As regular as clockwork, a monthly copy of the 'Fraternity Newsletter' arrives from the United States courtesy of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, (the FSSP - Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri).

Bells were first used in Campania in Italy; large bells are called campanae. It is clear in the Rite of Consecration of Bells that they are meant to serve many purposes: that the faithful may be cheered on to their reward; that the devotion of faith may be increased in them; that the fruits of the field and the minds and bodies of the parishioners may be defended; that the hostile legions and all the snares of the Enemy may be repulsed; that the violence of storms may be restrained; that the spirits of the storm and the powers of the air may be restrained; that sinners might find refuge in Holy Mother Church.

The bells signify the silver trumpets by which people of the Old Law were called to the sacrifice. They also signify the priest preaching. The Lord commanded Moses to make a vestment for the high priest and ordered seventy-two bells to sound when the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies (Ex. 28:35). This sounding of the bell exhorts the faithful to pay attention to the preacher. But the cavity of the bell reminds the preacher of humility and of the warning of St. Paul: "I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling symbol" (1 Cor. 13:1).

The hardness of the metal signifies the fortitude that should be in the mind of the preacher; "Behold I have made thy face strong against their faces" (Ez. 3:8).

The clapper that strikes the two sides of the bell is the tongue of the preacher, who should preach from both the Old and New Testaments. A bishop who cannot preach is like a bell without a clapper. St. Gregory the Great calls him a dog that cannot bark!

The striking of the bell signifies the striking of vices in the preacher, and because the word of God is a two-edged sword, the sermon is first for the correction of the preacher ("lest having preached to others, he himself should be a castaway" [cf. 1 Cor. 9:27]) and, second, for the correction of the faithful.

The link by which the clapper is joined is moderation, by which the tongue of the preacher should be ruled.

The wood of the frame on which the bell is fastened stands for the wood of the Cross, lifted high. The rope to pull the bell comes from this wood, which reminds the preacher that he must preach Christ and Him crucified (cf. 1 Cor. 1:23). A rope is usually composed of three strands, so preaching should comprise morality, allegory, and history. The rope goes high and low when it is rung, for sometimes the preacher should speak of lofty things, and at other times of simple things, as St. Paul said: "Whether we exalt ourselves it is for God, or whether we humble ourselves it is for you." (2 Cor. 5:13) When the priest pulls the rope downward, he descends from contemplation to the active life. But when, holding on to the rope, he is drawn upward, he is raised in contemplation.

In a Catholic culture, the bells were usually rung twelve times a day, since the day is canonically divided into two parts of twelve hours each. These correspond to the Divine Office. This scheme of ringing the bells was meant to sound the death knell of the Passion and death of Christ.

At Matins and Lauds (6am) He is arrested and bound. At Prime (8am) He is reviled. At Terce (9am, the third canonical hour) He is condemned to death. At Sext (Noon, the sixth canonical hour) He is nailed to the Cross. At None (3pm, the ninth canonical hour; notice the connection here with the Hour of Divine Mercy) His side is pierced. At Vespers (6pm) He is taken down from the Cross, and at Compline (9pm) He is laid to rest. The bells can also be rung three times a day at the hours of the Angelus at 6am, Noon and 6pm in honour of the Incarnation and of the Holy Trinity.

There was quite a science to the ringing of bells. In English the words ringing, tolling, knelling, chiming, and chanting all refer to different ways of sounding the bells. This art has largely been lost, and I pray that someday it will return.

Bells were also rung when someone was dying, so that the parish would know to pray for the person. This was called the Passing Bell. Bells were rung for processions so that evil spirits might hear and flee, as a tyrant hearing the trumpets of the king coming to depose him would flee in fear.

Bells were silent in case of an interdict (an ecclesiastical punishment for a congregation or a town): "I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, for they are a rebellious house" (Ez. 3:26). This was considered a severe punishment.

