Today is a very special day for us here on Papa Stronsay, for we celebrate the 259th anniversary of the approbation of our Rule by His Holiness Pope Benedict XIV. It was a great Joy for St Alphonsus, our holy Father, after nearly 20 years to finally have the rule of his congregation approved by Rome.

"Anyone who keeps this rule will be a saint" - Pope Benedict XIV on approving the Redemptorist rule.

On a different note, today we also said goodbye to Br. Dominic Mary, C.SS.R. today, as he left Papa Stronsay for New Zealand, where he will join the community in the Monastery of Our
Mother of Perpetual Succour in Christchurch. We wish him the best of luck.

With the devil doing everything in his power to make things difficult, a storm had blown up, enabling Orkney to say goodbye to Brother in a traditional manner. Here, Brother's 'taxi' awaits him at Papa Stronsay pier.

Brother, in a howling wind, leaps for the boat one last time, while his confreres struggle to hold it at the pier.

Brother heads off for Stronsay. We wish him, and the whole Christchurch community all possible graces and blessings in their work to spread the faith and the love of the traditions of the Church.

Br Alban, F.M.S. is laid to rest on Papa Stronsay.

Today, the Br Alban was buried in the small cemetery on Papa Stronsay. Below is a short picture diary of the event. Please remember good Br Alban Michael in your prayers.

The Mass of Requiem was offered on Stronsay, where Brother spent the last years of his life.


The procession leaves the chapel...


...and slowly walk down the Stronsay pier to the awaiting boat.


Brother's coffin is carefully placed onto the "Saint Barbara"


The procession arrives at Papa Stronsay.


Brother's coffin was solemnly transported across Papa Stronsay to the cemetery.


The cemetery is about a mile from the pier

During the procession hymns were sung and the holy Rosary was recited

Once at the grave-side, the final prayers are said for Brother...

...Father blesses the coffin...

...and Br. Alban Michael is finally laid to rest.


Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon him,
May he rest in peace.

Amen.

Br. Alban, F.M.S., R.I.P.

Of your charity pray for the repose of the soul of

Br Alban Michael, F.M.S. (1917-2008)

who passed away aged 91 on the evening of the First Sunday of Lent, 10 February, fortified by the rites of our Holy Mother the Church, faithful to his vocation, and clothed in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.


He was born Lawrence William McMullen at Peria, in the North Island of New Zealand, on 10 January, 1917. He made his first vows as a religious in the Little Brothers of Mary, or Marist Brothers, at Timaru in the South Island on 12 September, 1938, and devoted most of his religious life to Christian education in Fiji and New Zealand. From 1981 he was the faithful companion of the late Fr Augustine Cummins, C.SS.R., first in Australia, and, finally, accompanying him to Orkney, Scotland in 2003.

Requiescat in pace.

The Solemn Prayers of Good Friday

RECTIFICATION

in what concerns the Solemn Prayers of the Good Friday Liturgy, the Transalpine Redemptorists will return to the traditional Good Friday Solemn Liturgy and the ancient prayer for the Jews.

I HEREBY RECTIFY my defective direction concerning the Jewish religion. 
I apologise for giving favourable opinions concerning that religion, especially by visiting synagogues and praying with the Jews between 1971 and 1977.

I had imagined that in the synagogue, seeing a father and his son praying, would have been like seeing St Joseph and the Infant Jesus praying in the synagogue of Nazareth. In that sense I believed that the Jews were like "older brothers" in an historical sense. That opinion was false.

The Jewish religion, passed away with the death of Our Lord on Mount Calvary, when the veil of the Temple was torn from the top to the bottom. It continued with Christianity: Jews were baptized first and then Gentiles: These new born Christians seamlessly continued the faith of the Old Testament into the New Testament: The New Israel, the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

The Old Testament Temple was finally destroyed in 70 AD. 

After that time, those Jews who refused to believe in Our Lord, continued their existence with teachings called the Mishnah and the Talmud- these are the central texts for Rabbinical Judaism. 

The Talmud is blasphemous concerning both Our Lord and Our Lady.

I  withdraw any support I have given to the Jewish religion, I apologise to anyone I have offended. I pray for the conversion of the Jews. I hope that any Jew would find in me a brother who would help him to accept Baptism.

I urge readers to do their own study concerning the Jewish religion.

Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R. 23 January 2022. 

The chanting of the Solemn Prayer for the Jews

Storm walking

On a still day, you can look out from Papa Stronsay in wonder at just how calm and flat the sea is. It can compare to a lake, flat like glass...

...and then there are the other days.

We see a fair few of them during the winter, and they hold their own excitement as you watch the waves crashing onto the beach with such force and with such noise; and with the wind blowing full force in your face. It is nice on days like this to go storm walking, and Papa Stronsay offers an excellent opportunity to do just that. A few days ago during a patch of rough weather, some of the confreres dressed up warmly, and went to experience a walk around Papa Stronsay in a storm.