FSSP write up of Regina Caeli visit
Here is an account of the Regina Caeli presentation from the FSSP website:
https://fssp.co.uk/rc-academies-combining-the-advantages-of-home-education-with-schools/
Bedford
RC Academies: combining the advantages of home-education with schools
Last Saturday over two dozen families gathered in Bedford to hear about a new opportunity for their children’s education. For parents who are worried about the corruption in mainstream education but who are not prepared for full-time home-schooling, Regina Caeli offers “classical hybrid education in the Catholic tradition”. This system involves children following a solidly Catholic curriculum by gathering at an academy on Mondays and Thursdays while home-schooling for the other days. The benefits of this approach include:
- Regina Caeli’s excellent curriculum, media policy and modesty policy
- Avoiding destructive agendas of atheism / materialism / gender which are corrupting even Catholic schools
- Socialisation: human beings complete their development in a society much wider than their own family, so it is an inestimable good for children to meet regularly at an academy with their peers, with older and younger children and with trusted adults. Moreover there are few goods as high as friendships, and naturally the hybrid system offers more opportunities for these to develop than pure home-schooling.
If you are interested in such an educational system for your children, and wish to be put in touch with like-minded families in the Bedfordshire area, contact us here and we will pass your details on to them. Annual fees are being calculated, and will depend partly on the scale of interest.
The presentations given by Regina Caeli’s Executive Director Kari Beckman and Director of Education Erika Ahern on Saturday were well received. Besides the goods one would hope for from any educational system (religious formation, academic learning, sports, drama etc), there are advantages which set Regina Cael above what are widely counted as the best schools in England. For example, it was exciting to note how the realism of Aristotle and St Thomas Aquinas thoroughly inform the practical running of Regina Caeli. Specifically:
- Man is made for God. Beyond serving temporal goals (like qualifications to secure a good job), education should serve our ultimate end which is to reach Heaven.
- Developing the whole person: man is composed of body & soul.
- the intellect is fulfilled by knowing the true; the will is fulfilled in desiring the beautiful and enacting the good. An education which serves our human nature in these ways is literally life-giving.
- media policy: all electronic devices such as phones and computers are prohibited from the campus (except for administrators). This protects children from the psychological devastation of pornography.
- modesty policy: uniforms for students and faculty uphold the dignity of the person.
And everyone learns Latin!
Sancta Maria, Regina Caeli, ora pro nobis.
Practice Chant for Saturday’s Family Catechism Day in Chesham Bois
All families are welcome for this Saturday’s Catechism Day in Chesham Bois (details below). If you have a moment in advance, please practice this version of Ave Verum Corpus which we will sing during exposition:
…or with audio…
Family Catechism Days 2018
Venue
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church
30 Amersham Road
Chesham Bois
HP6 5PE
Dates (on 4th Saturdays)
24 Feb, 24 March, 28 April, 26 May, 23 June 2018
| Activities | |
| 2 – 4pm: | Catechism for Children* |
| followed by Altar Server Practice | |
| 4 – 4.30pm: | Rosary & Benediction |
| 7pm: | Talk for Adults (at the home of a local family–contact us for address). |
* Approximate schedule for catechism sessions: fiirst the children under 7 years-old (for about 10 minutes); then children aged about 7 to 12 years-old (for about 20 minutes); then teenagers 13 to 18 years-old (for about 40 minutes); then altar server training until 4pm, followed by the Holy Rosary and Benediction.
Families are invited to stay for as much of the programme as they wish. Tea and coffee will be available in an adjacent room.
The themes for the five Saturdays will be as follows:
| Date | Theme for Catechism (from 2pm) | Theme for Evening Talk for Adults (from 7pm) |
| 24 Feb | The Holy Trinity | Holy Mass–the greatest treasure on Earth |
| 24 March | The Incarnation | “Salvation is from the Jews”–Jn 4:22 |
| 28 April | The BVM, the Apostles, the Angels | Denying supernatural Revelation–the 1st beast of the Apocalypse? |
| 26 May | The Sacraments & the Church | Denying natural Revelation–the 2nd beast of the Apocalypse? |
| 23 June | Sacred Scripture & Prayer | Love Defeats the anti-Christ |
A Musical Surprise
As Sung Latin Mass at Christ the King, Bedford, is normally on the first Sunday of the month, the congregation on Sunday 22 April were expecting a Low Mass, but they got a pleasant surprise. Matthew Schellhorn, a professional musician well known in Traditional musical circles, was in the Bedford area over the weekend and had asked if he could sing the Mass. Fr James Mawdsley, FSSP, the celebrant, readily agreed!
Matthew both played the organ and sang the Mass on his own. The music, combined with the liturgy going on simultaneously downstairs in the sanctuary, combined to lift all the senses heavenward.
