Quam bonum et quam iucundum
"Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum."
"How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity." (Ps 132)
Today I took a rare day off to assist as Deacon at High Mass for the feast of St Ralph Sherwin, St Alexander Briant, St Edmund Campion and their (37) companions, the martyrs of the Venerable English College at Rome.
Fr Peter Edwards and Fr Richard Whinder were our genial hosts at St Joseph's Church, New Malden. The stunning four voice choir sang Palestrina's Missa "Ave Maria". Fr Dominic Allain was the preacher and gave an excellent sermon on the nature of martyrdom which, I hope, will be published in due course. Fr Allain is the author of a regular column in the Catholic Herald and has recently had a book published by Family Publications: "Diary of a City Priest".
After Mass, we were treated to an excellent lunch prepared by parishioners and allowed ourselves a little liquore to sing the traditional toast "Ad multos annos!" It was very good to catch up with news from other priests. It has just dawned on me that I was asked to say grace because I was the most senior priest there.
The picture shows the window on the stairway of the English College with St Ralph Sherwin, the proto-martyr of the College holding a palm branch, the symbol of martyrdom. The students were asked to sign the "Liber Ruber" (red book) upon taking the missionary oath to return to England and, if necessary, to die for the Catholic faith. St Ralph Sherwin added the words potius hodie quam cras - "Rather today than tomorrow." He was martyred at Tyburn on this day in 1581.
7 comments:
I've already heard how fabulous the liturgy and homily was. Do you know if Mac took any photographs?
Dear Fr Tim,
Thank you for this and all your posts, the required daily reading of which has been resumed since my return from England.
Regarding your being asked to say Grace as the most senior priest present: But Father, you are so young!! However it certainly bodes well for the future of the Church if the other priests were even younger!
With prayers for a Holy Advent,
J
Dear Fr,
Your Hermeneuticalness,
Thank you for your blog, I really enjoy reading it. I am writing to see if you can help me clear up when to celebrate the Oxford/English martyrs. I am in the US, and will celebrate in the Liturgy of the Hours martyrs for whom I can find collects. I've been confused by the celebration of the Oxford Marytrs on 25 October at Blackfriars Oxford, which used this collect: ""Deus, qui verae fidei et Sedis Apostolicis primatui propugnando beatos Martyres tuos Edmundum ejusque socios invicta fortitudine roborasti: eorum precibus exoratus, nostrae, quaesumus, infirmitati succurre, ut fortes in fide reistere usque in finem valeamus. Per Dominum nostrum.", which I got from the NLM. But I also found a blog from Oxford which listed the Blessed Martyrs of Oxford University as a memorial in the diocese of Birmingham. After looking a bit more online, it seems that 25 October is the memorial of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. Are the 40 Marytrs, and the Oxford Martyrs the same celebration? Do they have different collects? Is this an issue of OF vs. EF calendars? In short, using the Liturgy of the Hours, what day should I use what collect to venerate the English martyrs of the Reformation, particularly Edmund Campion? Thank you, Father, for any enlightenment you might be able to shed.
Sorry, PS - Mac didn't take photos this time.
Carl - the 40 Martyrs were canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and there is a collect for them. The celebration is now on 4 May in the new calendar and includes the Martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul II. (25 October was the date of the canonisation of the 40.)
There were about 350 martyrs, I think, and various places celebrate particular groups of them - dioceses also have individual days for their own martyrs.
Regretfully, I didn't get any photos... I arrived a little late, and hadn't managed to check with the PP beforehand that photos would be ok.
A pity, as you are very talented in capturing the mood as well as the moment.
Thank you for your reply, Father.
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