Not again...

So we learn that yet another senior prelate is guilty of serious sin, and of concealing it for many years.

What are we to make of it?

Whilst righteous anger is not inappropriate, it is risky...  the righteous bit, I mean.

I think a good place to start our consideration is to look into our own hearts. Have I never wilfully turned away from Christ, and broken my relationship with Him and the Father? Have I never tried to hide my sins?  Have I never sought to justify them to myself?

So casting the first stone is not, perhaps my job (though I should add, with that trivial turn of mind for which I am justly renowned, that I do rather like the story of the woman take in adultery which ends with Our Lord saying: Mother... Not you...!)

But my more serious point is Solzhenitsyn's: The line separating good and evil passes... right through every human heart. It is a bit too seductive to think in terms of us and them: Thank you, Lord, that I am not like that bishop... 

And the reason that I think that is important to consider is because it gives me a clue about what I should actually do when I read about such grave scandals.  I should strive harder for my own sanctity: pray more, do more penance, more acts of charity, and above all, cast myself at the foot of the Cross and ask the Crucified to have mercy on me, and on all sinners.

Likewise, I could consider what the Devil would most like me to do, and avoid that...

The Epiphany and Our Lady

Here's a Marian post for today's great Feast!

I have blogged before about chant melodies from the Requiem Mass being similar, or identical, to chant melodies used elsewhere. The Tract is very similar to the Tract for Quinquagesima (see here); the Gradual to the Gradual for the Mass of a Confessor not a Bishop (see here).

This week, as I have started to learn the Mass for the Epiphany, I found the Introit strangely familiar.  For it is indeed another example of such re-use: the Introit for the feast of the Epiphany is practically identical to the Introit for the Mass for feasts of Our Lady throughout the year.

Is this just laziness?  Re-cycling melodies rather than composing new ones?  It may be so, but even if so, I am inclined to suspect Providence at work behind the scenes... Or is it deliberate, as I have wondered before (in the post about the Quinquagesima Tract)?

So in this post I think out loud about why the Epiphany and the Feasts of the BVM through the year share the same music for their Introits.

First, let us establish that it is indeed so (with only one or two notes different).  Compare:

So let's look at the texts, and see if there are thematic similarities.

The Epiphany text is:

Ecce advenit dominator Dominus: et regnum in manu ejus, et potestas et imperium.  (Ps 71) Deus, judicium tuum regi da, et justitiam tuam filio regis.

Behold, the Lord the Ruler is come: and a kingdom is in his hand, and power and dominium. (Ps) Give to the king thy judgement, O God, and to the king's son, thy justice.

The text for Feasts of the BVM is:

Salve sancta parens, enixa puerpera Regem, qui caelum terramque regit in saecula saeculorum. (Ps 44) Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico opera mea Regi.

Hail, Holy Mother! Thou in giving birth to thy Child didst bring forth the King who ruleth the heavens and the earth for ever and ever. (Ps) My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king.

I am assuming that Salve sancta parens was set to the music of Ecce advenit and not the other way around; though in fact my hypothesis works either way around*. For immediately one sees why the genius who set these words to that chant might think it appropriate. Anyone familiar with the Mass for the Epiphany will immediately be reminded of it, and the kingly theme of its Introit, every time he sings the opening of Our Lady's Mass on her Feasts: which starts by greeting her as the Mother of the King.

And there's more.  The Epiphany is the feast of the showing forth of Christ: to the Magi, of course; but also by the Holy Spirit resting on Him in the form of a dove at His baptism; and also by the first of His miracles, at the wedding feast at Cana.

And consider that great prayer to Our Lady, the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen). Right at the heart of it, the actual petition is: Iesum... nobis... ostende (Show unto us... Jesus). So Our Lady is responsible for the desired, continuing, Epiphany, the showing forth of Our Blessed Lord.

What we have lost by disregarding Sacrosanctum Concilium and largely consigning our heritage to history...

