[Full Marian schedule at St Mary’s Shrine Warrington WA1 2NS]
Based on Prayer of Erasmus 1532, Dedication of England to the Mother of God 1893, Prayer for England, Cardinal Griffin’s Act of Consecration 1948, Act of Consecration St John Paul 1982
PRAYER O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England thy “Dowry” and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee.
Response
We your faithful people assembled here offer you this country in which we live. Once it was yours, all its children were your children and you were honoured throughout England as its Protectress and its Queen. Again do we consecrate it as your Dowry, and entrust it to your maternal care.
Prayer
By thee it was that Jesus our Saviour and our hope was given unto the world; and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more.
Response
To you we entrust the Church, which invokes you as Mother. On earth you preceded her in the pilgrimage of faith. Comfort her in her difficulties and trials. Make her always the sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race. To you, Mother of the human family, and of the nations, we confidently entrust the whole of humanity with its hopes and fears. Let it not lack the light of true wisdom. Guide it to seek freedom and justice for all. Direct its steps in the ways of peace. Enable all to meet Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Prayer
Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother.
Response
Pray, O Holy Mother of God, for the conversion of heart of the people of England, restoration of the sick, consolation for the troubled, repentance of sinners, peace to the departed. Queen of Peace, pray for us and give to the world the peace for which all peoples are longing, peace in the truth, justice and charity of Christ. Give peace to the nations and to the souls of all, that in peace, the Kingdom of God may prevail.
Prayer
Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the supreme Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. ResponseMay your prayers bring back this country to the fullness of its ancient faith. May your intercession lead us to a closer union with your divine Son. We offer you all the people of this land, especially those who know you so little or not at all. May all in our country know Christ, the light of the world and its only Saviour.
Prayer
Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee, in our heavenly home.
Response
May we who follow your Son, be fruitful in the good work of building a culture of life in our world, where all human life is treasured and the gift of God’s creation is respected and cared for, so that all may share the fruits of God’s generous love.
V: Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.R: That we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England, thy Dowry, and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee. By thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and our hope, was given unto the world; and he has given thee to us that we might hope still more. Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold, they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith, fruitful in good works, we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee in our heavenly home. Amen.
Residential summer camp for boys aged 10 to 17. Based at Savio House, Ingersley Road, Bollington, Macclesfield
The Camp will involve scheduled activities including Holy Mass, prayer and catechetical talks, sports / hiking /games, quizzes, preparing and acting in a drama production and excursions by bus to local places of interest.
Full price £220. Subsidised: £100.
For more information and booking forms contact Fr Phipps: sphipps@fssp.org
Residential summer camp for girls aged 10 to 17. Based at Savio House, Ingersley Road, Bollington, Macclesfield
The Camp will involve scheduled activities including Holy Mass, prayer and catechetical talks, sports / hiking /games, quizzes, preparing and acting in a drama production and excursions by bus to local places of interest.
Full price £220. Subsidised: £100.
For more information and booking forms contact Fr Phipps: sphipps@fssp.org
Please pray for 12 young men from all over the UK discerning God’s calling while on recollection at St Mary’s Shrine in Warrington this weekend.
While low level of comfort makes healthy candidates and priests, please send us donations to convert our newly bought Priory building, so that these men and future guests might not need to sleep on mattresses in the photocopy room or in the parish hall, and that ideally our priests might not need to vacate their own rooms to fit several guests in them.
We warmly recommend watching Terrence Malick’s latest film ‘A Hidden Life’ (UK release 17 January 2020) about unsung hero, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II. When the Austrian peasant farmer is faced with the threat of execution for treason, it is his unwavering faith and his love for his wife Fani and children that keeps his spirit alive.
This deeply poetical, familial and (long) film raises many questions. What would we have done? Is there no way one could swear alliegance to save one’s family and one’s life? While Nazi Germany is an easy – often stereotyped – incarnation of evil, asking the same questions about our modern world in 2020 is more challenging. Is it possible that we are compromising? When does prudence end, and when does resistance become necessary? The villagers in the film ostracise Franz and his family because of their moral stance. Are we aware and fearful of a similar risk incurred if we stand up for truth and virtue? Precisely, are we standing up, or are we trying to lie low for as long as we can? Dare we name the forces of oppression in 2020, even though they wear no swastikas up their sleeves?
One wishes that the film had explained the moral distinctions which make some official oaths permissible and others not.
For instance in the Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich signed on July 20, 1933 [Ratified 10 September 1933] stipulated: “Article 16: Before bishops take possession of their dioceses they are to take an oath of loyalty either to the Reich governor of the state (Land) concerned or to the President of the Reich respectively, according to the following formula: “Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise, as becomes a bishop, loyalty to the German Reich and to the State (Land) of . . . I swear and promise to honour the legally constituted government and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honour it. With dutiful concern for the welfare and the interests of the German state, in the performance of the ecclesiastical office entrusted to me, I will endeavour to prevent everything injurious which might threaten it.”
The oath which Franz Jägerstätter refused to take as a soldier was the Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler, 2 August 1934: “I swear to God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath.”
The Catholic faith of Franz is manifest in the film, but less explicit than was the case in his life. After a turbulent (and even sinful) youth, he started taking his faith more and more seriously. Family life made him an exemplary Catholic husband and father. He became the village sacristan. The film should have included at least one holy Mass (there are delightful scenes in his mountain village church). Still, what a pleasant surprise to see a Hollywood blockbuster film depicting the Catholic faith with such accuracy, respect and beauty (the Corpus Christi procession is a little jewel)!
On this eve of the feast of the Holy Family, the most precious gift offered us by Terrence Malick in ‘The Hidden Life’ is his depiction of a deeply Catholic home, where parents, grandmother and children are not spared hardship (working very hard in the fields indeed) but grow in moral stature through their trials embrassed in faith and relying on God’s grace. Aged 94, Fani attended the beatification ceremony of her husband in Rome in 2007, led by Pope Benedict XVI whose own home village was near St Radegund, across the border. No doubt this film can encourage modern families struggling with education, chastity, fidelity – and touch those among our contemporaries who as yet haven’t had the grace of experiencing Catholic family life. Holy Family of Nazareth, please inspire and protect all families!
Closing Title Card “…the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” -George Eliot, ‘Middlemarch’.
St William of York Church, Reading, Saturday 14 December Led by Fr Seth Phipps, FSSP
10:15am Holy Mass (Mass of Our Lady on Saturday in Advent, Rorate), followed by refreshments in the Annex 11:30am First conference: “God became man so that man might become God” 12:15pm Lunch (bring your own packed lunch) 1:30pm Second Conference: “God chose a mother” 2.30pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, with opportunities for confession. Concluding with Rosary and Benediction, finishing at 3.30pm.