A short meditation on the Mass of XIV Sunday after Pentecost:

We find the central thought of today’s Mass synthesized in the Collect: “O Lord…. Because the frailty of man without Thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation.” Behold the position of man in respect to the spiritual life: he is like a child who finds himself at a crossroad: he cannot go on alone, and he does not know which road leads to his home. Two roads open up before the Christian: one leads to the kingdom of the spirit, the kingdom of God; the other ones to the kingdom of the flesh, the kingdom of Mammon; which of the two will you choose? Evidently, He wishes to give the preference to the one leading to the kingdom of God, the calm, peaceful kingdom described by Jesus in today’s Gospel (Mt 6,24-33). Unfortunately, however, the kingdom of mammon also has attractions and tries to seduce the heart. The Epistle (Gal 5,16-24) tells us that we must struggle against these allurements. “For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another, so that you do not the things that you would.”

The struggle is hard sometimes, even in souls that are decidedly advanced in the things of God. Why? Because the path that leads to the kingdom of God is rough and tiring; It is often shrouded in dense darkness, rendering it impossible for the soul to discern the progress already made. Then the soul must proceed in the night, believing and hoping.  Meanwhile, its gaze falls on the other road, which is broader and more comfortable, strewn with sensible goods which can be seen and touched, gathered and enjoyed immediately, but merely stretching out one’s hand.  The soul feels the temptation and realizes that alone it could not resist, but if it takes refuge in God, if it yields to the guidance of the Spirit, it will be saved, although not without sacrifice. “I say then, walk in the spirit,” continues St. Paul, “and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh… Now the works of the flesh are manifest….” And the Apostle gives a very unattractive list of them.  It is always true: material goods present themselves like flowers, attractive, yes, but doomed to quickly vanish and decay: it is not worthwhile to stop to enjoy them. That is why “they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with its vices and concupiscences.”

Of your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Imelda Lloyd, who passed away this morning after illness.

Imelda was a regular at Extraordinary Form Masses in Wrexham, particularly the Saturday Mass now celebrated at Our Lady of the Rosary, Buckley and prior to that at Sacred Heart, Hawarden and St Anthony of Padua, Saltney.

She remained loyal to this Mass even when the Dome of Home re-opened and the journey from Birkenhead to New Brighton would have been far easier an option than that to North Wales. She was a long standing member of the Latin Mass Society.

REQUIEM æternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

Pope Francis yesterday chalked up his 100th General Audience in St Peter's Square, more than 10,000 pilgrims were there to see the Holy Father deliver his weekly catechesis.

At the same time the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announced a total of 3.1 million people attended the Pope's first 100 general audiences.

10,000 is a fairly typical audience size for these audiences according to the Vatican,

However, the statistics show less people are now attending that they did when the Pope became the Successor of Peter.

In 2013, more than 1.5 million pilgrims came to 30 audiences, an average of 51,617 people per week.

Last year, 2014 and the first full year of the pontificate, about 1.2 million pilgrims saw the Pope at 43 different general audiences. An average of 27,883 per audience.

This year, some 400,000 people have also been present at the 27 events that have so far taken place in Rome. An average of 14,818 per audience.

The Vatican does forecast an upturn however. When the Jubilee Year of Mercy, was announced, it was estimated that 33 million pilgrims would visit Rome to take part in the special celebrations, with many of them using the audience as a means of hearing catechesis.

Father John Zuhlsdorf says on this blog, wdtprs.com, that St Peter's Square is emptier and emptier. He maintains it is not because of the general secularization and he further suggests that as Romans aren’t attending either it is not down to the 'economic slump'.

The Canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest will come together tomorrow (Monday 24th August) and for the next week as they participate in their General Chapter at their mother house in Gricigliano, near Florence.

The term general chapter designates a general assembly, usually of representatives from all of the houses or monasteries of an order or congregation.

The scene is so correctly set by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost through the Chant of the Veni Creator Spiritus. 

The week of conferences and meetings with the Institute's Founder and Prior General, Monsignor Gilles Wach are an opportunity for the priests of the Institute to discuss various affairs concerning their growing number of missions in many countries across the world in a spirit of fraternal charity.

Priests will also learn of their assignment for the next 12 months.

Under the guidance of the Immaculate Conception, St Benedict, St Thomas Aquinas and St Francis de Sales, please add your prayers to mine for the continued success of the Institute and the 2015 General Chapter.

