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Showing posts with the label Estonia

Bishop Schneider in Estonia

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Having visited Estonia last October, I was pleased to see news on the Finnish blog Summorum of the recent visit of Bishop Schneider, the author of Dominus Est , to Talinn. (See: Piispa Schneider Tallinnassa - there is a narrative in English at the foot of the post.) There was a presentation of the Estonian translation of Dominus Est , in the presence of Bishop Philippe Jourdan, the Apostolic Administrator of Estonia. In the book, Bishop Schneider offers a spiritual, historical and theological defence of the traditional practice of receiving Holy Communion kneeling, and on the tongue. Bishop Schneider also celebrated a Missa Cantata in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in Talinn. I had the privilege of celebrating Mass there in October with the wonderful choir singing the chant with a grave Eastern interpretation that must surely have been familiar to Bishop Schneider.
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VHK chapel in Tallinn

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Above you can see the exterior of the main building of the Vanalinna Haridusholleegium (VHK) which is a truly remarkable enterprise, offering education and culture in Tallinn. Some years ago, the moat around Tallinn was drained - foolishly as it turned out. The resulting effect on the water table meant that the cellars of all the buildings in the older part of Tallinn were flooded with mud. At the VHK, this was eventually cleared to make room for a chapel. Here is the entrance: The Altar is set up with Ikons (I celebrated a sung Mass here last evening): Each morning during the Festival, Lauds are sung according to the Cistercian use by a small group of devout early risers.
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Tallinn - the Old Town

While in Talllinn, I took a few photos of the Old Town. Here is a slideshow:
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Tallinn - the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul

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Above you can see the entrance to the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul from "Vene" which is the street name. Here you can see inside the courtyard: And here is a close-up of the inscription: " This is truly the house of God and the gate of heaven. Built 1844. Renewed 1924. " A few shots from the Mass: In the sacristy afterwards, the excellent team of servers, guided by MC René. Fr Ivo arranged everything for Mass. ( L-R ) Joosep Mükael Niitvägiu, Tarho Song, Mihkel Vooglaid, me, René Allik, Fr Ivo Ounpuu
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In praise of Estonia: coffee, cigars, wifi, metaphysics, and early Christian music

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My goodness but Estonia is a civilised place! At Talinn airport there is a shop selling fine cigars. I used up my Estonian Crowns to buy some of their more modestly priced varieties. Annexed is a café where you are invited to smoke said cigars while enjoying a cup of coffee. And this being Estonia, (as indeed applies in Helsinki also) everywhere has free wifi as a matter of principle: hence this post while my Easyjet flight is delayed - by an hour so far. This morning after sung Lauds, I met Professor Piotr Jarosynski, a Polish metaphysician who teaches at Lublin university. Unfortunately I missed his lecture in order to get to the airport in good time (I should not have bothered!). He organises international conferences in Lublin to explore the use of media in the service of culture and I may possibly get to one such conference in the future. Also over coffee earlier today, I quizzed my hosts on the rationale behind the extraordinarily evocative style of Gregorian chant that they use ...
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Pics and vid from Tallinn

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Marko Tervaportti had to get back to Helsinki (2 hour ferry from Tallinn) and has let put up a couple of photos from his collection. Above is a photo from Mass yesterday in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul. Below is a video that he made at the Mass, the Dance, and at Lauds this morning. This afternoon, we had the book launch of "Südametunnistusest" the Estonian translation of Cardinal Ratzinger's book "On Conscience", published by the Elukultuuri Instituut. I gave a short presentation of the book, highlighting the importance of the problem of conscience today, and of Cardinal Ratzinger's treatment of it in the two lectures that form the short book. For any Estonian speakers reading this, here is a link to buy the book (141 EEK) Bishop Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan kindly came to the book launch and I had a chance to meet him. He was ordained in 1988 as a priest of Opus Dei and appointed Apostolic Administrator of Estonia in 2005. We had a photo togethe...
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Mass, dancing and culture

Don't worry - we did not have the dancing and the Mass at the same time. Last night I celebrated Mass in the usus antiquior at the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul for the feast of St Simon and St Jude. The choir sang the chants from the Graduale , with Mass II. Parts of this were done in a very Eastern-sounding style with a faux-bourdon arrangement but with the dominant note constantly sung by one of the cantors. The effect was quite stunning and very prayerful. After Mass, I was taken to the "Dance Club" with Leanne Parbo "Vanalinna Muusikamajas" ("Old Town Music"). This was in a house which is part of the whole Vanalinna Haridusholleegium (VHK - "Old Town Education College") school complex. This is a remarkable achievement, offering education through all grades, including the fine arts, based on a "master-disciple" ethos. The Dance Club has a cafeteria in the basement which served us with characteristically Estonian broth and...
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Hello from Tallinn

