The Hermeneutic of Continuity

By all accounts, the 24th annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation was a great success again this year. This year, the procession fell on the 90th anniversary of the great miracle of the sun at Fatima on 13 October 1917. See the Rosary Crusade section of traditionalcatholic.org.uk for photographs of the procession. There is a small selection below: (John Medlin recently upbraided me for mentioning several events organised by the Latin Mass Society without mentioning the Latin Mass Society itself or giving it a link . So let me put that right by mentioning here that although the Rosary Crusade is not a Latin Mass Society event, members of the Society do feature prominently among the organisers and those attending.) The procession led by the Knights of Malta (including Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society ) and the clergy. [ That's enough LMS links - ED ] Missionaries of Charity under the watchful protection of Her Majesty's Constabulary: Inside the Oratory Church...

Fr Marcus Holden, co-author of Evangelium, was the preacher at the Rosary Crusade of Reparation last Saturday. John Smeaton SPUC Director has posted a couple of quotations from his sermon: "In the future times, I believe people in this land will hang their heads in shame at what we their ancestors have done in these times." Fr Holden described the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill as: "one of the darkest pieces of social legislation ever to come out of this land" The intention of this year's Rosary Crusade was the defeat of the HFE Bill. I was sorry to miss the Rosary Crusade but I have to be careful about being away from the parish on Saturday. If I am actually to be here for Masses and Confessions, it means that by the time I get to London I have to come home again. I can sometimes get a supply priest to stand in but I don't feel it is right to do this too regularly.

I am happy to pass on this announcement received today. The Rosary Crusade is probably the largest regular Catholic procession in England and is a wonderful occasion for prayer and witness to the faith. Annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation Saturday 11th October Procession from Westminster Cathedral to Brompton Oratory with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and the 15 decades of the Rosary. Starting 1.45pm in the Cathedral piazza and ending at the Oratory with the solemn crowning of the statue and solemn Benediction. The preacher this year will be Fr. Marcus Holden. Enrollment in Brown scapular afterwards. This procession is offered for downfall of the HFE bill, so please come along in large numbers.

The annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation will be taking place next Saturday (14 October). It starts at 2pm in the Piazza outside Westminster Cathedral and goes to the London Oratory, led by the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The procession concludes with Benediction in the Oratory. This is one of those Saturday events that I normally can't get to because of the schedule in the parish. However, this year, they have asked me to preach at the conclusion of the procession. I consider it a great privilege to be asked and so I have arranged for a supply priest for the evening confessions and Mass. Fr Martin Edwards left a message while I was doing a wedding this afternoon. He said that in view of the large number of young people who come on the Rosary Crusade, I should be careful not to make the sermon "too Catholic." ROFL

The Rosary Crusade of Reparation yesterday was an overwhelming expression of Catholic devotion in the heart of London. About 2,000 people walked in procession from Westminster Cathedral to the London Oratory, saying the Rosary and singing hymns. The Metropolitan Police ably escorted the procession, stopping the traffic at the various junctions and clearing the roads as the throng of people wound their way past the embassies in Belgravia and the chic shops of Sloane Street. Chanel, Prada, Christian Dior, Gucci, Hermes and Versace all gazed at Our Lady of Fatima, then Harvey Nichols and Harrods where the anti-fur campaigners were briefly drowned out by the Ave Maria . The procession was led by the processional cross, young servers, the young men of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood, the Knights of Malta and the clergy. In the picture below, you can see Andrew Swampillai, Fr Wadsworth (purple pom-pom on the biretta), Jamie Bogle, Fr Philip de Freitas, myself and Fr Basden (of Clapha...

Just a reminder: The Rosary Crusade of Reparation, in its Jubilee Year, takes place this year on Saturday, 16th October 2010. The Abbot of Farnborough, the Rt Rev Dom Cuthbert Brogan OSB, will lead this year's event. The Procession starts at 1:45 PM on Saturday, 16 October 2010 outside Westminster Cathedral in Central London (nearest underground station is Victoria). The procession makes its way through Westminster and Knightsbridge to South Kensington, ending at the the Brompton Oratory (nearest Underground Station: South Kensington). At the Oratory, following prayers and hymns, there will be Solemn Pontifical Benediction and an opportunity to enroll in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Do support this wonderful event in honour of Our Lady! You may also like to revisit the Rocket Science Examination .

There were at least four of the UK Catholic blogging scene at the Rosary Crusade. Just had a quick look round to see any other posts. So far, I have found ones from Mac at Mulier Fortis , Auntie Joanna Joee Blogs has a video of the procession. If you see any more, please drop the link in the combox and I'll update this post.

I knew Joee Blogs would come up with the goods. Here is his video of the Rosary Crusade. He's worried about the quality being "naff" but that doesn't matter - it was a bright sunny day and there's no need to bump it up to full screen. But as Joe says, the vid certainly gives you the idea of the scale of the procession.

