The Hermeneutic of Continuity

It was sad to hear that Family Publication had to cease trading. A resourceful priest bought up the copyright to several of their titles so as to facilitate republication. One important title is Dora Nash's "Jesus Comes to Me" which I mentioned when it was first published. Since many parishes use the book for their First Holy Communion course, it has been a cause of anxiety for some priests and catechists that it might now be out of print. I am therefore happy to report that St Pauls are now publishing the book and it is available from them at £6.95.

This magnificent window at the Church of Notre Dame in Louviers, France, was made in 1490-1500 and depicts a Blessed Sacrament Procession accompanied by various candle-bearing tradesmen. Simon Cotton, an Anglican who is part of Forward in Faith , has a short article about the window in the June edition of New Directions (page 35). He ends with this quotation from the Curé of Ars: "When we go before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our heart; our good God will open His. We shall go to Him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive. It will be like a breath from one to the other." The issue also has an article by Joanna Bogle reflecting on a difficult year for Catholics and the hope offered by Anglicanorum Coetibus .

The Oratory School in South Oxfordshire was founded by Cardinal Newman. Nine years ago, the school chaplain, Fr Anthony Conlon, revived the Blessed Sacrament Procession. This year on 10 June, the Octave Day of Corpus Christi, he carried the Blessed Sacrament in Procession in the school grounds, assisted by Fr Irwin as Deacon. The canopy was carried by the House Captains of the school. The Procession was given a Guard of Honour by the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) of the school (which recently had its biennial inspection .) The Ceremony was competently assisted by the many servers who have been trained by Fr Conlon. "Present Arms" Officer saluting Pupils and servers kneeling in adoration House Captains with the canopy Many thanks to Linda Coupland who runs the school's Marketing & Public Relations for sending me these superb photos taken by Jim Keogh. You can click on them to enlarge them.

The other day I posted about a Blessed Sacrament procession that went on a boat. Thanks to Berenike of Laodicea for the link to this video of a Blessed Sacrament procession on a train!

Take a look at this magnificent post from the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer: He passed this way . Our Lord is carried through the streets of Whitehall village and then by barge from Stronsay to Papa Stronsay.

Every afternoon at Lourdes, there is a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. At the closing Benediction, the Bishop who leads it takes the Blessed Sacrament around to bless the sick. I understand that this is in fact when many of the accredited miracles of Lourdes have happened, as well as when people go to bathe in the waters. As with all the major events at Lourdes, everything is impeccably organised with the sick, elderly and disabled firmly being given priority and recognition being given to the different groups in an imaginative and appropriate way. For example, the young people working hard on the various diocesan pilgrimages get to carry banners and flags, and to help in marshalling the crowds. The arrangements also make for reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. There is a quite moving period of silence before Benediction: silence is moving when it is 10,000 people or more being silent. The Tantum Ergo is sung and the Bishop says/sings the Corpus Christi collect. Unfortuna...

Many bloggers have already picked up on the video posted by Diane at Te Deum Laudamus . Bishop Scheider speaks about the reception of Holy Communion:

A few commenters asked about the significance of the phrase "pro multis" in the words of consecration of the chalice. The letter from the CDW, to which I linked, has a brief explanation but for your convenience, I have searched the blog of Fr Z and found some more things for you. First of all, the Catechism of the Council of Trent , an authoritative source which explains: The additional words for you and for many , are taken, some from Matthew, some from Luke, but were joined together by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Spirit of God. They serve to declare the fruit and advantage of His Passion. For if we look to its value, we must confess that the Redeemer shed His blood for the salvation of all; but if we look to the fruit which mankind have received from it, we shall easily find that it pertains not unto all, but to many of the human race. When therefore ('our Lord) said: For you , He meant either those who were present, or those chosen from among the Jew...

Over three years ago, I reported on a letter of the congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , dated 17 October 2006, concerning the words pro multis ("for many") in the words for the consecration of the the chalice at Mass. The letter states that there is no doubt about the validity of Masses in which the phrase " pro multis " is translated "for all" and that it is a dogma of faith that Christ died on the Cross for all men and women. However, it notes several arguments in favour of an accurate translation of " pro multis " and concludes that the phrase should be properly translated in the future. The other day, a priest friend pointed out to me that there was a timespan included in the letter: The Bishops' Conferences of those countries where the formula "for all" or its equivalent is currently in use are therefore requested to undertake the necessary catechesis for the faithful on this matter in the next one or two years to pre...

Fr Z has an excellent podcast analysing Pope Paul VI's General Audience address for 26 November 1969 in which he speaks about the "liturgical innovation of the new rite of the Mass" which was to be introduced on the first Sunday of Advent, four days later. I was struck by this passage in the address: So what is to be done on this special and historical occasion? First of all, we must prepare ourselves. This novelty is no small thing. We should not let ourselves be surprised by the nature, or even the nuisance, of its exterior forms. Four days is not much time to prepare; clearly people were expected just to get on with it and "prepare" as they went along. Another passage makes this clear: But there is still a practical difficulty, which the excellence of the sacred renders not a little important. How can we celebrate this new rite when we have not yet got a complete missal, and there are still so many uncertainties about what to do? Those of us who were around ...