Our Lady, Conceived Immaculate, Pray For Us


--

*UPDATE: On consulting my Graduale Triplex, I find that Ecce advenit does indeed predate Salve sancta parens.

Discerning God's Will

It can be hard, at times like these, when Ireland has unleashed abortion on its population by a popular vote, and when MPs in Westminster signal that many are quite ready to remove even what little restraint there is on abortion in England and impose that regime on Northern Ireland as well... it can be hard, I say, to remember that all this is in line with the permissive will of God.

Of course, not His active will; but the price He is prepared to pay for giving mankind free will: the ability to choose to love, and the necessary counterpart to that, the ability to choose not to love. 

But despair at these developments shows a very limited historical perspective; God allowed Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and countless others to kill in huge numbers; he has allowed the evil of abortion on a far greater scale, already, than that being introduced at present; and He has paid the price - on the Cross.

Why this is His will - even His permissive will - is always a challenging question; but it is scarcely a new one. One might speculate that the West has to reach a certain depth of depravity in order to recognise the need for conversion, to be re-born as a Christian society. But that is speculation.

What is easier to discern is what His will is for us in this situation. As St Teresa of Calcutta said, our job is not to win, but to be faithful.

Sometimes, of course, when one is feeling oppressed by the World, even discerning God's will for oneself is tough; in those cases, I find it easiest to consider what the Devil wants from the situation (it is sad that I find it easier to discern his mind than God's, but there it is...)  

So the Devil would like me to give up and despair of good ever triumphing (sin against hope); to hate and abuse those who wreak this great evil (sin against charity); to doubt that God is omnipotent or all-good, or that the Church is right on these matters (sin against Faith) and so on.

Which makes my immediate plan clear: I must keep working for life and keep hope alive; I must love and pray for those who have done such evil, as Our Lord loved and prayed for those who crucified Him; and I must keep the Faith, particularly by recourse to the Sacraments, and an active spiritual life, in this terrible time.

--

May our Blessed Mother, St Joseph her chaste spouse, St Michael and all the angels and saints pray for us, for all who promote, procure or perform abortions, for all victims of abortion, and for all who work for the cause of life.

Of your charity...

Of your charity pray for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor.

It is understandable that when someone we love or revere dies, we want to imagine that he or she has gone straight to Heaven.

However, the Catholic Church has always cautioned against this approach; instead, we assume as a default position that people need our prayers at this time.

I am just finishing reading the autobiography of St Teresa of Avila, and she recounts some extraordinary visions that bear witness to the power of praying for the dead.

The traditional liturgy, of course, captures the full range of emotions and resonances of this time: ranging from the Dies irae to the In paradisum, and with the wonderful prayer Tuis enim fidelibus, Domine, vita mutatur, non tollitur.

The premature emotional beatification of people immediately after their death is not only theologically suspect, but risks denying them the prayers they may need at this stage of their journey towards heaven.

So pray for Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, that he may speed through purgatory, and enjoy the fulness of redemption in the company of Our Lord, Our Lady and all the angels and saints, in Heaven.

Back from Chartres

So another year, another Chartres pilgrimage.  It is hard to know what new to write, as I have written about the previous years' pilgrimages many times. 

However, it was as glorious, arduous, renewing and entertaining as ever. This year, my second daughter, Bernie, decided to come along at the last minute (the Wednesday before, in fact). She was too late to get an affordable train fare to London to join us there, so got a cheap flight to Paris, and we met on the square outside Notre Dame before going into Mass there. 

The weather was kind; overcast, so not too hot, but with the threatened rain only arriving for a short and light spell towards the end of the afternoon.

The first day's march was longer than last year, for reasons not wholly clear to me: a full thirty miles. Or maybe it was that I covered more distance walking up and down the line of the pilgrimage, keeping the Chapter moving and in order.

