The LMS Annual Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady

            SUNDAY 7th AUGUST 2011

The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Taper

           North Road, Cardigan, SA43 1LT

PROGRAMME:

                     12 noon: The Angelus followed by one hour with Our

                                    Lady of the Taper, Rosary & Traditional Hymns

                     1pm:        Lunch (please bring your own)

                      2.30pm:  Confessions

                      3pm:       Sung Votive Mass of Our Lady

                      4pm:       Tea and refreshments followed by

                                     BENEDICTION

Please do all you can to support this important national pilgrimage and pay homage to Our Lady

Our Lady of the Taper, pray for Wales

Our Lady of the Taper, pray for us!

"A funny thing happened to me on the way to Church today".....

How does your priest start the Mass? Is it along the lines of "Good morning everybody"
I believe that has become a bit passe these days - you see I do not attend Novus Ordo Masses so I am not too sure of my ground here but what I do know is that it is becoming increasingly commonplace for a priest to give a little chatty greeting and, all too often, to keep up a witty banter throughout proceedings.

"Good morning Father"

Recently I heard of a priest who made a wisecrack just before placing the host on a person's tongue - and, horror of horrors it was at an Extraordinary Form Mass! What can I say except that the priest in question is very, very new to the EF Mass and may be carrying some of his OF habits with him. I hope he will soon appreciate what the EF Mass (and the OF for that matter) is really about.

Some years ago just before we withdrew our children from the liturgical banalities they were being subject to they reported that, at their convent school Mass, the celebrant had asked (at the Consecration elevation) if anyone knew the test match cricket score. They never attended another Convent School Mass.

What has drawn my attention to this new(ish) custom is an article by a Daily Telegraph journalist, Michael Deacon - "A priest's true calling is to be a game show host, folks". He recently attended a wedding of friends (I'm assuming it was C of E but I could be wrong) where the priest constantly told little jokes throughout the service - how very droll! My recent post on the era of the 'ton up vicar' obviously needs updating; today we have the Bob Hope or the Tommy Cooper priest; it's only a question of time before we have the Consecration presented as a class conjuring trick (they probably already do this in Austria).

The thing that I find so very hard to understand is: don't they know that they are committing a sacrilege? What pleasure do they derive from making such mindless and unfunny cracks?

Sadly, they often seem to carry the congregation with them; the chap that related the host incident to me (also very new to the EF Mass and its solemnity) thought that it was screamingly funny and looked at me as if I was stark raving mad when I poured cold water over his mirth.

If cretinous ignorance is not at the heart of these asides it has, of course, got to be something a little more dark and sinister that is encouraging this trend.

That, also, would not surprise me in the least.

But the laity are complicit in all of this; the good old uncomplaining British man/woman in the pew sits back and does nothing. It only requires one or two people to have a discreet word in the priest's ear and, if that doesn't work, then a charitably worded letter to his Bishop.

And if that doesn't work, go to the SSPX!

Trouble is, it is so long since they have seen their reflection in a mirror they have forgotten just what manner of a Catholic they should be.

A new addition to my blog list

Those bloggers who feature on my blog list are all excellent; I only place blogs on the list that are good and true to the Catholic Faith.

I do not normally highlight any one particular blog but today I am making an exception. Mundabor's Blog is, in my opinion, one of the very best in terms of dry humour, traditional clarity and topicality.

So there. Please visit Mundabor...he is Italian...but not in the Berlusconi mould!

Christopher Dawson on the early Bishops

Described as "the greatest English speaking Catholic historian of the twentieth century" Dawson was greatly influenced in his writings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

One of our finest 20th Century
historians - Christopher Dawson

Converting to the Catholic Church in 1914 he wrote many books including; Medieval Religion and other Essays, The Age of Gods, Christianity and the New Age and many more besides.

Below is an extract from his essay on the early Bishops and he paints a picture that, I guess, many priests and laity would wish to see in their Diocese today.
A dynamic Bishop, unafraid to take on the power of the State, defender of the poor; a spiritual leader as well as a secular one.
Where did we go wrong?
The number of Bishops who today would match up to the profile described by Christopher Dawson is pitifully few; in England and Wales they are as rare as hen's teeth, America has a sprinkling of them, one in Kazakhstan and thankfully, a few are movers and shakers in Rome. I wish they would move and shake a bit more!

