Catholic Treasure, Anglican Patrimony

Yesterday's post Anglican Patrimony and the Ordinariate discussed the various elements that can be considered as Anglican Patrimony, that gift that ex-Anglicans joining the Catholic Church can bring, as part of a process of mutual enrichment.  Our blogpost was clear that Anglican Patrimony covers more than liturgy, more than Cranmerian language and hymns, and extends across the whole range of an ex-Anglican's involvement with the Church. 

What we bring with us as Anglican Patrimony is important, but even more important is the fact that we are now full members of the Catholic Church, fully in communion with the Holy Father and with over one fifth of all humanity.  Because of that, and because, much as we loved our previous home it was beset with difficulties, we are all immensely grateful to the Holy Father for his generous response to the requests of many Anglicans in Anglicanorum Coetibus. 

I'm afraid to say that I loved the picture of the Barque of Peter that I included in the blogpost yesterday so much that I am going to include it today as well, along with a rather nice picture of the Holy Father on board a "barque" as he approached Sydney Harbour for World Youth Day there a few years ago.

We are delighted to bring what we bring as Anglican Patrimony, but other Catholics should not worry that we value this above the treasures of the Catholic Church.  We contribute what we can, and what is of value.  We also receive and learn much that is of value.  No member of the Ordinariate has secret plans to reproduce the Book of Common Prayer. 

Anglicans may have a strong musical and liturgical tradition of their own, but we are happier seeing the following than even our "best" moments as Anglicans. 



It is often said that Anglican Patrimony means hymns.  Well, that is slightly glib, but it is true that when we were in the Church of England, we were probably more used to hymns than many Catholics.  However, the hymns we have encountered in the Catholic Church are very much to our liking and to our taste.  Our first blogpost this week included a link to a recording of the beautiful Fr Faber hymn sung last Sunday at St James's Spanish Place. 

However, we would like to make mention of one very special hymn that we have encountered in the Catholic Church.  Sung to the H F Hemy tune St Catherine, which is often used in the US for Faith of our Fathers, St Alphonsus Liguori's hymn O Bread of Heaven has had a great effect on us: it is a clear expression of a doctrine for which Anglo-Catholics had to fight so hard, but in the Catholic Church simply reflects the agreed position.  Here it is sung at Westminster Cathedral on the occasion of the Holy Father's visit in 2010. The hymn was also sung at Westminster Cathedral on 15 January 2011, during Communion at the Ordination Mass of Monsignors Newton, Burnham and Broadhurst, which is where we first heard and sang it.  The last verse is especially wonderful.

O Bread of Heaven, beneath this veil
Thou dost my very God conceal:
My Jesus, dearest treasure, hail!
I love Thee and, adoring, kneel;
Each loving soul by Thee is fed
With Thine own Self in form of Bread.

O food of life, Thou Who dost give
The pledge of immortality;
I live, no 'tis not I that live;
God gives me life, God lives in me:
He feeds my soul, He guides my ways,
And every grief with joy repays.

O Bond of love that dost unite
The servant to his living Lord;
Could I dare live and not requite
Such love - then death were meet reward:
I cannot live unless to prove
Some love for such unmeasured love.

Beloved Lord, in Heaven above
There, Jesus, Thou awaitest me,
To gaze on Thee with endless love;
Yes, thus I hope, thus shall it be:
For how can He deny me Heaven,
Who here on earth Himself hath given?

Levitation, Flagellation, Ecstasy and the Baroque

St Teresa is a saint that most people find rather hard to understand.  All those stories of levitation, flagellation and ecstasy.  It's hard to link that to the experiences most of us have on a day-to-day basis (at least it is in my case).  The record shows that it was rather awkward for St Teresa in her own time too.  Levitation has always been seen as rather socially awkward.

Yet, there is a side to St Teresa that surely everyone can understand.  She is often cited as some who engaged in many forms of prayer, and this is so, but most of us can probably relate more easily to an earlier period of St Teresa's life, when she found prayer very difficult.

