Ut unum sint

Unity must be our great desire, as Our Lord Himself taught us by His prayer for all who would follow Him. I was reminded of this by Bp Robarts of the T.A.C., one of Hepworth's auxiliaries and their local minister here in Launceston, who very kindly had me around for afternoon tea to-day.

It was enlightening to hear from him of the dastardly goings-on among Anglican liberals here and elsewhere in their troubled Communion over past decades, evil deeds that have spread the canker of liberal tyranny and driven out those who wish to hold to the Scriptures and the Fathers; and also, I found out about the Traditional Anglican Communion's plans for duly considering and then answering the Holy Father's call to unity: to be truly united, without just being absorbed. The Ordinariates will facilitate this.

As others have said (no secret, this), it seems likely that in liturgical terms there will be both a Novus Ordo option for the few Forward In Faith types who will come over (for the English Anglo-Catholics strangely prefer the modern Roman Rite), and something based on the English Missal for the rest (rather than the Book of Divine Worship, which now looks rather provisional and dated), such as he and his people.

In parting, he gave me an interesting book to read, that I might learn more of the ethos of Anglicanism: Arthur Middleton's Restoring the Anglican Mind (Leominster: Gracewing, 2008).

I pray that the day may soon dawn when he and the people whom he guides in the T.A.C. Parish of the Annunciation here in Launceston, and throughout the Southern Apostolic District of Australia, together with many other continuing Anglicans, will come into full communion with the Vicar of Christ; and that, in Holy Church united, I may receive the Eucharist at his hands: God's will be done.

Confession and Mattins

As per usual, off to Confession this morning... I quickly and quietly slipt into church, as there was a funeral going on, and popped into the box... on my reëmergence all clean of sin, I noticed that Fr was preaching in Italian, given the ethnicity of the deceased, his family and friends.

Then, my usual walk around town, brunch and reading of the weekend newspapers (The Age and The Australian; I had scanned our local, The Examiner, at home as always); and I bought Tom Frame's Losing My Religion: Unbelief in Australia (thesis: most Aussies just don't care much about religion - too true!).

To-day, when I'm going off to visit a T.A.C. personage, I thought to use The Book of Divine Worship (Anglican Use of the Roman Rite) for devotions; so, for a change, I've read Mattins therefrom. The Psalms and Lessons seemed apposite for those Anglicans who are now teetering on the edge of coming home to Rome, having fought the good fight against liberal persecution and misbelief: Pss 34(35) and 35(36); Ecclesiasticus li, 1-12; and Apocalypse xviii, 1-14...

Fourfold Gospel of the Incarnation

Here's a nice little bit of mediæval liturgy: the pre-Tridentine Cistercian Breviary included special blessings to be pronounced at the Lessons of the Third Nocturn of Christmas Matins, referring to each of the four Gospel passages read at the head of each Lesson - for, while in the Roman Rite, at Christmas Matins' Third Nocturn three Lessons were read, each with a passage from the one of the Gospels used at the three Masses of Christmas, in the Benedictine and Cistercian Breviaries four Gospels are referred to and commented on, the fourth being the opening of St Matthew's Gospel, which according to monastic custom is read at the very end of Matins.

So, as a meditation upon the Incarnation suitable for looking forward through the approaching season of Advent to Christmas (only fifty days away), I append these blessings, with my doggerel translations (to get the right sense, I had to change active subjunctives into passive), paired with the Gospels to which they refer (with an apposite quotation from the Scriptures attached):

Mysterium sanctæ incarnationis:

aperiat nobis Liber generationis.

The mystery of the holy Incarnation:

be opened unto us by The book of the generation.

St Matthew i, 1-16

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren. And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram. And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon. And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa. And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias. And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias. And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manasses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias. And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon. And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor. And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud. And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called Christ.

[...Israelites, to whom belongeth the adoption as of children, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans ix, 4-5)]

Virgineum partum in præsepio angusto:

doceat nos Edictum a Cæsare Augusto.

The Virgin birth in the poor manger be taught us:

by A decree from Caesar Augustus.

St Luke ii, 1-14

At that time: there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her Firstborn Son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.

[And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him. ...and they that were ready, went in with Him to the marriage, and the door was shut. (St Matthew xxv, 6. 10]

Puerum in præsepio jacentem:

demonstrent nobis Pastores loquentes ad invicem.

The Child lying in the manger:

be shewn unto us by The Shepherds saying one to another.

St Luke ii, 15-20

At that time: The shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us. And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this Child. And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

[Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith: Today if you shall hear His Voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews iii, 7-8a)]

Ille qui In principio erat Verbum:

doceat nos qualiter sit hodie caro factum.

He Who In the beginning was the Word:

teach us how this day He flesh was made.

