End of Term

Today is the end of our autumn term.

Congratulations to those three students from the dioceses of Liverpool, Salford and Motherwell, who, this morning, received the ministry of acolyte from Father Rector, during the celebration of the Mass.

Today, during our anticipatory Christmas lunch, we also said goodbye to Anne Clibbery, who has been working as the college cook for 28 years, and has just retired from her venerable post. The first event at Oscott in my first year was a presentation of a Benemerenti medal to Anne, a gift from Pope Benedict, in recognition for her years of service to the Church here at Oscott. Little did she know that she would be making the Pope's pudding a year later! We hope that Anne will continue to visit us, and we wish her all our love.

Finally, we finish our term with trumpets galore at the annual carol service, for the domestic staff and their families, and for those involved with our local pastoral placements. I'll be reading the story of the fall from Genesis at the pulpit; I hope I don't fall down all those stairs in the darkness!

With our best wishes and prayers for you all for the Christmas season, and for the new year.

Oremus pro invicem!

WWJD?... go to Mass

I've always cringed at the question, 'what would Jesus do?'

Bishop Davies of Shrewsbury said recently:

For you will sometimes hear people say, “what would Jesus have done, what would Jesus have said,” as if He were some distant figure of history whose words and actions we can now only guess at. In the reality of the Eucharist, in the reality of this Mass we hear what He says to us, what He now does for us.

As we prepare ourselves for Christmas in this half of Advent, let's remember, as Bishop Davies reminds us, of the words Blessed John Paul II gave to the world on his last world youth day:

...the same Redeemer is present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. In the stable of Bethlehem he allowed Himself to be worshipped under the humble outward appearances of a new born baby by Mary, by Joseph, by the shepherds; in the consecrated Host we adore Him sacramentally present.

That's why we have cribs in many of our churches! When St Francis was a deacon in Assisi, he brought in the farm animals during the Mass to re-create the nativity scene. There was no baby Jesus figurine in this scene, however; the baby Jesus is Jesus in the Eucharist, on the altar! 

For the bread and wine we will place on this Altar after the words of consecration are spoken, His words “This is my Body, This is my Blood,” are no longer bread or wine but Christ our Lord Himself given for us. And once we know and recognise this we would never fail to find our way here at the beginning of every new week of our lives.

Take a look at the whole of Bishop Davies' sermon, 'we cannot live without Sundays', to a youth gathering in his diocese; he speaks very eloquently of distractions from our Sunday Mass attendance, and is very pertinent, especially preparing for Christmas next week. 

Ad multos annos

I was quite surprised when His Grace the Archbishop walked out of the sacristy this morning to celebrate the low Mass.

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of his ordination to the sacred priesthood, and it is touching that he should decide to celebrate this occasion with us in Oscott. We even had wine with lunch; so much for revision this afternoon! The seminary was the first place he visited after his enthronement in my first year, and we always enjoy his visits, because he evidently loves our college very dearly.

In a brief sermon during the Mass, Archbishop Longley thanked the Lord for his many years of priestly ministry and service at the altar, the greatest grace that has been bestowed upon him. It is a great encouragement for us seminarians to hear such words, and to see the example of a good priest who loves his priesthood very deeply.

He was ordained to the diaconate and presbyterate in Wonersh seminary at the start of the 1980s. He often speaks very fondly of East Anglia in conversation, and knows our diocese very well!

Though, as seminarians of another diocese, we are not his own students, Archbishop Longley still looks after us during our time here in Oscott; we thank the Lord for calling him to the priesthood, and to the episcopate as bishop of the church in Birmingham, and we thank him too for his prayers, pastoral care and affection.

Ad multos annos! 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Well, I've just done my ecclesiology exam, and now I'm turning my mind to John's gospel, which is tomorrow morning. First, however, one should mention that today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

There are many Americans in our diocese - one of them became a seminarian, so happy feast Henry! - and, when I was a student in one of our universities, I remember the Spanish-speaking students from Latin America always put of a great celebration in honour of Our Lady, and Mass was celebrated largely in Spanish. I specialised in early modern Spain and Spanish America before I arrived at Oscott all those years ago, so I'm feeling particularly festive myself!

