni ad salvándum nos, Dómine Deus noster.   “O Immanuel, you are our king and our judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God.”     One by...

O Rex gentium! O Rex géntium   et desiderátus eárum, lapísque anguláris, qui facis útraque unum: veni et salva hóminem, quem de limo formásti.   “O King of the peoples, whom they long for, the cornerstone, who make the two into one: come and save man, whom you made from clay.”...

Continuing with our look at the significant human relationships of Jesus, I wanted to reserve the slot nearest Christmas for his Blessed Mother, Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth. In that constellation of stars gathered around Christ, the brightest is unquestionably she.   She is the brightest, of course, by the...

O Oriens! O Oriens,   splendor lucis ætérnæ et sol iustítiæ: veni et illúmina sedéntes in ténebris et umbra mortis.   “O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice: come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”  ...

Mary wondered what the greeting of the Angel could mean. In fact, she was deeply disturbed by it. It’s only some days later when she visits Elizabeth that we gather that Mary has understood the Angel’s greeting. The words of her Magnificat show that the penny had dropped. “My soul...