FSSP Retreat in Wales
This looks a wonderful event. More details below and herePreached by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP on the theme:
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Two contrasting Masses
We celebrated Mass in the Extraordinary Form on the evening of All Saints with a congregation of some 60 people. In his homily Fr Goddard said that the Saints listened to God and obeyed Him, and we must do the same, even though it may bring trials to us as it did to them. The Gospel was part of the Beatitudes in St Matthew’s Gospel and we were told that Jesus Himself perfectly fulfilled the ‘Blessed’ statements that He made about being humble, pure in heart and so on. The atmosphere was one of celebrating the lives and examples of those who have gone before us – both known and unknown – and now pray for us in Heaven.
By contrast, the atmosphere on the morning of All Souls was sombre as we remembered the Holy Souls in Purgatory. About 50 people attended the Mass. A cataflaque surrounded by candles had been set up in the aisle. Fr Goddard wore a black chasuble and the joyful parts of the Mass, such as the Gloria, were missing. The sequence reminding us of death and judgment was read out. There was no homily and no Salve Regina at the end; the cataflaque was sprinkled with holy water and incensed.
Let us not forget to pray for those whose place in Heaven is assured, but have not reached it yet.
Gain Plenary Indulgences for the Souls in Purgatory This Week
You may already know this (announced at Mass last Sunday, 29th Nov) , but just in case you don’t, here is the info on indulgences you can obtain for the Poor Souls in Purgatory (each day this week) and also for yourself (today)!
Courtesy of Bridegroom Press: (and re-posted from One Peter Five) (here)
Grant #29.1.1
For the Souls in Purgatory
Plenary Indulgence
A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted each and every day from Nov 1 to Nov 8, who devoutly visit a cemetery and there pray, if only mentally, for the departed.
Grant #29.1.2
All Souls’ Day – Plenary Indulgence
A plenary indulgence is granted the faithful who, on All Souls’ Day (or according to the judgment of the bishop, on the Sunday preceding or following it, or on the solemnity of All Saints), devoutly visits a church or an oratory and recites an Our Father and the Creed.
[…]
Requirements for obtaining a plenary indulgence:
Do the work while in a state of grace,
Receive Sacramental confession within 20 days of the work (several plenary indulgences may be earned per reception),
Receive Eucharistic communion (one plenary indulgence may be earned per reception),
Pray for the pope’s intentions (Our Father and Hail Mary, or other appropriate prayer, is sufficient),
Have no attachment to sin (even venial) – i.e., it is sufficient that the Christian makes an act of the will to love God and despise sin.
Requirements for a partial indulgence: The work must be done while in a state of grace and with the general intention of earning an indulgence.
Notes:
Only baptized persons in a state of grace who generally intend to do so may earn indulgences.
Indulgences cannot be applied to the living, but only to the one doing the work or to the dead.
Only one plenary indulgence per day can be earned (except for prayer at the hour of one’s own death).
Several partial indulgences can be earned during the same day.
If only part of a work with plenary indulgence attached is completed, a partial indulgence still obtains.
If the penance assigned in confession has indulgences attached, the one work can satisfy both penance and indulgence.
Confessors may commute the work or the conditions if the penitent cannot perform them due to legitimate obstacles.
In groups, indulgenced prayer must be recited by at least one member while the others at least mentally follow the prayer.
If speech/hearing impairments make recitation impossible, mental expression or reading of the prayer is sufficient.
For an indulgence attached to a particular day requiring a church visit, the day begins at noon the day before and ends at midnight.
What are you waiting for? This is a fantastic opportunity to help the Church Suffering!
All Saints and All Souls
Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated at Christ the King, Bedford as follows:
All Saints, Wednesday 1 November – Low Mass 7.30 pm (Holy Day of Obligation)
All Souls, Thursday 2 November – Low Mass 10 am
Our celebrant for both these Masses will be Fr Matthew Goddard FSSP, who will also be our celebrant next Sunday, 5 November, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost.
We look forward to seeing you again, or perhaps for the first time, in our beautiful church.
Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ
“Be Thou our King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger”
Today in the General Roman Calendar of 1960 is the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This Feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI relatively recently in his encyclical letter, Quas Primas, in 1925.