A homily preached at Pusey House many years ago by one of the clergy there who is now a Catholic layman related a tale from his Anglican seminary days at Mirfield.  A young seminarian was feeling a lack of motivation to engage in the programmed hours of meditation and prayer.  When challenged on this, his response was to say "I am very worried, Father, because I don't want to pray".  The answer that came back was in the form of a question "Ah, but do you want to want to pray?"  That mini-debate must resonate with many a well-intentioned believer struggling to build their prayer life. 

St Teresa was a reformer, not only in ecclesiastical terms but also in social terms, a prolific writer, a great intellect and a powerful theologian.  She was, along with St Catherine of Siena, one of the first two women to be declared a Doctor of the Church.  She has been a huge influence in Spanish Catholicism but also very far beyond - the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams has written a book on her, and along with Julian of Norwich, she was regularly cited by the then Vicar of St Mary's Bourne Street in homilies during my early years there.

You can find out more about her here.

The Holy Father gives a concise summary of her importance in this video. 



The Introit set for mass today is Dilexisti justitiam, the same text as was sung during communion during the Holy Father's recent visit to Germany.  Here you can see the small schola singing the chant.



Finally, since we have had a few days without anything baroque, here is a rather fine piece of Spanish baroque sacred music by Sebastian de Vivanco, who was born in Avila in the same century as St Teresa. 



St Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

St Edward the Confessor, Henry Purcell and broken teeth

Our local feast day.  St Edward, apart from being the patron saint of those in difficult marriages, is also the patron saint of the City of Westminster.  St James's Spanish Place, and indeed St Mary's Bourne Street, are both situated in this ancient city.  Tonight, Westminster Abbey have a Sung Eucharist for the Translation of St Edward, October 13 the date in 1269 when his mortal remains were transferred to their current location in a chapel at the very far east end of Westminster Abbey.  On Saturday, they mark the National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Edward with  Evensong and a Procession. 

St Peter's Abbey, or the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which of course we now call Westminster Abbey, was rebuilt by St Edward as a royal burial church, but that is not the building we see today, which was erected by King Henry III in the latter part of thirteenth century.

St Edward of Westminster, pray for us, or as we used to sing in the Litany of the Saints at Bourne Street, Sancti Edwardi Westmonasteriensis, ora pro nobis.

One of the names most associated with Westminster Abbey is Henry Purcell.  We all know of Purcell as one of the greatest English composers, his works are widely performed, but in fact he is one of most unknown characters in music history.  Most writings about his life rather than his music indulge in a lot of speculation, reasonable guesses and inferred likelihoods.  One of the intriguing little mysteries about Purcell (whose name most musicologists will encourage you to say like the washing powder, but in fact we just don't know) is whether he was a Catholic.  Although he finished his life on good terms with the Chapter at Westminster Abbey, I recall an anecdote (which may have been no more than the same speculation as referred to above) told during one of my undergraduate music lectures that the Abbey were so concerned that he might be a secret Catholic that on one occasion they forced him to receive communion. 

O God, Thou art my God, filled with delightful "English cadences" that generate a wince of delight amongst musicians, is quite typical of Purcell's church style, to the extent that such a composer ever has a typical style: he was a master of many styles.  If you listen all the way through, you will notice the final Alleluia is something you will surely recognise.  



If you can't think how you know the final Alleluia from that motet, then watch this, sung at Westminster Abbey upon the occasion of the Holy Father's visit in 2010.  This hymn was also a regular favourite for the congregational singing of Tantum Ergo Sacramentum at St Mary's Bourne St, and no doubt still is, when the temptation to sing the text to Cwm Rhondda can be resisted.




One of my favourite pieces of Purcell is a tour de force in which he shows off his mastery of several styles.  It is also highly unusual, being one of only two sacred pieces set by Purcell in Latin (no, that is not the reason why I like it). "Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei" is not as widely sung as it could be, but always pleases when it is.  The psalmist's reassuring text "Qui percussisti omnes inimicos meos maxilliam, dentes improborum confregisti" is perhaps one of those lines that surprises the modern, desperately sensitive ear : 'Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone, Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked’. 

Shattering Stereotypes

On the last day of his four-day visit to Germany, the Holy Father gave a homily that demonstrated very clearly that the stereotypes of him and of the Catholic Church so beloved by some in the media, and sadly by some Christians, are totally wrong.