We had some 35 souls in St Alban's Chapter (the youth chapter), and another 42 or so in the Chapter dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham (a title that the French struggle to get their tongues around - we often get something closer to Our Lady of Washing-up - a pleasing domestic title...). The chaplains for St Alban's Chapter were our old friends Fr Mark Withoos and Fr Alex Redman, along with Fr Pio and Brother Rosario of the Franciscan Friars. 

So we sang hymns, heard meditations, sang rosaries, had our confessions heard, sang marching songs, and chatted. And walked. Amongst the pilgrims were many old regulars and a number of new faces; and of course there were many old friends who were unable to be with us this year for reasons of health and family commitments, but whom we remembered in our prayers.

We also prayed for all those who had asked for our prayers during the pilgrimage.

You can see a video of the final High Mass here. Like all the Masses, it was sung according to the traditional rite; and the celebrant this year was Cardinal Burke.

Possibly because we had a cardinal as our celebrant, the Cathedral's most precious relic was carried in procession before and after Mass: the Sancta Camisa, or Our Lady's Veil. This was given to the Cathedral in 876 by Charles the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne. Its provenance can be traced back at least to 5th century Constantinople; and (astonishingly - or not, depending on your own approach to such traditions) the cloth has been analysed as silk dating to the first century, and from the Middle East...

And the following morning, the English Chapters had their own final High Mass, in the crypt. We had put together a scratch Schola for the occasion, and I am pleased to say we acquitted ourselves well.

And I have just booked out the dates in next year's diary.

Breaking my silence

So it had been a while since I had posted on this blog. I was aware that I risked getting sucked into a cycle of negativity, as the oddities of the current pontificate, and the particular difficulties of the discussion surrounding Amoris Laetitia, unfolded. So I thought I would keep quiet for a while.

And then, the CES Scandal.

However, I do think it important that we don't get sucked in to focusing only on the things that go wrong. Our Faith is joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious. If we only talk about the sorrows we are misrepresenting it.  And anyway, my SD advised me to use my talents (if any) at writing to spread the joy of the Gospel.

Which is a bit of a challenge. Blogging about this in general terms can come across as a bit trite. But blogging about all the specific blessings we receive as a family can sound like boasting or something.

But he is right, of course: spreading gloom and despond is not the way to win souls to Christ. And whilst it may be necessary to confront wrongdoing (and in the case of the CES Scandal, I think it was, and that it is even conceivable that my contribution may make a difference) that should not be the whole thrust of this blog (even though such posts invariably command a far higher readership than many of my others).

So here is a very small, but positive, snippet from my daily life. I awoke early this morning - long before my alarm was due to go off.  And I found that I was praying the Magnificat, in a state of semi-consciousness as I came to the surface.

And the reason for that is that for some years now, it has been my practice to pray it first thing in the day, as part of my morning prayers, and also in the evening, after Compline. 

My point here is that simply by doing what the Church tells us (praying first thing and last thing in the day) I have inadvertently acquired a virtuous habit, whereby my mind, as it returns to wakefulness, turns to God and His blessed Mother.  This is a grace, of course, and I claim no merit for it. But I mention it as a piece of experience from a middle aged man, in the hope that some younger reader may take heart, and recognise that although he may not be aware of any changes in himself, a regular adherence to the discipline of prayer will, over the long term, result in change.

Deo gratias.

A Biblical Defence of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

The other day on Twitter,  the Holy Father tweeted: Let us entrust the new year to Mary, Mother of God, so that peace and mercy may grow throughout the world.

In response to that, some (I assume) well-meaning but (certainly) ill-informed protestant tweeted:

The Roman Catholic practice of Mary worship is a violation of the 1st Commandment. RCs must repent of this idolatry for the glory of Christ.

I responded: Is it wrong to ask others to pray for us? Our repeated request to Mary is: 'pray for us sinners...'

He did not directly answer my question, but replied:

Hello Ben, we seek to engage in humility and kindness in a way that pleases the Lord. Can you show an Apostolic example of petitioning Mary?

