There will be a slight change to the Mass time for the October Mass, it will be 30 minutes later at Noon. This is because Canon Doyle is celebrating Mass at HMP Berwyn earlier that morning and he needs time to get back to Buckley.
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The Feast honouring St. Michael the Archangel on the 29th September commemorates the dedication of the Roman church on the Salerian Way in Rome by Pope Boniface II in 530. The Mass of the XVIII Sunday After Pentecost was used for the dedication. St. Michael fought the fallen angels who followed Lucifer, expelled them to hell, but St. Michael continues to fight against Satan, and the prayer at the end of Low Mass asks for his assistance. St. Michael is the Angel near the Altar of God in Heaven, seen by St. John, with the golden censer fragrant with the prayers of the Saints. St. Michael is mentioned in the Confietor, and is the Angel who protects the Holy Catholic Church. The XVI Sunday After Pentecost is commemorated in the Mass. The hymn from the Breviarium Romanum at Matins for the feast is quite beautiful:
Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated tomorrow at St Winefride's, Holywell at 1130am Today our Holy Mother, the Church, presents to us the miracle of Jesus raising the widow's son to life. Nothing happens by accident. Jesus arrived at the gate of the city, just as the young man was being carried out. It was not an accident that Jesus crossed paths with the funeral procession at that very time. There is a very important lesson for us, if we will only open our hearts and minds to see. The dead are carried out of the city by their friends. The Venerable Bede suggests to us that there are several gates to our bodies, by which our dead souls are carried away. These gates are the various senses.
Just as the dead man was carried out of the city through the gates, so too our souls (dead in sin) are carried out through our senses. The gate of our mouths carry many dead souls out. Many blasphemies, slanders, calumnies, lies, detractions, etc. are committed through the gift of speech. We must, therefore, put a guard at this gate, lest we are carried away spiritually dead through this gate. The gift of hearing is another gate to our city. It is through this gate that we listen to evil and invite it into our hearts, and likewise are carried out dead in sin. The gift of sight is yet another gate to our cities; and through the sins of sight — looking and lusting — many are struck dead and carried out in sin. So it is with each and everyone of our senses, they are gates through which we are carried out dead in sin. These wondrous gifts of God, are as a two edged sword. With our senses, we are able to give honor, glory, and praise to God; or we are able to destroy our souls. It is by them that we live, and it is by them that we die. We should frequently remind ourselves of the power of these gates to our souls. By them, we can be carried away in death, or we can open them up to receive and welcome Jesus — and life. The dead man carried out today, did not provoke the compassion of Jesus; rather, it was the mother of the dead man that Jesus had mercy upon. The soul dead in sin does not deserve the mercies of God; but, God does take pity upon the mother of the sinner. We, as members of the Catholic Church know that the Church is our Mother. It is the tears of the Church that obtains for us the mercy of God and gives us another chance. Those who do not have the Church for their Mother, have no reason to hope to be restored to supernatural life, after they have fallen into mortal sin. It is only in our holy Mother the Church that we find the seven sacraments: to feed our souls, nurture and strengthen them, as well as restore them to life, if we have the misfortune to commit spiritual suicide. If we go to Her in our spiritual illnesses, and even in our spiritual death; She is able to obtain the mercies of God and return us to life or health; because God takes compassion upon the Mother who has lost her child. He hears the prayers of the Church on our behalf. We in sin are not able to even pray or petition for the mercies of God without the help of the Church and the graces which we obtain through Her. Even those who are outside the Church become beneficiaries of Her motherly affections. She prays for those who have fallen away from Her, and those who have never known Her, so that the Will of God may be fulfilled. There are many others who must be united with the flock of God, so that they may all be one. She prays daily for the conversion of sinners, for the heretics, schismatics, apostates, pagans and infidels. They are all invited to come under Her wing and be given eternal life through Her motherly intercession. She weeps with Christ over the stubbornness and loss of so many souls who refuse the graces of God, and choose to remain in the death of sin. May we always remember to keep a guard at every gate to the city of our souls to not allow sin and death to enter in and carry us away. We should open the gates to Jesus and allow Him to enter in and impart eternal life to us. When we have had the misfortune to fall into sin — even deadly sin — let us not hesitate to present ourselves to the Church as our Mother, so that She may weep over our loss and obtain the mercy of God. Then He will return us to Her once again spiritually alive in God's grace. It was a great pleasure to be in London at Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane with countless many others on the occasion of His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke celebrating a Pontifical Low Mass on the feast of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop last evening. Following a most Holy Mass, we were pleased to have the Cardinal present for a private dinner hosted by the Society. The official photographs, taken by John Aron for the Society can be viewed here. The homily preached by His Eminence can be read here. Today’s sacred liturgy shows the utter incompatibility of serving two masters at the same time.
We must serve either the spirit or the flesh (Epistle), God or mammon (Gospel). The Introit describes the “longing” of man who finds his only true happiness in God. The Prayer speaks of the human and the Divine in the Church, God’s own society, destined nevertheless for eternal victory. In the Epistle is a vivid account of the struggle between the “spirit” on one hand, reborn in Baptism, enlightened by faith, sanctified by grace; and the “flesh” on the other, with its evil passions of the body, idolatrous outrages against God, crimes against one’s neighbour. The Gradual pictures the reward of those who put their trust in the Providence of the Creator rather than in the fickleness of creatures or created things. The Gospel should be read and re-read as the antidote to twentieth century experience. After warning us against inordinate anxiety for worldly things, Jesus gives us an inspiring picture of God’s Providence. The keynote to earthly peace and sufficiency is contained in the Communion. Commemorated at Mass (Low Mass) is Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the BVM memorialising Our Holy Mother Mary standing at the foot of the Cross which suffering gained her the palm of martyrdom. This Feast was formerly celebrated on III Sunday of September but was transferred by St. Pius X in 1912 to the Octave Day of the Nativity of the BVM. In the Mass of the Blessed Mother St. Nicomedes, Roman martyr, is honoured. Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated at St Francis of Assisi Church, Llay near Wrexham at 1230pm tomorrow (8th September 2019) 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 baptized 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? We are like the leper as we come this Sunday to celebrate the Mass wherein we have the true Presence of Our Lord on the altar, and He heals us of the leprosy of sin. The sad side of the Gospel story concerns the 9 who did not return to thank Jesus and were regarded as ungrateful. They are like the lukewarm Catholics who were baptized and made spotless Children of God who now reject the teachings of Our Lord and practice birth control, even polygamy, while subjecting the Mass and Sacraments, the Holy Father and clergy to scorn. 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. In our own times, this psalm should have particular meaning for the Mystical Body of Christ is under severe siege at present, especially with such liberal attitudes prevailing inside the Church whose objective is to defame the teachings of Our Lord and the traditions of the church. Martyrs from the beginning of the Church died for purity and the Faith! Now there are movements permeating the highest realms of the Church promoting depravity and evil whose goal is to smear Our Lord Jesus with foul anti-doctrines. The Offertory is especially apt 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. The II Class Feast of the Nativity of the BVM is commemorated in the Mass today. Our Lady really is “cause of our joy.” |
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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