Reconnected

As many of you may know, on Papa Stronsay we have been without internet access since before Christmas.  It is for this reason that our blog has been so silent.  However, thanks be to God, our internet is now restored thanks to a replacement Point-to-Point Wireless Bridge.

The Bridge transmits the internet from the neighbouring island of Stronsay, across the water of the Papay Sound and into Papa Stronsay.

 A station identical to this one is located on Stronsay and the two transmit and receive the signal back and forth.  We had previously used the same things, but there was some error with them and they had to be replaced.

As a result of our restored connection, you can expect a few updates in the coming days, so stay tuned!

This evening there have been some modest but none-the-less beautiful Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  I post a few photos below. It is also rather windy, and I had some trouble holding the camera still, so they are a little blurry.

 The small red dots are the safety lights atop the wind turbines on the island of Sanday.

 The vast majority of out lights are a green/grey colour, but here we see a little spot of red.

Five years of blogging.

Today we mark the 5th anniversary
of this blog:
Palm Sunday 2007 - Palm Sunday 2012.

This great and holy day commemorates
the last triumph of Our Lord Jesus Christ on earth
and the opening of Holy Week.
The Cross lies ahead and is the means of victory.
Holy Week begins joyfully acclaiming
Christ the King.

Distribution of the Palms.
Glory praise and honour to Thee,
O King Christ, the Redeemer:
to Whom children poured their glad and sweet
hosanna's song.
Gloria laus et honor tibi sit,
Rex Christe Redemptor...
[Hymn to Christ the King.]

V. Procedamus in pace.
Let us go forth in peace.
R. In Nomine Christi. Amen.
In the Name of Christ. Amen.

Let the faithful join with the Angels and children,
singing to the conqueror of death:
Hosanna in the highest!
[Antiphon 2]

Fulgentibus palmis prosternimur advenienti Domino...
We are prostrate amid shining palms before the Lord as He aproacheth;
let us all run to meet Him with hymns and songs,
glorify Him and say:
Blessed be the Lord!
Benedictus Domino!
[Antiphon 6]

Ingrediente Domino in sanctam civitatem...
As our Lord entered the holy city, Hebrew children,
declaring the resurrection of life with palm branches,
cried out: Hosanna in the highest.
[Responsory]

The chanting of the Passion
of Our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Matthew.

Sad news from Fr. Hunwicke.

9 June 2011

June 9 1968

I think I had better share with my friends the distressing news that my ordination within the Catholic Church has been "deferred".

I think there has been some misunderstanding about the content of my blog, which I regret. Regular readers of the blog will be aware that its main characteristic is that of total submission to the Church's Magisterium, and of profound admiration for the person and writings of the present Sovereign Pontiff; and so my prayer is that present misunderstanding will very speedily be resolved. In the meantime, I am closing down this blog with immediate effect, and I shall promptly delete any comments on it (or emails sent to me) which are in any way whatsoever critical of the Catholic Church, or any of its officers, or of the Ordinariate; or which recommend me to adhere to any other ecclesial body.

Despite everything, I remain convinced that the Ordinariate is the only means of achieving the great vision of the Catholic Revival, longed for by so many great and holy men an d women, learnedly described in our own time by Fr Aidan Nichols: an Anglicanism reordered after heresy and schism, an Anglicanism United But Not Absorbed.

Today - the anniversary of my priestly ordination in 1968 - I ask the prayers of all those who wish me well, at a time which is the most unpleasant I have ever had to live through in my 43 years of priestly ministry. I ask them to pray also for my brethren in the Sacred Priesthood who are, in these early days of June, entering the presbyterate of the Ordinariate, as well as for our courageous deacons. And for Keith our Ordinary. And I thank the many - religious communities as well as individual clergy and laity all over the world - who have so lovingly kept me in their prayers.

Is there some Spanish word venceremos?

92 comments:

Papa Stronsay from the past

The Old Papay Gallery has been launched on papastronsay.com featuring photos from the 1930s which were kindly given to us by Mrs Nan Scott. Any additional photographs or information concerning existing photographs would be gratefully received.

I think that readers will be surprised to learn
that the entire web-site
from start to finish
is the work of members of the
monastery on Papa Stronsay
and not a production
of professional web designers.

I am very impressed with the attention to detail
that has gone into this site:
making a masthead like the one above
reflects taste and talent
and the technical side of producing an e-shop,
drop down menus and videos,
is, in a humble way,
something to be proud of,
and something that I do not want to let pass
without acknowledgment
and a word of thanks.

Over the past months, much to my edification,
I have seen the Brothers
using mere snippets of time
or days of recreation,
to put the site together;
evocative of their Holy Father Saint Alphonsus
who vowed "to never waste a moment of time"
and who exercised himself with zeal
for the apostolate of the pen.

May God's holy Providence use the site
and may all we publish
ever be to God's greater Glory
and for the salvation of souls.

Devotedly,
Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R.