This coming week is the ordination week for the non-US seminarians of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The American ordinations take place in St Louis, Missouri next month including Deacon Francis Altiere, who has spent a year at New Brighton, Wirral. Could I ask you to pray for these young men at this very special time? And he said to them: The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send labourers into his harvest. [Luke 10:2] O, Jesus eternal High Priest, divine Offerer of Sacrifice, Who, in an incomparable transport of love for men, Thy brethren, didst allow the Christian priesthood to issue from Thy Sacred Heart, deign to continue to pour out on Thy priests the life-giving streams of Infinite Love.
Live Thou in them, transform them into Thyself; render them by Thy grace the Instrument of Thy mercies; act in them and through them, and grant, that, having been completely clothed with Thee by the faithful imitation of Thy adorable virtues, they may perform in Thy name and by the strength of Thy Spirit, the works Thou Thyself hast accomplished for the salvation of the world. Divine Redeemer of souls, see how great is the multitude of those who still sleep in the darkness of error; count the number of those unfaithful sheep that are walking on the edge of the eternal abyss; consider the crowds of the poor, the hungry, the ignorant and the weak, who are groaning in their state of abandonment. Return to us by Thy priests, live again in very truth in them; act through them and pass again through the world teaching, pardoning, consoling, offering sacrifice, renewing the sacred bonds of love between the Heart of God and the hearts of men. Amen. Prayers for Priests I (Pius X, March 3, 1905. Raccolta 1937) For anyone who might be able to get to Leyland, there will be a High Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart this Friday (27th June) at 7.30pm (note this is 30 minutes later than the original time). Father Simon Henry explains that some visiting priests to St Catherine Labouré act as celebrant, deacon and sub deacon. A visiting Schola will sing the Mass and buffet supper plus "a glass of something celebratory" follow. The full postal address is St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Farington, Leyland, PR25 4QG A couple of people who are wishing to attend the Holywell Pilgrimage in just 2 weeks time, and who require a little help with transport. Firstly, someone is on the lookout for a lift from Ss Peter, Paul and Philomena at New Brighton, Wirral to Holywell and return. Secondly, one of our servers, who can reach Holywell without a problem is seeking a lift to the Porthmadog/Gellilydan area after the Mass has ended. If you can help with either, please e-mail me. Just like last year, the June Mass at St Winefride's, Holywell will be on the 5th Sunday and not the 4th Sunday. This falls on Sunday 29th June which is the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul. Mass will be at 11.30am Of course, a week later the LMS National Pilgrimage to Holywell will also take place at 2.30pm. As a consequence, there will not be a 4th Sunday Mass at St Winefride's in July. However, we are able to attend the St Catherine's Trust Summer School Mass which will take place rather providentially on the 27th July, (which is the 4th Sunday) just up then road at Pantasaph Retreat Centre. This Mass is scheduled to start at 5.40pm. Confused? Take a look at the Mass Times page here for a comprehensive list of Masses in the Diocese in the next few months. It is almost universally known that a nun, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, was the instrument chosen by God for the establishment of the feast of the Sacred Heart. What is scarcely known is that another nun, Blessed Juliana of Mount Comillon, was the means selected by Divine Providence for instituting the feast of Corpus Christi. Born near Liege, Belgium in 1192 and orphaned by the age of five, Juliana was raised under the care of the Augustinian nuns at Mount Cornillon where she developed an intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. According to Butler's Lives of the Saints as revised by Father Herbert Thurston, S.J. and Donald Attwater, "from the time when she was about sixteen she was haunted day and night by the appearance of a bright moon streaked with a dark band. Occasionally she feared lest it might be a device of the devil to distract her from prayer, but usually she felt convinced that it had some deep supernatural meaning if only she could grasp it. At last she had a dream or vision in which our Lord explained that the moon was the Christian year with its round of festivals and that the black band denoted the absence of the one holy day required to complete the cycle-a feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament." (Vol. II, p.37) Juliana became a nun at Mount Cornillon and in 1225 was elected prioress. She then began to speak about what she felt was her mission to two women, a recluse now known as Blessed Eva and Isabel of Huy, a saintly woman whom Juliana received into her community. Encouraged by these two, she opened her heart to John of Lausanne, a canon of St. Martin's, and asked him to consult theologians about the propriety of such a feast. Since there was no objection, Bishop Robert of Liegeordered in 1246 that the feast be celebrated in his diocese the following year. The bishop died, however, before his order could be executed and after