On St. Joseph's Church in Dorking and Many Thanks to Father Tim Finegan

In June, 2006, His Hermeneutical, Father Finegan, posted this about St. Joseph's Church in Dorking, where I have attended the Triduum during the past few days. I shall find out more about the fantastic tapestry, made by a parishioner who was also a busy mother when she made this masterpiece.

from the blog The hermeneutic of continuity, June 7th, 2006. 

St Joseph's, Dorking

The Church of St Joseph's, Dorking was built by the Duchess of Norfolk and is a fine Victorian Gothic pile. The tabernacle is still firmly in the centre of the Church. On the tabernacle itself, there is the inscription "Posuisti mysterium istud in virtute Spiritus Sancti" (You have set up this mystery in the power of the Holy Spirit).
Fr Dominic Rolls asked me where it was from and although it was familiar, I had to admit being stumped. A quick string search on google reveals that it is a phrase from the Sunday section of the Prayer of St Ambrose in the prayers of the (old) Roman Missal in preparation for Mass. Shame on me! If I said them more regularly, I would not have needed to look it up.

The Lady altar has a tapestry behind the statue of our Lady which reproduces the motifs from one of the windows in Chartres Cathedral. Apparently, St Bernard had a dream in which he saw heaven but there were no Cistercians. He asked Our Lady why this was so and she opened her mantle to show the Cistercians inside it. This is reproduced at the top of the tapestry.

Oh my goodness, should I buy my own chocolate egg this year?

For the first time in my life, I did not receive chocolate for Easter. I am still in the state of shock. I bought my son a giant Kinder Egg out of nostalgia, but my family gave me, what--money! Now, I shall take chocolate gifts, but rarely buy this treat for myself, as I usually use gift presents of money to buy books, or maybe the occasional bottle of perfume. However, chocolate would not be the top of my list for purchases.

Oh my goodness, I may have to buy my own chocolate this year! But, where is my book list.....?

Perfection and Loneliness

Today, we celebrate the greatest event a human has ever encountered-the Resurrection from the Dead.

You may think this is odd, but on this Day of Days, I want to write about loneliness in the spiritual walk. For a celibate, such as a priest, brother, nun, or sister, this call to loneliness is a vow, a special relationship with Christ, in the mystery of His Passion and Death.  For the lay person, who finds himself or herself alone in the world for whatever reason, this denial of intimacy is a Cross which will lead to the Resurrection.

That loneliness is a cross, a suffering, cannot be denied. For the widow or widower, or those who experience unrequited love, this loss of the beloved is a daily pain of the heart. However, on the road to perfection, such a gift of loneliness can be transformed into the path of NADA, the nothingness, of St. John of the Cross.

Why on this day of Resurrection do I write of loneliness? Because the denial of intimacy can lead to the freedom of attachments and the all-encompassing love, which is a Person. There is no vain selfishness in loneliness. It just is. The ego is reduced to a longing unfullfilled and emptied of expectation. One's natural tendency for intimacy is reduced to ashes. There is no consolation in this world, none. Loneliness and the lack of intimacy is real death.

But out of death comes the Resurrection. Out of the denial of one's real human need comes a shoot of life. The will dies and is replaced by the Divine Will. The heart dies and is replaced by the Divine Heart. St. John writes, "How shall hinder God from doing His own will in a soul that is detached and self-annihilated?" What can compare with the Love of God, Who is God? Ultimately, one is transformed by this Love. Such is the transformation of the Resurrection. Could Love experience more Love? Could Christ be more than He is or was before the Resurrection? NO. But, He has shown us the way as He came back into His full glory, with a glorified Body, which we shall see at the end of our own days on earth. How do we explain this, as God lived in Time, as the Incarnate God? Just as God matured from being an infant to a child to a Man, so He returns to us with His Glorified Body. Such is our hope--[51] Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall not all be changed. [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible: and we shall be changed. [53] For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality. [54] And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

[56] Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Douay Rheims, Chapter 15 in 1 Corinthians

Happy Easter to All

Piero della Francesca

Perfection Series for Holy Saturday--Faith, Hope and Reason

On this day of the waiting for God to emerge from the tomb, on this quiet day of contemplation and profound Hope, a post on Faith, Hope and Reason a la the great Doctor of the Church seems appropriate. St. John of the Cross tells us that we move beyond meditation, which is based on Scripture and the imagination, as well as dependent on grace, to contemplation. Contemplation is based on the three Cardinal Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, plus Reason, one of the pillars of Faith.