Here is the text of the sermon I gave yesterday at the London Oratory for the Rosary Crusade of Reparation. The Triumph of Mary Immaculate Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array? (Song 6.10) At the visitation, St Elizabeth and the pre-born John the Baptist rejoiced in the presence of Jesus Christ, then an embryo of a few days. St Elizabeth also showed respect to our Lady: “Why should I be honoured with a visit from the Mother of my Lord?” Our Blessed Mother’s immediate response was to use this prayer as a direct channel for the praise of God. “My soul magnifies the Lord...” She is ever the same. She is a most sure route to our Blessed Lord “To Jesus through Mary” is the unfailing path of our prayers. If we think of the miracle of the sun, and the 70,000 people there including atheists, freemasons and communists, awed by her power with God, we should have a great confidence and trust in the interce...

The Third Reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill will take place on Wednesday 22 October. As well as the horrendous elements of the Bill itself, ( summary here ) a number of amendments have been tabled for debate and voting at the report stage (earlier in the same day). SPUC have a list of actions that you can take and in addition to these, we must pray hard at this time. The Rosary Crusade of Reparation this coming Saturday is very timely - the intention is for the downfall of this bill. There is also the 1000 Crosses for Life procession the following Saturday, 18 October. For a flavour of the kinds of arguments used in favour of the HFE Bill, see my post from last May on the second reading: Massive majority for monster creation bill .

The Vatican Information Service today released an English translation of a  communiqué concerning the Society of St Pius X  following a two hour meeting today between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Levada. The crucial passage is: While bearing in mind the concerns and demands presented by the Society of St. Pius X about protecting the integrity of the Catholic faith against Vatican Council II's 'hermeneutic of rupture' with Tradition (a theme addressed by Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the Roman Curia on 22 December 2005), the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith maintains that the fundamental basis for achieving full reconciliation with the Apostolic See is the acceptance of the text of the Doctrinal Preamble, which was handed over during a meeting on 14 September 2011. The Preamble defines certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation Catholic doctrine, which are necessary to ensure faithfulness to the Church Magisterium and 'sentire cum ...

Assemble at 1.45pm outside Westminster Cathedral. The procession makes its way to the London Oratory for devotions and Benediction. This year, Fr Julian Large of the Oratory is preaching. This is a major event which brings devotion to Our Lady onto the streets of central London. I am unable to go myself because of my duties in the parish but I do recommend it to you if you are free.

Above is a photo of the East window of St Etheldreda's, Ely Place from traditionalcatholic.org.uk . At one time, the Tyburn Walk was was a public procession with three divisions of a thousand people each, walking in the road escorted by the police (rather as the Rosary Crusade is today.) Many years ago, Mgr Goulder advised his successor as Master of the Guild of Ransom, Mgr Stark, to discontinue the walk if the numbers fell below a thousand. Mgr Stark kept the walk going until a few years ago when numbers had dwindled below 500. He then changed the character of the event to a pilgrimage, stopping at various places of interest along the way. Sadly, this change was widely misreported as though the Police had ordered the walk to cease. In fact, the Police were always very helpful and used to join us for tea and cakes at Tyburn Convent. I was saddened when this elderly and faithful priest was subjected to personal abuse for supposedly "caving in". . The Pilgrimage is a fasci...

In addition to the magnificent crowds gathered at Aylesford yesterday , there was the Rosary Crusade of Reparation in Central London. Some of my parishioners went to this and were overwhelmed by the large crowd gathered for the procession from Wesminster Cathedral to the London Oratory where the day concluded with devotions and Benediction. Above is a picture from a small section of the over 2,000 crowd that came a couple of years ago when I was able to attend. It gives you a flavour of the international character of these events. It was possibly an unfortunate calendar clash that today also saw the Day With Mary at Westminster Cathedral. Nevertheless this was also well attended with hundreds of devout faithful taking part in Mass, processions and devotions to our Lady and to the Blessed Sacrament. So here is the Rocket Science Examination: UNIVERSITY OF THE FLIPPIN' OBVIOUS Bachelor of Commonsense Honours Degree Examination Rocket Science Level I (Faculty of drawing conclusions fr...

The Abbot of St Mary's Abbey, Lagrasse , the Rt Revd Emmanuel-Marie de St Jean CRMD will be visiting England next month, accompanied by the the Sub-prior, Pére Augustin-Marie de la Trinité. His visit has been organised by the newly-founded English charity, The Friends of the Canonical Abbey of Lagrasse. On Saturday 10 October at 11.45am, Father Abbot will say Mass in the usus antiquior in the Crypt Chapel of Westminster Cathedral, by kind permission of the Canon Administrator. In the afternoon, from 1.45pm, Father Abbot will lead the Rosary Crusade of Reparation through the streets of London from Westminster Cathedral to the London Oratory where he will give Pontifical Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. On Sunday 11 October at 9am, Father Abbot will say the regular usus antiquior Mass at the London Oratory, by kind invitation of the Oratory Fathers. He hopes to be able to meet members of the congregation after Mass. The above photo is from Fr John Boyle's Flickr set from ...