I replied No, but you are making assumptions that I don't share. We are not called to follow the Apostles so much as Christ Himself. He, obeying the commandments, honoured His Mother. So do we.

Receiving no reply to this, I later tweeted him again: You are quite mistaken to think that we worship the Blessed Virgin. We offer the Sacrifice of the Mass to the triune God.

And there the matter rests.

But it does seem to me to illustrate a real problem, a great misunderstanding about Catholicism, held by many sincere protestants. I have blogged very briefly about the fundamental problem before, but in this post I want to take a more protestant-friendly approach, by making a Biblical case for praying to the Blessed Virgin.

The Annunciation:

The Angel Gabriel, sent by the Father, greeted her: Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee!

The Visitation:

Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Ghost to recognise her, greeted her: Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!

These two direct quotations from the Bible form the first half of that most typical of all Marian prayers, the Hail, Mary.

Mary herself, in response to Elizabeth, prophesied that all generations will call me blessed, for He that is mighty has done great things for me.

The Finding in the Temple and the Hidden Life:

At the close of this account, we read that He was subject to them. For the next eighteen years, Our Lord lived subject to His mother and His foster father. The implications of that are many. One is that whatever they asked, He would do in obedience, humility and love. Another is that He honoured his Mother in accordance with the Commandments which the Father gave Moses on Sinai. From these, and because He is truth itself, we can conclude that she was worthy of His obedience and worthy of His honour. The depth of humility in the Incarnation never ceases to amaze; but I cannot imagine that it would include stooping to obey and honour somebody unworthy of either.

The Miracle at Cana:

Here we see clearly the power of His mother's intercession: although His hour is not yet come, Our Lord responds to her request, and sets out on the road to Calvary.

Then comes the line that should put the protestant unease to rest. Mary's command: Do whatever He tells you! Those of us who have sought her intercession, and meditated in her rosary, know that her will is united to His: and her answer is always the same: Do whatever He tells you! That is one reason why there is no spiritual danger in devotion to the Blessed Virgin (along with the fundamental reason, which is that we do not offer her the adoration due to God alone).

The Foot of the Cross:

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then he said to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her into his own home. There is the apostolic example which my interlocutor desired. The beloved disciple took the Blessed Virgin into his home; and so do we.

In summary, when we pray to Our Blessed Mother, we draw on the words of Scripture; we fulfill the prophesy that Scripture records; we follow Christ in loving and honouring His blessed Mother; we recognise the power of the Blessed Virgin's intercession, as demonstrated in Scripture; we find again and again that she points straight back to her Son; and we respond to Christ's command to the beloved disciple to take her into our homes.

What we do not do is adore her. She is worthy of the highest honour of any created being: indeed, we recognise in her the woman crowned with stars in the Apocalypse; but Catholicism always distinguishes between the honour it offers to Our Lady (and any of the saints) and the adoration of the Triune God, to whom alone the supreme sacrifice of the Mass is offered.

Living in a Parable

Reflecting on today's Gospel ('they look but do not see' etc) I was struck by the fact that my life, too, is like a parable. I cannot understand it, unless I listen to Our Lord's explanation. And when I do, 'blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.' 

Good Friday Improperia

Here is Victoria's magnificent setting of the Good Friday Improperia, or Reproaches (incidentally, the other place in our liturgy where we retain some Greek, along with the Kyrie).

It is worthy of note that in the official liturgy of the Church, we find Latin, Greek and Hebrew; just as the inscription on the Cross was in Latin Greek and Hebrew.

Here is the full text (the motet only contains a couple of the verses)

Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi. 

Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti: 
parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo. 

Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas. 
Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis. 

Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis: 
et manna cibavi te, et introduxi te in terram satis bonam: 
parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios…

Quid ultra debui facere tibi, et non feci?
Ego quidem plantavi te vineam meam speciosissimam:
et tu facta es mihi nimis amara:
aceto namque sitim meam potasti:
et lancea perforasti latus Salvatori tuo.
Hagios…

Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum cum primogenitis suis:
et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Popule meus…

Ego te eduxi de Aegypto, demerso Pharone in mare Rubrum:
et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum.
Popule meus…

Ego ante te aperui mare:
et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum.
Popule meus…

Ego ante te praeivi in columna nubis: 
et tu me duxisti ad praetorium Pilati.
Popule meus…

Ego te pavi manna in desertum: 
et tu me cedisti alapis et flagellis.
Popule meus…

Ego te potavi aqua salutis de petra:
et tu me potasti felle et aceto.
Popule meus…

Ego propter te Chananeorum reges percussi:
et tu percussisti arundine caput meum.
Popule meus…

Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale:
et tu dedisti capiti meo spineam coronam.
Popule meus…

Ego te exaltavi magna virtute:
et tu me suspendisti in patibulo crucis.
Popule meus…

--


O my people, what have I done to thee?
Or how have I offended you?
Answer me.

Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt: 
thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Saviour.

O holy God! O holy God!
O holy strong One! O holy strong One!
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

Because I led thee through the desert for forty years: 
and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good: 
thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Saviour.
O holy God!…

What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done? 
I planted thee, indeed, My most beautiful vineyard: 
and thou hast become exceeding bitter to me: 
for in my thirst thou gavest me vinegar to drink: 
and with a spear thou hast pierced the side of thy Saviour.
O holy God!…

For thy sake I scourged the firstborn of Egypt:
Thou hast given me up to be scourged.
O my people…

I led thee out of Egypt having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
and thou hast delivered Me to the chief priests.
O my people…

I opened the sea before thee:
and thou hast opened my side with a spear.
O my people…

I went before thee in a pillar of cloud:
and thou hast led me to the judgment hall of Pilate.
O my people…

I fed thee with manna in the desert;
and thou hast assaulted me with blows and scourges.
O my people…

I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock:
and thou hast given me gall and vinegar to drink.
O my people…

For thy sake I struck the kings of the Canaanites:
and thou hast struck my head with a reed.
O my people…

I gave thee a royal sceptre:
and thou hast given a crown of thorns for my head.
O my people…

I exalted thee with great strength;
and thou hast hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.
O my people…

--

Listen, weep, and pray.

O Emmanuel

Today is the seventh and final Great O Antiphon, O Emmanuel.  As always, this is the antiphon sung just before the Magnificat at Vespers. It is the last, because tomorrow's Vespers, on Christmas Eve, is the First Vespers of Christmas.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,

exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Here is the final part of Pärt's Sieben Magnificat Antiphonen.

O Immanuel O Immanuel, unser König und Lehrer, du Hoffnung und Heiland der Völker: o komm, eile und schaffe uns Hilfe, du unser Herr und unser Gott.

O Emmanuel O Emmanuel, our king and counselor, Thou hope and saviour of the nations: O come, make haste to help us, Thou our Lord and our God, our God

O Rex Gentium

Today's Great O Antiphon is O Rex Gentium.

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

And here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O König aller VölkerO König aller Völker, ihre Erwartung und Sehnsucht, Schlußstein, der den Bau zusammenhält, o komm und errette den Menschen, den du aus Erde gebildet!	O King of All NationsO king of all nations, their expectation and desire, Keystone, which holds all things together: O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay!

O Oriens

Today's Great O Antiphon is O Oriens.

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O MorgensternO Morgenstern, Glanz des unversehrten Lichtes: Der Gerechtigkeit strahlende Sonne: o komm und erleuchte, die da sitzen in Finsternis, und im Schatten des Todes.

O Morning Star O morning star, incandescence of pure light, radiant sun of righteousness; O come and enlighten those who sit there in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Concerns about the Post-Synodal Exhortation

Rorate Caeli carries a piece by a pseudonymous priest claiming that the the post-Synodal exhortation has been ready since September. I tweeted that if true, I thought this very grave indeed.

