Maria, quæ mortalium

The good nuns at Carmel sang this hymn as a recessional after Mass on Saturday, last day of the Christian year, the Mass having been a Votive of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  What a good prayer it is! "When all other succour faileth, Our Lady's grace helpeth." (The Mirror of Our Lady.)

O Mary, you are swift to hear

Whoever calls on you in pray'r

And lovingly you answer all:

Keep us forever in your care.

Be near us if the fearful bonds

Of sin's allurements snare us here.

Break quickly the entangling chains

And free our hearts of guilt and fear.

Come to our aid if worldly dreams

Dazzle our sight, our wills betray,

Let not our minds, forgetting God,

From saving pathways turn away.

Come with your aid when troubles come,

Misfortunes threaten, dangers near, 

Bring peace to all our earthly days

Until eternal day is here.

To us your children ever be

A stronghold at that final hour

That with your aid we may attain

The joys of heaven, by your power.

To Father, Son and Spirit be

All glory, honour, praises given

Who clothed you with his wondrous grace

And crowned you Queen of earth and heaven.

Amen.

— Maria, quæ mortalium: translated by Sr Mary Paula OCD of Long Beach Carmel.

First Profession of Sr Anna Maria of the Passion, OCD

I was privileged to have some time off work to-day in order to attend the First Profession of Sister Anna Maria of the Passion at Carmel.  I was delighted with the incense used, as, by a happy trick of the light, the sanctuary was filled with a bright shining cloud thereof, almost too thick to see the clergy – which instantly reminded me of the glory of the Lord filling the Temple of old.  Sister took her vows, and then the priests proceeded to offer up the Sacrifice, uniting hers to His.  (A certain reader residing up north would have recognized his re-wording of the Rangueil Offertory by André Gouzes, OP, that most elevating chant.)

Because of commitments back at work, I had to leave at the "Our Father", but united myself to the remainder of the liturgy as I drove away.

God grant her perseverance, and every grace!

Death and Birth: to God be the Glory

Having laid to rest a stedfast handmaid of the Lord, Sr Paul Joseph of Mary the Mother of God, at the end of July, to-day the same Carmel rejoiced in the solemn profession of Sr Elijah Mary of Mount Carmel, on the highly appropriate feast of the Nativity of Our Lady.  I was privileged to attend the Mass along with many other friends of our Carmel here in Launceston, and above all her parents and family.

I transcribe from the booklet the words of her profession of solemn vows:

I, Sister Elijah Mary of Mount Carmel, desiring to live faithfully with the Blessed Virgin Mary a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ, with my sisters as witnesses, into your hands, Mother Elizabeth Mary Katrina of the Trinity, vow to Almighty God for ever, chastity, poverty and obedience according to the Rule and Constitutions of the Discalced Nuns of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.  With my whole heart I give myself to this religious institute restored by Saint Teresa to seek perfect charity in the service of our Mother the Church, by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the help of the Mother of God, through constant prayer and evangelical self-denial, and to give eternal glory to the Most Holy Trinity.

Truly, she and her fellow nuns have chosen the better part.  I pray for Sr Paul Joseph, that she rest now in peace, having the reward of a good and faithful servant – but also make bold to ask her prayers, that as she trod the steep slopes of Mount Carmel, forsaking all save the Cross, Sr Elijah Mary may persevere in following the narrow path that leads to life.

Spare A Thought

Spare a thought for the nuns at the Carmel here in Launceston: come December the 1st, they move to their summer timetable, and arise half an hour earlier, at 4.55 am. Deo gratias!

It certainly makes my coming to weekday Mass for Advent at Carmel pale in comparison - especially since I've now missed the start of Mass (at 7.30 am) for three days running, and have shamefully to sneak in late - the first day during the sung Gloria, yester-day during the first reading, and to-day during the sermon! At this rate I'll soon never get to Mass at all, quod Deus avertat.

I must say, I find it a real discipline to take up the Breviary again as part of my Advent preparation: all these Psalms... I was quite pleased to be almost over with Matins before Mass. It must be said, Matins is the real kicker: the Day Hours are doable, though one has to be consistent about observing the veritas horarum lest they all get left to be said at night.

Writing this put me in mind of something to consider, for I keep a small notebook recording Masses heard, Confessions made, and Hours prayed (obviously I turn my mind to God on other occasions also, but liturgical prayer makes up the bulk of my devotional practices).

I find that this year so far, out of just over 11 months, I've read the full Breviary Office on 131 days, the Day Hours only on 70, and some part of the Hours on 14; while I used the Little Office instead for 76 days, plus 15 when I attempted only part of it; up until Advent, for a change, I prayed Mattins and Evensong from my copy of the Book of Divine Worship for 20 days straight; shamefully, 8 days here and there went by without much prayer at all.

To think that for years and years - well over a decade - I was absolutely punctilious about saying the Divine Office; now see how much of a chopper and a changer I've become...