With Athanasius as a Christian name
you would expect this man to be a
mover and shaker -
Bishop Schneider of Kazakhstan

This is an extract from Dawson's writings on the early Bishops...........

"The Christian Bishop was, in fact, the dominant figure in the life of the time. His position was something entirely new, for which no precedent can be found in the old religion of the city-state or in the priesthoods of the oriental mystery religions.
Not only did he possess enormous prestige as the head of the Catholic Church, but he was the leader of the people in social matters also. 
He occupied the position of a popular tribune, whose duty it was to defend the poor and the oppressed and to see that the strong did not abuse their power.
He alone stood between the people and the oppression of the bureaucracy.

He was not afraid to withstand an unjust law or to excommunicate an oppressive governor, and the life and correspondence of St Ambrose or St Basil or Synesius or St Augustine himself shows how frequently a Bishop was called upon to intervene between the government and the people, and how fearlessly he performed his duty.

On one occasion it is recorded that the praetorian prefect was so offended by St Basil's freedom of speech that he declared that he had never in his life been spoken to in such a manner.
"No doubt", replied St Basil wittily, "you have never met a Bishop".....

The Church was also taking the place of the State as the organiser of charity and of the support of the poor. Every church had its matriculum or list of persons in receipt of regular relief, and enormous sums were spent in every kind of charitable work. All over the Empire, hospitals, orphanages and hostels for travellers were being built and endowed: so that the basilica was often the centre of a whole quarter which lived by and for the Church.

Thus the Church stands out in this dark age as the one hope of humanity both spiritually and materially. It saved the individual from being entirely crushed under the pressure of the servile State, and it opened to him a new world of social and spiritual activity in which the free personality had room to develop itself.
Hence, when the final collapse of the imperial government in the West took place, the Bishop remained the natural leader of the Roman population.
He was the representative of the old secular culture as well as of the new spiritual society, and it was through him, above all, that the continuity of Western civilisation was preserved"

Every word of Dawson's appraisal is a gem to be treasured; every sentiment expressed gives cause to regret that we have so few leaders today about whom it could be said that they played a part in ensuring the continuity of Western civilisation or that they would fearlessly stand up to the State.

Christopher Dawson was born in 1889 and, after his conversion he wrote extensively on the Medieval Church and the development of civilisation from those roots (a somewhat unpopular view in Protestant circles that would have one believe that all Catholics sprang out of a heitage of superstition and blind ignorance).
From 1958-1962 he was Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University.
He died in 1970 - RIP

May the Soul of Bishop Michael Evans Rest in Peace...

It could be you! So don't get cremated...

...and let us hope for the sake of Holy Mother Church that he is not canonised, because, from what I hear, relics of him will be hard to come by.

I really hope he wasn't a Saint. St Francis of Assisi asked to be buried on a rubbish dump because of his great humility and overwhelming conviction of his own unworthiness before God. Taking his opinions into consideration, the Franciscans decided to build a Basillica over his tomb instead.

This sounds a little different, however. The Bishop's decision flies in the face of the Church's tradition. It is extraordinary, if you'll excuse the pun, quite unique, and I find it rather odd that even from the grave, a Bishop should teach something that isn't really analagous with the tradition of the Church. While I had not really heard much about the life of this Shepherd, I am sure he still has many admirers. I hear that he was, for instance, a very loyal defender of human life from conception to natural death. His decision is mysterious and we can't know why he would decide to be cremated, but I find it a little bewildering why a Bishop should teach us from the grave something that goes against our Holy Tradition.

For us, there is something sacred about the body because all Catholics, whether they were great sinners or inspiring Saints, both have been touched by the Divine, by Baptism, by Confirmation, by the Holy Eucharist, by the Sacrament of the Sick and Confession. These things matter. Our Bishops and Priests and even laymen may not be 1st century martyrs, but neither are they pagans. All of our lives, as Catholics, are touched by God, Who breathed His spirit into us and adopted us as His children by virtue of our Baptism. The Church has left us, apparently, with cremation as an option, but, much like the issue of communion standing and in the hand, it is an option.

