He turned the Storm into a Breeze

"And He turned the storm into a breeze: 

and its waves were still."

wrote the Holy Psalmist King David.

Today we had a spot of bother with the tide.

 Last night there was a storm to the east of Papa Stronsay

 which meant that this morning

as our Heavenly King

"turned the storm into a breeze"

 the great rollers of the North Sea

 still came crashing into the east of the island.

(If you click the above photograph to enlarge it

 you will see how tall the waves are in comparison

 to the little ruined house on the horizon.)

This, coupled with extremely high tides

 produces some interesting results!

The force of the sea between

 the pier and the monastery gatehouse

 drives big rocks up into the roadway.

The last remaining herring shed is engulf buy the sea

 as it come spewing inland through St Brigid's Bay.

The rough weather prevented our morning Rorate Mass,

 however by evening the sea was calmed

 but for a strong swell and an awful lot

 of seaweed and sand churned up in it.

 A large bull seal played near the boat as we crossed over,

 eager to find some delicious morsel thrown up by the storm.

 

Our 4pm Rorate Mass in the northern darkness (by 3.30pm).

Once again the words of the Holy Psalmist set the scene for us.

"Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight..."

  "...the lifting up of my hands..."

 "...as Evening Sacrifice."

Saturday, II Week of Advent

Credo

Every morning as we begin the Office of Matins all pray privately the Apostles' Creed. 

Similarly every Rosary begins with the same Creed or Symbol of Faith.

The Nicene and Apostles Creeds are both well-known formulas

which we recite often but few of us pause to reflect upon their tremendous value.

In this Year of Faith, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, 

in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, has ordered that:

“Religious communities as well as parish communities, and all ecclesial bodies old and new, are to find a way, during this Year, to make a public profession of the Credo [...] Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to learn the creed from memory. It served them as a daily prayer not to forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism.”

“With words rich in meaning, St Augustine speaks of this in a homily on the redditio symboli, the handing over of the Creed: ‘the Symbol of the holy mystery that you have all received together and that today you have recited one by one, are the words on which the faith of Mother Church is firmly built above the stable foundation that is Christ the Lord. You have received it and recited it, but in your minds and hearts you must keep it ever present, you must repeat it in your beds, recall it in the public squares and not forget it during meals: even when your body is asleep, you must watch over it with your hearts.’”

Today, 14 December, we celebrate the feast of 

Saint Spiridion the Wonderworker,

 Bishop of Tremithus in Cyprus, who died in 344.

 Of his many wondrous deeds

 the one that concerns us is that which took place at the

 Holy Ecumenical Council convened in Nicaea in AD 325 -

 the Council which would form the magnificent Creed chanted at Mass.

The image below shows the first part of the Creed in Greek

 held in the hands of the Holy Fathers of the Council.

"A total of 318 Holy Fathers arrived there from the remotest parts of the Christian world. All these venerable men had survived the prisons and the torments of their persecutors. The Arian heresy had also gathered together its own followers. Arius had called to Nicaea a whole crowd of sophists, even pagan ones, to defend his cause. Philosophers quickly came forward for the pleasure of debating against these old men whom they thought unacquainted with the art of logic and metaphysical speculation.

"One of these philosophers boasted before all the Fathers that he would be able to refute and silence anyone who wanted to defend the divinity of Christ in front of him. It was St Spiridion who took up the challenge. The Fathers momentarily took fright because the old man, whose knowledge of the Greek language was poor, had never studied dialectical argumentation.

"Spiridion, with the inspired tone of a prophet told the philosopher that Christ and the apostles did not teach dialectics, but the truth, which is fostered by faith and good works. He then made a simple profession of  faith - the Apostles Creed. He told the philosopher that that was all that he needed to believe and rebuked him for seeking vain explanations. 