These stereotype views have sometimes been expressed directly to some of us.  There are people who say that the Catholic Church is a harsh place, full of impossible rules, unwelcoming to people who live in the "real world" and lead "real lives".  Well, Pope Benedict's words in Freiburg directly contradict that assertion.

Addressing the crowd of 100,000 on the Gospel of the day, in which Our Lord concludes a parable by sayng to the supposed faithful that prostitutes and publicans will go before them into the Kingdom of Heaven because they believed, whereas the faithful who had heard the message did not repent, the Holy Father expressed this same concept in modern terms.

Translated into the language of our time, this statement might sound something like this: agnostics, who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of our sin, are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is “routine”and who regard the Church merely as an institution, without letting their hearts be touched by faith.

With these words, the Holy Father showed very clearly that there is a place for everyone, and that people such as he talked about, with "real lives" in the "real world" as his critics would say, should not feel that they are excluded from the love of God, and should not feel that the Catholic Church looks down on them.  They are closer to the Kingdom of God than many who might claim to be more godly or more devout, those who in fact lead a superficial life in which their faith is expressed in no more than routine.



Today we commemorate St Jerome, priest and Doctor of the Church.  St Jerome was an astonishing character, no stranger to controversy (whether in theological debate or in suffering rumours about his personal life), very well travelled, renowned for his fiery temper and recognised throughout the ages for his God-given intellect and talent.

He is perhaps most well known for his achievement of the Vulgate Bible, but no less important are his associated work of biblical exegesis and commentary, his sermons and letters, and his constant insistence on focussing only on the original, authentic translations of scripture.

St Jerome, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle

The 29th of September is the Feast day of Ss Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (and, by the way, the tenth wedding anniversary of the author of this post - for which, thanks be to God).  St Michael is well known as being an Archangel and as Prince of the Angels.  What might be less well known is that according to Church teaching he has four distinct roles. 

•   Enemy of Satan, expelling him from Heaven. 
•   Saving souls at the hour of death 
•   Weighing souls on Judgment Day 
•   Guardian of the Church

While some of these roles might appear unfashionable to some, they apply now as ever.  In the homily given at his first ordination of bishops as Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father talked about the similarities between the mission of bishops and the mission of the angels.  Fr Ray Blake quoted a very informative news release on this homily on his St Mary Magdalen, Brighton blog :

Just as angels, explained the pope, bishops must lead humanity to God; they must knock on the door to their hearts to announce Christ; they must heal the wounds of relations between man and woman and save them from sin with reconciliation and forgiveness.

The Holy Father's homily was a timely reminder of the importance of the role of the angels, in this age where so many do not know God, and when even many of those who do like to form their own conclusions rather than listen to the Church.  On his recent visit to Germany, the Holy Father talked about how strange it now seems to the modern mind that Martin Luther was so interested in how one might receive God's grace: 

“How do I receive the grace of God?” The fact that this question was the driving force of his whole life never ceases to make an impression on me. For who is actually concerned about this today – even among Christians? What does the question of God mean in our lives? In our preaching? Most people today, even Christians, set out from the presupposition that God is not fundamentally interested in our sins and virtues. He knows that we are all mere flesh. Insofar as people today believe in an afterlife and a divine judgement at all, nearly everyone presumes for all practical purposes that God is bound to be magnanimous and that ultimately he mercifully overlooks our small failings. But are they really so small, our failings? Is not the world laid waste through the corruption of the great, but also of the small, who think only of their own advantage? Is it not laid waste through the power of drugs, which thrives on the one hand on greed and avarice, and on the other hand on the craving for pleasure of those who become addicted? Is the world not threatened by the growing readiness to use violence, frequently masking itself with claims to religious motivation? Could hunger and poverty so devastate parts of the world if love for God and godly love of neighbour – of his creatures, of men and women – were more alive in us? I could go on. No, evil is no small matter. Were we truly to place God at the centre of our lives, it could not be so powerful. The question: what is God’s position towards me, where do I stand before God? – this burning question of Martin Luther must once more, doubtless in a new form, become our question too.

So how might we build the work of the angels?  In addition to doing what we humanly can to contribute to their mission in "announcing Christ", perhaps through being Confidently Catholic, the answer is prayer.  Pope Leo XIII added the prayer below to the "Leonine Prayers" to be said after Mass.  Although the Leonine Prayers are no longer required after Mass, Pope John Paul II specifically encouraged the faithful to use this prayer to St Michael, as an aid in our "....battle against the forces of darkness and the spirit of this world."