Ttony, of the excellent Muniment Room blog, disagreed. He tweeted: 'I've done MANY international conferences and the most successful were those where the sherpas had written the conclusions in advance so that the final communique would only need to be tweaked according to the final decisions. This isn't bad.'

I replied that I thought this a different case.  He replied:

'I don't. People are going to discuss preparatory texts and reach a conclusion so 90% of the conclusion should be predictable.'

It was getting late, so I said enigmatically: There are three reasons I think this a different case: will tweet in the morning if I can still remember them then....

In the morning, I was somewhat preoccupied: we couldn't get to Mass as the roads out of the valley are all flooded (it looks as though we should be able to get to Mass this evening, so that's OK). Then there was a walk to be walked...  so I have finally got around to thinking about this, and realised that my thoughts would not easily fit into Tweets. Hence this post. 

The first reason I think this is a different case is that a Synod is not the same as the kind of international conference to which, I think, Ttony refers. In such conferences, much of the real work is done behind the scenes by diplomats, so that everyone knows in advance pretty much where everyone stands. Historically, Synods may have been a bit like this, but Pope Francis declared that his Synod would be different. It would be about genuine openness, dialogue, listening to each other etc. So if the outcome were largely determined in advance, there is a large fissure opening between the Holy Father's rhetoric and his policy. That I would call grave.

The second reason is that I think there is a difference between a final communiqué and a Post-Synodal Exhortation.  The Post-Synodal Exhortation is the Supreme Pontiff's reflections on and reactions to the Synod, and consequent exhortation to the Faithful. It is a different type and status of document. It is not simply a summary of what was discussed and agreed. Again, if that were drafted in advance of the Synod, that would seem to run contrary to the Holy Father's chosen and declared modus operandi.

The third reason I think this is a different case is that the Holy Father is a supreme authority, in a way most convenors of international conferences are not. He is able to legislate on his own authority for all those who attended the conference, and all those whom they represent. His Exhortation, therefore, is a much more serious affair for the whole Church than a post-conference communiqué.

There's something else, too. If the content of the proposed Post-Synodal Exhortation is as the pseudonymous priest supposes, that is a radical departure from the past teaching and practice of the Church, and that conclusion was reached before the Synod, one can't help calling into question the integrity of the process. It is one thing to write in advance a Post-Synodal Exhortation that reiterates what we all know to be the Faith: one should reasonably be able to assume that the Synod will indeed reach such conclusions. But not in the other case; unless one were to stack the Synod with those known to agree, exclude some of the more potent voices against change, and manage the process in such a way as to ensure (as nearly as possible) that the Synod gave the pre-determined right (new) answer. 

We live in puzzling and troublesome times: do not forget to pray for our Holy Father daily.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, 

contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. 

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: 

tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, 

Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, 

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, 

divina virtute, in infernum detrude. 

Amen.

EF Mass Times in December in Lancaster Diocese

Mass times for December

Sunday December 6th Second Sunday of Advent

St Walburge, Preston 10.30 am, Sung Mass 

St Mary Magdalene, Leyland Road, Penwortham 8.30 am 

St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Leyland 11.30 am

Our Lady & St Joseph, Carlisle 6.00 pm 

Tuesday December 8th Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St Walburge, Preston, 7.00 pm

Sunday December 11th Third Sunday of Advent  - Gaudete Sunday 

St Peter's Cathedral, Lancaster 3.00 pm (please note, this will be the last EF Mass in the Cathedral. From January 10th, this monthly Mass will revert to St Mary's Hornby)
St Walburge, Preston 10.30 am, Sung Mass