"Spiridion then asked whether he believed in what he had just said. The philosopher who was all set to reply to arguments of reason with his own subtle arguments was struck dumb by the simplicity of the prelate’s words and recognised in them the Word of God. He confessed that he indeed believed and urged the other philosophers to believe in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and to follow the holy old man. St Spiridion shortly afterwards baptised him. The Roman Martyrology mentions this remarkable conversion."

St Spiridion's Profession

I believe, O Lord. Help Thou my unbelief!

Friday, II Week of Advent

A Few Calendars Left

Thank you to the many readers who have purchased a calendar this year.

 We still have a few left in stock but will soon run out.

 If you would like a calendar

 please use the link below to order one.

 Thank you.

Heaven is Sweet – Heaven is Near – Heaven is Mine

Some of the members of our Congregation had

 the privilege of knowing Sr Judith  Meisner,

 an elderly Norwegian Sister of St Joseph,

 who lived out the final years of her life

 in the Zaitzkofen seminary in Bavaria.

 She often told the story of an event that had made a profound impression on her as young nun. 

Sister, who had received the gift of the Faith as schoolgirl with her future Congregation, while a novice and not yet 20 years of age, recalled that a Redemptorist Missioner had come to their convent. The priest preached a profound retreat which affected all, and on one of the days he gave a conference which ended with the words – and Sister would say them very slowly and solemnly – 

“Heaven is Sweet, Heaven is Near, Heaven is Mine”. 

“Heaven is Sweet, Heaven is…” 

she would repeat a few times making sure you understood the import of those words. 

Like the ending of every retreat conference the nuns went their way to their cells for the night, moved at what  the priest had said, but thinking no more about it than that. Early the next morning after the usual common prayers they were awaiting the appearance of the Missioner in the Convent Church to celebrate the Holy Mass when a nun burst into the choir and quite excitedly told them that
 Father had died in his sleep during the night… 

“Heaven is Sweet, Heaven is Near, Heaven is Mine,” 

Sister would repeat again solemnly… 

“those were his last words!” 

For us who remain in this Valley of Shadows, 

perhaps those words are no more appropriate than
 in this time of Advent. 

For now Salvation at Hand, 
now amidst the Winter Darkness

 we await that 

Heaven on Earth Who is Sweet, and Near, and Who can be Mine

 if only I will open my heart to Him,

if perhaps I make that good and holy confession that I need to make,

if I forgive that soul who is most in need of my mercy,

if I give up that person, that place, that object, that amusement

which is causing my darkness and unhappiness through sin. 

On Christmas Night Heaven will bow down to Earth and

 let drop the Sweet Dew of 

Our God and Saviour, Our Little Lord Jesus Christ.

Would it not be so SWEET if then He would be NEAR,
 if He would be MINE?

It is not certain that the “Way of Bethlehem” was written by Our Holy Father St Alphonsus;

 but tradition has always ascribed it to him, 

and in our most small
 Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer

 the devotion has always held a special place of honour. 

This year in order to help our Friends know
 and love these beautiful prayers

 we have arranged the 12 stations as little images

 for the 12 days preceding Christmas.

 Each image shows a “Bambino” or “Niño”

 which in some way expresses the mystery
 described in the station.

 Some of them bear very lovely names

 “Infant of Great-Sorrow”, “Infant Nazarene”, “Infant of the Four-Winds” etc.

Most of all we hope that they remind you each day that

Heaven is Sweet

Heaven in Near

And … 

may Jesus Bambino

 be your Heaven this coming Christmas.

Veni Domine et noli tardare!

Come O Lord, and tarry not!

Through the Heart of a Mother

Mrs Monica Seeber (1928-2009)

"A vocation comes from the heart of God, 

but goes through the heart of a mother," wrote Pope St Pius X. 

Today, the third Anniversary of the death of Mrs Monica Seeber,

the Mother of our Father Anthony Mary, F.SS.R.,

Father sung a Mass of Requiem in Our Lady's Chapel, Stronsay.