Our celebrant today for this Feast was Fr Ian Verrier, on his second visit to Bedford since the Traditional Masses at Christ the King were taken on by the FSSP earlier this month. He wore a magnificant gold chasuble and a deep lace border and gave an inspiring homily tracing the history of Christ as King through the Old and New Testaments, with much reference to Pius XI’s encyclical. Christ is King over all people, and only by all acknowledging Him as King will there be peace and harmony in the world. At the end of the Mass, we said a beautiful Act of Dedication of the Human Race to Jesus Christ the King, part of which is quoted above. We were also reminded about the indulgences which may be gained both on this day and in November.
Fr Verrier announced on his visit earlier this month that he will be moving to the FSSP Apostolate at Warrington in the New Year. We wish him every blessing over the next few months as he prepares to move North.
First Sunday of the new FSSP apostolate
Fr. Goddard said the first Mass of the new FSSP apostolate in Bedford this morning, with almost 60 people there. He delivered a wonderful sermon on confession and how to improve on our faults, and spent a long time chatting to parishioners in the hall afterwards and hearing what they wanted – a monthly Sung Mass was mooted, if we can get a choir. A great start to the new apostolate!
Fr Verrier will be saying Mass next week; he has already celebrated in Bedford once before, but we will be seeing him much more often now!
Fatima relics
This weekend, the relics of Saints Jacinta and Francisco will be at Northampton Cathedral and some of us will be visiting.
It’s a great opportunity to venerate the relics on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions, and pray for the intercession of these Saints at a time of such confusion in the Church and in the world.
One of the Fatima visionaries, Sister Lucia, wrote to the late Cardinal Caffara that: “The decisive battle between the Lord and the Kingdom of Satan will be over marriage and the family.”
Sounds about right.
Birth of Mary – a beautiful prayer
On Our Lady’s birthday the Church celebrates the first dawning of redemption with the appearance in the world of the Saviour’s mother, Mary. The Blessed Virgin occupies a unique place in the history of salvation, and she has the highest mission ever commended to any creature. We rejoice that the Mother of God is our Mother, too. Let us often call upon the Blessed Virgin as “Cause of our joy”, one of the most beautiful titles in her litany.
“Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord,
the gift of heavenly grace,
that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
may bring deeper peace
to those for whom the birth of her Son
was the dawning of salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.” (Collect Prayer)
Ancient Prayer In Honour of Our Lady’s Nativity by St. Anselm
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies, and against the enemy of the whole human race. Give me strength humbly to pray to thee. Give me strength to praise thee in prayer with all my powers, through the merits of thy most sacred nativity, which for the entire Christian world was a birth of joy, the hope and solace of its life.
When thou wast born, O most holy Virgin, then was the world made light.
Happy is thy stock, holy thy root, and blessed thy fruit, for thou alone as a virgin, filled with the Holy Spirit, didst merit to conceive thy God, as a virgin to bear Thy God, as a virgin to bring Him forth, and after His birth to remain a virgin.
Have mercy therefore upon me a sinner, and give me aid, O Lady, so that just as thy nativity, glorious from the seed of Abraham, sprung from the tribe of Juda, illustrious from the stock of David, didst announce joy to the entire world, so may it fill me with true joy and cleanse me from every sin.
Pray for me, O Virgin most prudent, that the gladsome joys of thy most helpful nativity may put a cloak over all my sins.
O holy Mother of God, flowering as the lily, pray to thy sweet Son for me, a wretched sinner.
Rex Teodosio is a public speaker, writer and documentary producer. He gives tours of talks in the Midwest about the prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima and its relevance. He has given talks for conferences, retreats, youth camps and schools. Since 1993, he has given over 3,000 talks. He has produced several documentaries including, The Christian Institution of the Family: A Dynamic Force to Regenerate Society, which had wide distribution in the UK and Fatima: Messaggio di Tragedia o Speranza? for Luci Sull’Est in Italy. He also writes regularly for Crusade Magazine and for TFP.org. He heads the blog called In Defense of Holy Matrimony.
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Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
A reminder that there is a Low Mass at Christ the King on Friday 8 September at 7.30 pm, celebrant Fr Anton Webb.