St Mary Magdalene, Leyland Road, Penwortham 8.30 am 

St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Leyland 11.30 am

Our Lady & St Joseph, Carlisle 6.00 pm 

Sunday December 18th  Fourth Sunday of Advent

St Walburge, Preston 10.30 am, Sung Mass

St Mary Magdalene, Leyland Road, Penwortham 8.30 am 

St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Leyland 11.30 am

Our Lady & St Joseph, Carlisle 6.00 pm, Sung Mass

Thursday December 24th  Vigil of the Nativity

St Walburge, Preston 10.30 pm

Friday December 25th  Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

St Walburge, Preston 10.30 am

Sunday December 27th  Sunday in the Octave of the Nativity

St Walburge, Preston 10.30 am, Sung Mass

St Mary Magdalene, Leyland Road, Penwortham 8.30 am 

St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Leyland 11.30 am

Our Lady & St Joseph, Carlisle 6.00 pm

            

Shrine Church of St Walburge, Preston 

Sundays: 10.30 am, Sung Mass

Mondays – Fridays: 8.30 am, Low Mass (except First Friday 7.00 pm) 

Saturdays: 10.30 am, Low Mass

Happy New Year!

Today is the first Sunday of Advent: the start of the Church's year.

We have the whole family here this weekend, to celebrate Anna's (Mrs T's) birthday. So I am not going to spend much time writing new posts. Instead, here is a re-cycled post from previous years, slightly adapted.

Whilst the experts on the Pray,Tell blog are quick to proclaim that Advent is not a time of penance, I demur.   

Having discussed this over a few years with my friend the Part Time Pilgrim, we have made some progress.  After a bit of to and fro, he explained that his concern with my position is that Advent should not be seen as the same as Lent.  I agree: the two are different.  Advent is a time of joyous preparation for the coming of Our Lord (memories of his first coming, and looking forward to his second, of course). But both of these considerations naturally lead us to listen to the words of St John the Baptist: Repent!

We think it important to keep our Advent Celebrations quite distinct from our Christmas Celebrations - though they are related, they are two different seasons of the Church's cycle, with different themes and moods.

So as ever, we will celebrate Advent by saying our prayers around the Advent Wreath, singing O Come O Come Emmanuel and having a reading as we add another character to our Jesse Tree. We will also say the wonderful collect from the traditional Roman rite of the Mass:

Arise in thy strength we beseech thee O Lord and come; from the dangers which threaten us because of our sins, be thy presence our sure defence, be thy deliverance our safety for ever more. 

For those who love Latin, or those who fondly remember my introduction to Liturgical Latin, here is the collect in Latin. too:

Excita, quǽsumus, Dómine, poténtiam tuam, et veni: ut ab imminéntibus peccatórum nostrórum perículis, te mereámur protegénte éripi, te liberánte salvári.

The Marian Antiphon changes today from the Salve Regina to the Alma Redemptoris Mater, which we will sing until the Feast of the Purification (February 2nd).

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Alma redemptoris mater, 

quae pervia caeli porta manes,

et stella maris succurre cadenti

surgere qui curat populo.  

Tu quae genuisti, 

natura mirante, 

tuum sanctum Genitorem.  

Virgo prius, ac posterius, 

Gabrielis ab ore, 

summens illud ave, 

peccatorum miserere.

Mother of the Redeemer, who art ever of heaven

The open gate, and the star of the sea, aid a fallen people, 

Which is trying to rise again; thou who didst give birth, 

While Nature marveled how, to thy Holy Creator, 

Virgin both before and after, from Gabriel's mouth 

Accepting the All hail, be merciful towards sinners.

(Translated by Blessed John Henry Newman)

(For those who prefer a more contemporary sound, try The Dogma Dogs: It's Lent - but note that this is not for Liturgical Use!)

So today we will be out in the rain, collecting holly for the wreath, up in the attic looking for the advent calendars, Jesse Tree book etc, and I will be singing the Alma Redemptoris throughout the day...

Anna's Jesse Tree blog, means that Ant, when she and her husband,  return home, and Bernie, when she goes back to her flat in Manchester, and Charlie, when he returns to University, can all be with us spiritually at the end of each day as we recall Salvation History.