Reading Mass times 25 Feb – 10 March

Click either image below for a link to this week’s bulletin:

by Fr JM

Chair of St Peter–1st Class Feast

By concession of the Holy See, the Chair of St Peter (22 Feb) is a Feast of the First Class in FSSP apostolates. And by decree of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, dated June 7, 2008, a plenary indulgence is granted under the usual conditions to the members of the Confraternity of St Peter on this feast (22 Feb). The conditions are:

– to have the intention of gaining the indulgence
– to make a Sacramental Confession (within several days before or after the feast)
– receive the Holy Eucharist (within several days before or after the feast)
– to pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, for example a Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.
– to be free from all attachment to venial sin. This last is difficult, but if it can’t be fulfilled, a partial indulgence may be gained.

Members of the Confraternity can also gain plenary indulgences on the day of their admission into the CSP and on the Feast of SS Peter & Paul (29 June). To sign up, please visit the “Confraternity” tab above. And for information on indulgences click here.

by Fr JM

Who Makes Children Happy? Jesus Christ.

The chaplains for this year’s Summer Camps will be the by then newly ordained Fr Phipps, FSSP (Summer Camp St Peter) and Fr Verrier, FSSP (Summer Camp St Petronilla). The venue for the camps is a Salesian house, whose founder St John Bosco, shortly after his ordination in 1841, wrote of his convictions in rescuing street children:

“The young, who form the most cherished and attractive portion of human society, and in whom are centred all our hopes for a happy future, are by no means intrinsically perverse or inclined to wickedness. Once you have counteracted the carelessness of some parents, the effects of idleness and of evil companions, it becomes the easiest thing imaginable to instil into their young hearts the principles of order, of good behaviour, of respect towards others, and to accustom them to the practice of religion; and if you should meet any who are already spoiled at that tender age, it is the result of neglect rather than of downright wickedness. These are the ones who especially need a helping hand; the difficulty lies in finding the means of gathering them together in order to speak to them and control them. This was the mission the Son of God took upon Himself; this can be done by His Holy Religion alone, which is eternal and unchangeable in itself, which was and always will be the teacher of mankind, which contains a doctrine so perfect that it is suited to all times, and adapted to the different characters of all men.”

From where did the inspiration come to try and pull children of Victorian-era England out of the mire? Surely from Jesus through His Saints. St John Bosco, pray for us.

Details of the camps, and how to book places, can be found here.

by Fr JM

Welcoming a 7th Priest in the FSSP’s UK Apostolate

Deo gratias for a seventh priest joining the FSSP’s UK apostolate. Fr Konrad Loewenstein is returning to St Mary’s Warrington today. He was born in England in 1958, of Bavarian descent. After A-levels, he studied at Oxford (Christ Church) and later taught in the USA. Fr Loewenstein joined the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in 1997, studying at our motherhouse in Wigratzbad. After his priestly ordination in 2002, he taught at our seminary and later on started our apostolate in Venice, Italy, where he served for a decade.

In November 2017, Fr Loewenstein came to St Mary’s Warrington temporarily, and is now assigned there for six months. His brother is also a priest, in the English Dominican province, and his late father was a well-known supporter of the traditional Latin Mass. Brief biographies of the FSSP’s seven priests in the UK can be found here.

by Fr JM

Mary Mother of Priests: audio files

View this email in your browser Access audio files here. (Picture: First left: Gwilym, from Wales, was ordained a Porter and Lector last Saturday.)

