miserable catholic hound

here’s a link for anyone who is willing & able to donate, please share so it can reach more people, especially as the weather grows colder & these children are desperately lacking resources.

i've been thinking about advent, and thinking about lent, it's somber sister. thinking about mary’s sobs and heaving chest as she pulled Christ from the cross, sweat in his hair and blood on his flesh. the ferocity with which she clings her firstborn, her everything, to her breast. the holy blood she wipes from his waxy, dead cheeks.

i've been thinking of advent and the comings of Christ. The first, when Christ is greeted into the world by his mother’s cries of pain, the same way he shall leave it. The second, when he takes his mama into his arms, greets her as the Risen God-Man, and welcomes her home. the third, when he will take us out of bondage, out of sin and suffering and death, and make us like new. little infants, taken from the sweat and blood of the old world and welcomed into the new creation, where we are held securely to his breast.

i've been thinking about advent, and cycles, and beginning and end, and pregnancy, and crucifixion, and the alpha|omega, and waiting, waiting, waiting. i've been thinking about advent.

The Magnificat is a canticle/prayer/song, also known as The Song of Mary! It's found in the Bible, amongst narrative of the Visitation, (Luke 1:46-55) when the Virgin Mary goes to visit her elderly pregnant cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist). Magnificat means "my soul magnifies the Lord".

The Magnificat is a deeply revolutionary hymn. Many leftist/working-class Christians throughout history have particularly taken a stronghold to it. Especially, since it says some really beautiful lines like:

"He [God] has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty." [x]

For more modern instances, we have 'The Magnificast', which is precisely a leftist Christian podcast. And we have work like Ben Wildflower's Magnificat woodcut, who is an Episcopalian anarchist. It's also deeply meaningful within Catholic Latin American/liberation theology history.

To me, being a "magnificat supporter," is a funny/niche/cheeky way of saying where my politics lie. i'm a leftist !

Almighty God, whilst governments, media platforms, and organizations attempt to control the thoughts and voices of the oppressed through intimidation, we remember that you, O Lord, are the highest authority. We pray for the freedom of expression, whilst wisely discerning that in exercising this freedom, we must refrain from violence, discrimination and marginalization of any peoples. We hold on to our faith that you, O Lord know and listen to the cries of the oppressed. Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer. God of liberation, we come before you like the persistent widow pleading for justice. We continue with our prayers for all Palestinians in the West Bank, especially in Jenin refugee camp, who are undergoing immense violence. Comfort the bereaved families and heal the injured. Lord, liberate the Palestinians in the West Bank by ending the brutal occupation and colonization they experience. Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer. God of inclusivity, whilst we are overwhelmed by the ongoing suffering, we know that we must be courageous and act so that we may be witnesses to your kingdom. Lord, send your Holy Spirit to help us act for justice, mercy, liberation, and peace. When we are tempted or afraid, encourage us to walk faithfully and carry our own crosses. We hold on to our belief that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.  Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer."  (more at the link)  

Written by Palestinian Lutheran pastor & theologian Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac in 2022: "O Lord God, our hearts are burdened with great sufferings, burdened with wars and massacres of peoples, our hearts are burdened with contemporary conflicts. We pray for peace in Palestine. For an end to the evil of occupation and all manifestations of injustice and inequality. We pray that your light will shine on our land, especially on our brothers and sisters in Gaza, for their protection, peace and security. To the Lord we pray. Hear our prayers, Lord...

We pray for the besieged in Gaza, who live in the most difficult conditions, under the bombardment. We pray especially for the children and youth of Gaza, who dream of a better and peaceful future. We pray for the end of the siege. We beseech you to look at Gaza with compassion, to support the weak and the oppressed, and to bring relief, freedom and dignity to the people of Gaza. To the Lord we pray. Hear our prayers, Lord...

We pray for the detainees, the imprisoned, the exiled, the homeless, the persecuted and the refugees, for the grieving, the bereaved, the widows and orphans, for all the martyrs who gave their lives for freedom and peace, for the innocents whose blood was shed, for the wounded and tortured, for the afflicted families. To the Lord we pray. Hear our prayers, oh Lord…"

From the Anaphora of St. James, First Bishop of Jerusalem: "That there may be full recovery to the sick, rest to the afflicted, release to the prisoners, a return to those who are far, preservation for those who are near, gathering together to those who are scattered, concord and love to those who are at discord, provision and plenty to the hungry, full forgiveness to the sinners, exaltation to the priesthood, virtue to the deacons, peace among the kingdoms of the earth, cessation of wars, rest to the departed and to us forgiveness of transgressions and sins. Grant to us, our Lord, through Your goodness."

A prayer co-written by the heads of churches in Jerusalem in 2011

The St. Francis Peace Prayer in Arabic sung & accompanied on oud by Lebanese musician Serge El Helou

Novena of St. George, patron of Beirut

Lord Have Mercy Lord Have Mercy Lord Have Mercy

Lord Come to their assistance, make haste to help them. Those who mourn. Those who cry. Those whose pain is far too much to bare. For those who live with no families left to hold. No mothers. No fathers. No children. Lord we pray to you that you shelter them from the evils of the world that seeks to harm them. That you bless their hearts. We ask you grant protection to those who live. Those who fight. and those imprisoned. We ask that you show mercy to us who watch. That you grant us opportunities to help and shelter: to protect and support.

Lord we ask that you hear our prayer. Grant these people in peace as there are many who suffer throughout the world. Sudan. Palestine. Democratic Republic of Congo. Papua New Guinea. and so so so many more places.

We pray for those who remain malnourished of their land and culture, and systematically occupied. We pray for their freedoms as well such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and many many more places.

I pray for them and their safety. They are our brothers and sisters in humanity and I pray that you lend them your strength and protection. I pray for the Children, The orphans, The women, The widows, The grandparents who have out lived their offspring and their generations built, The men who lost their wives, The men who lost their children, The students robbed of education, The children robbed of their childhood, the people of this earth robbed of their lives.

I pray for Yemen, Lord, Lebanon, Lord, Ethiopia, Lord, Rwanda, Lord. as we know they too are in times of trial. Come to their Aid. And to the Aid of those all around the world who seek you, and need you.

Lord We Pray in your Holy Name