Father Gabriel in his book, which I have been following for the past week on this blog, points out how St. John examines contemplation as being outside of the active imagination and even makes mediation impossible. For those who pray and are used to a life, or period of time with meditation, this leaving of it for contemplation can be disturbing. One may think one is falling back away from gained graces when in reality, the real purification of the intellect and imagination have led one away from the self into a waiting of God, and a docility of spirit which totally trusts in the Trinity. St. John writes that "The Holy Ghost enlightens the recollected understanding (that is the soul's) in proportion to its recollection; and as there can be no greater recollection of the understanding than in faith, the Holy Ghost will not enlighten it in any other way more than in that of faith. The purer the soul is in the perfection of a living faith, the greater is the infusion of charity, and the more it is possessed by it and enrich it with His gifts, since charity is the cause and the means whereby He communicates these gifts." Here, in the Ascent, St. John warns of the over-attention given to spiritual comforts or phenomena. Too many people today, especially charismatics and so-called visionaries, have been led astray, I would state, by deception and therefore, by the evil one or by their own spirits, to a kind of fascination with spiritual candy instead of the NADA. The great beauty of the stage of pure contemplation is that one must rely totally on the nothing, on detachment and on God alone.

Passivity allows grace to flourish.

What I like about this section of the Ascent, is the emphasis on reason. Too many Catholics fall away from a real relationship with God at this stage by loosing a perspective of reasonable Faith, which pulls one back into humility with regard to a relationship with the Church. Herein lies the safety net of the spiritual life. Only in a close relationship with the Church can the imperfect soul gain contemplation. Father Gabriel comments, "As faith leads the intellect to God so hope prepares the memory for the divine transformation."

Here is a rub. We must allow God to empty even our memories. Relying on God alone, detaching ourselves from all senses, the memory of those senses, and even spiritual cookies, brings one to a real reliance in Hope. As in a love relationship with a human being, wherein one hopes for love but loves anyway without expectation, so the soul seeks God alone. All earthly things fall away and a quiet joy enters the heart, the heart of Hope. For those who experience this, this is a movement of real freedom. All longing is for God alone, and not for anything material or spiritual.

Sometimes, as St. John and St. Teresa note, the soul is so taken up with God, the person may forget to eat, study, drink, or talk. Those around this type of person must be aware of his or her complete reliance on God. Of course, this person is frequently completely hidden in God. Faith, Reason, Hope finally lead to the greatest of the virtues Love, which will be in the next posting on perfection.

I used to have a copy of a version of this icon of The Extreme Humility. Here we see Christ Himself, beyond Faith, Hope, Reason and only relying on Love. He allowed Himself to be stripped of all-NADA-for us.

So, we are invited to do the same and follow Him into the tomb of giving all for All.

Exsultet

Chag Pesach sameach! Am Yisroel chai!

Happy Passover to my Secular, my Jewish and my Christian friends throughout Britain. This is only the third year in over thirty-five years I have not prepared a Seder Meal. God bless you all. Be open to the Blood of the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the World.

from Moses, the television movie 1995, which I recommend

The Harrowing of Hell--The Ignored Event in the Creed

One of my favorite meditations is the Harrowing of Hell. This is in the Creed, "and He descended into Hell" or in some translations, "He descended unto the Dead". The idea of Christ freeing all the just, who were waiting for Him for years makes for an exciting scenario. Can you imagine the joy of the just and the perplexing anguish of Satan?

Years ago, I heard a sermon by a Protestant minister on television, yes, I did. This man was describing the Harrowing of Hell and the power of Christ's Redemption. Since then, I have only heard one sermon in a Catholic Church on this Creedal belief. Why?

What a powerful belief, in which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity Incarnated saves Adam, Eve, all the just of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, and even His Foster-Father, Joseph, because the Gates of Heaven were closed until the Redemptive Suffering and Death on the Cross, has been revealed to us.

The Byzantine Catholics and the Orthodox have a long history of icons of this great event. I suggest the Western Church concentrates more on this teaching.

