Daily Devotional: January 4th

Hymn for Nones Eve

O Bacchus, Liberator, hear our plea,

In sacred song, we lift our hymn to thee,

On this holy Eve of Nones, we sing,

To thee, O Bacchus, ever-freeing King.

With ivy crown and thyrsus in your hand,

You guide our souls to freedom, as you planned,

In mysteries profound, your truth we find,

Unchain our spirits, free our mortal mind.

On this sacred night, we seek your light,

With offerings pure, we honor your might,

Unveil the paths to realms of divine,

O Bacchus, guide us to the truth's design.

O Liberator, break the bonds we bear,

In your embrace, we find the freedom rare,

With reverence deep, we honor you this night,

O Bacchus, lead us to the endless light.

Daily Meditation

"He fabricates the whole world conformably to ideas, considered as one, and as many, and as divided both into wholes and parts, and that he is celebrated as the maker and father of the universe, and as the father of gods and men by Plato, Orpheus, and the Oracles; generating indeed, the multitude of gods, but sending souls to the generations of men, as Timæus himself also says.”

—Proclus

Commentary on Timaeus

Jupiter is the eternal and supreme God of gods. From Him comes the multitude of gods and the souls of man. We are all children of God, for King Jove is the Father of our soul. We are kin to the gods and take our rightful place in the cosmic harmony when the soul is deified and returned to the chorus of the gods.

Monthly Ascesis: Praying for Virtue

“Ask from God those things that you cannot receive from man.”

-Sextus

“In the Pythagorean sentences, we are also advised not to pray for things that we can do for ourselves. For example, we should not pray for money or material goods because these are things we can work to gain by ourselves. Rather, the things we should ask the gods for are things that are, like them, immaterial and perfect. The best things for us to ask the gods for are virtues.

When we pray, we should ask the gods to show us the way to immaterial things that are aligned with their perfect nature. Cardinal virtues like prudence, courage, justice, and temperance are great starting points. But any virtue is worthy of our prayers of petition.”

Excerpt from Ascesis: The Handbook of Platonic Practice

If you would like to subscribe to the Daily Romanist Devotional, please follow the instructions here.