East Anglia Seminarians: Happy New Year

Tuesday, 1 January 2008

Happy New Year

Happy Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, and may you all have a blessed year of 2008! Sorry for the lapse in posts - that can be part of my New Year's resolution...

This Christmas has been my first major break since starting seminary. My first term at seminary was an enjoyable one, and I am looking forward to the coming term. We finished our first rounds of essays and exams - history, latin, Aquinas, classical philosophy, liturgy and Synoptic Gospels. Aquinas, Synoptics and latin are my favourite so far... But the fun and learning doesn't stop with the end of term; for Christmas I got Alice Hogge's 'God's Secret Agents', an account of the Jesuit priests on the English mission during Elizabeth's reign and up to the Gunpowder Plot. Hogges herself is an agnostic, but from what I've read so far she's very sympathetic to the Catholic voice in the Recusant period. What's more it is very easy to read, and relies often on the Jesuit John Gerard's autobiography (a compelling picture of the times through the eyes of a priest in hiding).

Tomorrow some of us are going to the FAITH winter conference, a couple of days of talks and prayer based on 'Hearing God's Word' in the Scripture. There will be sports in the afternoon and a bar in the evening, topped by a ceilidh dance on the last night! What more could anyone want? There is also a session in the summer for any young adults who are interested. I'll let you know how the conference goes.

1 comment:

marcella said...: Thank you for recommending this book, EAS's. I have Amazoned. Can I contribute a recommendation to We Die for the Old Religion (can't remember the author) and also Philip Pullman (think it was him) on John Gerard, the Hunted Priest?
Keep blogging, guys.
Marcella; 19 January 2008 at 11:51

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Prayer for Priestly Vocations

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who moved to pity at the sight of the multitudes, scattered like sheep without a shepherd, didst say to Thy disciples: "The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send labourers into His harvest," deign to turn Thine eyes of pity on this our diocese, and to call to Thy priesthood young men, who will spend themselves and be spent for Thy honour and glory, and for the souls whom Thou has redeemed with Thy Most Precious Blood, Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Seminarians

O Lord Jesus Christ, great High Priest, I pray that You call many worthy souls to Your holy priesthood.

Enlighten the Bishop in the choice of candidates, the Spiritual Director in molding them, and the professors in instructing them.

Lead the seminarians daily in Your unerring footsteps; so that they may become priests who are models of purity, possessors of wisdom and heroes of sacrifice; steeped in humility and aflame with love for God and man; apostles of Your glory and sanctifiers of souls.

Amen.

Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.
R. The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him to be blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies

Our Father. Hail Mary.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon Thy servant, Benedict, our Supreme Pontiff, and direct him, according to Thy loving-kindness, in the way of eternal salvation; that, of thy gift, he may ever desire that which is pleasing unto thee and may accomplish it with all his might. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen

Prayer for the Queen

V. O Lord, save Elizabeth, our Queen.
R. And hear us on the day we call upon you.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come before you.

[V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.]

Let us pray

Almighty God, we pray, that your servant Elizabeth, our Queen, who, by your providence has received the governance of this realm, may continue to grow in every virtue, that, imbued with your heavenly grace, she may be preserved from all that is harmful and evil and, being blessed with your favour may, with her consort and the royal family, come at last into your presence, through Christ who is the way, the truth and the life and who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.