For the second night of our Forty Hours devotion, we had a Missa Cantata (the Mass for Peace) at the Lady altar. It was a little cramped so we only had the MC, thurfier, two acolytes and two torchbearers. I was proud that all the servers were under 15 years old. My sermon drew largely from Pope Benedict's writing on truth and conscience since I am reading his little book on conscience at the moment. Tonight the Youth Group are staying all night. After Mass they got in some fish and chips and we watched the film about St Thérèse ( Amazon link below ) which came out a couple of years ago. It was perhaps a little slow for some of the younger ones but the second half of the film is quite moving, and rewarded those who persevered. During this time, there was a good number of people watching in the Church and, after the film, the youngsters went in to take a turn. I have been very pleased that the devotion has gone so well. Putting on the Forty Hours is daunting in a one man parish, bu...

This evening our Forty Hours in the parish began with the splendid ceremonies of the Missa Cantata , followed by the Blessed Sacrament Procession and the Litany of the Saints. For my sermon, I emphasised first of all the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ, without which this devotion would be meaningless. I also spoke of the fruits of the Holy Eucharist in terms of our union with Christ and the pledge of future glory, but especially of the unity of the Church. In this respect I was inspired by Fr Zuhlsdorf's post " Whose ecumenism? " in which he suggests that we should start calling Pope Benedict The Pope of Christian Unity Pope Benedict has begun to "walk the walk" rather than simply "talk the talk" on ecumenism, providing for the real and concrete prospect of unity with those Anglicans who share our faith. It would be insulting to refer to negotiations with the SSPX as "ecumenism" but the Holy Father has unambiguously set out his motiv...

This week, we have the Forty Hours Devotion at Blackfen. This is the first time we have had this at Blackfen for decades, and it is in fact the first time that I have taken part in the devotion. We begin with Missa Cantata at 8pm on Thursday, with Procession and Litany. There is an English Mass at 10am on Friday, then a Missa Cantata at 8pm. The devotion concludes with Missa Cantata on Saturday at 10.30am with Litany and Procession. I was nervous before the weekend as people had been slow to sign up. The parish Youth Group are going to be there all night Friday to Saturday and then the excellent Knights of St Columba said that they would cover any slots unsigned for. Now, however, most of the hours are covered and so the Knights can choose their times to provide a little extra security for others. Of course, if you are in the vicinity of Blackfen, you are most welcome to call in to make a visit at any time. I pray that this devotion will bring many blessings upon my parish, not leas...

Above you can see a view of the Brothers' Chapel at St Hugh's Charterhouse, Parkminster. Above the altar to the right is St Bruno and above the altar to the left is St John the Baptist. This is my route into the main choir (through the doors between the altars) after I have given my class. Today I joined the community for Vespers of "St Michael and the Archangels". As it is a major feast, we had the proper antiphons from the Antiphonale Diurnum, a heavy, vellum bound volume studded with brass and large enough for three monks to view together. Again because of the solemnity, incense was used at Vespers. Fr Vicar in cuculla incensed the altar, and a brother incensed each member of the choir. The thurible is a little shorter than one that might be used in a parish and it is used with one hand only - one swing for each member of choir. Today there was also a short period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Vespers. Between the choir stalls and the bookrests in cho...

"Praying the Mass. The Prayers of the People", by Jeffrey Pinyan, is a guide to the new English translation of the Mass. There further information about the book at the blog: Praying the Mass . Jeff has very kindly mentioned Fr Zuhlsdorf and myself in the acknowledgements and I have followed the progress of the book for some time in its preparation. The book goes through all the texts that are spoken by the people during the newer form of the Mass. (A second book is planned on the prayers of the priest.) The texts are given in Latin and in the new ICEL version with a catechetical commentary that is deeply versed in the sacred scriptures. The introductory chapter includes a refreshingly sound and balanced understanding of participation in the Sacred Liturgy and the whole book could justifiably be regarded as a significant contribution to the genuine renewal of the Liturgy promoted by Pope Benedict. "Praying the Mass" is a valuable guide for Catholics who want to unde...

Several bloggers have picked up on Fr McBrien's comments in opposition to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass. Fr McBrien says: Notwithstanding Pope Benedict XVI's personal endorsement of eucharistic adoration and the sporadic restoration of the practice in the archdiocese of Boston and elsewhere, it is difficult to speak favorably about the devotion today. Now that most Catholics are literate and even well-educated, the Mass is in the language of the people (i.e, the vernacular), and its rituals are relatively easy to understand and follow, there is little or no need for extraneous eucharistic devotions. The Mass itself provides all that a Catholic needs sacramentally and spiritually. Eucharistic adoration, perpetual or not, is a doctrinal, theological, and spiritual step backward, not forward. This is a surprising attack on the practice of Eucharistic Adoration which has become so popular, especially among young people. Normally one would expect liberal th...

From the Mulier Fortis blog, using her snazzy new camera - the reverence at the words " veneremur cernui " during the Tantum ergo at Benediction yesterday.

My good friends Marko and Pilvi in Helsinki have posted photographs of the first communion of their daughter, Beatamaria, at High Mass in Rome today on the feast of St Peter and St Paul at the Church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, the Church of the FSSP. Here you can see Fr Brendan Gerard who was Deacon at the Mass and the dignified prie-Dieu that was decorated for the first Communion: And here is a lovely family photo with Fr Kramer:

The parish of St Bede's, Clapham Park , will be holding their Blessed Sacrament on Sunday 28 June, beginning at 3pm. If you are in the area, I do recommend that you go along. The procession is sure to be a reverent and well-conducted act of faith in the Blessed Sacrament.

Rome Oxford Arundel Papa Stronsay New Bedford MA St Thomas Aquinas, Zanesvill e Amsterdam Balornock And finally ... Linz