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Showing posts with the label France

Cathedral at Carpentras

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Carpentras is on the way from Avignon to Le Barroux. One way to get to Le Barroux is to take the bus to Carpentras and then a taxi on from there. The problem is that although Carpentras is a great place for lunch,  taxis are rather hard to come by. At any rate, you do get to visit the Cathedral of St Siffrien which has this rather good Lady altar: and an "Altar of the Chair" imitation behind the High Altar: There is also some French baroque:
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St Savin-sur-Gartempe

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In June, I mentioned an article by Simon Cotton on the Church at Louviers. On page 35 of the August edition of New Directions (published by the Anglican group Forward in Faith) you can find a piece he has written on the Abbey Church of St Savin-sur-Gartempe ( Google Map .) not far from Poitiers. The Church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The splendid photograph above is Simon's. The Romanesque murals in the crypt of the Church depict the legend of the martyrdom of Saints Savin and Cyprien which describes how the two brothers were sentenced to death in Greece for refusing to worship idols, escaped to France, were pursued by their persecutors and put to death on the banks of the River Gartempe. I was interested to see that St Savin-sur-Gartempe is quite near Chauvigny. The stone from Chauvigny was used in the British Museum by contractors working there, instead of the more expensive Portland stone that should have been used. It is obviously different, being slightly warme...
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A remarkable French Bishop

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Bishop Dominique Rey of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon is a remarkable man. Before entering the seminary himself, he obtained a doctorate in economics and worked at the French Ministry of Finance. As a priest in the diocese of Paris, he also worked with the Emmanuel Community . From 1986-1988, he was superior of the chaplains at Paray-le-Monial, then exercised a post of pastoral responsibility for the seminarians and priests of the Emmanuel Community. He was a parish priest in Paris for five years before being appointed to Fréjus-Toulon in 2000. Pope John Paul II's promotion of the "new evangelisation" has always been a priority for him, something that is reflected in the fact that his diocese celebrates on its website the presence of 27 new communities in the diocese, such as the Community of St John , the Franciscans of the Immaculate, Shalom , and Points-Coeur . He has written a book on the incompatibility between Catholic doctrine and freemasonry, and has resolutely sp...
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"Is the Church a force for good?"

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There is an excellent letter in the Catholic Herald by Christopher Koe who points out that the motion "Is the Church a force for good?" was also debated at the university in Paris in the early 1830s, it was defeated, but the occasion led to Frederick Ozanam founding the Society of St Vincent de Paul .
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Mutual enrichment in Frejus-Toulon

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Carlos Antonio Palad at Rorate Caeli reports on the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon . Next month, Bishop Dominique Rey will be ordaining two priests according to the usus antiquior of the Roman Rite. Both will be priests of the diocese. The diocese opens its doors to seminarians who wish to become priests of the diocese while continuing to prefer the usus antiquior . The policy does not seem to have brought about the disastrous division that many might instinctively fear. As well as the two ordinations scheduled for September, Bishop Rey ordained 14 priests and 11 deacons in the newer form last June. That all sounds pretty healthy for a French diocese.
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Opuscula

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If you are interested in social teaching, and in particular, the question of continuity-rupture in this context, you will be interested in Opuscula , the blog written by K Gurries. For example, his post On Globalization and Political Authority analyses the concept of globalisation in Caritas in Veritate and concludes with a survey of papal statements on International Order, asking the question "Rupture or Continuity?" More recently, there is a post on The Intervention of Mgr. Dupanloup (Part I) looking at how the great Bishop of Orleans defended the encyclical letter of Blessed Pius IX Quanta Cura in the face of fierce hostility in the press.
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The other Chartres pilgrimage

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I don't know what the figures are (can anyone help?) but a hefty proportion of the French people who actually go to Mass regularly go to the traditional Mass. Many of these belong to the Society of St Pius X. So at the weekend of Pentecost, the only real argument for sturdy young pilgrims is whether you go to the Paris-Chartres pilgrimage with the traditional Mass or the Chartres-Paris pilgrimage with the traditional Mass. I picked up on the latter via my stats. Someone kindly posted my stuff on the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage in the Fish Eaters forum and it drew the reply "Anyone got some pics of the real pilgrimage? :laughing". Well the Ignis Ardens forum has lots of great photos (scroll down and also go to page 2). Here's one of the Anglo-American chapter - there's ecumenism for you! I expect there will be more photos over the next couple of days - keep an eye out on the blog of Ignis Ardens . The SSPX pilgrimage normally ends at Montmartre in front of the hu...
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Chartres 2009

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Thanks to NLM, I was just reminded of another great event I missed over the weekend: the annual pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres. The pilgrimage takes place each year, starting on from the vigil of Pentecost at 6am on Saturday outside the Cathedral Church of Notre Dame in Paris and finishing on Monday with Mass in Chartres Cathedral. The three day walk covers 75 miles so it is quite a gruelling pace. The walkers are divided into "chapters" each with one or more priests to hear confessions and give spiritual direction en route . A note at US section of the the Notre Dame de Chrétienté website points out: This pilgrimage originated in the 12th century, with interruptions for the various wars our European brethren seem to find themselves in from time to time. Scouts and Guides are very much in evidence, many of them carrying flags: Here is a great shot of the Pilgrimage winding though the French countryside: and another of the procession for Mass in the forest: I spotted a few...
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Reason #4378 for trying to get the SSPX back on board