St John i, 1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

[God, Who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the world. (Hebrews i, 1-2)]

Gunpowder Treason

As Fr Garnet, Provincial of the Jesuits in England, affirmed at the time, the plot to blow up the King, Queen, and the Three Estates of the Realm on the 5th of November 1605 was a most immoral and wicked plan (for one thing, one cannot willy nilly slay the innocent, along with those believed guilty of tyranny and oppression, by committing mass murder); not that that spared poor Father, since not only were the conspirators detected and hanged, but so was he - for not revealing what they had brought to him in confession, as well as for being a Popish priest.

Some Traditionalists may get a bit misty-eyed, and rather wish that Providence had permitted, rather than foiled, the careful firing of gunpowder beneath the State Opening of Parliament: but this is folly; ends justify not means. And further, as has been pointed out before, if the blast had been set off, even with the gunpowder "decayed", the huge explosion would have blown King James with his Lords and Commons to kingdom come, certainly (as recent tests have proven) - but almost as certainly, this would have not resulted in any Catholic restoration of merrie England: on the contrary, it would have most probably whipped up a Protestant vigilante frenzy, resulting in a reverse St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of English Catholics, one and all: for all would have been regarded as most barbarous conniving bloodthirsty fiends. Charles and his sister would have survived (they were not at the Lords), and easily eluded capture, and the Protestant succession to the throne would not have been harmed; but Catholics and Catholicism would have been even worse regarded in England thereafter than they were in reality.

To-day also marks that low point in English history, when James II lost his chance of keeping his throne by his pigheaded attempts to push his absolute authority and the cause of Catholicism when he had no hope of succeeding - for on this day in 1689 William III, that canny Dutchman, arrived in England, promising to preserve English (Protestant) laws and liberties; James found his power ebbed away, and he had to flee. If only James, the last of the Stuarts, had not been so stubborn and foolhardly as to alienate everyone!

As an amusing note, from the infamous Guy Fawkes, and the custom of making a ragtag "Guy" to burn at a bonfire on the anniversary of this day, came the expression "guy", originally for some oddly drest fellow, then for any man, and now, in the plural "guys" for any group of men, and even, as I myself use it, as an informal expression addressable to a gather of both sexes.

At Last, a Catholic puts down modish Atheists

Coo-ees alerts me to an excellent and witty put-down of rude modern atheists...

Petition for Temporal Benefits

Pray, please...

As mentioned below, I am very much hoping to travel to the UK and Italy in early January 2010.

Unfortunately, it is proving incredibly hard to find affordable plane fares for travel at this time of year, and I may well have to give up on this trip.

Therefore, please pray for me that my travel agent may turn up an affordable option for my travel to and from Europe: it would be sad to have to abandon this, but c'est la vie.

In any case, God's will be done.

What Patrimony of Anglicans?

Fr John Saward, in an excellent article, discusses what is meant by the legitimate patrimony that Anglicans coming into full communion with the Church bring with them.

Read it: it is very rewarding.

Runabout

I had the itch to go out for a drive this afternoon, but rather overdid it... having spent close to six hours on the road, and covered over 400 km, I now think a good bushwalk would have been better! For the record, I drove down through the Midlands until I reached the Fingal Valley turnoff, then went up through Avoca, Fingal and St Mary's, turned down Elephant Pass but took the slightly easier St Mary's Pass through to the sunny East Coast, drove up to St Helens, but then, rather than take the Weldborough Pass through to Scottsdale, I retraced my route down past Scamander, then - rather than go up to St Mary's - I took the coast road down to Bicheno, then down cross-country toward Swansea (by this stage I was regretting my earlier enthusiasm), took the Lake Leake road through to Campbell Town, and finally returned north to Launceston via the Midlands Highway. The countryside was nice to see, but now I'm pooped.

View Larger Map

All of this faffing around puts me in mind of Newman's saying, "We walk to heaven backward".

As it's All Souls day, when not frantically zooming down the highway, I have been reading the Day Hours of this solemn Commemoration. Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory!

Change of Plans

I had been planning to travel to New Zealand in January, but I've changed my mind for various reasons, and now hope to go there in May.

Instead of travelling east, I will go north-west after Christmas: it's the off-peak season in Europe. At this stage, I would be thinking of leaving around New Year, and going initially of course to Rome, then probably the U.K. - Bp Jarrett is forever reminding me to visit Farnborough, and so does Rob (both of whom have spent time there recently), and I could do with seeing London, Oxford, Walsingham and so forth... plus of course I must visit my ancestral homeland of Scotland.

Any suggestions?

Gaudeamus omnes in Domino

What a joy to celebrate All Saints with the Mass of all the ages!

As usual, I've enjoyed the hospitality of my good friends Ben and Jane; and, as usual, I went over to St Canice a good deal before the Mass, first to pray and then to practice the chant with our choir. Tony does a good job of marshalling our disparate forces, thrown together for the occasion. Luckily, at my last practice with the Riverside schola, we had gone over the Introit for All Saints, so that went well...

Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem festum celebrantes sub honore Sanctorum omnium: de quorum solemnitate gaudent Angeli, et collaudant Filium Dei.

Exsultate justi in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio.

Gaudeamus...

Gloria Patri... Sicut erat...

Gaudeamus...

