Caroline Chisholm Library Fundraising Dinner

I am a member of Melbourne's excellent Caroline Chisholm Library (though, as I live in Tasmania, I rarely get to visit it), and have been asked to advertise their upcoming 20th anniversary Fundraising Dinner (see below), to be preceded by a Mass of Thanksgiving held in the beautiful and historic chapel of the Academy of Mary Immaculate (a lovely chapel indeed, and otherwise not open to the public; and what a name for a school). But do note, dear reader, these interesting details about the Library, and consider visiting it, attending talks there, and becoming a member:

The Caroline Chisholm Library, located in the Melbourne CBD, is a theological lending and reference library with approximately 30,000 volumes of Catholic and Christian literature, specialising in Church History, Hibernica, patristics, hagiography, spirituality and mysticism. There are substantial collections of works by John Henry Newman, Thomas Aquinas, G. K. Chesterton, Jacques Maritain and Etienne Gilson, among others. The library regularly hosts lectures [I gave one a decade ago], a book club and discussion groups. All members of the public are welcome to browse the library, use it for reference purposes or attend lectures. Library membership is available for a low fee and this grants borrowing rights.

 

Melbourne is one of the few cities in the English speaking world with an extensive Catholic library primarily devoted to helping aid the intellectual faith development of the Catholic laity.

 

The library is run by Catholic lay volunteers and receives no financial assistance from the Church - it is reliant on membership fees and fundraising for financial support. Hence, this upcoming dinner...

On Thursday 8^th August 2013

The Caroline Chisholm Library

Will celebrate 20 Years of Life and Service

6 p.m.  Mass of Thanksgiving

Chapel of the Academy of Mary Immaculate

88 Nicholson Street Fitzroy

7 p.m. for 7.30,

Fund-raising & Celebration Dinner

The Pumphouse Hotel

128 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy (opposite Exhibition Gardens)

Speaker: Julian McMahon, Barrister,

Catholic Faith in the Public Arena

 Meal $80 per head; $150 per double; Drinks at bar prices.

For Bookings or information please call 03 9670 1815 or 0411 483 494

Or Email: cclibrary@bigpond.com

Please pay by cash, cheque or transfer to the library’s account:- 

ANZ Bank,  BSB 013040 Account 254936888

Tax Deductible Donations for the Library Most Welcome

*** Please: Put note on transfer: “Name”, plus “dinner” or “donation”. 

Prayers for Our New Archbishop

It is a little under two months until Bishop Julian Porteous is installed as eleventh Archbishop of Hobart, on the commemoration (EF) of the stigmata of St Francis (17th September), which is the optional memorial (OF) of St Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor; in the meantime, it would be only fitting to pray a blessing upon his incipient ministry, as famously the newly-elected Bishop of Rome asked the crowd in St Peter's Square some few months ago. 

Of your charity, do pray for Tasmania's Archbishop-elect, that he may rightly handle the word of truth (II Tim. ii, 15) and stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord (Mich. v, 4), that with St Ignatius of Antioch men may thank God and say "blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an excellent bishop." (Eph. i, 3.)

Any and all prayers are heartily desirable; but, having consulted the Roman Missal in its new translation, four suitable collects were found therein; to which may be prefixed those age-old mainstays of prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Angelic Salutation, the Lesser Doxology, plus the Invocation of the Holy Spirit; and the invocations of a few saints – the patrons of Australia, of Tasmania, and of bishops – seem apt as a conclusion:

Prayers for Archbishop-elect Julian Porteous

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful; and kindle in them the fire of your love. 

Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And you shall renew the face of the earth. 

Let us pray. 

O Lord, who for the feeding of your flock have set your servant Julian over it as a successor to the Apostles, grant him, we pray, a spirit of counsel and fortitude, a spirit of knowledge and piety, so that, by faithfully governing the people entrusted to him, he may build up in the world the sacrament of the Church. 

O God, who in each pilgrim Church throughout the world make visible the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, graciously grant that your faithful may be so united to their shepherd and gathered together in the Holy Spirit through the Gospel and the Eucharist, as to worthily embody the universality of your people and become a sign and instrument in the world of the presence of Christ. 

O God, eternal shepherd of the faithful, who tend your Church in countless ways and rule over her in love, grant, we pray, that Julian, your servant, whom you have set over your people, may preside in the place of Christ over the flock whose shepherd he is, and be faithful as a teacher of doctrine, a Priest of sacred worship and as one who serves them by governing. 

O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, look favourably on your servant, whom you have set at the head of your Church of Hobart as her shepherd; grant, we pray, that by word and example he may be of service to those over whom he presides, so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may come to everlasting life. 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. 

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Patrick, pray for us.
St Charles Borromeo, pray for us.
St Mary of the Cross, pray for us.

Return South

Looking at the thick clouds out of the airplane window, it looked like Antarctica... but I am happy to have returned to Tasmania, after "a little drive" – it turned out to be, not 2000 kilometres, but 2000 miles (a bit more than 3200 km according to the odometer) that I've motored around Queensland, from Daintree to Sunshine Coast; and to think the deepest inland I went was only Charters Towers (memo to self: not a town worth revisiting!). I think next July I'll do Adelaide to Darwin – on the train – and do Ayers Rock and all that (on a package tour).

It was jolly thoughtful of His Holiness to gift the Archdiocese of Hobart a new Archbishop at last: I have happy memories of a front-row seat at the Cathedral in Sydney for his episcopal consecration  some ten years ago (owing to a bizarre misunderstanding, as some friends and I had walked in in the company of an Eastern-rite Dominican priest, God rest him, we ended up directed to a spot just under the pulpit, in front of all the ecumenical representatives – the poor usher must've thought Fr was some sort of oriental potentate, and we his menials).

