St. Leo the Great on our participation in Christ's own life and salvation

Pope St. Leo the Great is generally recognized as a great Church leader, a great theologian, and a vigorous defender of Rome and the Church. He is counted as one of the doctors of the Church, certainly. But he's also a great teacher of prayer. Here's a short reflection on part of one of his homilies on the Nativity, concerning Leo's view of how we participate in the life and salvation of Christ. It follows his profound understand of Incarnation (atonement, rebirth, freedom = the same pattern as his Tome to Flavian, "pre-existence, kenosis, exaltation") in how we receive the life of grace from Him (interior life) and how we live it out in the Church's mission (vocation, exterior life).



May the graces of this season of Lent enkindle the desire for deep prayer in all our lives.

O Happy Fault

As you know, this is my first Lent as a deacon. That means I'll be practicing the Exultet for the Easter Vigil, starting now. This is one of the things I've been looking forward to for a long time. It's never too early to start getting ready! Lent is, after all, about preparation for Easter.

Here is a good recording to practice with, and the sheet music to practice reading while singing it.