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Flos Carmeli,

vitis florigera,

splendor cæli,

Virgo puerpera,

singularis.

Mater mitis,

sed viri nescia,

Carmelitis

da privilegia,

stella maris.

A year ago today I was serving Pontifical Mass for the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, a feast dear to me because of the wonderful life and witness of her spiritual daughters, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of her Carmel here in Launceston.

Here is Bishop Jarrett's homily for the occasion.

Audience at Carmel

I had the privilege this Corpus Christi morn to speak with Mother Elizabeth of the Trinity, newly-elected Prioress at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart here in Launceston, and also - a nice surprise - with the immediate past Prioress, Sister Stephanie of Divine Providence, who is one of Mother Prioress's councillors.  It had been too long since last I spoke with the good Carmelites; my first mission was to ask after Sr Paul Joseph, the now frail and deaf but still alert extern sister emeritus: she is well, Deo gratias.

As Sister Stephanie is a New Zealander, I was glad to pass through the turn to Mother some postcards and books of photographs of the South Island to share with the community at recreation.  Sister observed that Dunedin was a dear place to her, as there she received the light of Faith sixty years ago (she had been an Anglican, and a married doctor, but after the death of her husband entered Carmel).  I was glad to report to them my present good fortune, my plans for going to Rome in September, and good news about seminarian friends of mine, and also Br Paul Marie of the Cross, formerly Peter from Bunbury, who has just commenced his noviciate with the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming.  Likewise I praised Fr Rizzo and Fr Clement, the two Latin Mass priests I met in Christchurch, and alluded to the Carmels there and in Lismore, where my old mentor Bp Jarrett now has a monthly Latin Mass: Sister Stephanie agreed that both Carmels are "very solid".

Mother gave me some holy cards produced by the monastery; I quote one of them, itself a quotation of Pope Benedict:

As a spiritual oasis, a monastery reminds today's world of the most important, and indeed, in the end, the only decisive thing: that there is an ultimate reason why life is worth living: GOD and His unfathomable LOVE.

After speaking with them (the bell alerted them to the upcoming Hour of the Office), I asked permission to go pray in their chapel, which was gladly allowed.  I know from past experience that it is very hard, even with the correct Office book, to follow the nun's slow, high, indistinct chant from behind the grille, so instead I settled down to saying a good part of the Breviary by aggregation: Matins, Lauds, Prime and Terce of Corpus Christi.  

It struck me how Dominican the Corpus Christi Office is: all the short responds, all the versicles, all the antiphons at Lauds and the Little Hours (but not at Vespers nor Matins), the Benedictus and Second Vespers Magnificat antiphons end with an alleluia or two - and I know that the Rite of the Friars Preachers has alleluias in the short responsories of great feasts.  Another interesting connexion to Aquinas!

Forty-five minutes later, when leaving via the main doors, I picked up one of last year's souvenirs of the 6oth anniversary of the coming of Carmel to Tasmania: the six foundresses - one of whom, Sister Mary of the Holy Ghost, is still alive and active, bless her (she answered the telephone when I called not too long ago) - arrived from the Adelaide Carmel on the 15th of June 1948, and moved into their first convent, at Longford, on All Saints that year.  As Longford later ceased to be a parish of its own, in the seventies the nuns agreed to relocate to metropolitan Launceston, whence they came on the 8th of April 1975 (Papal enclosure being canonically established on the feast of the Immaculate Heart in the new calendar later that year).  As the pamphlet relates, the four who had finished their earthly course while at Longford were reinterred in the new monastery crypt, and have been joined by seven more in the years since, confidently sleeping in eager expectation of the resurrection, while their souls it may be devoutly believed have gone to Christ.

What a blessing to have such contemplatives, faithful to the Church and to their most high calling, hidden in our midst here in northern Tasmania.  My family and I can attest that their prayers are powerful with the Lord, like those of Elias their Father of old.

Sunday Latin Masses at the Carmel of Lismore

When I was based in Hobart in the nineties, my then P.P., Fr Jarrett, had a monthly Traditional Latin Mass, at which I sang (I also began my serving of the old Mass there too); this is the same one that, mutatis mutandis has continued - despite all the ill-will of the crotchety establishment in this unhappy Archdiocese: I recall someone at St Mary's Cathedral even took time, stupidly, to preach against it, whereupon some Cathedral parishioners decided to desert their angry pastor and come along to the Mass of the ages at Sacred Heart, glad to learn of its existence! - albeit now at the church of St Canice, ever since his departure in 2001 to become Bishop of Lismore in N.S.W.

I learn that the good Bishop, a true pastor (free of the tired seventies liberal straitjacket) has been again helping fulfil the just aspirations of some of his flock: a monthly Traditional Mass has begun at the Carmelite Monastery at Goonellabah (a southern suburb of Lismore), indeed has been held there for some time now, and will become a Missa cantata come Pentecost; already, numbers are up to seventy, with three dedicated servers. (Grafton, seat of the local Anglican bishopric, also has a Latin Mass from time to time with up to a hundred devotees, but a shortage of available dedicated clergy has so far prevented it becoming a regular fixture; like me in Tasmania, some of the Graftonians drive for an hour and more to go to Lismore for the Traditional Mass instead.)