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

To conclude, a setting of Psalm 148 by the eighteenth-century French organist and composer, Michel Corrette. 

St Michael, pray for us.

Two Reflections

In the first of the two reflections referred to in the title of this post, the Rector of St James's Spanish Place, Fr Christopher Colven, assesses the impact that the Holy Father's visit in September 2010 has had on Catholics in this country.  The text is taken from this week's Parish Notes.


The Rector writes :

On Saturday 1st October, beginning from Westminster Cathedral at 1.15pm, there is to be a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets to St George’s Cathedral Southwark. This act of witness to the Eucharistic Lord is part of celebrations to mark the first anniversary of Pope Benedict’s visit to this country. In itself, the procession is a sign of renewed confidence among the Catholic community: the months preceding last September’s Papal visit saw increasing nervousness as to how he would be received in what was thought to be among the most secularised parts of Europe – and there had been a well orchestrated campaign in elements of the media ridiculing belief in general and Catholicism in particular. In the event, from the moment the Holy Father touched down in Edinburgh, hundreds of thousands turned out to welcome him and, more importantly, listen attentively to what he had to say. This was evident when he addressed civil society in Westminster Hall and when he spoke to ecumenical leaders in Westminster Abbey, and spectacularly in the great vigil in Hyde Park and then Cardinal Newman’s beatification in Birmingham. The Pope commented that his visit had given him “fresh breath”, and that is certainly true for the Catholics of Scotland, Wales and England.

A year on, how can we assess the events of September 2010? Since St Gregory the Great sent Augustine on his mission in 597, England had always enjoyed a close relationship with the Successors of St Peter – which accounts for the pain of the discontinuity introduced in the 16th century and the searing experience of penal times which has written loyalty to Rome deep into the British Catholic consciousness. What was re-experienced last year was a sense of cohesion around Peter: through our communion with Rome, our place within the universality of the Church is secured. The Pope is there to ensure that St Peter’s act of faith in the living Christ as Son of Man and Son of God is proclaimed in every age: it is his responsibility to guarantee the parameters of right belief (to encourage dialogue and fresh thinking but to ensure it does not lose touch with “what was first received”). In so many unexpected ways the present Papacy has proved much more radical than could ever have been imagined ( a warning against stereotyping) and it is exciting and stimulating to be a Catholic Christian with Pope Benedict at the helm of Peter’s bark!

One of the lessons that the present Pope can teach us is not to be afraid to address contemporary culture on its own terms. In the address at Westminster Hall, Benedict XVI reminded those present of Europe’s rooting in Christian Faith and gave his analysis of contemporary societies not at ease with themselves having lost contact with God: he did not preach, but he did teach, and an audience which was uncertain at first acclaimed him enthusiastically at the end. This didactic approach, wanting to engage others in genuine discussion, putting forward thoughts and ideas which have intellectual integrity – going out into the market place (like St Paul) to meet people of different beliefs, and none, on their own ground – with a clarity underpinned by humility, which offers an invitation but does not demand attention, is surely the way to reach into the hearts and minds of our own generation.” I will endow him with my spirit: he will proclaim the true faith to the nations. He will not brawl or shout … he will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick” (Matthew 12:20).

Christopher Colven                                                              


Readers may also find a short reflection given by Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Tunbridge Wells Ordinariate Group of interest.  The theme is Our Lady of Walsingham and Christian Unity

To conclude, another Walsingham hymn :

Padre Pio, pray for us

Time only allows for a short blogpost today, in which we touch briefly on the saint of the day, Padre Pio, Pio of Petrelcina, and in which we would like to draw your attention to two upcoming events

The video below shows a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to San Giovanni Rotondo, the home town of Padre Pio, where he prayed before the Saint's tomb and celebrated Mass.  In his homily that day, he reminded pilgrims not just of Padre Pio's spiritual strengths, but also of the obligation to provide for those in need, however difficult that might be. 