The Mass this Sunday, XIII after Pentecost, is a combination of joy and seriousness.

The Gospel relates the story of the 10 lepers cured by Our Lord. So to speak they represent the baptised of the church, cleansed as it were of the leprosy of Original Sin. The Holy Eucharist is portrayed in the one leper who returned to thank Christ - for what does “Eucharist” mean but giving thanks?

The sad side of the Gospel story concerns the 9 who did not return to thank Jesus and were regarded as ungrateful. Perhaps the parallel here is that the 9 are akin to those who choose a different path in that they are ungrateful and reject Our Lord.

The Gospel is then linked to Psalm 73, the Introit “O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end: why is Thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of Thy pasture?” It recalls Our Lord’s complaint against the 9 ungrateful.

The psalm relates how the enemies of God had penetrated the temple environs to destroy and desecrate the House of God, the Holy Temple. Once again, we can draw out that the scripture is telling us that there are many enemies of the Church and the Mystical Body of Christ.

The Offertory is especially apt in the world we live in, as we place our problems of “my times...in Thy Hands.”

The Collect entreats God to grant His children an increase of faith, hope and charity that “we may deserve to gain Thy promises.”

The Epistle reminds us of the promise made by God to Abraham and that we are saved by God’s Graces.

The Secret prepares us for the Sacrifice to come by pleading for His Mercy and requesting our prayers be answered, while the Communion is a prayer of joy for the Holy Eucharist.

In the Postcommunion we request that the Sacraments bring us to Heaven, our true home. In the Postcommunion we request that the Sacraments bring us to Heaven, our true home.

Although not commemorated in the 1962 rubrics of the Mass, today also falls the feast of St. Philip Benizi, Confessor, who joined the Servites in the XIII Century as a simple brother, later was ordained a priest, then elected head of the Order. Elected Pope, he hid himself and refused to serve in that capacity believing he had a mission to convert Italy, France and Germany. He died on the octave day of the Assumption 1285.

The International Federation Una Voce today publishes the 27th Position Paper on the Traditional Liturgy. The papers are compiled by Dr. Joseph Shaw, our Society Chairman who is also Treasurer to Una Voce.

It is on the concepts of tradition, restoration, and reform. More commentary on the paper can be read at Dr Shaw's blog here. The position paper itself can be downloaded here and all 27 papers in one consolidated file can be downloaded here.

These papers, commissioned by the International Federation Una Voce, are offered to stimulate and inform debate about the 1962 Missal among Catholics ‘attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition’, and others interested in the liturgical renewal of the Church.

Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady, Cardigan, 22nd August

A pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady in Cardigan will take place on Saturday 22nd August. 

The programme will be as shown below. 

1.30 p.m.  Missa Cantata, of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary 

Music for the Holy Mass will be as follows 

• Mass IX -  Missa Cum Jubilo
• Propers  -  Plainchant as of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• Offertory and Communion Motet

Celebrant.  Father Jason Jones.

2.30 pm - 3.15 pm.   Lunch Break.  Please bring a packed lunch.  A grocery store is adjacent which will allow lunch to be purchased if required.

3.15 pm  Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

All are welcome to this pilgrimage.  More information the shrine can be viewed here.
 
For further enquiries about the pilgrimage, please contact the LMS local representative for Menevia, [email protected]

Should anyone wish to attend, there will be an anniversary Mass for Father Hugh Thwaites S.J. at Ss Peter & Paul and St Philomena, New Brighton tomorrow at 7pm (21st August).

Father Thwaites converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism following his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese during the Second World War and later became a Jesuit priest. I only learned today that he had served in the Diocese of Wrexham for a short period at Dolgellau.

He was a strong supporter of the Extraordinary Form Mass and the Legion of Mary, and he linked the abandonment of the rosary with a loss of faith, writing: “If we want in any way to be like Jesus, we must do what His Mother asks. If we do not, can we expect things to go right? We cannot with impunity disobey the Mother of God.”

Prior Mark Kirby of Silversteam in Éire was our celebrant at the recent pilgrimage to Wrexham Cathedral and he has written to me today with great news from the Priory located in County Meath as follows ....

