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Bishop Cunningham and the torchlight procession

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One of the highlights of a visit to Lourdes is to take part in the evening Torchlight Procession. Beginning at 9pm, it is still light during most of the summer but during the hour of the procession it gradually becomes dark so that at the end, there is a sea of candlelight at all the choruses of "Ave Maria." This week sees the pilgrimage of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, led by their recently ordained Bishop, Seamus Cunningham. This evening, Bishop Cunningham gave the Pontifical Blessing at the end of the procession. The picture is rather blurred, I'm afraid but I did take a video clip and will put that onto YouTube when I get home.
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Daily Blessed Sacrament Procession

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It has just dawned on me what a wonderful thing it is to be in a place where there is a Blessed Sacrament Procession every day. Historically, many of the miracles, both attested and informal, have happened during the Benediction of the sick at the end of this procession.
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Costumes and customs in Lourdes

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In the hotel where I am staying, there is a engraving with a guide to the various religious habits. Since it was made, many have disappeared and many new ones have been invented. I don't know either the above congregation or the one below but I am sure someone will. Lourdes is always like a "New Pentecost" with people from every nation, race and language. These two ladies have applied a custom of their own which will ensure that they do not have aching arms from carrying large containers of Lourdes water. Last year in Rome, I posted a couple of photos showing how the shop windows of liturgical suppliers can show changes in popularity of vestments. So I had to take this photo of the Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours shop in the Avenue Mgr Schoepfer: Here is a close-up of the chasuble:
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More on Archbishop Nichols' Foreword

The New Liturgical Movement has published the full text of Archbishop Nichols' Foreword to the booklet for the Merton training conference. They also offer some sensible observations on the Archbishop's words. Having seen the full text, there is nothing I would particularly change in my post Catching up on the latest Tablet nonsense . The Tablet have used the Archbishop's text to attempt to enlist him to their own opposition to the usus antiquior . James Preece disagrees, seeing the Archbishop's words as throwing his weight around and putting the smackdown on traditionalists. He particularly points to the part where the Archbishop says: In both the teaching and law of the Church it is the bishop who has responsibility for the provision and oversight of the Liturgy. But not only is that true, it is actually to be found affirmed in Pope Benedict's letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum which says: In conclusion, dear Brothers, I very much wish to stress that these...
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Look who's at Lourdes

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Before the torchlight procession this evening, I went up the ramps towards the Immaculate Conception Basilica to get a better view of everyone gathering. Part of the preparation is to get the statue ready. Today it was carried by the Dominicans as you can see in the above photo. I also recognised the Dominican who was taking the photos - Brother Lawrence Lew: I expect he will have some great photos up soon either at Godzdogz or at his phenomenal Flickr collection . The Lourdes 2009 set has started but you can expect quite a few more photos to arrive there soon.
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Constitutional monarchy today

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The sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland whose subject I am, has allowed the ancient protocol of walking backwards when leaving the room after seeing her, to be dropped. Apparently "royal aides", mindful of "health and safety issues" have said that somebody might get hurt and then sue Buckingham Palace for damages. In days gone by, suing the Sovereign would have got you damaged quite a lot more but one doesn't need to return to absolute monarchy to see that this ludicrous kow-towing to 'Elfin Safety makes a laughing-stock of the Queen's constitutional role. The passport I am carrying says proudly in the front: Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary. That do...
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Happy St Philomena's day!

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Today is St Philomena's Day so happy feast day to all those named after her and to all those who have a special devotion to her. In the Year of the Priest it is appropriate to remember the great love that St John Vianney had for St Philomena. Here is a Litany to St Philomena composed by the Curé of Ars. For many people, the only thing they know about St Philomena is that she "didn't exist", and therefore how silly it is to have devotion to her. The relatively recent scientific report shows that those who had the courage to doubt the blanket of doubt had good reason, and those who had devotion to her were not so foolish after all. As well as St John Vianney, these devotees include Bl Pope Pius IX, St Pius X, Bl Bartolomo Longo, and, of course, Ven Pauline Jaricot, founder of the APF . See: The Saint Philomena Question Answered .
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Holiday time

