Sr Marie-Therese OSB, a novice at S Mary’s Abbey, Colwich, has asked me to highlight a vocations weekend being held at the abbey from 5th to 12th September. To find out more, please visit the abbey blog, here.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
In piam memoriam
Amici probantur rebus adversis (Cicero)
28•VI•1986 — Veris amicus rara avis
In memory of Stephen. He loved to come home from school on a winter’s night, open his bedroom window and blend the sound of the bells from nearby Weaverham Parish Church with the following song, which he played over and over again; its haunting harmonies transporting him into another world: a world without pain and sorrow.
In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.
Not impressed!
Being a big kid at heart, one of my (many) failings is chocolate. I adore it and eat far too much of the stuff.
Feeling a bit low today, I decided that I needed a packet of delicious "Minstrels" to help cheer me up. Clutching my fifty pence piece, like a kid with his pocket money, I made my way to the nearest shop, grabbed a packet of the delicious “melt in your mouth, not in your hand” treats and paid for them.
It was my intention to eat them when I returned to my desk, but temptation being what it is, I pulled them from my pocket only to notice this:
Now, call me prudish, if you want, but don’t you think it is inappropriate to advertise something as vulgar and trashy as “Sex in the City” on chocolates bought by young (and not so young) kids?
I’m not one for immediately criticising something, simply because it is a bit risqué, but please, this TV show is banal, poorly written and trades on its morally objectionable and vulgar sub plots. I don’t have children, but if I did, I would not want advertising for this dangerous nonsense on my children’s sweets.
What do you think?
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Juventutem Retreat at Douai Abbey 4th -6th July 2008
A kind friend has asked me to mention the following retreat at Douai:
During the weekend of the 4th- 6th July Young Catholic Adults will be running a Traditional Retreat at Douai Abbey, the retreat will be led by Br. Christopher Greener who will give a series of talks on St. Benedict. The weekend will be full-board (except for the Sunday lunch). Douai Abbey, situated on high ground in the Berkshire countryside overlooking the beautiful Kennet valley towards the distant Hampshire downs, is within easy reach of London, Reading, Oxford and many places of interest. It provides an ideal setting for quiet reflection, retreats and for conferences.
Hospitality has been a special concern of monasteries from the earliest times. St Benedict teaches in the Rule "All guests are to be welcomed as Christ". All rooms are fully en-suite offering accommodation for guests in the Bl Hugh Faringdon , St Alban Roe and the St Benet Biscop buildings.
One of the comments frequently made about Douai is that it offers an environment and atmosphere of peace and serenity, where the cares of daily life can be left behind.
Places are limited so please book early
YCA will have it’s own area set aside
There will be a social bar available in the evening
A Marian Procession will take place on Saturday 5th July in the Abbey grounds
Traditional Mass will be celebrated on Sunday 6th July at an FSSP Mass Centre (approx 15 mins away)
The cost of the weekend will be:-
Saturday 5th – Sunday 6th July
48 pounds full-board (except Sunday lunch)
25 pounds for students/low waged/unwaged
Friday 4th - Saturday 5th – Sunday 6th July
88 pounds full-board (except Sunday lunch)
45 pounds for students/low waged/unwaged
88 pounds full-board (except Sunday lunch)
45 pounds for students/low waged/unwaged
Or come for the day on Saturday 5th July
Suggested donation 5 pounds (extra for meals)
Suggested donation 5 pounds (extra for meals)
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Mother Cabrini must be turning in her grave!
This is the response of priests and parishioners across southern England as they discover that the former Catholic Children’s Society, at Purley, in Surrey, has changed its name to the Cabrini Children’s Society on giving up its Catholic principles in order to comply with the government’s Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR) and give children into adoption by homosexual couples, thus condoning same-sex unions. The Church teaches that putting children into the care of an invalid union is a gravely moral matter.
This is nothing less than the misappropriation of the good name of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the linking of her name to something with which she would profoundly disagree – a complete perversion of her principles! Mother Cabrini spent her life caring for children, rather than seeing them abandoned or given up into dangerous or sinful situations, founding orphanages to protect and care for the vulnerable.
Has the Charity Commissioners been satisfied by agreement of just one Cabrini orphanage (owned by the CCS), and have there been consultations with the world-wide Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Order founded by Mother Cabrini to continue her work?
Was the Southwark CCS given all the options before making this disastrous decision? The property and millions of pounds of assets, much given by Catholics for bona fide Catholic purposes, have been taken out of the Church. Catholic lawyers want the chance to fight in the European Court of Human Rights (via regulation 18) that equal opportunities legislation is contrary to the freedom of expression of religion. It may be too late to rescue the Children’s Society, but is this just the first stage of battle for our other institutions, including Catholic schools?
The former Catholic Children’s Society’s action has abandoned its “catholic” title and (like Quest and other organisations which do not uphold Catholic teaching) must now be removed from the national Catholic Directory.