his death, Juliana, now persecuted as a false visionary, was forced to leave her monastery. Dogged by misfortune, she lived as an exile in poverty and sickness until her own death in 1258. Three years later Jacques Pentaleon, one of the theologians who had earlier been consulted about the propriety of the feast of Corpus Christi, was elected pope and took the name Urban IV. It was then that Juliana's good friend, the Blessed Eva, through the bishop of Liege begged the Sovereign Pontiff to extend the feast of Corpus Christi to the universal Church. By the papal bull "Transiturus," issued in 1264, Urban IV decreed that the feast of Corpus Christi be annually celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. The death of Urban shortly after the publication of "Transiturus" impeded the spread of the feast, but almost fifty years later Clement V at the Council of Vienne once more ordered the yearly celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. Before he died Pope Urban both appointed St. Thomas Aquinas to write the Office for the new feast and approved the work submitted by the Angelic Doctor. One of the most remarkable compositions for this or any other Office is the "Pange Lingua," the hymn sung at Vespers on Corpus Christi. Comprised of six stanzas of six lines each, this hymn is sung in its entirety on Holy Thursday when the celebrant after Mass carries the Eucharist to the altar of repose. It is also sung whenever there is a Eucharistic procession. The final two stanzas are familiar to most Catholics because they are always sung during Benediction of the most Blessed Sacrament. After speaking of the sacrifice of the cross, St. Thomas says that Christ left us His body and blood to be received under the appearance of bread and wine so that we may be ever mindful of the great benefit of His redemptive death. The sermon also teaches that the whole Christ is present under each particle of bread or drop of wine and that the accidents of bread and wine do not inhere to the substance of Christ's body or the substance of Christ's blood but miraculously exist without inhering in any substance. From an article by Fr. James Buckley FSSP Director of Spirituality, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Nebraska, USA. And so the week came to an end, yes I write this short piece for the blog at end of the Octave of Pentecost and at the end of a beautiful week at Gricigliano in the Tuscan countryside of Italy. My wife and I were fortunate, thanks be to God, to have been in receipt of truly outstanding hospitality by the Priests and Seminarians of Institutum Christi Regis Summi Sacerdotis, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Well nourished in food and of course fine liturgy, we return back to the UK with a heavy heart but graceful and indeed very thankful. During the visit, we were further blessed with a visitor to the seminary, none other than Bishop Schneider, whom I met at the LMS conference just three weeks ago. He really is a gentle, Holy man defending Church teaching, Tradition and truth. Now, for those who claim that the 'bells and smells' are all that attract young men to Traditional vocations, please stand corrected! The young men I encountered do all for the glory of God, Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam - and they obviously see the pre-Council liturgy as the most fitting way to give that glory - their adherence to the traditions of the Church and the character of the Institute manifests in everything. They are disciplined; possess great humility and boast a warmth and keen interest in people. Their French is also far better than my English! Seven years of formation and study (all in French), brings together men from across the world (including Abbé Tanner from England) to prepare for Holy Orders. They have very little room here to accommodate the 80 seminarians - what a great vocations crisis to have! Of course, we already know the Institute through 'The Dome of Home' at New Brighton and their new mission in Preston, if you don't know of them, then please visit their website for more information. In any event, please pray for them, especially at this time as they undertake examinations and prepare for ordinations in Florence in July and St Louis in the US in August. S. Francisco Salesii ... ora pro nobis! S. Benedicti ... ora pro nobis! S. Thomæ de Aquino ... ora pro nobis! S. Philippi Nerii ... ora pro nobis! There are Traditional Masses on both days of this coming weekend. A Sung Mass for the Eve of Pentecost will take place at 1230pm on Saturday at Our Lady of the Rosary, Jublilee Road, Buckley, CH7 2AF Meanwhile, a Low Mass for Pentecost will take place at St Francis of Assisi, Llay Chain, Llay, LL12 0NT at 12.30pm on Sunday. I have to miss these Masses as we are away visiting the seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Gricigliano, Italy - a visit we have been looking forward to for sometime. |
Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Francisco: Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius.
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui facis mirabilia magna solus: praetende super famulos tuos, et super congregationes illis commissas, spiritum gratiae salutaris; et, ut in veritate tibi complaceant, perpetuum eis rorem tuae benedictionis infunde.
Any views expressed neither represent those of the Latin Mass Society or the Diocese of Wrexham.
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