O Sacred Head Surrounded and a Pictorial Meditation on the Pieta for Good Friday, 2012

Michelangelo: Pietà Palestrina

Enguerrand Charonton

Michelangelo

Giovanni Bellini

Oh Happy Fault, Oh Necessary Sin of Adam

 "O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptorem,"

God allows evil to happen in order to bring about a greater good: paraphrased from  St. Thomas Aquinas and we repeat this phrase which explains God's Redemptive Plan, on Holy Saturday Night, but we must go through the Cross to the Resurrection. God bless your Holy Friday.

Just a reminder--only men should have their feet washed and here is why....Pope speaks of disobedience ....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/05/us-pope-idUSBRE8340IM20120405
from the article.....
The pope responded specifically to a call to disobedience by a group of Austrian priests and laity, who last year boldly and openly challenged Church teaching on taboo topics such as priestly celibacy and women's ordination.

"Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church?," he asked rhetorically in the sermon of a solemn Mass in St Peter's Basilica on the day Catholic priests around the world renew their vows.

In his response to the Austrian group, his first in public, Benedict noted that, in its "call to disobedience", it had challenged "definitive decisions of the Church's magisterium (teaching authority) such as the question of women's ordination ..."

The Pope reminded us today that only men can be priests and that women priests are in disobedience. The above link and the document below help those who are still confused.





APOSTOLIC LETTER
ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS
OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON RESERVING PRIESTLY ORDINATION
TO MEN ALONEVenerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
1. Priestly ordination, which hands on the office entrusted by Christ to his Apostles of teaching, sanctifying and governing the faithful, has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone. This tradition has also been faithfully maintained by the Oriental Churches.
When the question of the ordination of women arose in the Anglican Communion, Pope Paul VI, out of fidelity to his office of safeguarding the Apostolic Tradition, and also with a view to removing a new obstacle placed in the way of Christian unity, reminded Anglicans of the position of the Catholic Church: "She holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."(1)
But since the question had also become the subject of debate among theologians and in certain Catholic circles, Paul VI directed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to set forth and expound the teaching of the Church on this matter. This was done through the Declaration Inter Insigniores, which the Supreme Pontiff approved and ordered to be published.(2)
2. The Declaration recalls and explains the fundamental reasons for this teaching, reasons expounded by Paul VI, and concludes that the Church "does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination."(3) To these fundamental reasons the document adds other theological reasons which illustrate the appropriateness of the divine provision, and it also shows clearly that Christ's way of acting did not proceed from sociological or cultural motives peculiar to his time. As Paul VI later explained: "The real reason is that, in giving the Church her fundamental constitution, her theological anthropology-thereafter always followed by the Church's Tradition- Christ established things in this way."(4)
In the Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, I myself wrote in this regard: "In calling only men as his Apostles, Christ acted in a completely free and sovereign manner. In doing so, he exercised the same freedom with which, in all his behavior, he emphasized the dignity and the vocation of women, without conforming to the prevailing customs and to the traditions sanctioned by the legislation of the time."(5)
In fact the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles attest that this call was made in accordance with God's eternal plan; Christ chose those whom he willed (cf. Mk 3:13-14; Jn 6:70), and he did so in union with the Father, "through the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2), after having spent the night in prayer (cf. Lk 6:12). Therefore, in granting admission to the ministerial priesthood,(6) the Church has always acknowledged as a perennial norm her Lord's way of acting in choosing the twelve men whom he made the foundation of his Church (cf. Rv 21:14). These men did not in fact receive only a function which could thereafter be exercised by any member of the Church; rather they were specifically and intimately associated in the mission of the Incarnate Word himself (cf. Mt 10:1, 7-8; 28:16-20; Mk 3:13-16; 16:14-15). The Apostles did the same when they chose fellow workers(7) who would succeed them in their ministry.(8) Also included in this choice were those who, throughout the time of the Church, would carry on the Apostles' mission of representing Christ the Lord and Redeemer.(9)
3. Furthermore, the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, received neither the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood clearly shows that the non-admission of women to priestly ordination cannot mean that women are of lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Rather, it is to be seen as the faithful observance of a plan to be ascribed to the wisdom of the Lord of the universe.
The presence and the role of women in the life and mission of the Church, although not linked to the ministerial priesthood, remain absolutely necessary and irreplaceable. As the Declaration Inter Insigniores points out, "the Church desires that Christian women should become fully aware of the greatness of their mission: today their role is of capital importance both for the renewal and humanization of society and for the rediscovery by believers of the true face of the Church."(10)
The New Testament and the whole history of the Church give ample evidence of the presence in the Church of women, true disciples, witnesses to Christ in the family and in society, as well as in total consecration to the service of God and of the Gospel. "By defending the dignity of women and their vocation, the Church has shown honor and gratitude for those women who-faithful to the Gospel-have shared in every age in the apostolic mission of the whole People of God. They are the holy martyrs, virgins and mothers of families, who bravely bore witness to their faith and passed on the Church's faith and tradition by bringing up their children in the spirit of the Gospel."(11)
Moreover, it is to the holiness of the faithful that the hierarchical structure of the Church is totally ordered. For this reason, the Declaration Inter Insigniores recalls: "the only better gift, which can and must be desired, is love (cf. 1 Cor 12 and 13). The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are not the ministers but the saints."(12)
4. Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.
Invoking an abundance of divine assistance upon you, venerable brothers, and upon all the faithful, I impart my apostolic blessing.
From the Vatican, on May 22, the Solemnity of Pentecost, in the year 1994, the sixteenth of my Pontificate.