Every Mass should be sung; Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger said more than thirty years ago, “Wherever man praises God, the word alone does not suffice”. A Sung Mass is not possible at Bedford every Sunday, but Matthew has kindly agreed to return to Bedford to sing the Mass on Trinity Sunday, 27 May. Between now and then, the newly formed schola will sing the Mass on Sunday 13 May to coincide with the visit of the Bishop of Northampton.
Training the Mind to Form the Soul – First Visit of Regina Caeli to Bedford
The car park was packed and there was an excited buzz in the church hall at Christ the King, Bedford, on Saturday 21 April, the day of the long awaited visit of a representative from the American organisation Regina Caeli Academy, which provides classical hybrid education in the Catholic Tradition. Many home schooling families came along – one from near Norwich – and it was lovely to see such an age range, including several unborn!
There was great interest in, and enthusiasm for, what Regina Caeli can offer, including alternative examinations to GCSEs and ‘A’ levels, but which are still accepted by British universities.
It is, of course, early days yet, and a lot of prayer and planning stands between now and the realisation of the dream. We will keep you updated on developments as they unfold.
18-35 group tomorrow!
A reminder that the monthly young adults group takes place tomorrow evening at Christ the King, Harrowden Road, MK42 0SP.
More details here:
Https://fssp.co.uk/young-adults-group-5pm-saturday-21-april-bedford/
Young Adults Group–5pm, Saturday 21 April, Bedford
Young Adults (18 to 35 years-old) are invited to join us for a social evening this Saturday. We will meet at 5pm in the parish room at the eastern end of the Church of Christ the King in Bedford (MK42 0SP). After a 10-minute video and discussion about the Book of Esther, we will head to a local venue for dinner and drinks. Please email james.mawdsley@fssp.org if you plan to join us, or else simply turn up.
The short video linked in the image above is superb quality but it seems the guts are missing. A Protestant team (The Bible Project) has worked hard to produce technically excellent videos explaining the various books of the Bible. It is all done with impressive learning and expertise, but as non-Catholics they have missed the best part.
The image above illustrates a wonderful symmetry in the Book of Esther, and the Bible Project identifies as the pivot of the whole story the stake (or gallows) upon which Mordecai is to hang. But being Protestant, they are unable to interpret the hidden, salvific meaning of the Book: that Mordecai & Queen Esther stand for Jesus & the Virgin Mary; that the giant gallows foreshadows the Cross of Calvary; that we share in their temporal victory for eternity through Holy Mass. Positively the video succeeds in emphasising that plot to murder the innocent Jew upon the gallows resulted, by God’s design, not only in the defeat of evil (which fell into the very pit it had dug) but also the glorification of the holy victim and the salvation of all God’s People. And elsewhere, in another excellent video, the Bible Project does point to Jesus as the key to all the Scriptures. But as they reject the authority of the Church, and reject the full canon, then they miss both the full significance of the whole and also crucial parts, for example the enduring centrality of sacrifice and Mary as Co-redemptrix.
What Mordecai & Esther did for the Jews at one point in history, Jesus & Mary do for the whole world for all generations. Before we die, the closest we can get to Mordecai & Esther, and to sharing in their achievement, is by assisting at Holy Mass. Inspiring everlasting praise and love of God, this is the ultimate reason why the Book of Esther was written and still exists. The command to perpetually keep the Feast of Purim is an admonishment for Christians to attend the living memorial of Calvary–namely, Holy Mass.
Protestants are welcome to join us on Saturday for the discussion, dinner & drinks.
A new opportunity for Catholic Education–Saturday 21 April
If you are interested in exploring a new opportunity for solid Catholic education, please join us for a talk by representatives of Regina Caeli who will be giving presentations at the hall of Bedford’s Christ the King Church (MK42 0SP) from 10:30 – 14:30 on Saturday 21st April. More details about tickets here and a video below.
22nd April – Men’s retreat at Walsingham
On 22nd April there’s a pilgrimage for men to Walsingham – more details and a registration form are here:
LMS Triduum Information
(Mass times for Bedford/Reading here)
The Latin Mass Society will be celebrating the Sacred Triduum in St Mary Moorfields Church, Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LS, by kind invitation of Fr Christopher Vipers, the Parish Priest. Music will be supplied by Cantus Magnus, directed by Matthew Schellhorn.
WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH – Spy Wednesday
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
THURSDAY 29 MARCH – Maundy Thursday
18:00 High Mass
Missa super l’Homme Armé Anerio
Christus factus est Pitoni
Pater noster Lassus
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
FRIDAY 30 MARCH – Good Friday
18:00 Solemn Liturgy
Passio secundum Joannem, Byrd
Popule meus, Richardson
Caligaverunt oculi mei, Lassus
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
SATURDAY 31 MARCH – Holy Saturday
18:00 Solemn Vigil
Petite messe solennelle, Battmann
Tantum ergo O salutaris hostia, Dubois
The cost to the LMS of celebrating the full Triduum is quite considerable, if you would like to make a donation towards the cost, please do by visiting www.lms.org.uk