20 years!

What a great achievement to reach 20 years of holy priesthood! Today, 27th June, the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour, Fr. Anthony Mary, F.SS.R. has done just that. Congratulations Father!


Fr. Anthony gives his first blessing to his mother on the day of his ordination 20 years ago today, 27th June 1991.

Solemn first Vespers of Mother of Perpetual Succour were celebrated yesterday.


dicit matri suae mulier ecce filius tuus
deinde dicit discipulo ecce mater tua...

... He saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.
After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother...
(Jn. 19:26)


Followed by benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

*************************


This morning Father celebrated sung Mass for the community.


And gave a short but very edifying sermon.


The same image of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour before which Father celebrated Mass today was placed in the sanctuary at Ecône for his ordination day.


Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu
tuo: elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum.

Let my prayer, O Lord, come like incense before You; the
lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.


Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris,
et flammam aeterne caritatis.Amen.

May the Lord enkindle in us the fire of His love
and the flame of everlasting charity. Amen.


And the Word was made flesh!


And dwelt amongst us!


Father becomes alter Christus, another Christ, pronouncing the words of consecration:

Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei,
novi et aeterni testamenti: mysterium fidei:
qui pro vobis et pro multis
effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.

For this is the Chalice of My Blood,
of the new and eternal Testament: the mystery of faith:
which shall be shed for you and for many
unto the remission of sins.




Behold the Lamb of God!


Congratulations Father Anthony on completing the celebration of approximately your 7300th Holy Mass! May God grant you many more years in this life, and a crown of glory in the next!

He enters His Dovecote.

Corpus Christi procession
at the
Redemptoristine Monastery
in Brazil.

(click on the photos to see them larger)

The Elevation
This is a typical Redemptoristine view of Mass.
The nuns have a strict grill which St. Alphonsus gave them
consisting in a plate that is pierced with holes.
The nuns may draw near the grill and peep through.
This photo is somewhat blurred at the edge of a hole in the lattice.

The nun's eye view.
Of her Beloved Lord in the Blessed Sacrament
the enclosed Redemptoristine nun can say:
"Behold he standeth behind our wall,
looking through the windows,
looking through the lattices.
Behold my beloved speaketh to me:
Arise, make haste, my love, my dove,
my beautiful one, and come."
(Canticles 2:9)

Station at Our Lady's Grotto within the enclosure.
Panem caeli dedit eis, Alleluia, alleluia.
Panem Angelorum manducavit homo. Alleluia, alleluia.
He gave them Heavenly Bread, Alleluia, alleluia.
The Bread of Angels was eaten by men. Alleluia, alleluia.
(Terce. Short Response.)

Procession within the holy border walls.
Posuit fines tuos pacem, alleluia.
Et adipe frumenti satiat te, alleluia.
He has granted peace in thy borders, alleluia.
With the best of wheat He fills thee, alleluia.
(None. Versicle.)

The procession of the Hidden Manna.
Vincenti dabo manna absconditum,
et nomen novum, alleluia.
To him who overcomes I will give the Hidden Manna,
and a new name, Alleluia.
(Laudes. Ant. V.)

Our Lord enthroned in the Choir.
Cibavit nos Dominus ex adipe frumenti:
et de petra, melle saturavit nos.
Our Lord has fed us with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock he has filled us.
(Matins. Ant. VIII)

The Redemptoristine nuns take a fourth vow.
It is the vow of Enclosure.
Their enclosure is such that on every day of the year,
except today,
they do not easily or clearly see Our Lord because of their
enclosing lattice;
the plate pierced with small holes.
Enclosed souls feel this deprivation keenly.
They offer this austerity as a sacrifice
to obtain the conversion of sinners
and the salvation of the most abandoned souls.

Christ enthroned from where His doves cry out.
Ex altari tuo, Domine, Christum sumimus:
in quem cor et caro nostra exsultant.
From Thy altar, Lord, we receive Christ,
for Whom our hearts and flesh cry out.

(Matins Ant. IX)
"Behold he standeth behind our wall,
looking through the windows,
looking through the lattices.
Behold my beloved speaketh to me:
Arise, make haste, my love, my dove,
my beautiful one, and come."
(Canticles 2:9)

Make the earth resound from Pole to Pole with one cry!

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to It be glory and honour for ever. Amen.

Southern Pole

Today, the feast of Corpus Christi, a procession was held in honour of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch, New Zealand.


Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr. Rizzo, F.S.S.P. at the Carmelite convent in Christchurch.


Distributing Holy Communion to the nuns through the grill.


Adoramus te Christe!


The procession leaves the convent chapel...


...and processes around the grounds.












Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation;
to It be glory and honour for ever!



Northern Pole

There was another procession on the other side of the world — Papa Stronsay.


We erected altars around the Monastery.






Scattering flower petals before Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.












Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation;
to It be glory and honour for ever!

Coronation Day - 1911

Today 100 years ago was the Coronation Day of King George V.
Representing the then reigning Pope, St Pius X,
at the coronation was the future
Venerable Pope Pius XII, the then Msgr Eugenio Pacelli.

Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary after the Coronation.

Above: Tailors working on the ermine coronation robes. Below: A group of women working on the costumes worn at the ceremony.

One evening in 1936
St Pio of Pietrelcina
was conversing with some friends in his cell.
Among those present were
Dr Guglielmo Sanguinetti and Angelo Lupi,
who would respectively become the medical director
and the builder of Padre Pio’s hospital years later.

In the middle of their conversation,
Padre Pio suddenly interrupted the discourse with the words,
“Let us pray for a soul soon to
appear before the tribunal of God.”
With that he bowed his head, and his guests, although astonished,
knelt and joined him in prayer.

When they had finished,
Padre Pio announced that they had been
praying for the
King of England.

The next morning, the news reached them
of the death of
King George V
the previous evening.

Spare a prayer for
King George and Queen Mary today.

[Source: Parente, Fr. Alessio, The Holy Souls: “Viva Padre Pio,” San Giovanni Rotondo, Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary, 1990, pp. 151-152. & Padre Costantino, Detti e Anedotti di Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Convento S. Maria delle Grazie, 1996, p. 49.]

Flying visit.

When we came to Papa Stronsay in 1999

my brother, Tony, who lives in England,
said that he would fly up
to visit us.

Tony flying.
That was quite a goal to achieve.
We are a long way from England
and at the time
he didn't have his own plane.

Twelve years later, though,
5th June, 2011,
he landed on the Stronsay airfield having
piloted his plane solo from
Elsworth, near Cambridge in England.

It was a wonderful visit.

Two days, after having cut an airstrip,
Tony landed his plane on Papa Stronsay.

Two brothers together!
Thanks be to God and Mary!
Thank you for coming Tot!

(Posted by: Fr. Michael Mary)