After the short Summer recess, more then adequately covered by the our friends from the Summer School, the fourth Sunday Mass at St Winefride's, Holywell resumes next Sunday.

The Mass of this Sunday recalls the great Commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and thy neighbour as thyself.”

The Jews of the time loved only other members of their race. Yet, the teachings of Christ emphasize that we must not only love our friends and family but our enemies! Without knowledge of the teachings of Jesus, how could we know that God required such a feat? St. Paul reminds us that, with regard to God’s Law, “The letter kills, but the spirit quickens.” (Epistle).

Thus, we should not pattern ourselves after those in our society who claim to be Christians but are filled with hate toward others with whom they disagree who are their enemies. In humility we should bring our “sacrifices, which we lay upon Thine altar; that they may obtain pardon for our sins.” (Penance and Holy Eucharist).

On Sunday falls the Feast of St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is commemorated in the Mass and at Lauds in the Breviary.

On November 1, 1950 Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption to be a dogma of the Catholic Church, that “...the Immaculate Mother of God, at the close of her earthly career, was taken up into
heaven, body and soul.”

New propers for the Mass were introduced at the same time which place emphasis on the continuity of the Immaculate Conception, her Divine Maternity and the Assumption. The Mass sees the  glorified Virgin as the Woman clothed with the sun (Introit), in the King’s daughter clothed in golden robes (Gradual), in the Woman who, with her Son, will be victorious over the serpent (Offertory). The Mass applies to her the praise given to Judith (Epistle); it recognizes in Mary’s Assumption the fulfilling of her own prophecy in the Magnificat (Gospel).

The Prayer asks that after Mary’s example, we may long for heaven (Collect and Secret), obtain the glorious resurrection (Postcommunion) and enjoy ever lasting happiness (Collect).

For Traditional Catholics the feast of the Assumption is this Saturday and it ranks as a day of obligation. There is scope to transfer the feast to the Sunday (which is routine in the Novus Ordo).

I have explained the transferal of days of obligation in the past - the exact wording in the Ordo notes issued in the Province of Wales yearbook reads thus:

The Holydays of Obligation for England and Wales are: every Sunday, Christmas Day, St Peter & St  Paul (29  June),  the  Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August), and All Saints (1 November). With the exception of Christmas Day, any Holyday of Obligation falling on either a Saturday or a Monday is  transferred to  the Sunday. Since Advent 2006,  three Solemnities have been permanently transferred to Sundays, namely: the Epiphany of  the Lord,  the Ascension of the Lord, and the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi).

Where Mass is celebrated in the Extraordinary Form according to the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, a different calendar applies ....

.... The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales submitted a dubium to the  Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei which confirmed that in the Roman Rite, whichever Form of the liturgy is being celebrated, the Holydays of Obligation are held in common, on the date prescribed for the Ordinary Form.  Where the obligation has  been removed and the Holyday transferred to the Sunday, this is to be followed in both Ordinary and Extraordinary celebrations of Mass.

However .........

A further dubium submitted by the Latin Mass Society (N107/97 20 October 2008) clarified that where the Extraordinary Form is being followed, it is proper to also celebrate the Mass and Divine Office of these solemnities on the traditional dates indicated in the 1962 calendar, though there would be no  obligation on the faithful to attend Mass on such days.

All that said, sadly we don't have any Masses in the Old Rite in Wrexham Diocese for this most beautiful feast!

However, locally and within reasonable traveling distance you may wish to avail yourself of one the following celebrations:

Diocese of Shrewsbury

Low Mass at 10am
Ss Peter & Paul and St Philomena,
Atherton Street, NEW BRIGHTON, Wallasey CH45 9LT

Diocese of Salford

Low Mass at 10am
English Martyrs,
Alexandra Road South, Whalley Range, MANCHESTER, M16 8QT

Archdiocese of Liverpool

Sung Mass at Noon
St Catherine Labouré,
Stanifield Lane, Farington, LEYLAND, PR25 4QG

Low Mass at 9.10am
St Joseph,
Bolton Road, ANDERTON PR6 9NA

Low Mass at 9.00am
Holy Cross,
Corporation Street, ST HELENS WA10 1EF