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Time for my summer holiday. I'm off this afternoon on the 1415 BA flight to Toulouse and then via SNCF to Lourdes until Friday. I'm hoping to make a visit to Bartres this week to see the Church where St Bernadette went to Mass during her time there. I'll remember all my readers (friends and enemies) at the Grotto and at Mass. A great thing about Lourdes for a priest on holiday is that you can say Mass any time of day at one of the altars by the sacristy of the Crypt Chapel. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day so there is always somewhere quiet to go and say the breviary, and, since it is a holiday, there are some reasonably priced restaurants which do a good confit de canard . I'm just about to pack and pondering which books to bring. I suppose I'll have to read "The Shack".
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Catching up on the latest Tablet nonsense

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I have been rather busy with the Faith Conference, the Evangelium Conference and a parish Sunday, and I am taking a few days' holiday next week in Lourdes but there is just time to have a quick look at the Tablet's desperate attempt to claw back some ground, after its internet drubbing over the Blackfen affair, with its editorial article: The old rite put in its place . Essentially, the Tablet is attempting to use Archbishop Nichols in support of its opposition to the usus antiquior which it persists in calling the "Tridentine Rite" - a dated and inaccurate expression now quite properly abandoned by other commentators on the subject, whatever side of the debate they take. The editorial rightly notes that the Archdiocese of Westminster has sponsored the training course offered by the Latin Mass Society but instead of drawing the obvious conclusion that the usus antiquior is therefore entering the mainstream of ecclesiastical life in England, it presents this as a ...
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Faith camps and Camp Faithless

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One amusing moment at the Faith Summer Session was when Fr Roger Nesbitt mentioned the media coverage given to Camp Faithless, the atheist summer camp for 24 children for which the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science has made a donation of £500 to fund a 'philosophy for children' counsellor. Fr Nesbitt said that he had telephoned the BBC to ask them to cover the Faith Summer Session with over 200 young people and they had responded positively asking when the conference was to be held. He then pointed out in deadpan voice "I'm joking". Neither will the BBC be likely to cover the Youth 2000 event, the Evangelium Conference, the Traditional Catholic Families summer school or the David Foster summer school ... The Camp Faithless anthem is John Lennon's "Imagine" (... there's no heaven etc.) and it boasts that it encourages the children to "ask questions about beliefs". (Actually we do that too.) One game is to ask the children...
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An afternoon at the Evangelium Conference

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Evangelium is a catechetical resource prepared by Fr Andrew Pinsent and Fr Marcus Holden. I reported on the launch a couple of years ago. The Evangelium Conference has grown out of the same enthusiasm for passing on the faith to the young. This year's is the second such conference; it has been running since yesterday afternoon and finishes tomorrow afternoon. There are about 150 participants in a programme that is very full with an impressively wide variety of speakers. The major conferences covered a range of subjects to help young people in the work of evangelisation: Joanna Bogle - Women and the Church David Quinn - The new Atheism and the Media Dr Tom Pink - Freedom and Reason Fr Tim Finigan - Homosexuality and the Catholic Church Fr Brian Harrison - Why we need a magisterium Dr Helen Watt - The Brave New World of reproductive technologies Fr Andrew Pinsent - Christendom Awake! The New Apologetics Fr Nicholas Schofield gave a supplementary talk on "The History of Catholi...
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Popular posts from this blog

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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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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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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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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Downloadable booklets for Vespers

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Gregorian Chant Hymns is a most helpful website that I mentioned in a post just over a year ago. As I said then, the site "[...] promotes the learning of Gregorian Chant by making sheet music, recordings, translations, and instructions. There is a short guide to Gregorian Notation (those square notes) and to Latin pronunciation. Everything is available free of charge, in line with other great traditional music websites." Work has continued at the site and there is now a section which makes available pdf (or .docx format) booklets for Vespers for every Sunday of the Year and a few major feasts. There is the basic booklet for ordinary Sunday Vespers which is supplemented by separate files for the Sundays after Pentecost which contain the Magnificat and Collect. Then there are booklets, for example for Advent and Lent, where the office is different from the regular Sunday Vespers with its antiphons. All of the booklets have texts and notation for Benediction and the Maria...
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