---

NOTES
1. Paul VI, Response to the Letter of His Grace the Most Reverend Dr. F.D. Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood (November 30, 1975); AAS 68 (1976), 599.
2. Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (October 15, 1976): AAS 69 (1977), 98-116.
3. Ibid., 100.
4. Paul VI, Address on the Role of Women in the Plan of Salvation (January 30, 1977): Insegnamenti, XV (1977), 111. Cf. Also John Paul II Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici (December 30, 1988), n. 51: AAS 81 (1989), 393-521; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1577.
5. Apsotolic Letter Mulieris Dignnitatem (August 15, 1988), n. 26: AAS 80 (1988), 1715.
6. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, n. 28 Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 2b.
7. Cf. 1 Tm 3:1-13; 2 Tm 1:6; Ti 1:5-9.
8. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1577.
9. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, nn. 20,21.
10. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores, n. 6: AAS 69 (1977), 115-116.
11. Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, n. 27: AAS 80 (1988), 1719.

12. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores n. 6: AAS 69 (1977), 115.

Have a prayerful and holy day....

Well, now something completely different for Holy Thursday. For Fr. B and C,

Tenebrae

If you are fortunate enough to live near a church which has Tenebrae, I encourage you to go. I miss this special Holy Wednesday service, which begins with a procession of lit candles and proceeds through the singing of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, with a candle being extinguished until the entire church is in darkness. Then, the congregation takes the hymnals and bangs them on the pews to create the sound of the earthquake which happened when Christ died.

Tenebrae means shadow or darkness. The ancient form was, as this note from Catholic Encyclopedia states,  On the three days before Easter", says Benedict XIV (Institut., 24), "Lauds follow immediately on Matins, which in this occasion terminate with the close of day, in order to signify the setting of the Sun of Justice and the darkness of the Jewish people who knew not our Lord and condemned Him to the gibbet of the cross."


The simplicity of the service, which is only a meditation on the Death of Christ, is a fitting beginning to the grand liturgies of the Triduum.



"How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people; How is the mistress of the Gentiles become as a widow; the princess of provinces made tributary! Weeping she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. There is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, they are become her enemies."


Several of the Psalms are also sung, with some readings from St. Augustine on the Psalms.

"Think not, therefore, that the wicked are in this world without a purpose, and that God worketh no good out of them. Every wicked man liveth, either that he many himself be corrected, or that through him some good man may be exercised."

Seminarians praying at an abortion mill--our future generation of priests

Seminarians from the Pontifical College Josephinum wearing their house cassocks (which identify them with their particular seminary), and praying outside of an abortion clinic:

In Caritate Non Ficta

Lenten Series of Perfection--The Illuminative Stage

Father Gabriel continues with his clarification of St. John of the Cross' stages of purification.
The movement from the prayer of meditation, which uses the active imagination, to the prayer which does not rely on the senses is the movement from beginner to the next stage, which is contemplation. Contemplation is more pure, more spiritual than meditation. This is the stage of simple, yet prolonged prayer. This is also the stage of passive formation. God takes over and if the soul cooperates, there is a level of illumination which happens, connected to spiritual knowledge and discernment. Father Gabriel makes a very important distinction that that the soul should not take the initiative spiritually, but wait for the passive activity of God. The soul lets God take over, even one's actions. This implies a great trust as well as the detachment from all else. This Illuminative Way is a transition period.