The Church has left us also with a tradition of what the preferred option - the norm, if you like - really is. Communion in the tongue, kneeling, teaches the reality of Christian belief in the Real Presence. Burial teaches us the reality of Christian Death, in the hope of the Resurrection. Christ was buried and Priests and Bishops are indeed conferred with a special Grace upon their ordination to be Alter Christus. I don't know whether the decision by the Bishop was out of a sense of unworthiness or humility, but I do think that he may have misunderstood the huge, unfathomable dignity and greatness of his Office.

I remember going to Westminster Cathedral recently and being shown around the crypt and touching the tombs of Cardinals Wiseman and Manning. I know very little about their lives. All I know is that they were popular, still popular Cardinals and here their bodies reposed, but to be so close to their remains was special because of their Office and our shared communion with them. Obviously, I know they are both in Heaven because Cardinal Manning said to me, "I don't like how they do things here nowadays."

The Holy Father continues to present us with the Church's norm - Holy Church's preference for us - more so now in times of confusion, scandal and neglect of those mysteries which the Faithful have held as most sacred for generations.  I cannot imagine any Successor of St Peter asking to be burned and Christ Himself has in all things shown us an example for follow, even in His Death and His Burial, but then, this is England and Wales and we do things differently here...right?  Are we going to get to a stage where we have a new Catechism for England and Wales which is different to the Church's Universal one? Do our Bishops see Rome as a "foreign power"? I could go on, but I won't. May the Soul of Bishop Michael Evans and all the Faithful departed rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon them.

I don't go to Mass - does that mean I'll go to hell?

I wish I had a pint of Reverend James bitter for every time that a friend or relative has said that to me. It is uttered more as a provocative challenge than a genuine question.
It would satisfy their sense of defiance to be told: "Of course you'll b****y well go to hell you omadhaun" but, of course, none of us are able to fathom the extent of God's forgiveness and so it is not reasonable to present a response in that manner.

However, the catechism is unequivocal in stating that, a) missing Mass deliberately on a Sunday is a mortal sin and b) anyone in a state of mortal sin will consign themselves to hell. Therefore, if you defy the teachings of Christ and commit a mortal sin you are like one of the millions of snowflakes that are destined to everlasting agonies, as witnessed by St Theresa of Avila.

We know, do we not, that it is legitimate to hate sin because it breaks our link to Almighty God and also to hate it because it has the capacity to send us to eternal fire. Of the two the former is by far the better stance to take but, I have to admit that fear of hell and Satan have always held a particular horror for me and, as a result, I have always opted to endeavour to avoid sin in order to avoid hell, most unsuccessfully I hasten to add.
This is not the best route to take; love of Christ should be our main thrust but..... human frailty and all that.

The choice has been crystal clear to me since I was a small child and I really cannot understand Catholics (CINOs) who apparently cannot see the outcome to 'no Mass on Sundays'.
Try hard to behave and to keep God's law and you may make it to Heaven where we shall no longer experience the fears and sorrows of earth but will be happy beyond our wildest imaginations or......break God's laws and suffer the endless and hideous torments of hell that are so awful they are beyond description (although many of the saints and those who have witnessed visions of Our Lady have captured the essence of that nightmare place pretty well).
Here is Sister Lucia's terrifying account of her own vision as permitted by Our Lady:

"The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals".

Hmm.....I know which road I shall be continuing down; after all, it seems such a piddling price to pay....go to Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation, love God and love your neighbour and you get your stay out of jail card!

Remember too the words of Our Lady of Fatima after she had shown the vision of hell to Sr Lucia.....

To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved. Do not tell this to anybody. Francisco, yes, you may tell him.

‘When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need.’

Rest in Peace

The man who broke the phone-hacking scandal that today wiped $1 billion off shares in News International, bringing the owner of a huge multinational corporation, senior Government figures, senior police officers, and even the prime minister himself into disrepute was today found dead at his home.

Reports have omitted to mention who found him dead. The neighbour who who knew Mr Hoare 'did not seem himself ' in the weeks running up to his death did not wish to be named. Police say the death is as yet unexplained but it is not being treated as suspcicious. "Move along here, now ladies and gentlemen. There is nothing to see, here." May his soul rest in peace.