To few people could the words of the Holy Pope 

be more truly applied

than this wonderful lady.

 The Collect for the Deceased Mother of a Priest

Deus...

O God, who hast commanded us to honour

our Father and our Mother;

in Thy mercy have pity on the soul of my mother,

and forgive her her trespasses;

and make me to see her again in the joy of everlasting brightness.

 Through Christ our Lord.

 Amen. 

Crossing with Father this morning 

from Papa Stronsay to Stronsay

on his way to remember his dear mother

at the Altar of God

 one could not help be reminded

 of this image of the

 Mother of all priests with her son, 

St John, the Model of all priests;

and of the words of Mrs Seeber's holy patron, St Monica
to her priest son St Augustine,

"One thing only do I ask of you,

 that you remember me at the Altar of Our Lord

 wherever you may be."

 

The Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote:

"As God consulted with Mary

to ask if she would give Him a human nature,

so He often consults with the mother of a priest

to ask her consent to the continuation of His priesthood."

What a beautiful tribute this morning of a priest son

to his beloved mother

who most surely gave that consent with all her heart.

Feast of the Holy House at Loreto.

 Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto.

The Holy House is within the basilica.

View of the coast from the Loreto Basilica.

Happy Anniversary!

It is with a deep sense of gratitude and love,

 that all the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer

 offer their heartfelt congratulations to

our Father Michael Mary's parents

 Ivan and Jo Sim

 on their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.

 What volumes of example are spoken

 by the faithful fulfilling

 of your vows of fidelity for life

made to each other those sixty years ago. 

May God continue to bless you,

 your wonderful children

 and your children's children,

 and lead you all one day

 into the inaccessible light

 of His eternal Beatitude in Heaven.

Your spiritual grandchildren.

Public Religious Professions in Christchurch, New Zealand.

 

 Mass of the First Sunday of Advent

Oratory of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour

Christchurch, New Zealand.

 Today Fr Michael Mary received 

the Public Religious Professions

of
Br Paul Mary, F.SS.R.

Br Dominic Mary. F.SS.R.

 and 

Br Xavier Maria, F.SS.R. 

Our three Brothers were covered with the funeral pall

during the chanting of the Litany of Loreto.

 Public Religious Profession of

Br. Paul Mary of the Sacred Wounds and

the Sorrows and Joys of St Joseph, F.SS.R.

 Public Religious Profession of 

Brother Dominic Mary of the Holy Desert, F.SS.R.

 Public religious Profession of

Br. Xavier Maria St Joseph of the

Most Holy Redeemer, F.SS.R.

 Alleluia, alleluia. Ostende nobis Domine misericordiam tuam:

et salutare tuum da nobis. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia. Show us O Lord, Thy mercy:

and grant us Thy salvation. Alleluia.

[Alleluia of the Mass]

A Devotee of St Martin of Tours?

I found this video very touching. In a world where so much of what we see and hear is violence and immoral, anti-religious behaviour, it is so very refreshing to see something like this - genuine charity from one person to another. It is a wonderful feeling to help someone out, especially when they are in great need:

Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?  And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Matt 25:37-40

Nothing more precious...Nothing regarded more cheaply.

 

Papa Stronsay Calendar 2013

The Papa Stronsay Calendar

 for the Year of Our Lord 2013

is now available. 

You may purchase them by clicking here.

For any enquiries or problems

please use our contact button

 or click here.

Thank you!

Assistant Deacon at Benediction

Br. Yousef Marie, F.SS.R. assisting at Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

 

At the beginning of Benediction, the deacon places the Sacred Host into the monstrance.

 

When the time comes to give the benediction, he hands the monstrance to the priest.

Solemn-High Mass

Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R. celebrated the community Solemn-High Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary on Sunday morning, with his two new Deacons, Br. Yousef Marie, F.SS.R. and Br. Magdala Maria, F.SS.R.  Below are some photos:

Thanks be to God for this great day!