One needs a spiritual director for all these stages, although, the infused knowledge, ironically in a way, gives one guidance directly.

Perfection Series for Holy Week

Father Gabriel in his book on St. John of the Cross, writes this:


Love sujects the love to the object loved; it make him love all that the beloved will; it transforms the willl of the lover into the will of the beloved, so that it is as though there were no longer two will but only one: that of the beloved, to which the lover conforms himself completely.

Father is quoting St. John and paraphrasing a longer section. The first stage of the purification of the sensible part of the soul is something which most of us understand. Yet, how many times, do we start and stop this process, going backwards because we either lack courage or generosity, or, simply, love?

The lover, as Father points out, responds quickly to a suggestion or question. In fact, the true lover anticipates the requests or desires of the beloved. And, as he states, "To do things thoroughly, not by halves; such is the outstanding characteristic of Carmelite spirituality."

Part of the poem, only one of St. John's from the Ascent, reads

Strive always not after that which is most easy, but after that which is most difficult;
Not after that which giveth pleasure but after than which giveth none; 
Not after that which ministers repose but after that which ministers labour;
Not after great things but after little things;
Strive not to desire anything but rather nothing.


Without this purification, true contemplation cannot happen. It is the empty heart which can receive God.

Before the serious days set in, some fun from one of my young readers

Rugby at Chavagnes and Leadership Skills

The Rugby team at the International English College in Chavagnes is getting a great reputation in the area for two things. Firstly, the team is winning matches and showing that even small schools can compete. Secondly, some of the other teams' supporter and even coaches have noted the "leadership" qualities of the players. I think that in a small school environment, students have a greater chance of taking responsibility for many different types of activities and for the older boys to be good role models for the younger ones.

Leadership must be taught, and I am a firm believer in leadership training, even at the younger levels. The world is in great need of competent, moral and ingenious leaders. School and home are the breeding grounds for leadership skills.

Some aspects of leadership training involve respect for those who are under one's care, such as the "captains" of the various "houses" for the boys. Sport, of course, encourages leadership skills and even reveals the hidden talents of some boys who may not shine in the classroom environment. Many times, however, those youth who are leaders in academia are also leaders in sports. Rugby, being a traditional English sport, is being played in French schools as well, which surprised me. Of course, I am waiting for the "summer game", cricket to start up, then I shall really pay attention to the matches....

Updates from Spencer

Two important notes in the press today. One, from the great Spencer, that the Coptic Christians have removed themselves from constitutional talks in Egypt, as the talks are useless.


"The Coptic Orthodox Church General Council agreed with the approval of all of the council's 20 members to withdraw from the constitutional assembly... as it found it was pointless for the church to be represented following the comments made by the national forces about the way the assembly was formed," the state news agency said, quoting a church statement....


Also, France is managing to do what Britain does not manage, and that is deporting imams and jihadists for preaching militancy. I admire the French Government for responding to the recent murders with decisiveness. I wish the British Government was so determined. Here is the link.

Red Alert Because of North Korean Launch -- Drudge

I predicted that if Obama thought he would lose the election, he would start a war. Now, the missile shield has been activated in the Pacific and three ships sent to the strategic areas of the Pacific. Pay attention to this development

Here is the report.

Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted at the United States or U.S. allies, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.


The BBC also reports that Japan is on alert to hit any missiles from Korea.


Last Friday, Japanese Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka issued an order to intercept the rocket if it threatened Japan's territory.

South Korea also warned earlier last week that it might shoot down any North Korean rocket that strayed into its territory.

But satellite images taken last Wednesday indicated that work at the Tongchang-ri launch site in North Korea was under way, a US university said.

The controversial launch comes only weeks after North Korea agreed to return to talks on its nuclear programme in return for food aid from the US - a deal which is now on hold.