Malteser Broadcast and a Call to Almsgiving

Last Sunday's live broadcast of Mass on French Television (France 2), in a programme entitled Le Jour du Seigneur, featured a celebration of Mass held at the parish of St Elizabeth of Hungary, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.  The Mass was celebrated by Monsignor Guy Thomazeau, who was until 2011 the Archbishop of Montpellier, and who, much earlier in his priestly life, was the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Paris and Parish Priest of S Pierre de Chaillot (Paris 16th arrondissement), being the parish in which I live during the week, and where I hope to attend Mass tomorrow evening.

St Elizabeth's is an extremely beautiful church, but is slightly unusual, in that it is both a parish church and also the Conventual Church (in France) of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Malta (as well as being the centre of the Catholic Mission to the Chinese of Paris). 

If you watch the footage, which at the time of writing you can do by clicking on the link below, you will see that a large number of Maltese Knights and Dames are present, and that one of the Knights, Charles de Boissezon, is interviewed about the Order and about reconciling his being a member of the Order with working in finance.  (Apologies to those of you who don't have French.)  Liturgy in Paris is sometimes criticised for being at the forefront of 1960's tastes, but this is most definitely a very respectable and respectful offering of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, even including up-to-date features such as the so-called Benedictine Arrangement of a crucifix on the altar during a versus populum celebration (such as was seen during a visit to Holy Ghost, Balham).

Link to 19 February 2012 edition of Le Jour du Seigneur

The programme also includes a brief reportage on the history of the Order of Malta (in French).  Please be aware that if looking at the link after Sunday 26 February 2012, you might find yourself directed to a different edition of the programme... so, hurry up!

Regular readers of this blog will know that the Knights of Malta have a strong presence at St James's, Spanish Place (see this blogpost for example) and have also shown great support to the Ordinariate, both the Marylebone Group in particular and the Ordinariate more widely.  Photographic evidence of their support for the Marylebone Group can be seen in our profile picture near the top of the right hand side of this blog.  Photographic evidence of their support for the Ordinariate can be found aplenty here and here.

The fact that some of the Knights of Malta known to us are also former members of the congregation at St Mary's Bourne St most probably helps, but without doubt we as the Ordinariate owe a debt of thanks to the Order of Malta.

As we approach Lent, when our thoughts turn, amongst other things, to whether we are doing what we can in terms of almsgiving, the French broadcast reminds of of the charitable works performed by the Order of Malta.  You can read more about these here and here.  While the visible presence and practical assistance of the Knights is much appreciated, including at public events such as the annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation, this is only a part of their role: their active charitable works in the fields of medical work, humanitarian activities and emergency relief are most definitely no less vital.  The Paris métro has, for example, recently been covered in Ordre de Malte posters intended to bring the 59th Annual Leprosy Day to the attention of the public.

At a more individual level, each of us can put some thought into our charitable giving during Lent, in order to comply, to the extent we can according to our situation, with the encouragement to almsgiving given in the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy. 

No doubt good causes such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul and Malteser International are ready to accept any financial support we might wish to provide.  Do have a look at the websites of both groups and at the good work that they do, both in the UK and around the world.  As part of your Lenten programme this year, think about whether there is something you could do to help them to continue to assist those in need.

Scottish Restorations

Today being the feast day of a little known 9th century Scottish saint provides me with an excuse for a little nostalgia and some fascinating archive footage.  St Moroc, Morocus, or Mawarroc, was Bishop of Dunblane and Abbot of Dunkeld, both towns with which I have a personal connection, having grown up nearby, and both towns with mediaeval cathedrals that fell into various states of disrepair and ruin before being restored and now being parish churches of the Church of Scotland. 

St Moroc is one of the Scottish saints whose cult was probably built up quite deliberately and very successfully by Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen, a giant of Scottish 15th century history.  In his Brevarium Aberdonse and elsewhere he did much to create a distinctively Scottish calendar of saints.

Dunblane Cathedral is a very fine building, and contains a truly fantastic Flentrop organ, built in 1990 which is the instrument on which I spent innumerable hours practising during university vacations. 

Dunkeld Cathedral is also an attractive, if less spectacular, building, with a long history.  I recall now with some amusement a visit there with a German exchange student, with my parents, in around 1988.  A Pageant of the History of Scotland was being presented one evening, which is a big deal in a small (and very beautiful, do go) town like Dunkeld.  My mother, who could not ever be accused in any way of pro-Catholic bias, was absolutely mortified at the presentation of the events of the 16th century in front of our Bavarian Catholic guest : even Ian Paisley might have blushed at the bloodcurdling accounts of the Scots being "liberated" from the clutches of Rome.  There was certainly no malice or bigotry intended, the tone quite simply represented an acquired portrayal of one particular version of events.

Of more interest perhaps to modern day Catholics is Pluscarden Abbey, which although it did fall into disuse at the time of the Reformation, was never formally suppressed in the same way as so many similar establishments were. 

