Marylebone Ordinariate Group: May 2013

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Containing in Itself all sweetness

Tomorrow being the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, in former days in this land known as the Feast of Corpus Christi, our minds turn towards that greatest of gifts bestowed on the Church: the gift of the Most Blessed Eucharist, poured forth from the Sacred Heart of the Lord (which devotion will be celebrated Friday week).

In England and Wales the obligation to hear Mass has now been transferred to the following Sunday - this coming Sunday - and so naturally our readers will be eager to learn of churches holding processions. Unfortunately there will not be a procession on Sunday at S. James's, Spanish Place, this year. However any disappointment will be short lived given that this is due to there being a Confirmation Mass following the usual Solemn Mass at midday, when a large number of candidates will receive another gift of the indwelling love of God in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Do remember these new soldiers of Christ in your prayers as they prepare for this celebration.

Rumour has it that a procession of the Blessed Sacrament may feature in the parish later in the year - we will keep you informed.

Over in Kensington, however, one can continue to attend Mass at one's usual Sunday morning church but also join the usual procession following vespers at the Brompton Oratory which will take place around 3:30pm following vespers at 3pm. You may even be lucky enough to see one of our shadowy number amongst those following Our Lord as He sanctifies the very earth with His Presence.

Until then, some music to begin our preparations for this wonderful feast when we recall the institution of the Eucharist apart from the gathering darkness of the Triduum.

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Blessed John Henry Newman on the hope for Reunion

… I gather up and bear in memory those familiar affectionate companions and counsellors, who in Oxford were given to me, one after another, to be my daily solace and relief; and all those others, of great name and high example, who were my thorough friends, and showed me true attachment in times long past….

And I earnestly pray for this whole company, with a hope against hope, that all of us, who once were so united, and so happy in our union, may even now be brought at length, by the Power of the Divine Will, into One Fold and under One Shepherd.

Apologia pro Vita Sua

Blessed John Henry Newman's Prayer for Unity

O Lord Jesus Christ, who when Thou wast about to suffer didst pray for Thy disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as Thou art in the Father and the Father in Thee, look down in pity on the manifold divisions among those who profess Thy faith and heal the many wounds which the pride of man and the craft of Satan have inflicted on Thy people.

Break down the walls of separation which divide one party and denomination of Christians from another. Look with compassion on the souls who have been born in one or other of these communions, which not Thou, but man, hath made.

Set free the prisoners from these unauthorised forms of worship, and bring them all to the one communion which Thou didst set up at the beginning – the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Teach all men that the See of Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre, and instrument of Unity. Open their hearts to the long forgotten truth that the Holy Father, the Pope, is Thy Vicar and representative; and that in obeying him in matters of religion they are obeying Thee, so that as there is but one company in heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying Thy holy Name, here below. Amen

Fr Ignatius Harrison, the former Provost of the London Oratory, on Unity

Another of the Holy Father’s outstanding achievements is his inspiring work for Christian Unity in setting-up the Ordinariates for former Anglicans. What a brilliant way of cutting through the plethora of mealy-mouthed verbiage and foggy thinking that has characterized so much ecumenical activity in recent decades, verbiage and fogginess which may indeed have had the very best of intentions, but which nevertheless achieved so little in real terms.

Let us also pray with all our heart and mind and strength that our vitally important ecumenical journey with our Greek and Russian Orthodox brethren will continue apace, that our charitable and respectful dialogue with them will bear much fruit, so that the universal Church might once again breathe with two whole lungs, and so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Domine, ut sit!