Maundy Thursday. Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus...

The Mass of Maundy Thursday

Christchurch, New Zealand.

 Epistle: 

Fratres, convenientibus vobis in unum...

Brethren, when you come together therefore into one place...

 Mandatum novum do vobis...

A new commandment I give unto you...

 ...alter alterius lavare pedes...

...to wash one another's feet...

 Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est...

Where are charity and love, God is there...

Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum...

Let us fear and love the living God... 

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

And let us love one another with sincere hearts.

 ... et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.

..and may Christ, our God, be in the midst of us.

Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

O Lord hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto Thee.

Ubi est refectio mea

Christchurch, New Zealand

Holy Thursday

Ubi est refectio mea

Say to the master of the house:

The Master saith:

Where is My refectory where I may eat the Pasch

with my disciples.

Et invererunt...

And they found as He had told them:

and they prepared the pasch.

The example of religious life.

Christchurch, New Zealand. 

The Sacred Triduum this year is taking place

in the small chapel of a University Hall of residence.

It is a difficult location.

This causes us to pull out all stops to try to make it a success.

The Monastery Garage

Preparations for the Sacred Triduum. 

The Brothers are renovating an old altar

which they will transport by trailer to the little chapel 

tomorrow morning, Holy Thursday. 

Brother Clemens painting the old altar.

 There are also matching altar rails thanks to white paint.

 Brother has prepared the mensa or altar-top 

and is about to lower the altar stone into its place. 

 Brother Nicodemus Mary is painting with gold obtained

for him by our friend, 

the local artist and statue repairer, 

Mr. Damian Walker. 

 Deacon Brother Magdala Maria is 

directing Brother Xavier Maria who is inside the altar

lining up the new wooden support.

One of the great consolations of the religious life

is to see Brethren who pray together and

also work together in great peace and mutual co-operation;

"just getting the job done"

working to late at night

to do something worthwhile for Our Lord and for souls.

May God bless their work

and the Holy Triduum.

We adore Thee, O Christ!

I thought that perhaps some of our readers might like to hear this recording of our singing here at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.  This rendition of Adoramus Te Christe, by G. P. da Palestrina, was sung during Mass this Palm Sunday, 24th March.

Adoramus te, Christe,
et benedicimus tibi,
quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum.

We adore Thee, O Christ,
And we bless Thee,
Who by Thy Holy Cross
hath redeemed the world.

The English-speaking seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP).

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, NE, USA

Palm Sunday in Christchurch, New Zealand

Today, 

Palm Sunday,

we officially began our apostolate in

the Diocese of  Christchurch, New Zealand.

Palm Sunday

Church of St Therese

Riccarton, Christchurch.

click on photos to see them in larger format! :)

The Blessing of Palms in front of the church. 

Hosanna filio David.

Hosanna to the Son of David. 

Hosanna in excelsis.

Hosanna in the highest. 

 Procession with Palms.

 Brother Clemens strikes the Church doors, 

the gates of the city of Jerusalem,

that they be opened to receive the King of Glory.

 Attollite, portae, capita vestra,

et attollite vos, fores antiquae,*

ut ingrediatur Rex gloriae!

Lift up O gates, your lintels,

and be ye lifted up, O ancient double doors:

and the King of Glory shall enter in! 

Ingrediente Domino in sanctam civitatem,

Hebraeorum pueri 

resurrectionem Vitae pronuntiantes,*

cum ramis palmarum:

"Hosanna in excelsis."

 As our Lord entered the holy city,

the Hebrew children,

heralding the resurrection of Life,

with palm branches cried out:

"Hosanna in the highest!" 

Jesus autem iterum clamans voce magna,

emisit spiritum.

And Jesus again crying with a loud voice,

yielded up the spirit.

Since AD 313 -the Red Shoes of the Fisherman

I am happy to share an image that was sent to me, 

since it seems that people don't understand that 

the Papal red shoes go back through all the Popes 

to just after the Church of the Catacombs. 

It is wrong for people to target 

His Holiness Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI 

as if they were his personal choice
from vanity or contempt for the poor.

All the Popes since AD 313 have worn
the red papal shoes of the Fisherman. 

The Holy Father of 2013 has chosen to lay them aside. 

That is his decision which we respect 

but Pope Francis' decision should not be used
to reflect badly 

upon His Holiness our beloved Emeritus Pope.