When missionaries arrive in a new land, they often convert places of pagan worship into Christian centres of worship. Just look at the Pantheon in Rome; no longer a temple to all the Mithraic gods, but now the Church of Our Lady and All Martyrs. Or think of the magnificent Cathedral in Cordoba; you'd think it was a mosque. It was built as one! St Boniface, one of my favourite saints, had a habit of chopping down pagan trees and building churches on them too.

This ancient practice, a custom found not only in the Christian religion, but is common in almost all religions, and even political philosophies, did not stop in ancient times, but when the 12 Franciscan missionaries arrived in the New World back in 1512, they also copied this practice.

There was a pious belief, proposed principally by the Jesuits later on in that century, that the religions of the ancient Americas were so 'in-tune' with the Christian religion, that an apostle must have been to the continent (Bartholomew was said to have travelled to Peru - historical nonsense of course, but fun all the same). In the Andes, in South America, for example, there was an ancient understanding of a separated priesthood, distinct from the people. That wasn't a peculiarly Christian belief, until one discovers that the people also believed in a fellowship of sharing bread, and confessing sins to priests, and veneration of the dead. I think Lumen Gentium refers to such things somewhere in chapter 8!

One of the beliefs of the Mexica was in a mother-goddess, whose principal temple was found in a village called Tepeyac, down from the road from Tenochtitlan. This temple was torn down, and, later, a Christian Mexican experienced a vision of Our Lady, whose image was left in-printed inside his poncho, which he used to carry roses which Our Lady presented to him to take to his bishop. A shrine grew up, and the rest is history!

Recently, because of the image's association with the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady (the feast is kept within the octave, after all), Our Lady of Guadalupe has become a patron of the pro-life movement, and is often invoked as Patroness of the Unborn.

We pray for Our Lady's intercession for missionaries and the American Churches, which many East Anglian priests have served, especially in the Society of St James, and also, that Our Lady's prayers and example might soften the hearts of those involved with abortion to the truth, and comfort those left indelibly hurt and damaged by this practice.

A herald of glad tidings

It is that time of year again.

Panic sets in, and everybody rushes to the shops to buy supplies, everybody is writing, and getting buried under reams of paper.

Ste Thoma Aquinatus, ora pro nobis!

No, it's not preparation for the Christmas holidays, but the exam season, which necessarily for Oscotian seminarians, is always the dominant theme for Advent.

Our exams begin today (though some 'starred students', as we call them, had their first exams yesterday), so please keep us in your prayers in a particular way over the next few days!

Because of the number of seminarians in the house, many of the written exams will take place in the Northcote Hall this year. I'll be spending at least 6 hours in there before the end of Wednesday myself! This was a lecture theatre before student numbers dropped at the end of the last century, so it is really great to see it in use as it was originally intended to be used.

A larger than life statue of St Thomas Aquinas looks down over the hall from above the pulpit, keeping all the seminarians in his prayers, I'm sure! Philosopher and theologian, he has all our best interests close to his heart!

Please also keep in your prayers the preparations for our annual Advent carol service, which takes place every year, for the domestic staff and their families, and those involved in our pastoral placements. Making sure everything, especially the music, turns our marvelously, takes a lot of effort and time for the musicians and singers, who are juggling carol-singing with their revision!

Advent of Advent

Well, it shall nearly be new year, and, probably, if you are reading this, it already is!

So happy new year.

Oscotian tradition dictates that we have an advent wreath during the season, as most parishes do, which has become just as much a Catholic tradition as it is already a protestant tradition, being Lutheran in origin and all. I remember that we had red candles as a little boy in Germany in good Saxon tradition!

I've spent the afternoon working on this year's wreath with brother choir-master, which is a little smaller and stumpier than the one I did last year with brother organist. That was so big and full of pine-cones, that you couldn't see the choir on the other side of the chapel! Though some of the brethren don't like as much extravagance as I do when it comes to floral arrangements; the rocket-shaped gladioli erupting from the paschal candle last Pentecost was a step too far for some!