Dear Rev Father, Fraternal greetings, and may we wish you a happy Shrove Tuesday and a grace-filled Lent. May we bring to your attention the following conferences, i.e. eight meditations recorded live during our latest clergy retreat at Douai Abbey, Berkshire (22-26 January 2018). The theme was: Mary, Mother of Priests and Protectress of our Frailty. We were 15 in total, mostly diocesan, from all over England and Scotland. We are grateful to the Benedictine Community of Douai for their warm welcome, and to the Marian Franciscans of Gosport who kindly make these talks available on their website. Lastly, we thank the various bishops who included this retreat in their Ad Clerum, as in previous years. Below is a description of each conference. Marian Clergy Retreat 01 Douai 2018 – She’s More Than Worth It Spending five days in a monastery is arduous – but worth it, as an investment in our spiritual life. Life is about packing what we will need for an eternal ‘holy day’. So many great things have been written already about Our Lady and the Sacred Priesthood. But we need to make such truths ours, hence the time we take meditating on them. With knowledge comes responsibility. Our Lady will help us become saints, as our priesthood calls us to. The interior life of Our Lady is where it all begun. On her Annunciation, Our Lady knew all that She needed to know about the mission of the Messiah her Son, and about us, her spiritual posterity. Marian Clergy Retreat 02 Douai 2018 – The Triple Eclipse The Incarnation of the Logos in Our Lady’s virginal womb is explained as a triple eclipse. A mineral and cosmic eclipse of the sun by the moon. An organic and microcosmic eclipse of Our Lady’s eye (symbolising her soul) by the ovum. In between, a spiritual eclipse (or superimposition) of God’s loving will by Our Lady’s created will, humbly and joyfully responsive. Marian Clergy Retreat 03 Douai 2018 – God’s First Child Is A Priest Our Lady is the Mother of God, because her Son is divine as a Person. The human nature He assumed from Her belongs immediately to Him as Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Until Jesus, no child was ever conceived by a sinless mother; and that first Child of grace is a priest. Our Lady loves priests as formally sharing in the distinctive feature of her Son, His priesthood. Marian Clergy Retreat 04 Douai 2018 – Her Son’s Fingers and Lips Our Lady wishes to be a mother to all humans, in fulfilment of the Redemption wrought by her Son. Those marked with the sacramental characters of Holy Baptism and Confirmation bear a particular resemblance to her Son Jesus. But in priests only does She find embedded a permanent capacity for imparting divine life, even after some of them may have lost God’s grace. Our Lady watches all the more lovingly over them, until they reach heaven. Marian Clergy Retreat 05 Douai 2018 – Cord Of Grace Or Bonds Of Death The Visitation prolongs the Annunciation. Our Lady acts as heavenly midwife to St John the Baptist, the Precursor of the Sovereign High Priest. She forwards to him the Holy Ghost to graft him into the mystical Body of her Son, while carrying Jesus as the Head of the same Body. The devotion to ‘Mary Undoer of Knots’ illustrates this truth. All further members must be connected to their Head through Mary. Despising her spiritual motherhood binds one to the Father of Lies instead, as no middle path is offered. Marian Clergy Retreat 06 Douai 2018 – Mary As The Potter’s Field Judas is the type of the fallen priest. Our Lady invites him to come back to the divine Father. Any fallen priest must hope in her intercession, even when engrossed in ungodly business. She can reshape in him the priestly features of her Son even when distorted through betrayal. Filiation to Mary secures life, but filiation to the devil leads to death. Marian Clergy Retreat 07 Douai 2018 – Espoused to Christ’s Church As the New Eve, Our Lady is also the Virginal Bride of Christ, the New Adam. She appears at Cana and on Golgotha as ‘The Woman’. With and through Her, the divine Bridegroom fosters a spiritual progeny. Guided by St Joseph, priests may prudently enter into this sponsal companionship. Priestly celibacy is a treasure for the world, as a striking sign of the power of divine grace working through ordinary men. Priests sacrifice to God the great good of biological fatherhood. This makes them even more apt to protect unborn children, images of the Saviour in the earliest stage of His redemptive Incarnation. Marian Clergy Retreat 08 Douai 2018 – Him Whom My Soul Loveth As the Word became flesh, Christ was ordained a priest. Marked indelibly with the priestly character of her Son, priests are ontologically entitled to Our Lady’s assistance. Hence, priests have a greater duty to bear fruit of grace. Non-priests can be more holy though, if they love more. Mary was granted priestly powers once, but priests have them at their constant disposal. Mary will seek her Son’s priests, not resting until She sees them secure in grace, forever in heaven. Priests respond to her zeal by becoming her sons. Ordinations: We ask for your prayers for 23 of our seminarians who were ordained to the minor orders and subdiaconate last Saturday, including Gwilym, from Wales. See all the pictures here. We would be delighted if any of you were available to attend the priestly ordination (in the Extraordinary Form) of Deacon Seth Phipps, FSSP, here at St Mary’s Warrington, on Saturday 9 June 2018, 11am, by our local Ordinary, Archbishop Malcom McMahon OP. See pictures of last year’s ordination here. LiveMass: Daily (EF) Mass with homily on our FSSP channel: http://www.livemass.org/. Thank you for your interest. (If your inbox is already full of similar information, feel very welcome to unsubscribe from this circular emailing list. Alternatively, you may like to take a look at our new revamped website for the UK & Ireland, with interactive options: http://fssp.co.uk/.) Fraternally, Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP (Rector of St Mary’s Shrine, Warrington, Liverpool Archdiocese)

by Fr AM

Devouring the Unborn

“…they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind”
Jeremiah 19

The most powerful reason against abortion is God’s Sovereign ownership of every immortal spirit, of every human soul, of every creature. There is just one week remaining to add your voice defending the unborn in the consultation on ‘buffer zones’ opened up by the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, MP.

Click on the image below to give your views online. The deadline is 19 February.

To read Bishop John Sherrington’s homily on the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act, given with depth and clarity, click here. Below is an important letter from Clare McCullough of the Good Counsel Network to the Home Secretary outlining what is at stake.

“They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.”
Psalm 105

by Fr JM

Missa Cantata for Ash Wednesday

On Ash Wednesday (14 Feb), the 11am Mass in Chesham Bois and the 7:30pm Mass in Reading will both be Sung Masses. For those who wish to familiarise themselves with some of the chant and prayers, clicking on the images below will open links to wonderful resources. In Chesham Bois, Mass XVII will be sung with the longer Kyrie (score A) also used for the chant for the Ite missa est. A recording of the Marian antiphon, Ave regina caelorum, can be heard below.

V. Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata.
R. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.

Oremus. Concede, misericors Deus, fragilitati nostrae praesidium: ut, qui sanctae Dei Genitricis memoriam agimus; intercessionis eius auxilio, a nostris iniquitatibus resurgamus. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

by Fr JM

Reading Masses for 11 – 24 Feb

Click here to see the latest bulletin from Reading. Below are the Mass times for the coming fortnight.

by Fr JM

Taking Inspiration from the Lancaster Martyrs

Today the FSSP UK priests’ meeting included a visit to Lancaster.

Image (above): close to the spot in Lancaster Castle where St Edmund Arrowsmith was held before being martyred in 1628.

Image (above): A memorial stone marking the location of several martyrdoms in Lancaster. Among those whose intercession we invoked was Bl James Bell, born in Warrington, and martyred in Lancaster in 1584 under Bloody Queen Bess.

Downhill from where the martyrs died is the plot on which in 1859 the Catholic Cathedral of St Peter was built. The cathedral’s fine windows tell of St Peter’s life and death in Christ. Above:

• St Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost
• St Peter at the Council of Jerusalem
• St Peter delivered from prison by an angel

And below:

• St Peter’s restoreth Tabitha to life
• Lord, where goest Thou
• St Peter is crucified at Rome

St Peter, pray for us.

by Fr JM

Holy Sacrifice of the Altar

Every priest is appointed to offer sacrifice (cf Heb 5:1).

FSSP UK priest meeting at St Mary’s Shrine.

by Fr JM