We sang Missa de Angelis and Credo III, so together with the congregation (of about 45) we had a full-throated roar of singing for the Ordinary. The evocation of the heavenly Liturgy in the assembly of the elect, pictured in the Epistle, and the Beatitudes declared in the Gospel, well taught us what our goal is, and how to attain it - by grace to gain glory evermore.

To-day's feast is the solemnity of All the Saints, when we especially recall that article of the Creed: Credo in... sanctorum communionem: the fellowship of the Saints, established by the communion of the Holy Things - the Sacraments, above all the Eucharist, which makes the Church and makes the Saints. We also recall that it is in the Holy Catholic Church, the assembly of those called and chosen (Ecclesia) to be holy and to be one in the unchanging Catholic Faith down all the ages, that we can hope to win through to heaven.

As mentioned previously, Fr Quinn, an excellent and holy priest, only has the opportunity (in this behind-the-times archdiocese) to say the Latin Mass once a month, so he doesn't have the sure pace that comes with constant practice. That said, it will be understood why we sang several motets at both Offertory and Communion: for the former, the Adoro te devote, then Dona nobis pacem (as a round in three parts); for the latter, a setting of Anima Christi in parts, then the Ave verum (one of my favourite prayers, so tender and right: I say it to myself at the Elevation).

Despite this, when we finished the Communion itself and the following items, Fr was only just beginning the ablutions. (I made the choirmaster laugh by suggesting that next time we could sing the Dies Iræ at Communion to fill up the long pause!)

Mass ended, we then sang the Litany of the Saints as a proper conclusion to the festal worship of this holy day; having started the Introit just after 11.30 am, we finished our last devotions just before 1 pm.

Afterwards, we said our prayers, mingled with our friends, and then (in my case) had a pleasant lunch with Ben and Jane, Yvonne, Wayne, and two priests also.

Then, back in the car for the long drive home... I've just returned, and six o'clock has just run on the town clock.

In Hobart Again

I really enjoyed my drive down the East Coast. Of course, first I went south to Campbell Town (and had an alright lunch there), but then I took the Lake Leake Highway, through the not terribly inspiring bushclad hills, and then out onto the coastal plans, astonishingly verdant for this time of year, north of Swansea. It was great to see the effects of rain in an area drought-stricken for years... though, now I think of it, it's been eight years since I was last anywhere near this part of Tasmania.

View Larger Map

To-day has been quite hot - 25 degrees or so - and it was magic to come down to Swansea, stop the car, and walk down to the end of the jetty, with Oyster Bay spread out before me under a clear brilliant sky, and the Hazards on the horizon, outlining the great granite mass of the Freycinet Peninsula. A little while later, I found that the local Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was open (touchingly, they leave the key in the lock), and so I went in and read Matins, Lauds and Prime of the Blessed Virgin (better late than never). The Church is very small, but old, and obviously cared for; the parishioners only get Mass once a month.

I headed further south, enjoying the magnificent scene: the road running along the sea above a rocky shore rising abruptly from Oyster Bay, with the Peninsula, Schouten Island and Maria Island all gracing the horizon with their rugged mountainous outlines. Stopping very briefly at Triabunna and Orford, the great mass of lofty Maria Island presented an awesome prospect.

Then, on to Buckland in the interior, the road turning inland and upward at last: and, at Buckland, I stopt and prayed Terce at the Anglican Church of St John Baptist (built 1846) - for the east window is Catholic, being known as stained glass from Battle Abbey, established by William the Conqueror at Hastings, then looted by Henry VIII. Somehow, this fourteenth century stained glass escaped the Puritan iconoclasts, and ended up shipped out to colonial Van Diemen's Land...

I could clearly read the Latin inscriptions under the upper images of Our Lady and St John, either side of an image of the Crucifixion: S. Maria Deipara (Holy Mary Theotokos) and Scts Joannes (St John). The glass shews in the centre, lower down, the Baptist baptizing Christ, and on the left St John pointing to the Lamb of God, and on the right the head of the martyred John being given by a soldier to wicked Salome (an apt foreshadowing of the fate of Catholic property in heretical, Erastian England).

Now, having driven on over Break-me-head and Bust-me-gall Hills, and the even more strangely named Black Charlie's Opening (all very steep twisty roads originally opened up by convict chain gangs in the bad old days), and passed through Sorell, and over the causeways to Midway Point, I've finally come through the last range of hills and over the Derwent into Hobart.

It's been a rewarding drive; perhaps next time I'll leave earlier, and drive the whole East Coast, first passing through Scottsdale, then down past St Helens and St Mary's, over Elephant Pass... [Then again, maybe not on second thoughts!]

Down the East Coast

I love Saturdays. To-day in particular bodes well: I've been to Confession as usual, and am about to leave for Hobart, since to-morrow, the first Sunday of the month, we have a Missa cantata there; so I've packed the Liber Usualis, and will motor down south - but this time, I'm going to drive the long way round, via the East Coast, which should be fun. Better still, Monday is a public holiday (the bizarrely named Recreation Day), so I have a long weekend to spend as I choose.