Saturday 3 November 2012

Prayers From Papa Stronsay...

Now there's an offer you can't refuse!

The Community on Papa Stronsay are offering to pray for the deceased relatives and friends of anyone who asks. They even want to encourage prayer for dead enemies!

Just send an email with the names to the dedicated email address and the names will be printed off and placed near the tabernacle in the chapel, to be remembered at each Mass during the month of November.

The Community is a real prayer powerhouse, so get those names in! Free some more souls from Purgatory!

Friday 2 November 2012

All Souls...

Untitled

The Mass was totally awesome.* You could almost hear the cheering from Purgatory...

There are a few more photos (only a couple) on my Flickr page.


*Yes, the Mass is always awesome, but some times it's more awesome than others...

New Blog On The Block...

A brand new blog has come to my attention - and just for once it isn't a blog which I just haven't seen before. Matthaeus just started blogging on Sunday at Sub Umbra Alarum Suarum - though he has been a commenter for much longer. Do go over and welcome him to the Blogosphere.

He has a beautiful shot of a church or chapel as his background wallpaper which one just glimpses as the page loads. Very tantalising, and a promise of good things to come, I think...

Thursday 1 November 2012

Celebrating The Feast...

We really are very blessed at Blackfen. A week ago we started our Quarant'Ore celebrations and then had four Missa Cantatas in four days. Then Low Mass on the Monday. Today we had the first of another four Missa Cantatas - today's was for the Feast of All Saints.

We were very lucky to have a surprise visitor for the Mass - Clare from Brighton joined us, and sang with Julia and the choir. It sounded really wonderful. Singing is thirsty work, so a visit to the Parish Club afterwards was in order...

2012-11-01 22.49.16

The servers proved to be a little camera-shy on this occasion.

Tomorrow we have a Missa Cantata for the Commemoration of the Holy Souls, then we have our regular First Saturday Missa Cantata and the usual Sunday parish Missa Cantata. Eight Missa Cantatas in eleven days is pretty impressive for a parish church...

All Saint, All Souls & The Month Of November...

The month of November is often portrayed as a gloomy one. In the Northern Hemisphere it is marked by cold, wet weather and grey skies. The nights are getting longer. The year is coming to a close, and it feels like everything is doom and gloom, with the Church's emphasis on death, the Holy Souls and Purgatory. The joyful celebration of the Feast of All Saints lasts a single day. The Holy Souls get a whole month...

And yet, in reality, the month of November, properly considered, should be a beacon of hope and light for us all. It shows us to what we aspire, and it shows us how we will, most probably, attain it.

We start with the great Feast of All Saints. A glimpse of heaven, it is the Church Triumphant, and we are given a chance to honour all our favourite patron saints, but also, more importantly, we are given the opportunity to celebrate the many saints who are unrecognised...

There are two categories, I like to think, of unrecognised saints. The first one is that of the really saintly individuals who just don't attract a cultus after their death. They will never be canonised because the Church needs a couple of miracles (at least) before that happens, and it is rare that miracles are granted unless we ask for them. Without groups of people actively praying to the deceased for those miracles, and campaigning for the Church to recognise them as saints, the individuals just never make it "onto the books." We may be fortunate in our lives to meet such individuals and to recognise their saintly qualities, but they are the hidden saints.

The second category is, for me, the more interesting one, because it is where most of us hope (and expect) to end up. We all want to be saints (well, anyone who believes in an afterlife, that is.) We just might not describe it that way. Think about it - when was the last time you heard anyone actually declare that they want to go to hell for all eternity? By definition, everyone who is in heaven is a saint. Today is the day to celebrate the mercy and love of God that allows us to hope that we might one day scrape in. All Saints' Day also celebrates all those who have ended up in heaven after their time of purification in Purgatory, and, as such, is a celebration of "the hope which is in us".

Our sins mean that we deserve to go to hell, because all sin is an affront to God. But through the mercy of God, those of us who have not separated ourselves from him by unrepented mortal sin can still hope for heaven. Purgatory is where we are made fit to be in God's presence - it is a gift to us, as we would be unable to bear being in his presence if there was the least stain of sin on our souls. This is the Church Suffering - though every soul in Purgatory rejoices in that suffering which allows them to get to heaven. And so, tomorrow, we celebrate the fact that Purgatory exists - All Souls' Day is even more dear to me than All Saints' Day, and the two are inseparable.

The thing is that the Holy Souls in Purgatory can do nothing for themselves. The process of purification is beyond their control. The Church, however, allows us to help. The prayers and penances offered by us, the Church Militant, for the Holy Souls gets them to heaven. Every Plenary Indulgence offered on their behalf brings a soul out into the Beatific Vision for all eternity. Plenary Indulgences applied to one's own soul only last until the next venial sin - so, for most of us, it is a fleeting benefit!

November, with the extra emphasis placed by Holy Mother Church on prayers for the Souls in Purgatory, is a month of great rejoicing.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

This Explains Rather A Lot...

I had heard from several sources that Bishop Kieran Conry was rather resistant to the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form, and that, as a result, requests for the TLM in Arundel & Brighton weren't encouraged (to put it politely) despite the provisions of Summorum Pontificum.

Having read a summary of the Bishop's thinking on the Mass at the time of the Reformation, it all becomes clear.

If, as Bishop Conry appears to, one believes that:

"...over the centuries, and especially after the Protestant Reformation, many of the elements of the Mass had become obscured. Much of this was a consequence of the continued use of Latin, which served to alienate and distance people from the action of the Mass"

then obviously one would be very averse to its continuation.

Unfortunately, Bishop Conry appears not to have read Eamon Duffy's classic, The Stripping of the Altars, which paints a very different picture of faith and worship among the laity in England and Wales.

He also doesn't appear to have read The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Benedict (written when he was Cardinal) or else he wouldn't talk about the priest having his back to the people.

Even more unfortunately, the Bishop doesn't appear to have paid any attention to the documents of Vatican II either... you know, the ones which called for Latin to be retained in the Mass, and Gregorian chant to be given pride of place (among other things)...

Pray for the Bishop. And pray for his flock.

Sunday 28 October 2012

New Cardinal For England & Wales...

In a shock announcement, it seems that there is, after all, to be a new Cardinal created for England & Wales.

My saved friend, Eccles, gave details of the six new Cardinals to be appointed in the next consistory, and, at first sight it appeared that England & Wales was not to be honoured. However, this was actually an administrative error, so there has been a special catsistory, held for the specific purpose of awarding a red hat for England & Wales.

I can reveal that the new Cardinal was none other than Monsignor Mastai-Furretti.


Cardinal Furretti is reported as being rather chuffed by the news, though she did want to send her condolences to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who has lost out on yet another red hat opportunity...

Mgr. Guido Miaowrini was unavailable for comment. She is sulking. I will probably find a headless pigeon in my bed shortly...

Bara Brith...

2012-10-26 21.12.08Some time ago, Leutgeb had promised to bring back a sample of the spotty Welsh bread for which her blog is named.

The loaf made its appearance during a quick restorative drink in the Parish club, just after the second Missa Cantata of the Quarant'Ore on the Friday evening...

2012-10-26 21.16.45

Celebrant, singers and a couple of servers were all in need of sustenance after the Mass, so the loaf didn't last long. One solitary slice remained, with all of us eyeing it hungrily, wondering who would make the first move. We decided to divide it equally...

2012-10-26 21.29.49

As you can see, it proved to be delicious...
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