The first of the two events we would like to highlight is that the Oxford Ordinariate Group is marking the Solemnity of Our Lady of Walsingham (the day is marked as such in the Ordinariate) wih a special programme of events for tomorrow afternoon.  If you are in or near Oxford then, do support this with your presence and/or your prayers.

Oxford Ordinariate - Solemnity of Our Lady of Walsingham

The second event has been highlighted by Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Tunbridge Wells Ordinariate Group.  A Mass is being celebrated by the Archbishop of Westminster at Westminster Cathedral on October 6th for the St Barnabas Society, a charity that offers financial support to clergy converts and their families.  Again, please support this event with your presence and/or your prayers, and consider whether you might be able to offer some financial support as well, either throught the St Barnabas Society or through the Friends of the Ordinariate. 

Tunbridge Wells Ordinariate - St Barnabas Society

Friends of the Ordinariate

Confidently Catholic

One year on from Pope Benedict's visit to this country, the Bishops of England and Wales have marked the occasion with a Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Sunday (the Archbishop of Westminster's excellent homily can be watched here : http://vimeo.com/channels/pope) and have offered some thoughts one how we might build on the good done while the Holy Father was among us:

http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Catholic-Church/Media-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2011/Bishops-issue-message-a-year-after-Pope-s-Visit2

They ask us to be "Confidently Catholic", and, echoing the Holy Father's frequent quotation of Blessed John Henry Newman last year, they ask us to carry out the "definite service" that our Heavenly Father calls us to perform. 

God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all created to His glory—we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God's counsels, in God's world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions

Being "Confidently Catholic" is certainly one way to do service to God and to others.  A strident, triumphalist  or exclusivist Catholicism is not what is called for by this phrase, but rather a Catholicism manifested in a Catholic who lives what he believes, who witnesses to his faith by what he does.

In our discussions with others, we are asked to follow the Holy Father's example in witnessing to the Splendour of Truth, as he did at Westminster Hall, where in the Archbishop of Westminster's words he spoke "with sensitivity and reasoned argument, without hectoring or condemning, inviting rather than demanding, firmly but gently." 

http://maryleboneordinariate.blogspot.com/2011/09/holy-father-in-westminster.html

One thing that the Bishops invite us to take up immediately is the restored practice of Friday abstinence from meat.  Abstaining from meat on Fridays not only achieves our Friday penance, but is also both a means of solidarity with those who have less than we do, and a gentle but clear way of marking out to others that we are serious about what we say we believe.

For those who live in or near London, there are two events in the next few weeks that will give opportunities for other ways of being "Confidently Catholic".  Do support these events if you can, and bring all your friends.

The first is a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament from Westminster Cathedral to St George's Cathedral, Southwark on Saturday 1 October, leaving Westminster Cathedral at 1.15pm with Benediction scheduled to begin at St George's at 2.30pm.

http://areluctantsinner.blogspot.com/2011/09/procession-of-blessed-sacrament-from.html

The second is another procession, this time a Procession of Our Lady, a Rosary Crusade of Reparation.  For more details, see the link below.

http://maryleboneordinariate.blogspot.com/2011/09/rosary-crusade-of-reparation.html

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us

One year ago today, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Blessed John Henry Newman at an outdoor Mass celebrated in Cofton Park, Birmingham. This was a true high point in his spectacular visit to the United Kingdom. 

On Saturday morning 18 September, there had been the Mass in Westminster Cathedral, which spoke to many thinking of joining the Catholic Church. Saturday evening saw the Holy Father lead a Prayer Vigil in Hyde Park attended by around 80,000 people, including many Anglicans who are now part of the Ordinariate, for example as seen in these photos

http://sevenoaks.blogspot.com/2010/09/papal-visit-2010-hyde-park-pictures.html

and

http://sevenoaks.blogspot.com/2010/09/images-from-hyde-park.html

Then, finally, there came the beatification of one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement; one who along with Pusey, Keble and others had sought to prove the catholic nature of the Church of England; one who later had taken the decision to join the Catholic Church, the same choice that was now being pondered so actively by many; one whose decision to leave behind him the familiar surroundings of his present ecclesial home and to move elsewhere was strikingly resonant.