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They're building new Churches. In France! See this post on Rorate Caeli and this French post with more details .
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Great post on the Pope in Paris

Andrew Cusack has the best photo-post I have seen on The Pope in Paris . Andrew has worked hard to find the best illustrative photos and added his own customarily incisive commentary.
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Excellent reporting in France

I was sent a link to this video today which shows the Papal motorcade in Paris. The commentary is in French so if you don't understand French, just go to 1'32" to see the banner which reads "Thank you Most Holy Father for Summorum Pontificum" Most of the commentary is given by a woman journalist who gives an excellent summary of the effect of Summorum Pontificum and of the issues raised by it. She even makes the fine point that the term "extraordinary form" is a juridical one and that the Holy Father has made it clear that there is no contradiction between the two forms of the rite. On mutual enrichment, she says that the older form could benefit from more prefaces, and that the newer form can benefit from the understanding that the Eucharist is not the assembly of one community but an act of the whole communion of the Church, and an act of adoration of God. A priest also gives comments, noting that there had been a great controversy in France and that...
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Pope at Lourdes

here is a video of the Apostolic Blessing of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, given at Lourdes yesterday, followed by the Salve Regina . Catholiques has posted this and a number of other videos of the Papal visit to YouTube.
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Watching the papal visit

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Just before going to prepare for Mass, I have been watching some of the Papal Mass at the Esplanade des Invalides on KTO . The above screen capture from the Offertory shows the "benedictine altar arrangement" well with the focus on the crucifix. Here is a view of the congregation stretching down the esplanade:
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Herald coverage of Pope's visit to France

The Catholic Herald has a portal for coverage of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to France this weekend. The Editor, Luke Coppen has a very good background article. Cf. The Editor’s Notes " Behind Enemy Lines !.
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The Holy Father in France

France, known as the eldest daughter of the Church, today welcomes the Holy Father, Pope Benedict on his pastoral visit. There is an official site of the French Bishops' Conference which gives the programme and other details. He will be in Paris today and will leave for Lourdes tomorrow afternoon. All of the discourses will be worth following, of course, but it will be interesting to read the address to the French Bishops at the hemicycle on Sunday. For an insight into liturgical matters, see the interview with Mgr Marini in Le Figaro, translated at the NLM . They also have the Sacramentary for the visit .
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TLM at Lisieux

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Mgr Lagoutte, the Rector of the Basilica of St Thérèse at Lisieux, has agreed to arrange for the regular celebration of Mass in the usus antiquior in the Adoration Chapel of the Crypt of the Basilica. He has extended provision from his original intention to arrange for the Mass once a month and has agreed for the Mass to be offered at 9am on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of each month, beginning with August 3, 17 and 31. The news comes from motuproprio14.com which is a group of families and faithful from the Départment du Calvados (14) in Northern France, "wishing to live our faith in union with the Church according to the 'extraordinary form' of the Latin rite." Thanks to Paix Liturgique for the link.
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Popular posts from this blog

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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Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec...
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Portiuncula indulgence tomorrow (and indulgences generally)

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Tomorrow, 2 August, you can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions ( see below ) by visiting a parish Church and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . This is called the Portiuncula indulgence and goes back to St Francis of Assisi. Fr Z has the details . Don't forget that you can also gain a plenary indulgence by visiting a Church on the day of the titular feast, and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . I made a list of other indulgences: please see the post Plenary indulgences for particular days which has a link to the list. The post has some background information which you may find helpful since indulgences are not well understood today - which is not surprising since indulgences are not included in most Catholic education curricula, and most priests never preach about them. Therefore many Catholics are left with whatever silly, half-baked, ill-informed nonsense about indulgences happens to be current. If you want to understand the theology...
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Our Easter Faith: Not a Pious Crème Fraiche

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In public life, some basically well-meaning figures have the graciousness to wish us well at Easter and to recognise the importance of the Christian feast day. Perhaps they might assure us that their thoughts are with us at this time. That is kind of them and in Christian charity we should thank them for their kindness, but Easter should be a great deal more than that for us. We must believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the grave, in the flesh, and lives for eternity. We cannot treat Easter as a jolly holiday that heralds spring, or the remembrance of a significant event from the past. It must change us today and every day, change who we are and what we do. The Christian faith cannot be a mild custard or blancmange of religiosity. (I am showing my age. Nowadays, I should say that it cannot be reduced to a pious crème fraiche .) We bow down and adore the King of Kings, risen from the tomb, who, “[…] continues for ever,...
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Blessing of the New Painting of St Bede at Clapham Park

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This morning, the parish priest at Clapham Park, Fr Marcus Holden, blessed a new picture of the parish's patron, Saint Bede, painted by James Tildsley. It is sited over a recently installed side altar near the rear of the Church. The altar itself was acquired from Antique Church Furnishings . The website gives the information that the altar was built and carved by a nun in a convent near Liverpool. It is a beautiful piece of work and it is always a joy when such works of art find a suitable and dignified home. The inscription on the gradine is AMANS AMATUS AMOR. The sellers translate this as “Loving is the object of love” which is a reasonable stab at “dynamic equivalence”. Today the parish's relic of St Bede was exposed for veneration in its distinctive brightly-coloured reliquary. After the blessing, there was High Mass with Fr Holden as celebrant, Fr Littleton deacon, and myself subdeacon. That gave me the enjoyable task of chant...
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