Confirmations - and the LMS

It has been pointed out to me that I should have mentioned the Latin Mass Society in my post about the usus antiquior Confirmations on Saturday. Apologies for the oversight. The LMS organises this wonderful occasion and we are all very grateful to them.

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Video: Lessons from the English Martyrs

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Yesterday was the feast of the English and Welsh Martyrs and so I recorded a sermon in which I considered not only the courage of the martyrs, but also the prejudice, abuse and dirty tricks they were subjected to. It is helpful to remember that the actual experience of the martyrs was not always a simple progress to glory, and to learn from the difficulties they faced. We may also have to face prejudice, lies and nastiness and we should be prepared for that as a part of carrying the cross with our Blessed Lord.

Against this background the verve, spirit, and good humour of the martyrs is all the more inspiring, and a good lesson for us. I hope you enjoy the video.

Here is the text if you prefer just to read it:

TEXT for "Lessons from the English Martyrs"Laudetur Iesus Christus.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Our Lady, seat of wisdom. Pray for us.

I am speaking to you today from my little domestic chapel in Lewisham which I have informally dedicated to Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom.

Mart…
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Video: Fatima, the Rosary, and St Joseph

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Yesterday I recorded a short talk on the anniversary of Our Lady's first appearance at Fatima. After looking at St John Paul's epigrammatic summary of the Rosary, I give some hints on praying the Rosary, and explain why the Rosary is a devotion greatly favoured by the Church. At the end I offer a short reflection on the relationship of St Joseph to the Rosary. I hope you find it helpful.

(While you are on YouTube, I would be most grateful if you were to click or tap on the button to "Subscribe" to my channel.)

Here is the text if you prefer just to read it:
The RosaryLaudetur Iesus Christus.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.


When our Blessed Lady appeared to the three children of Fatima, she insisted repeatedly that they say the Rosary every day and that they encourage others to do so. When she made her last appearance on 13 October 1917, before the astonishing miracle of the sun which was seen by ov…
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Transcripts for recent videos – “Have it your way!”

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After recently posting two new video talks on YouTube, it occurred to me that often I skip content that comes through various sources: Twitter, Inoreader (which I use to follow people’s blogs), Google news and others. To watch a video takes longer than reading the content.

Interestingly, some podcasts are put out via YouTube as well as the standard podcast apps and people then just listen to the content without being tied to watching the picture. The advantage of having content just to listen to, is that you can be doing something else. In my case, I find that it is useful to listen to podcasts when I am cooking and eating. Essentially it is good to get content to people in whatever way they prefer to access it. Some prefer watching, others prefer listening while they are doing something else.

Many of you may be like me and prefer to read something, thus getting through it much more quickly than hearing it spoken out loud. It makes sense therefore to make my own video content availa…
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The Ascension and Heavenly Liturgy (video talk and text)

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What is the Ascension really all about? Is it just an event when Our Lord said Goodbye to the apostles and went up into the sky? In this short talk I look at the way in which Jesus Christ, the great and eternal High Priest fulfilled the feast of the Atonement. By His Ascension, Christ took our humanity into heaven and established the eternal Liturgy in which we participate each day at the Holy Mass. There could be nothing more important for our lives than this living link with heaven.

(While you are on YouTube, I would be most grateful if you were to click or tap on the button to "Subscribe" to my channel.)

Here is the text if you prefer just to read it:

The Ascension and Heavenly Liturgy
Laudetur Iesus Christus.
Praised be Jesus Christ.

Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.

I suspect that for many of you, the feast of the Ascension is a bit of a puzzle. What are we remembering and celebrating? Is this just an interlude between the resurrection and Pentecost? This journey up…
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How to make an act of perfect contrition

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How can you go from imperfect to perfect contrition? Gabriella D from Australia asked me this on Twitter today and I want to give an answer because I think that many people misunderstand what we mean when we talk about “perfect contrition.”

Perfect contrition is sorrow and detestation of sin arising out of the love of God. One way of exciting this contrition in our hearts is by considering the passion of Jesus Christ and making acts of love for Him. We can also think of the infinite love which God has for us, and express sorrow in our heart in the presence of this great love which we have offended.

Imperfect contrition is sorrow and detestation for sin arising from a consideration of the ugliness of sin or out of the fear of hell. Disgust at the ugliness of sin is more common today than fear of hell. That is because we do not preach enough, or with sufficient conviction about the four last things.

If a person commits an act of impurity, for example, perhaps by deliberately looking at a…
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