First Sunday Mass as Pope

The Pope offered Mass this morning in the parish of St Anne, Vatican City.

The Pope stepped out of a plain black car and 

immediately began shaking hands and blessing babies.

The small church was packed and many were unable to find seats.

At the end of the Mass, Francis did the unexpected.

He walked to the podium again, 

and talked about a priest from Uruguay 

whom he had spotted among the faithful attending the Mass. 

The priest, Don Gonsalvo 

stood up while Francis was talking about his work 

with street children and drug-addicts for whom he built a school.

  (Source: The Telegraph)

The Papa.

This morning, Pope Francis stopped by the Vatican-owned residence where he routinely stays during visits to Rome and where he stayed before the start of the conclave to pick up his luggage and pay the bill.

The Rev. Pawel Rytel-Andrianek, who teaches at the nearby Pontifical Holy Cross University and is staying at the residence, said he didn't just come to get his luggage, noting that anyone could have come to get his suitcases.

"He wanted to come here because he wanted to thank the personnel, people who work in this house," he said. Francis met with the staff in the dining room. "He greeted them one by one, no rush, the whole staff, one by one," Rytel-Andrianek said, noting that the pope knew everyone by name.

Official Statement

Official Statement on elevation of 

His Holiness Pope Francis

to the See of Rome

The most small institute of the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer rejoice in the election of our Holy Father Pope Francis.
We recognise in him the person of our highest Superior whom, by vow, we have willingly bound ourselves to obey. We pledge him our humble and filial charity.
This morning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered to God in thanksgiving for his election.  

God bless our Pope!

Edifying photograph of great beauty:
Pope Francis as a Cardinal, 
washing the feet of twelve AIDS victims.

May The Lord preserve him and give him life, 

and make him blessed upon the earth : 

and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. 

The Most Small Institute.

Habemus Papam!

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;

habemus Papam;

Eminentissium ac Reverendissium Dominum,

Dominum 

Georgium Marium

Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae 

Cardinalem Bergoglio

Qui sibi nomen imposuit 

Franciscum.

I announce to you with great joy;

We have a Pope;

The most eminent and most reverend Lord

Lord George Mario

Cardinal of Holy Roman Church Bergoglio

Who has taken the name

 Francis.

Live Watch: Papal Conclave

The Gregorian Conclave

The Conclave 

to elect the successor of St Peter

is to begin on 

the Feast of 

Pope St Gregory the Great,

Tuesday, 12 March, 2013.

Oratio.
Deus, qui animae famuli tui Gregorii
aeternae beatitudinis praemia contulisti:
concede propitius;
ut, qui peccatorum nostrorum pondere premimur,
eius apud te precibus sublevemur.
Per Dominum.

O God who hast conferred
the rewards of everlasting happiness
upon the soul of Thy servant Gregory,
mercifully grant that we,
who are oppressed by the burden of our sins,
may be relieved by his prayers with Thee.
Through our Lord.

The Public Religious Profession of Brother Alfonso Maria, F.SS.R.

Having been absent from the monastery

on 22 August 2012

Brother Alfonso Maria, F.SS.R.

made his Public Religious Profession yesterday,

shortly after his return from the Philippines.

Our Lady's Chapel, Stronsay,

after the Missa Cantata.

The Public Profession of Vows

Most loving Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God, Who art deserving of the highest love, I, Brother Alfonso Maria Star of the Sea, joined, even though unworthy, to the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, inflamed with the desire of consecrating myself entirely to Thy Holy Love, bind myself to serve Thee for the future with all my strength, by imitating the holy life of Jesus Christ Thy Son, and Our Divine Redeemer, which is the only way of pleasing Thee, and to labour for the salvation of the most abandoned souls, especially of those who live in the country, according to the principal end of this Congregation. Therefore, now, in the presence of Thy Divine Majesty, of Mary Most Holy and Immaculate, my Mistress and Mother, of St Joseph and St Alphonsus, and of the whole Court of Heaven, prostrate on my knees, I promise and vow for three years:  OBEDIENCE, CHASTITY, and POVERTY, and I declare myself bound by these vows, in the manner expressed in the Rules of St Alphonsus and the Constitutions of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer. Amen.

Thanksgiving Antiphon to Our Lady.

Ave Regina Caelorum.