I happened to come across this fascinating video footage of the "Restoration Mass" celebrated there on 8 September 1948, marking the decision to rebuild and reopen Pluscarden.  A Solemn High Mass was celebrated by a mitred abbot (I would guess that it must be the Abbot of Prinknash), in the presence of  the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in cappa magna (that Archbishop being the last post-Reformation Primate of Scotland in office before the practice of making the Primate of Scotland a Cardinal was restored for Gordon Gray).  Also dressed very properly are some other bishops (including the local bishop, the Bishop of Aberdeen) and multiple Canons in mozzette and Nuns in now astonishing headgear.

Those of you with a connection to the Order of Malta will note that the Abbey building and grounds were given back to the Church by Lord Colum Crichton-Stuart, who must, we would guess, be connected to the late HE Fra' Freddie Crichton-Stuart, a description of whose recent Requiem Mass can be found here, along with a link to some photos of that day at the Brompton Oratory taken by Eoghain Murphy.




Deo gratias!

St Moroc, pray for us.

Our Lady of Victories, Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto

When it comes to wars, battles, acts of violence of any kind, we must always pray for peace.  We must pray that these things do not happen and that peace will prevail.  However, sometimes, indeed quite often, peace does not reign: in these cases, we must pray for a return to peace through victory.

An example of this was the Battle of Lepanto, a five-hour maritime battle fought off the coast of Western Greece on Sunday 7 October 1571.  The Holy League, an alliance of Catholic states, led by Don John of Austria, defeated the Ottoman Empire and thereby prevented them from gaining free access to the Mediterranean.  At the same time, in far away Rome, processions of crowds praying the rosary in St Peter's Square joined their intercession with the faithful across Europe, following the command of Pope St Pius V that the rosary be said for victory at Lepanto.  The victory would come to be seen to be a turning point in the long struggle between Catholic Europe and the Muslim Middle East.

In his Encyclical Supremi Apostolatus Officio, Pope Leo XIII wrote :

And it was to preserve the memory of this great boon thus granted, that the same Most Holy Pontiff [Pope St Pius V] desired that a feast in honour of Our Lady of Victories should celebrate the anniversary of so memorable a struggle, the feast which Gregory XIII dedicated under the title of ‘The Holy Rosary'.

The feast had been celebrated at first only in churches with an altar dedicated to the rosary and then also in the Kingdom of Spain (a key part of the Holy League), but after further victories over the Ottoman Empire (both falling on Marian feast days), Pope Clement XI extended the feast to the whole church in 1716.

To commemorate the great victory, G K Chesterton wrote his poem Lepanto, the opening of which is set out below :

WHITE founts falling in the Courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard;
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips;
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross.
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun

A momentous day indeed, and a date on which we now quite rightly celebrate not only a decisive Victory, but the gift to us that is the rosary.  The collect for today from the Extraordinary Form sums it all up beautifully :

O God, whose only-begotten Son by His life, death and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We shouldn't forget the power of prayer, nor the power of the rosary, nor the value of meditating on its mysteries.  Those in or around London on Saturday are reminded that the Rosary Crusade of Reparation, mentioned also in this post, is being held tomorrow 8 October. 

Our friends at St Mary's Bourne St continue to mark today's feast day too, and we look forward to joining our prayers with theirs as we all meditate upon the mysteries of the rosary, and as we ask for the intercession of Our Most Blessed Mother. 

It seems to be agreed that the only known piece of music written to commemorate the great victory at Lepanto was the Canticum Moises composed by the Rome-based Spaniard Fernando de las Infantas.  Sadly, I couldn't find a linkable recording of this, but I did find a setting by the same composer of a version of the Ave Maria, which is eminently appropriate for a great Marian day such as today. 



UPDATE TO THE ORIGINAL BLOGPOST : A friend from St James's Spanish Place and great supporter of the Ordinariate, Eoghain Murphy, who is also a Knight of Magistral Grace in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the Order of Malta was a member of the Holy League) has pointed out that there is another piece by Fernando de las Infantas that is also worth mentioning today.  This motet, Ecce quam bonum, was written in commemoration of the foundation of Holy League in 1570, and takes as its text Psalm 132.  The choice of text was clearly made in order to celebrate Catholic unity among the nations: "Ecce quam bonum... habitare fratres in unum" (Behold, how good it is... for brethren to dwell in unity).  How very appropriate for today, but also how very appropriate for a blog related to the Ordinariate. 



Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.

St Vincent de Paul, pray for us

Today we commemorate St Vincent de Paul, a saint famed for his early seventeenth work as a missionary and for his works for the poor. 

Many continue to support his work today through the Society of St Vincent de Paul, a charity that is  "dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need."  You can read about the activities of the St James's Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul on this webpage.  At St James's, there is also a good number of people who are active in the Order of Malta.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them", and that, of the Corporal Works of Mercy, "Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God."

Might today be a good opportunity to consider a donation of time or money to a charity such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul?

St Vincent de Paul was also involved in what we know was equally important work in mission to the poor.  This well known extract from the Messiah contains text from the Epistle to the Romans that is very suitable for one such as he :

"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things."



Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.