I recall the Cardinal's sermon, mocking the secular news reportage's horror at revealing that one of the two men to be consecrated bishop (Antony Fisher, O.P.) was staunchly anti-abortion – "I have news for them," he boomed, "they both are!" Please read Bishop Porteous' blog site to discover what a strong and true pastor he is and will be, being unafraid to speak out against the current nostrums and madnesses afflicting our miserable and naughty world. Now that Porteous is an Arch., I suppose Parramatta won't have Fisher too long; he'll be Archbishop of Melbourne or Sydney in due course, good man that he is.

Having been in Queensland, I am relieved to report that I survived Sunday Mass there; clearly the horror stories are somewhat exaggerated. Mass at Townsville Cathedral was quite devout, with servers in cassock and surplice, incense and everything (a pity the M.C. and thurifer stood talking together in a corner throughout the Eucharistic Prayer!); Mass at Noosa too was fairly reasonable, albeit with dreadful modern songs, but I'm sure the singers meant well.

Having been in Rudd's home state, I also must admit, most reluctantly, that he has worked a (morally dubious) triple miracle, having gotten rid of (1) Gillard, (2) the carbon tax and (3) the boats – what a supremely cynical move, given his odiously-repeated claims to saintliness, to send all the asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea, whether they be economic migrants or actual refugees; that'll win him the election, just as Tampa worked for Howard; he can unblushingly claim that, as they come from Third World countries, they'll fit in better in one!  How upset Abbott must be, to see the golden prize slip from his eager fingers... will Rudd call the election tomorrow? The longer he dithers, the greater the risk he'll lose after all, once the allure of his return to the prime ministership wears off and he slides in the polls again.

Now that I'm back, I can now settle into a new book (which arrived while I was up north) about the history of the Liturgy of the Presanctified in the Byzantine Rite, once I finish off my holiday reading about cosmology, dark matter and dark energy (those main constituents of our universe about which modern science admits it knows little to nothing); it was nice to see reference to the very international collaboration (PLANET) that I had had a minor role in during my time at university studying astronomy, thanks to my thesis supervisor – I haven't thought about gravitational microlensing for years.

Porteous for Hobart

The Holy Father has today appointed a new Archbishop of Hobart: Julian Charles Porteous, since 2003 an auxiliary bishop of Sydney. (I attended his episcopal ordination as it happens.) May the Lord abundantly bless his ministry! Of your charity please pray for him and his new see.

Chasing the Sun

It's July, and the coldest time of year; so I'm taking my latest holidays in Queensland. As I don't like lazing about on beaches, nor mucking about in boats, I'll be flying up to Cairns, then driving by easy stages all the way to Noosa... about 2,000 km (including detours). I head off on Monday morning.

Since it has been snowing this weekend in central Tasmania, and given that I'm about to travel, I decided not to go to Hobart for the monthly Missa cantata, and instead attended Mass in my own parish last night.

Pray for me, as I travel in partibus...

Novo cedat ritui

The Marylebone Ordinariate Group blog has a very interesting account of the new form of Mass for use in the Ordinariates for Anglicans that have come into full communion with the Catholic Church; the full text thereof is not yet available (doubtless to prevent manic bloggers dissecting it ruthlessly and impiously), but here at least are some pursuant extracts about it:

The full form of the Ordinariate Use is not yet freely available. However, we do know that... it is heavily based on an hieratic English translation of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Elements that have been retained include the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, consisting notably of the psalm, Judica me Deus, and the Confiteor; the fuller Offertory prayers taken from the Missal of John XXIII; traditional gestures and liturgical action during the Canon including most importantly the genuflection of the celebrant both before and after the elevation of the Host and the Precious Chalice; the triple Domine non sum dignus; and finally the Last Gospel taken from the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John. 

... the Ordinariate Use has taken a number of prayers and actions from the Ordinary Form, such as the General Intercessions (though heavily regulated), the option of using the Second Eucharistic Prayer (translated into hieratic English – bonkers, we know!) and the inclusion of the last blessing within the Mass as opposed to after the Ite, Missa est. 

Crucially the Ordinariate Use incorporates some elements of the Book of Common Prayer. Whether it be the 'Humble Crumble' [the Prayer of Humble Access] or the Collect for Purity, it is essential that the Ordinariate Use preserve the linguistic and spiritual treasures written originally in English by the Christian communities of England that succeeded the Catholic Church as the dominant religion in the land. These prayers are indisputably part of what Anglican Patrimony in any physical sense must consist of. 

Despite the many issues the problem of optionality has created since the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI, the Ordinariate Use has retained a substantial amount of choice over which aspects are used at each celebration of Mass. Many of those distinctive elements drawn from the Extraordinary Form are optional, from the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar before Mass through to the reading of the Last Gospel after its conclusion.

It is not surprising that the new form of the Ordinariate Mass (its original form being that in the Book of Divine Worship, drawn up in the 1980's for groups of Anglicans coming into full communion in the U.S.A.) is based in large part on the immemorial forms of the Roman Rite as expressed in the traditional Latin Mass, done into Cranmerian English – for Anglo-Catholics have used various English versions of the Roman Missal ever since the nineteenth century.  Just as at a TAC service here in Launceston that I attended years ago (when Anglicanorum cœtibus was first announced), so at the Ordinariate Mass I attended in Sydney the prayers at the foot of the altar were used: it is part of Anglo-Catholic worship. Would that such adjuncts to Divine service might be more widely restored throughout Holy Church!