Waiting for Advent: our austere little wreath!
Brother Sacristan hasn't changed the frontals yet
...oops!
(More astute readers will notice that our candlesticks
have changed. The Pugin ones came down today
to be sent to the repairers)

So we wish all our readers, and all the faithful in East Anglia, and very happy and healthful new year!

The Pope in Africa, on vocations

An extract from an address by Pope Benedict during this weekend's apostolic visit to Benin:

Dear priests, the responsibility for promoting peace, justice and reconciliation falls in a special way to you. Owing to your reception of Holy Orders and your celebration of the Sacraments, you are called in effect to be men of communion. As crystal does not retain the light but rather reflects it and passes it on, in the same manner the priest must make transparent what he celebrates and what he has received. I thus encourage you to let Christ shine through your life, by being in full communion with your Bishop, by a genuine goodwill towards your brother priests, by a profound solicitude for each of the baptized and by great attention to each person. In letting yourself be modelled on Christ, you will never substitute the beauty of your priestly being with ephemeral and at times unhealthy realities which the contemporary mentality tends to impose on every culture. I urge you, dear priests, never to underestimate the unfathomable riches of the divine grace placed in you and which you have been called to live at the service of peace, of justice and of reconciliation. 

Turning now to you, dear seminarians, I encourage you to place yourselves in the school of Christ in order to acquire those virtues which will help you to live the ministerial priesthood as the locus of your sanctification. Without the logic of holiness, the ministry is merely a social function. The quality of your future life depends on the quality of your personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ, on your sacrifices, on the right integration of the requirements of your current formation. Faced with the challenges of human existence, the priest of today and tomorrow – if he wants to be a credible witness to the service of peace, justice and reconciliation – must be a humble and balanced man, one who is wise and magnanimous. After 60 years in priestly life, I can tell you, dear seminarians, that you will not regret accumulating intellectual, spiritual and pastoral treasures during your formation.

300th post! And Christmas puddings...

God makes good all things, and all truth is truth in virtue of Christ the Lord. So, I have just been inspired to write this 300th post of our blog after being reminded on the radio to stir up my Christmas pudding mix this Sunday!

For the feast of Jesus Christ, Universal King, the seminary traditionally travels to Mass in our neighbouring parish bearing that dedication. It's also the first time that the new, bigger college has travelled en masse to Mass.

This feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to combat the dismissal of Christ, and the Christian religion, as the rightful centre of the life of all people. It was originally intended to be celebrated on the last Sunday in October, interrupting the ordinary (post-pentecost) liturgical cycle, so that the Lord's feast is celebrated, followed by a celebration of his royal court in heaven (All Saints' day) a few days later, anticipating the royal authority which he already holds over those in heaven is extended over all those inhabiting the earth. In the liturgical reforms, the feast was moved to the last Sunday before Advent, dedicating the whole year to the King of the Universe. I think it works either way; I like both symbols!

There was one unfortunate effect of moving Christ the King to the last Sunday of the year, however, because it means that a beautiful opening prayer (collect) for that Sunday gets left out of the liturgy.

We have been hearing in the Office of Readings lately many prophesies concerning the coming of the Messiah (in fact, we first heard from Isaiah in August, so central is the Incarnation of the Divine Word in our religion), and, those who attend Mass in the extraordinary form of our rite this weekend will hear a prayer which can translate into English as:

Stir up the wills of Thy faithful people,
we beseech Thee, O Lord;
that they more earnestly seeking the fruit of good works,
may receive more abundantly the gifts of Thy loving kindness.

When Christ the Lord comes to claim his royal crown over the earth on the day of judgment, we will cry this prayer, asking the Lord for his mercy and loving kindness, to deliver us from our earthly desires, and give us faith to live wholly for him.

As the Gospel for that Mass tells us, "then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty; ... Heaven and earth shall pass away, by My words shall not pass away."

