The bleak state of the world and Church should not dishearten us: rather, it should lead us to give thanks for every small achievement granted by God. There are signs that seeds planted some decades ago have started bearing fruit, by God’s grace, Fr de Malleray observes.
The Catholic Doctrine of the Angels
Oxford theologian Fr John Saward has written a new and accessible summary of the Catholic faith on the fascinating topic of uncorporeal created spirits, good and evil. Fr de Malleray reviews the book that explains why fear the demons and why rely on the good angels.
Dr Jordan Peterson, Commonsensically Ours
Sophia Rumpus reports on Dr Jordan Peterson’s recent Conference at the O2 Academy in London. She explains that Peterson, a clinical psychologist, author, and educator has risen to influential fame for speaking common sense to the modern audience. The absence of religious belief makes the younger generations even hungrier for truth.
Ivan Merz, A Youth Passionate For the Liturgy
Seminarian Stjepan Androić, FSSP describes the life and work of his fellow-Croatian Blessed Ivan Merz (1896–1928). The young layman had identified the Roman liturgy of his time as the richest vehicle of sanctification. His example shows that no only experts, but any of us Catholics, may become passionate for the way we pray and be strengthened in our faith.
On the Liturgy as the Highest Form of Art
Whereas Richard Wagner defined opera as the total form of art encompassing all other cultural expressions, Bl. Ivan Merz points to the Roman liturgy as the deepest implementation of that ideal, uniting music, poetry, choreography, painting, sculpture, architecture, goldsmithing, sowing, and sculpture in the most harmonious praise to God.
Support our Apostolate
With now five houses across the UK & Ireland, our ministry increases. Find out how you can endow us with the resources we need to serve more souls. Help us bring this country back to Our Blessed Lady, for the love of Jesus.
FSSP UK & Ireland Wall Calendar 2024
Our Dowry subscribers received our beautifully illustrated calendar free of charge, inserted in their printed copy of Dowry. Discover pictures of our various apostolates and ceremonies, and benefit form up to date guidance on the holy days of obligation, days of fast and particular feasts. Our 2024 calendar will also be available at our churches in December.
Thank you to all who organised the children’s All Saints Day party on Wednesday morning. There were many wonderful costumes, and Fr Phipps was deeply impressed at the knowledge of saints on display in the quiz!
All Saints Day (1 Nov.) is a Holy Day of Obligation – all Catholics must attend Mass on pain of mortal sin, and to the extent possible, abstain from servile works. Masses in Reading will be at 10am (Low Mass), and 7pm (Sung).
After the morning Mass, there will be a children’s All Saints party – come dressed as your favourite saint! Please bring a packed lunch and something to share.
All Souls Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is strongly encouraged that you attend Mass and pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Priests have the privilege this day of offering three Requiem Masses – three different formularies are provided in the missal. In Reading, there will be two consecutive Low Masses at 10am, and a Sung Mass at 7pm.
Indulgences
A reminder of the indulgences available in November, applicable only to the poor souls in purgatory:
1-8 November: a plenary indulgence is granted for visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead, if only mentally. Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis (‘eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them’).
On 2 November, a plenary indulgence (applicable only for the dead) is granted to the faithful who devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite there an Our Father and the Creed.
Only one indulgence may be gained per day. To gain the indulgence, one must be in the state of grace at the time of performing the work, and fulfil the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion (both within a few days), and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.
Click here to open the 20-page magazine or on the picture below.
In this issue:
Editorial: The Youth of Roman Traditions
Fr de Malleray reports on World Youth Day in Portugal last August with the Juventutem youth movement. A low-key presence but loaded with many graces, not least the protection of Our Lady of Fatima.
Juventutem Summer Weekend at Ampleforth
Tom Clovis, FSSP describes the successful annual Summer Weekend organised by Juventutem for 70 young adults in Ampleforth Abbey last July, boding well of next summer’s edition for the 20th anniversary of Juventutem.
Good News: Truth Can Be Known
A typed version of the talk by Conan McGonagle, FSSP on objective truth and how we can grasp it. Relativism influences us all. With St Thomas Aquinas, common sense is the best guide to use God’s creation fruitfully.
