Canticle: Letter to the Philippians (2: 6-11) – He humbled himself

He humbled himself

We're taking another short break from the psalms to consider another canticle. This one is featured in the Liturgy of the Hours every Sunday in evening prayer, so we know it is a biggie. When you go read it, you'll recognize it from the fact that it is often mentioned in the regular liturgical readings. And it is one of my favorites since I need that reminder that Jesus' obedience is key to our salvation. Like everyone, I struggle with obedience so this is something that hits me fresh every time I read it. Once a week seems just about right!

Icon of the Mosaic Pantocrator (Agia Sophia)

In every Sunday celebration of Vespers the liturgy proposes anew the Christological hymn of the Letter to the Philippians (cf. 2: 6-11) which is short but laden with meaning. We are examining the first part of this hymn that has just resounded (vv. 6-8), in which the paradoxical "self-emptying" of the Divine Word is described as he divests himself of his glory and takes on the human condition.

Christ, incarnate and humiliated by the most shameful death of crucifixion, is held up as a vital model for Christians. Indeed, as is clear from the context, their "attitude must be that of Christ" (v. 5), and their sentiments, humility and self-giving, detachment and generosity.

[...]

The basic element of this first part of the Canticle seems to me to be the invitation to enter into Jesus' sentiments. Entering into the sentiments of Jesus means not considering power, riches and prestige as the supreme values in our lives, for basically they do not respond to our most profound spiritual thirst, but rather, by opening our hearts to the Other, carrying with the Other our life's burden and opening ourselves to Our Heavenly Father with a sense of obedience and trust, knowing that by such obedience to the Father, we will be free. Entering into the sentiments of Jesus: this should be our daily practice of living as Christians.

Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on Evening Prayer, June 1, 2005

I've linked above to where you can find this on the Vatican website. However, there are actually four different homilies, one for each week, in the series on the evening prayers for the Liturgy of the Hours. Two are by Saint John Paul II and two are from Pope Benedict XVI. You may read them all at Totus Tuus.

An index of canticle posts is here.   

Canticle — Daniel 3:57-88, 56

 Let every creature bless the Lord

We begin taking a bit of a break from Psalms with an  occasional look at the Canticles, as I mentioned in this book review.

Fiery Furnace, Toros Roslin, 1266

Let's look first at this Canticle for Sunday morning prayer of the first week.  (The Liturgy of the Hours goes in four week rotation.)

I'm a real sucker for anything that shows us God's reflection in nature. This one, featuring the song of the three young men in the furnace in the Book of Daniel, does that in spades. Here it is.

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
You heavens, bless the Lord.
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord.
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.
All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord.
Cold and chill, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord.
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.

Let the earth bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord.
Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord.
You springs, bless the Lord.
Seas and rivers, bless the Lord.
You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord.
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord.
All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord.
You sons of men, bless the Lord.

O Israel, bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord.
Holy men of humble heart, bless the Lord.
Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord.
Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Let us praise and exalt him above all forever.
Blessed are you, Lord, in the firmament of heaven.
Praiseworthy and glorious and exalted above all forever.

I never thought about the three young men being connected with the resurrection, especially so early that icons of them have been found in the Roman catacombs.

In this text, in the form of a litany, it is as if our gaze passes all things in review. Our gaze focuses on the sun, the moon and the stars; it settles upon the immense expanse of the waters, rises to the mountains, lingers over the most varied elements of the weather; it passes from hot to cold, from light to darkness; considers the mineral and vegetable worlds, dwells on the various types of animals. Then the call becomes universal: it refers to God's angels, reaches all the "sons of men", but most particularly involves the People of God, Israel, the priests and the holy ones. It is an immense choir, a symphony in which the varied voices are raised in praise to God, Creator of the universe and Lord of history. Prayed in the light of Christian revelation, it is addressed to the Trinitarian God, as we are invited to do by the liturgy which adds a Trinitarian formula to the Canticle: "Let us praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit".

It is traditional to associate the Canticle with the Resurrection. Some ancient records show the existence of the hymn in the prayer of the Lord's Day, the weekly Easter of Christians. Moreover, iconographical depictions which show three young men praying unharmed amidst the flames have been found in the Roman catacombs, thereby witnessing to the effectiveness of prayer and the certainty that the Lord will intervene.

John Paul II, Psalms & Canticles, May 2, 2001 homily

An index of canticle posts is here.  

Psalms & Canticles by John Paul II

The daily Liturgy of Lauds, in addition to the Psalms, always offers a Canticle from the Old Testament. Indeed, it is well known that besides the Psalter [Book of Psalms], the true prayer book of Israel and later of the Church,  another sort of "Psalter" exists, found among the various historical, prophetic and sapiential [relating to wisdom] pages of the Bible. It also consists in hymns, supplications, praises and invocations, often of great beauty and spiritual intensity.

John Paul II, Psalms & Canticles:
Meditations and Catechesis on the Psalms and Canticles of Morning Prayer

Toward the end of his life and pontificate, John Paul II began a series on of homilies on the psalms and canticles of morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. They were collected in this book. When I began dabbling in the Liturgy of the Hours I picked it up. It is a real  treasure.

Saint John Paul II's homilies going through the psalms and canticles for morning prayer used over the 4 week period. His commentaries are both accessible and rich, giving the context in which they were first prayed and then showing how they show us Christ. They often end with a connection to a Church Father or saint who spoke about a particular psalm. I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

I discovered that JPII followed that up with a series of homilies covering evening prayer, which Pope Benedict XVI finished when his predecessor died before finishing commenting on the four weeks of Hours of the Liturgies.  The book versions of these are out of print or ridiculously expensive and a Catholic publisher would be doing the faithful a great service in reprinting them (so that's my plea, moving on). Luckily, some industrious soul made a linked reference to all the homilies. See the second chart in this location for links to the evening prayer homilies which are posted at the Vatican website.

 

These have been so enriching that I will be sharing a few of the insights in an occasional post on the Canticles that I'll be interspersing these occasionally with our psalms series.