In Advent, we not only prepare for Christmas, but also Christ's second coming, of which he speaks here in this Gospel passage. As Pope Pius intended, the feast of Christ the King reminds us that, as our response, we should daily allow Christ to come on clouds descending into our lives, where he reigns as King.

So that's while we call this Sunday, Stir Up Sunday. Even making our Christmas puddings should remind us of this reality, so it is to be a Christian. It reminds us of our Christmas day feast, but also, the reason why we celebrate that feast. Let's recover our culture!

Christ is not just for Christmas.

Revised Roman Missal and musical settings

Fr Guy Nichols, C.O.

Thanks for Fr Guy Nichols Cong. Orat., who, for a number of weeks, has been presenting a series of lectures on chant and the Mass, with particular attention paid to the chants given in the revised translation of the Roman Missal.

Now the books themselves have been delivered, we can use them, as we have been doing at Oscott since half-term. I can tell you that even as something as simple as the beautiful re-rending of the collects and proper prayers of the Mass has had a profound influence on my spiritual life, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Now every time I open my breviary and see older, more sub-standard translations of the prayers, I want to weep with despair. Praise God; we are living in a wonderful and grace-filled time. Let's make the most of it!

It used to be said that Mass was sung, and indeed, the whole of the Mass (except the homily!) can be sung. The liturgy is our best act of worship we give to the Lord, so we should give our best, our finest talents, in the liturgy, always and without exception. The revised Missal provides various tones for the whole Mass, and with Fr Guy, we've looked at, and sung, English Collects, Prefaces, the Eucharistic Prayers, the Ordinary, and, not from the Missal, but from a new Graduale Parvum, English antiphons and graduals (the alternative for responsorial psalms). These are all very simple, and most parishes have, somewhere in the pews if it hasn't already been discovered, some degree of musical talent. The congregation and small choirs can, and are already, singing and enjoying the new, simple music.

Don't just eat the scraps, but sit at the table, and dine upon the banquet!

This is the first, most simple and obviously effective way to restore our much ill-treated Catholic heritage, now we are in the era of the New Evangelisation.

He who sings, prays twice, as St Augustine opined. Indeed, why pray once when you can pray twice!

I cannot find any of the sung texts from the missal (probably not looking in the right places!), but here is a simple and beautiful setting we sing at Oscott from an organisation which has produced an exciting new hymnbook, very much in the true spirit of Vatican II.

Armistice Day

Yesterday was Armistice Day, and tomorrow in the UK is Remembrance Sunday.

What a co-incidence that Armistice Day (which commemorates the cease-fire at the end of the Great War in 1918) fell on the feast-day of St Martin of Tours, Martinmas, one of the Church's most ancient and solemn feasts, and one which commemorates both the patron saint of soldiers and of conscientious objectors.

St Martin was a Roman soldier who, upon seeing a beggar, cut his cloak with his sword, and placed it upon his shoulders. Christ the Lord revealed himself to be the beggar in a dream, and Martin left the army to seek baptism in the nearest town, now called Tours. He was accused of cowardice, but his later life shows his bravery.

The Church at this time was suffering a great division over its belief in the nature of God and Christ. The Bishop of Tours, St Hilary, was expelled from the city, and Martin travelled around southern France and northern Italy preaching the Gospel, and even found himself exiled.

When Hilary was restored to his see, Martin returned and established a monastery, and was popularly acclaimed bishop when the see became vacant. A little reminiscent of the later St Boniface, Martin was a vociferous opponent of paganism, and he himself to an axe to a great pine tree worshipped by the local people, at great threat to his own person, so great was his love for Christ in others, he completely forgot himself.

Such is the love that many have themselves faced death on behalf of others, and died in the great wars of the last century, and they continue to offer their own lives today in diverse conflicts. Conscious that East Anglia has a large number of military personelle, and an important heritage in its involvement in the two world wars, being so close to the front, we unite ourselves in prayer this weekend, and, indeed, throughout the year, with the armed forces, alive and dead, and continue to beseech the Lord to soften the hearts of men and women for the propagation of peace.