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Saints and Scripture Five Wise Virgins

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept.And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Now whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. But at last come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour. --Matthew 25:1-13

The parable of the ten virgins reminds us that we must always be ready for Christ's return and warns us that if we are not ready we can miss out.
When I decided on this passage and I looked in Haydock's Commentary I found this:
"Under this parable, we have the state of all Christians in their mortal pilgrimage justly delineated. The wise took oil in their lamps, the necessary qualifications of grace and charity, joined with divine faith, and an additional supply of oil in their vessels; i.e. they laid up in store for themselves a solid foundation of good works. S. Gregory teaches, that by the lamps, faith is meant; and by the light, good works. Hence he concludes that the bad, although they have lamps, i.e. faith, no less than the good, shall be excluded; because their lamps are out, i.e. their faith is dead, without charity and good works to enlighten them"
Like it says in James, "faith without works is dead". We are not living properly as Christians if our faith does not shine into the darkness of the world through our faith and good works. Of course, good works can be something as little and simple as welcoming a stranger (Matthew 25:35). St Benedict is his Rule wrote that monks should welcome all strangers the same as they should welcome Christ.
Parable of the ten virgins reminds me of the many saints who died as virgins, consecrated or otherwise. Among these saints are St Lucy and St Agnes.

From EWTN:

According to tradition, Agnes was a Christian girl of Rome, perhaps twelve or thirteen years old, when Diocletian began his persecutions. Like St. Lucy, she was sentenced by a judge to a house of ill fame, but a young man who looked upon her lustfully was stricken blind. Thereafter she was taken out to be burned, but whether she met her death by fire or sword we cannot know with any certainty. Although we have no contemporary sources for the facts of her life and martyrdom, there is little reason to doubt the main outline of the story. References to this young saint appear in many Church writings of later date. St. Ambrose, St. Damasus, and Prudentius all praise her purity and heroism. Her name occurs in the Canon of the Mass. Agnes' crypt was in the Via Nomentana, and the stone covering her remains was carven with the words, "Agna sanctissima" (most holy lamb). A church in her honor is presumed to have been built at Rome in the time of Constantine the Great. In the apse of this basilica, which was rebuilt in the seventh century by Pope Honorius, there is still to be seen the large and beautiful mosaic depicting the saint. St. Agnes is the patroness of young girls and her symbol is, naturally, a lamb. On the anniversary of her martyrdom, the Pope, after high pontifical Mass in her church at Rome, blesses two lambs, and their wool is later woven into the pallia worn by archbishops.

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Saint Quiz XII answers

Explanation for last Saint Quiz
Source for the image and explanation of the icon.
1-5 from left-Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
6-10 from right Zechariah, Noah, Melchizedek, Elijah, Jeremiah
11-14 from left to right Samuel, Ezekiel, Elisha, Moses
15-22 from left to right Aaron, the Three Holy Youths (Shadrach, Meeshack, and Abendago), Daniel, David, Isaiah

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Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

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Sayings from St Marcarius one of the Desert Fathers, set to chant.

h/t to Orthodox Word
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Saint Quiz XII

This time for the Saint Quiz I found an icon with Old Testament figures, I numbered them. Click the image to see it in a bigger size. See how many you can figure out.

I've set an autopost to show the answer in a week.
Answers
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Saints and Scripture Keys to the Kingdom

Today, in the Eastern Churches, is the Feast of the Honorable Chains of the Holy and Illustrious Apostle, St Peter. In this case, the chains referred to are from the first time he was imprisoned, not the chains from his Roman prison(see here for more). With this in mind, my mind wandered on things to post about for Saints and Scripture Sunday. I decided to have a post on Jesus giving Peter the Keys to His Father's Kingdom.
First I want to draw your attention to a passage from Isaiah about God setting up a new Prime Minister in ancient Israel:

"And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it."

--Isaiah 22:21-25

Now we see the famous passage from the Gospel of St Matthew which every Catholic should know, establishing St. Peter as the first Pope:

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

--Gospel of St Matthew 16:18,19

Jesus, clearly was referring back to Isaiah and was not just establishing authority in Peter, but also setting him in an appointed position. As a King in the Davidic line, Jesus set Peter as His "Prime Minister", a position which was clearly intended to have successors.

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Its Official!

Anglican Ordinariates are no longer a subject of the future, at least for England and Wales. The first ordinariate was established today: the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
H/T to Anglo-Catholic where I first read about this

Ut omnes unum sint

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25,000 Visits

Today I reached 25,000 visits!
Its not a lot, especially for as long as this blog has been going. Its still a milestone I have been looking forward to even though I know most of the visits were from random Google searchers who probably don't actually read anything here.

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7 Quick Takes 14JAN

Linked with Conversion Diary 7 Quick Takes

1. We still have a lot of sodas left over from my daughter's birthday party. I have found myself drinking two or three a day. God please grant me self-control.

2.As I've mentioned before, I really like the Divine Liturgy at my local Melkite Catholic parish. I've been going there every Sunday since about last May or June. I really think I'm talk to the priest there at the one year mark and see about becoming Melkite Catholic.

3. Anyone have any good recipes for Friday vegetarian dishes?

4. Windows Vista actually works on Chuck Norris's computer.

5. Does anyone happen to know any romantic places to go in the Augusta, GA area?

6. I used to blog very regularly, but now its seems like I never have anything to say. I almost forget I have it. I wish I could come up with more to say, but I'm just not that clever.

7. TGIF!

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Saint and Scripture St John Climacus

As I was watching EWTN on Wednesday morning I saw a quote: "Run from places of sin as from the plague."--St John Climacus
I found the saying to be really profound, since sin is just as dangerous to souls as plagues are to bodies. It is a reminder to actively resist that which draws us away from God.
St John Climacus was born in the 6th Century in Palestine. At 16 he joined St Catherine's Monastery (it still exists) on Mt Sinai. After a time he withdrew to a hermitage at the base of the mountain. Two of his written works still exist today, Ladder of Divine Ascent and To the Pastor. The Ladder of Divine Ascent also has an icon named for it.
St John Climacus's quote also reminded of Christ's warnings to cut off anything which leads us into sin.

"You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell." Matthew 5:28-30

"And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." Matthew 18:8

"And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than having two feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished." Mark 9:42-47

May God bless all who read my ramblings,


Source for the pic of St John Climacus
Source for the ladder icon