Just a quick "Hello" from Tallinn. Immediately on arriving, I caught the end of an interesting lecture on Icons by Nikita Andrejev. Later today I am just off now to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral. Tallinn has a beautiful old quarter but it is desperately sad to see prominent strip clubs and the like littering the edges of the quarter, driven in no small measure, I expect, by the "Stag Party" trade from England. I have already take a few photos from the old quarter but guess what? I forgot the mini USB lead so can't upload them. I expect to get that sorted tomorrow in my nice spotlessley clean and very nordic hotel. Room service includes Reindeer Liver with Wasabi mushrooms.
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TriaLogos Festival in Estonia

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The TriaLogos Festival has been held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, each year since 1998. I will be attending the Festival from Wednesday to Friday this week. I have been asked to celebrate a sung Mass in the usus antiquior in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, Tallinn ( picture below ). This will not be an unusual thing since the Cathedral has Mass in the usus antiquor twice a month. I'll also celebrate another usus antiquior Mass on the Thursday in the Chapel of the Conference Centre. On Thursday morning, I am giving a paper on the life and work of Fr Adrian Fortescue, and in the afternoon I'll be speaking at the launch of the Estonian translation of Cardinal Ratzinger's book "On Conscience" which is published by the Institute for the Culture of Life [ Elukultuuri Instituut ]. I have never been to Estonia before, so I am very much looking forward to the trip. It is surprisingly easy to get there: the budget airline EasyJet has a daily flight from S...
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Baptism water rosary photo

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This photo is doing the rounds at the moment. Here is the accompanying text: This was taken at the baptism of Valentino Mora, son of Erica, a single mom of 21 who asked the photographer to take a picture of her son for free. The photo of the baptism of Valentino Mora is sweeping the Internet, because at the time the priest pours the Holy water over his head, the water flows in the shape of a rosary. This story began at the Parish of the Assumption of Our Lady in Cordova, Spain, where the baptism of a one month baby took place. At the time that Valentino came to the baptismal font for the sacrament of baptism, Erica asked the photographer Maria Silvana Salles, who was hired by other parents baptizing their babies, to take a photo of her son as a favor, since the young mother had no way of paying for it. The photographer, moved by Erica's request, agreed to take a photo of Valentino. Maria Silvana works with a traditional camera and had to send the film to be developed to a shop in ...
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Saint Gabriel

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The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai...
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1962 Missal pdf online

The Church Music Association of America and Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement have made available the 1962 Missal online in pdf format (72Mb). The file is hosted at Musica Sacra , the website of the CMAA, thanks to a generous gift from Fr Robert Skeris While you are at it, take a look at the articles clarifying the rules for music at Low Mass and music at High Mass .
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Is your alb back to front?

Fr Z has initiated a roaring discussion by asking the simple question whether maniples can be used in the Novus Ordo Mass. ( What Does The Prayer Really Say?: Maniples ) One commenter has referred to an important source for the question that has proved popular among modern liturgists. An answer in Notitiae of 1978 said: "When the rubrics of the Missal of Paul VI say nothing or say little on particulars in some places, it is not to be inferred that the former rite should be observed. Therefore, the multiple and complex gestures for incensation as prescribed in the former Missal are not to be resumed." This is, of course, a strange answer. Saying that it must not be inferred that a rite should be used does not imply that it must not be used. We need to check the Latin of this text. (If anyone with access to a library can check it, I have seen the reference given elsewhere as Notitiae 14 (1978) 301-302, no. 2) Let us in any case take the more restrictive interpretation, bel...
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The blessing of a chariot

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When I studied Latin in Rome with Fr Reginald Foster, he used to suggest that a good word for a car was autorhaeda , a word in fact used in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis of 1965 when speaking of a visit made by Pope Paul VI to the Basilica of St Chrysogonus in Trastevere. The word raeda (without the "h") was used by Caesar, Cicero and Horace for a travelling wagon with four wheels and the addition of "auto" does not make for too awful a neologism. In the Rituale Romanum , the blessing for a motor vehicle is the Benedictio vehiculi seu currus . The word currus is normally translated as chariot and reflects the way that people often view their car. Since one's motor vehicle is more likely to be the locus of one's death or injury than many other artefacts, it does make sense to have it blessed. Above you can see us striding purposefully past the Georgian houses of Victoria Road and here is the blessing of the classic mini: The blessing given in the ...
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