Corpus Christi
This post was intended for the feast of Corpus Christi , but Divine Providence had other designs! Our Lord gave us wonderful weather fo...
Showing posts with label Feasts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feasts. Show all posts
Pentecost Sunday
Come Holy Ghost, Fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy Love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created....
Candlemass at our Chapel in Christchurch
This is one of the three principal blessings observed by the Church during the year; the other two are the Blessing of the Ashes, and the ...
O Holy Night!
Our candle-light Christmas Midnight Mass on Stronsay. Dominus dixit ad me: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. The Lord hath sai...
One of my happiest mornings was spent in 2008 in St Cecilia in Trastevere, built upon the remains of the house of St Cecilia. Time spent in the crypt of this Roman church is truly an extraordinary experience, as it is left almost as the saint would have known it, the large grain pits near which she was imprisoned, the shrine even to Minerva set there by her pagan relatives. Most wonderful was to be favoured with the key to the gated, almost ciborium like, golden chapel under the high altar where one can see the sarcophagi of the Saint, with that of her chaste husband St Valerian, through a stone lattice. I had read the wonderful account of the finding in the 1500s of her incorrupt relics, still stretched downwards as she had fallen, the blood still fresh in the wounds on her neck, and this more than a thousand years after her death. As nobody dared to touch them in this wonderful state, to this day we have no idea of what her face looked like and that is why the famous statues of her, carved by one who had seen the miracle, never show her face directly, she is always stretched downwards. There, close to her shrine, all of this came alive in my mind.
The famous phrase associated with the holy martyr we celebrate today is "singing to God in her heart", it is what holy tradition tells us she did in the direst moment of her life, and it is considered in some way why she is the patroness of musicians. I know this is a little different, and I know the words to this song, which first appeared in 1868 of unknown origin, have been somewhat de-Christianised in this more modern version, but none-the-less they fit St Cecilia very well and raise one’s heart and mind to remember a holy and innocent one, who will surely protect us in our direst needs if we call upon her intercession, singing in our own hearts.
Br Nicodemus Mary, F.SS.R.
"My life goes on in endless song, above earth's lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn, that hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear its music ringing, it sounds an echo in my soul... how can I keep from singing?
"While though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the Truth, It liveth. And though the darkness 'round me close, songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that Rock I'm clinging. Since Love is Lord of Heaven and earth... how can I keep from singing?
"When tyrants tremble in their fear and hear their death knell ringing; when friends rejoice both far and near... how can I keep from singing? In prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them are winging; when friends by shame are undefiled... how can I keep from singing?"
How can I keep from Singing?
One of my happiest mornings was spent in 2008 in St Cecilia in Trastevere, built upon the remains of the house of St Cecilia. Time sp...
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The Pronouncing of Vows
On the feast of the dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour, 9th November, we had the great joy of witnessing Br Peter pron...
Yesterday's Feast of Christ the King
The Feast of Christ the King gives us an occasion to honour Our Lord as Our Sovereign and to consider the aspects and grandeur of His Royal...
Godly Kings of the Past
Last Sunday was the feast of St Michael the Archangel, traditionally called Michaelmas. In the secular, anti-religious society in which w...
Our Lady of Mercy
On the 24th of September we have the Feast to Our Lady of Mercy. Beautiful and consoling title! Our Lady and her Son are so great th...
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Blessing the Pilgrimage Cross
Many of you will remember our two cycling pilgrims, Sam and Wojciech, who made a pilgrimage by push-bike of over 600 miles finishing on Pap...
A Beautiful Shrine for Our Lady's Birthday
Last Sunday, 8th September, was celebrated the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. In our oratory in our Mother of Perpetual Succour Monas...
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The Feast of the Assumption — Christchurch New Zealand
Assumpta est Maria in Cælum! The feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother, Mary, as celebrated by our confreres in Our Mother of P...
One year on
What a lot of anniversaries there have been during this month of August! Today, the 15th August, Feast of Our Lady's Assumption into ...
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