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Showing posts with the label Franciscans of the Immaculate

Convent needs Sisters, Sisters need Convent

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Joseph Shaw at the LMS Chairman's blog has news from the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. They are appealing for benefactors to help them start a new community in Darlington. If you have the funds, you could own a beautiful building and do a good work for the Lord in letting the Sisters use it for its proper purpose. The photo above is of the sisters at Lanhearne and is from Joseph Shaw's flickr set . Here is the information from Lanhearne: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, Lanherne Cornwall DARLINGTON CARMEL (one of the very early Carmels to be established in England [1830]) is up for sale. The very few remaining sisters are soon to move out. At Lanherne we have known about this for several months and we have been to visit the establishment. Wonderful for our needs! The Sisters are not going to leave Lanherne, in fact another house is needed as a new foundation. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate have a goodly number of vocations; especially sisters who at t...
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Ombrellino appeal

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The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate at Lanhearne are in need of an ombrellino (ceremonial umbrella) for when the Blessed Sacrament is transferred from one place to another. Since they do live a very frugal life, the cost of such an item would be prohibitive for them. Three possibilities, I think: If you have a spare ombrellino in your sacristy that is unused, it would find a good home and you would benefit from the prayers of the good sisters. If you have some spare money, you could buy them one If you follow sources of second-hand liturgical items (I know that some readers do enthusiastically!) then you could notify them if one comes up at a reasonable cost Please leave a comment here or email me if you have definitely provided one so that I can update the post to say "problem solved" (now done) - but contact the sisters or their chaplain directly to arrange things: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, House of Contemplation of the Blessed Virgin of Mt. ...
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Franciscans of the Immaculate ordination photos

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Many thanks to Rinascimento Sacra for posting photos of the ordinations of priests of the Franciscans of the Immaculate by Cardinal Franc Rodé at the Church of All Saints in Florence last Thursday. You can see in the above photo that Mgr Wach and another priest from the Institute of Christ the King were also there.
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Franciscan Sisters usus antiquior solemn profession

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Jane Teresa, who writes the blog "My heart was restless" has been visiting the convent of the contemplative Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate at Lanhearne in Cornwall. She mentioned that she would have the opportunity to speak about her vocation with Fr Stefano Manelli, the founder and superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Last Tuesday, during her stay, two of the sisters were solemnly professed and Jane Teresa has a set of photographs with commentary. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate tend to go to the usus antiquior (some now come regularly to the 10.30am Mass at Blackfen on Sunday) and the solemn profession was celebrated according to the older form of the Roman-Seraphic Rite. Many thanks indeed to Jane Teresa for capturing some of the solemn moments and providing some texts from the ceremonies. I have never been able to attend a solemn religious profession and was really quite thrilled by this response from the celebrant to the formula of profession Et...
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Franciscans of the Immaculate move to Stoke

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The Franciscans of the Immaculate have moved from the Archdiocese of Southwark to the Archdiocese of Birmingham where they have been given the parish of St Joseph's, Burslem, in Stoke on Trent. The Church is a fine, listed Italianate Church and I am sure that the Friars will make the most of it. I'm sorry that I cannot be at the opening Mass for the Marian Friary next Sunday (9 August) at 4.30pm, at which Bishop David McGough will preside. Locally, we will miss Fr Agnellus, Bro Bernard and the various Friars who have visited from time to time but I am sure we will see them regularly at the excellent Day with Mary events.
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Day with Mary Pilgrimage to Italy

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The Day with Mary team is running a pilgrimage to Italy from 3-11 September, taking in Rome, Collevalenza and Assisi. The chaplain will be one of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate so you can be sure of sound spiritual direction throughout. I had to get the pdf converted to a jpeg to post here ( click to enlarge ). Here is a link to the pdf of the poster at Scribd . Contact for further information is Trevor Downs .
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Lecture on the Immaculate Conception

I just found at AirMaria this video of my lecture last September at the Co-redemption Conference held by the Franciscans of the Immaculate at Grey College, University of Durham, entitled "Scotistic Mariology from Scotus to the definition of 1854". ( pdf of the lecture here ) This follows on from a previous lecture about the Blessed John Duns Scotus on the Immaculate Conception. ( pdf of the lecture here )
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Cardinal Cañizares Pontifical Mass at St John Lateran

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Earlier today, Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, celebrated Pontifical High Mass in the usus antiquior at the basilica of St John Lateran, assisted by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. It is quite significant that there have been two high-profile solemn Masses according to the usus antiquior at the Lateran Basilica within less than a week. It is particularly inspiring to see the Franciscans of the Immaculate, both assisting their own superior last Thursday, and assisting the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship today. Here is a slide show of photos from the Mass. (I have had a closer look at "Slide" and found that if you click the "view all images" button, you can then pick any of the pictures and view them in higher resolution.) H/T Rinascimento Sacro
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FI Mass at the Lateran Basilica

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Yesterday marked the eighth centenary of the approval of the rule of St Francis by Pope Innocent III in 1209. To Mark the occasion, Fr Stefano Manelli, founder and superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, celebrated a solemn High Mass in the usus antiquior at the papal altar of the Basilica of St John Lateran. The Franciscans of the Immaculate routinely celebrate Mass according to the newer form although I understand that many of the Sisters prefer to have the usus antiquior celebrated and the superiors are quite open to this. The FIs are therefore in the vanguard of the response to Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum , offering both forms of the Roman Rite with exemplary reverence. Many thanks to NLM ( Solemn Mass in the Usus Antiquior at the Lateran ) for the heads-up. Thanks also to Rinascimento Sacro: FFI: Padre Manelli per gli 800 anni della Regola celebra nella forma straordinaria in Laterano for their report and this slide show:
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Mass yesterday evening

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At last night's Mass of the Annunciation, we welcomed the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate who sang the chants from the Gradual, the Missa cum Iubilo , and motets at the Offertory and Communion. Mulier Fortis has posted some photos at her post Feast of the Annunciation . In this one, she has switched on the "starburst" option or something but the effect is quite good: Then she has a photo of some of the "cold-hearted, spirit-quenching agents of global horror " gathered in the Hall afterwards. It is such a joy to have the sisters here to visit. Young people in England today rarely see religious women in habits, and the sisters are always delighted to talk to them about the faith. Hilda and Mary had suggested putting on tea after the Mass and I readily agreed. As ever, the "tea" included various cakes, home made scones, and sweets for the children who came out late for a long Mass.
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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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