Priest Novelists: Evangelising through Fiction
The example of Cardinals Newman and Wiseman, among others, illustrates why some priests write novels to reach out to souls. Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP surveys the involvement of clerics in the literary apostolate.
First FSSP House in Ireland
Fr Patrick O’Donohue, FSSP rejoices as the Bishop of Waterford blesses the first permanent dwelling of the FSSP on the Emerald Isle in Waterford. A major encouragement in our Irish mission.
Novel The Island without Seasons
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP reviews a recent novel by a Romanian author and Tolkien expert. Hero Alexander Wills is sent on a quest for lost Atlantis, a warning to our modern age to have to learn from the past.
Support our Apostolate
Our ministry depends on the charity of our benefactors: parishioners, visitors and readers. Every little (and big) help enables us to do more and better across these Isles.Thank you for your generosity!
A publisher, an editor, a novelist and an academic comment on a Catholic novel just released.
Summary:
He survived Hiroshima. He escaped East-Germany. Will he elude the Church?
Deceased art expert Ken Kokura seemingly reappears in Japan, upsetting the plans of priestly diplomats. They fear, lest a ruthless schemer may have stolen his identity. How far will that possible super spy dare to go to subvert Church policy? The answer may be hidden in Vermeer’s celebrated paintings.
Against a Cold War backdrop, friendship, religion, the fine arts, and ideology intertwine. Loyalties are tested, leaving the only alternatives of betrayal or sacrifice. In the Church under attack, the worst infiltration is sin. Safety then will start with repentance.
Vermeer’s Angel is Fr de Malleray’s brilliant debut novel in an intriguing genre that could accurately be called ‘Vatican Noir’. The author’s detailed knowledge of the ecclesiastical backdrop and the artistic foreground make for a convincing ‘high resolution’ world in which ambition, morality, psychology, espionage and high drama intersect.
Pierpaolo Finaldi, Master of the Keys – The Catholic Writers Guild (UK). Pierpaolo Finaldi is also the CEO of The Catholic Truth Society.
A remarkable novel, a tale of Ostpolitik set in expertly orchestrated scenes alternating between the aftermath of Hiroshima and the collapse of Eastern European communism. Ingeniously interweaving the various strands of his fiction with real history, Japanese culture, Vatican diplomacy, Kim Philby’s Soviet spy ring, and a penetrating analysis of art that makes painting come alive, this is not only a culturally sophisticated narrative, but a gripping read, full of human interest.
Robert Asch, St Austin Review.
Writer, literary critic, and scholar, Robert Asch is co-editor of the St Austin Review and of the St Austin Press.
Armand de Malleray’s stunning prose draws the reader into a world of intrigue and uncertainty where nothing is quite as it seems. This is more than just a novel, it is a haunting meditation on the significance of memory, identity, betrayal, guilt and the insatiable human yearning for the Truth.
Fiorella De Maria, author of The Father Gabriel Mysteries
Award-winning novelist De Maria studied Literature in Cambridge and has published nine books with Ignatius Press.
Vermeer’s Angel is a triumph of a novel. It is a startlingly broad canvas that crosses several continents, cultures and decades, unfolding for the reader subtle readings of both artistic masterpieces and men’s souls. It is a novel about the loss of the self, caused by the atomic blast of modernity and the lingering radiation of older ills. It is a novel about memory and about self-betrayal, suffused with a gentle but persistent sense of the need to recover spiritual responsibility in a world of pragmatic compromise.
Brian Sudlow, author of Catholic Literature and Secularisation in France and England (Manchester University Press)
Dr Brian Sudlow teaches at Aston University (Birmingham, UK) and has written extensively about Catholic literature and Catholic thought in France and England.
Published by Arouca Press, 2023.
Vermeer’s Angel is available on the publisher’s website and on Amazon, including for UK customers, whose copy will be printed in the UK and shipped nationwide without custom taxes.
It is also for sale on the Latin Mass Society‘s bookshop.