The new CCS is still expecting faithful Catholics in southern dioceses to continue funding this non-catholic agency, partly by the ploy of annexing the distinctly Catholic name of Cabrini, and by subtle continuation of the initials CCS. Crib offerings at Christmas, collections in Lent and on Good Shepherd Sunday, are just a few of their many means of funding. Former supporters are now asking themselves whether, with a clear conscious, they can continue giving, or whether they must abandon an organisation which has itself abandoned the Church’s teaching to sell-out to political demands and creeping secularism. Bishops elsewhere in the country are refusing to yield to such secular pressure.
Mother Cabrini is not in a grave, but in a beautiful shrine at one of her US orphanages. While her name has been misappropriated, the link has been made, and she has proved to be a powerful intercessor for causes near to her heart, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A Prayer for the Intercession of St Frances Xavier Cabrini:
Almighty and eternal Father,
at the intercession of Mother Frances Cabrini,
hear the cry of your children,
and the prayers of all those who seek to remain faithful
to the teachings of Your Church.
Inspire the Bishops of our land with wisdom and courage
to uphold the Truth, and lead the faithful in holiness of life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This is nothing less than the misappropriation of the good name of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the linking of her name to something with which she would profoundly disagree – a complete perversion of her principles! Mother Cabrini spent her life caring for children, rather than seeing them abandoned or given up into dangerous or sinful situations, founding orphanages to protect and care for the vulnerable.
Has the Charity Commissioners been satisfied by agreement of just one Cabrini orphanage (owned by the CCS), and have there been consultations with the world-wide Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Order founded by Mother Cabrini to continue her work?
Was the Southwark CCS given all the options before making this disastrous decision? The property and millions of pounds of assets, much given by Catholics for bona fide Catholic purposes, have been taken out of the Church. Catholic lawyers want the chance to fight in the European Court of Human Rights (via regulation 18) that equal opportunities legislation is contrary to the freedom of expression of religion. It may be too late to rescue the Children’s Society, but is this just the first stage of battle for our other institutions, including Catholic schools?
The former Catholic Children’s Society’s action has abandoned its “catholic” title and (like Quest and other organisations which do not uphold Catholic teaching) must now be removed from the national Catholic Directory.
The new CCS is still expecting faithful Catholics in southern dioceses to continue funding this non-catholic agency, partly by the ploy of annexing the distinctly Catholic name of Cabrini, and by subtle continuation of the initials CCS. Crib offerings at Christmas, collections in Lent and on Good Shepherd Sunday, are just a few of their many means of funding. Former supporters are now asking themselves whether, with a clear conscious, they can continue giving, or whether they must abandon an organisation which has itself abandoned the Church’s teaching to sell-out to political demands and creeping secularism. Bishops elsewhere in the country are refusing to yield to such secular pressure.
Mother Cabrini is not in a grave, but in a beautiful shrine at one of her US orphanages. While her name has been misappropriated, the link has been made, and she has proved to be a powerful intercessor for causes near to her heart, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A Prayer for the Intercession of St Frances Xavier Cabrini:
Almighty and eternal Father,
at the intercession of Mother Frances Cabrini,
hear the cry of your children,
and the prayers of all those who seek to remain faithful
to the teachings of Your Church.
Inspire the Bishops of our land with wisdom and courage
to uphold the Truth, and lead the faithful in holiness of life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
St John Fisher, pray for us.
St Thomas More, pray for us.
St Frances Cabrini, pray for us.
Mother Cabrini’s Prayer for Peace of Mind:
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
A Reflection from: Travels, by Mother Francesca Cabrini, June 1895.
What have we to fear if the Heart of Jesus protects us?Let us keep our gaze fixed on the wound of the Heart of Jesus.There we shall read in characters of blood the depth and width of the love He bears us.It will encourage us, always and everywhere, to hope for everything from His infinite goodness.Our prayers are often so imperfect that they deserve to be rejected,
but the loving Heart of Jesus corrects them and turns them to noble ends.He Himself asks for what is for our greater good, mercifully covering our unworthiness with His merits.
At her canonization on 7th July 1946, Pope Pius XII said: "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman."
St Frances Xavier Cabrini ~ Feast day: 22nd December.
St John Fisher, pray for us.
St Thomas More, pray for us.
St Frances Cabrini, pray for us.
Mother Cabrini’s Prayer for Peace of Mind:
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
A Reflection from: Travels, by Mother Francesca Cabrini, June 1895.
What have we to fear if the Heart of Jesus protects us?Let us keep our gaze fixed on the wound of the Heart of Jesus.There we shall read in characters of blood the depth and width of the love He bears us.It will encourage us, always and everywhere, to hope for everything from His infinite goodness.Our prayers are often so imperfect that they deserve to be rejected,
but the loving Heart of Jesus corrects them and turns them to noble ends.He Himself asks for what is for our greater good, mercifully covering our unworthiness with His merits.
At her canonization on 7th July 1946, Pope Pius XII said: "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman."
St Frances Xavier Cabrini ~ Feast day: 22nd December.
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