 

Newman is an inspiration to both Anglicans and Catholics.  There is immense and justified pride in the massive achievements of a man who had a major influence on the Church of England, and who, in his own way, went on to bring an early form of “Anglican Patrimony” to the Catholic Church.  There is admiration for his writings both devotional and academic, for his work in education, for his pastoral skills, and for his contribution to the development of the Catholic Church in this country.

There was a time when some in the catholic wing of the Church of England would jokingly warn each other not to read Blessed John Henry Newman’s Apologia pro Vita Sua, or his novel Loss and Gain, as to do so gave one “Roman fever”.   Well, no doubt the Papal Visit and the Beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman did inspire many to read or reread both the Apologia and Loss and Gain. Some of those people are now part of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group, so it seems the friendly warning said in jest was not entirely baseless.

 

Being well aware of the importance of Blessed John Henry Newman in the Oxford Movement, and noting his status as Patron of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, we wanted to include an appropriate quotation from his works on the inside cover of the orders of service for the Mass celebrated when we were received into the Catholic Church. After some debate, we settled on this famous passage from the Apologia.

“From the time that I became a Catholic, of course I have no further history of my religious opinions to narrate. In saying this, I do not mean to say that my mind has been idle, or that I have given up thinking on theological subjects; but that I have had no variations to record, and have had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have been in perfect peace and contentment; I never have had one doubt. I was not conscious to myself, on my conversion, of any change, intellectual or moral, wrought in my mind. I was not conscious of firmer faith in the fundamental truths of Revelation, or of more self-command; I had not more fervour; but it was like coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on that score remains to this day without interruption.”

How appropriate this seems. It is entirely consonant with our experience so far.

To conclude then, a brief clip from romereports.com of that great day one year ago when Blessed John Henry Newman was beatified, and also a reminder that two of the three permanent video links in the right hand sidebar are of Newman hymns, Praise to the Holiest and Lead Kindly Light.  Listen to those two inspiring hymns.

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us.

 

Pope Benedict XVI at Westminster Cathedral

The last two days of the Pope Benedict's visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010 included two events that very heavily influenced many of those who have joined the Ordinariate and the wider Catholic Church this year. 

The first of those was the Mass celebrated at Westminster Cathedral exactly one year ago today.  The second, of which more tomorrow, was the Beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman.

The Westminster Cathedral Mass created huge interest and was of huge appeal.  Those who watched it were moved by the solemnity, dignity, reverence and beauty of the liturgy, and by the obvious warmth and rapport between the Holy Father and all those gathered inside and outside.   

For some who have joined the Catholic Church recently, it was an occasion that contained so many things with which we were so familiar, and which we loved: yet we were, in one hugely significant way, cut off from it.  We were not in full communion with the Successor of St Peter: with the open invitation seen in Anglicanorum Coetibus and indeed generally, there seemed to some of us to be less and less justification for deliberately allowing that situation to persist.  And so, from that date onwards, a thought process, which had been begun many times before but never concluded, finally started on its way to what became formal Reception.

One of the permanent video links on the right hand sidebar of this blog is of the Holy Father's procession into the Cathedral at the start of Mass, to the truly stunning accompaniment of James Macmillan's setting of Tu es Petrus.  Please take a look at it now if you haven't before (and perhaps even if have).  To complement this, here is the well known Bruckner setting of Ecce Sacerdos Magnus, as sung by Westminster Cathedral Choir as the Holy Father processed out after Mass, and paused for prayer at the new Shrine of St David. 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

From the Epistle set for Mass today :

Brethren, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

On our group's Facebook page (which can be reached through one of the links on the right), earlier today we posted a link to Anton Bruckner's setting of Christus Factus Est.  The text of this motet comes from the Gradual of the Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which in turn comes from the passage from the Epistle to the Philippians.   It seemed very appropriate to link to this particular performance, as in the link we can hear the music being sung by Westminster Cathedral Choir at Mass on the occasion of the Holy Father's visit almost exactly one year ago. 

Finally, please note that to mark today's Feast, there will be a performance of the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood, with music composed by Sharon Jennings and sung by the Fentiman Singers, in the Lady Chapel at St James's, Spanish Place tonight. The dream is of the cross telling Christ its own story of the crucifixion. The performance, given in honour of Holy Cross Day, begins at 7.30pm. Admission will be free, but donations towards the costs will be welcome.