The Beginnings of a Craftsman
In the monastery one learns to do everything. Our young postulant, Aidan, expressed a desire to learn how to marbleise and decorate altars ...
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
St Alphonsus High and Dry
On the eve of the feast of our Holy Father St Alphonsus the time and tide are just right to easily remove the Monastery barge, St Alphonsus...
Papa Stronsay Calendar 2018!
The Papa Stronsay wall calendar for 2018 is finally here, and can be purchased below! For those of you who may not have had the ple...
That steps not slide. That holy faith be kept.
The sky is beautiful this evening. It is clear. The sea is calm. Ice is biting into the ground. Welcome stillness indeed but w...
The 2016 Papa Stronsay Calendar!
I'm pleased to let you know that our 2016 Papa Stronsay Calendar has shipped out and there are more available! Watch the video below t...
Papa Stronsay Calendar 2016 Pre-Order
The Papa Stronsay Calendar has been growing in popularity over the years, and we hope that the year 2016 will be no exception! The 2...
Stronsay Pier View
Today marks the longest day in the year. Here as I write, it is wet and foggy, but if the skies were clear one could watch the sun make it...
A Tiny Reflection of the Glory of God
Last night here in Orkney we had some of the most spectacular Aurora Borealis , or Northern Lights that I have ever had the privilege of se...
Let the Sun shine!
It has been raining off and on for a while now here in Christchurch, but today, with a break in the weather a few brothers made the most of...
Favour received from the Bonnie Prince.
Kelly reports this favour from The Bonnie Prince: Victoria is a little three year old girl who was born blind. She lives in the unite...
Calendar OUT NOW!
The 2014 Papa Stronsay Calendar is OUT NOW! Packed full of beautiful and diverse images, daily liturgical calendar, major anniversaries and...
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Homage to the King of kings, the Bonnie Prince.
The holy image of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, set in Scotland, under the title of The Bonnie Prince. Our Lo...
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...
Something to lift your spirits!
Perhaps many of you have already heard about this, but it has only just come to my attention. Back on the 24th of September, extracts of ...
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...
Fr Yousef Marie in Sydney
Last Sunday Fr Yousef Marie, F.SS.R. celebrated Holy Mass in the Church of the Fraternity of Saint Peter in Lewisham, Sydney Australia . ...
Papa Stronsay makes the news
UPDATE : The new international version of this video is now available below. On the day of our most recent professions , STV (Scottish ...
New Personal Parish
On the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (F.S.S.P.) had their church of the Maternal Heart of Mary...
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