When in Lismore for His Lordship's episcopal consecration, I visited the Carmel, being edified of course by the holy enclosure so strictly observed: they are of one mind and heart with their southern sisters here at the Launceston Carmel, having avoided the slipshod banalities that have seduced even some Carmels (such as that of Adelaide, which observes neither enclosure nor silence, and - surprise, surprise - has no vocations: when will the liberals learn? probably at death!).  They remain firm in adhering to what is tried and true, the primitive charism of St Teresa and St John of the Cross, rejecting the novelties of a transient age.

Since I was there, the sanctuary has been paved with marble, and a fitting predella installed upon which the altar has been raised as is right.  Of course, aside from the monthly Latin Mass, the nuns have daily Mass at 7am, plus a parish Mass on Sundays for the convenience of local residents. I recall the former Bishop of Lismore customarily said the daily Mass there himself, and it seems that the nuns have cultivated similarly good relations with his successor! After all, a convent of cloistered religious, praying and sacrificing for the world in general and priests in particular, is such a powerful supernatural aid in the spiritual warfare that any Bishop would rejoice to have a Carmel intercede with the Divine Majesty for the sanctification of himself, his priests, his seminarians, and all his people.

If you seek for salvation - I am all serious - solicit the prayers of Carmelite nuns.  

Their prayers work.

New Prioress at Carmel

This week's parish newsletter contained the following announcement:

On March 3rd the Carmelite Sisters held their triennial elections.  Mother Elizabeth of the Trinity has been elected as the prioress for the next 3 years.  As she takes up this office for the first time the Sisters ask your prayers for her and for the whole community, very united in this step, which is a major one for the Carmel after having the same prioress for the last 15 years.  Mother Elizabeth and the Sisters assure everyone of their continuing prayers and support for the whole parish community.

The immediately past prioress, Mother Stephanie, despite now being well into her eighties, has been prioress of the Carmel for as long as I've known the sisters, and had been prioress even before that in an earlier term of office; apparently, though she had previously been reëlected continually - and had had to obtain the necessary dispensation from Rome to continue on past the term limit specified in the Carmelite Constitutions - she has recently made it clear to her sister nuns that she felt herself unwilling to continue to bear the burthen of office, and hoped very much that they would elect a new superior.  The Carmel has half a dozen or so younger sisters, all of whom have joined in the last ten years, of whom Sister - now Mother - Elizabeth is the longest-professed; the older sisters are now very old (in their seventies and eighties), so it is a great blessing for the whole Carmel that they are of one mind and heart in the Lord and now have a new generation of religious coming along, united and strong in the Faith.

******

From the sublime to the less so... at Mass at Carmel this morning we had the rather uninspiring presence of Archbishop Doyle as celebrant.  Coincidentally, I had thought of him, who is rapidly approaching the age of resignation for bishops, while praying None last night (I read the end of Matins and all the Day Hours by aggregation, in bed): Fiant dies ejus pauci: et episcopatum ejus accipiat alter.

Quinquagesima / 7th Sunday per annum

Well, in the Church's Year of Salvation it's Quinquagesima; and in the Novus Ordo, the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.  Sigh.

Fr Kene (yay!) was again our celebrant for the Sunday Mass at Carmel; unlike the other priests, he seems to enjoy coming to say Mass for the sisters, likes the Gregorian chant they sing, even having us use the Confiteor so the sisters can chant the Kyrie as well as the Gloria (plus the Sanctus and Agnus Dei further on), and even tries singing the Collect and Preface (as to-day) so as to fit in with the generally more sacral style of Mass at Carmel.  Again, though, what a sad comment on the Novus Ordo that one has to go to the monastery for Mass done without banal mediocrity much in evidence!

Given the readings for this Sunday (the Gospel from St Matthew v, 38-48 being that of the healing of the paralytic), he preached on how the Lord will extend to us His healing hand if we but pray; and how He so prizes our souls, that He wills to grant spiritual healing even over the physical healing extended to the bodies of the sick: we should therefore supplicate Him to heal our aversion to prayer and to liturgy (yes, he actually said that!), and all other wounds of our souls.  Furthermore, Fr Kene observed that too often "the crowd" impedes our approach to Christ, setting up obstacles and distracting us from our highest good, which is to come nigh unto the Lord, the Divine Physician.

The sisters had evidently prepared short, sharp and arresting petitions for the Prayer of the Faithful: for the ministers of the sacrament of Penance; for those enduring atheistic tyranny; for devotion to Our Lady the Refuge of Sinners; for the bushfires and for preservation therefrom; for all the dead.  That's what such petitions ought be, not longwinded mini-sermons more about propagandizing the congregation than begging God for mercy.

As usual, the ICEL paraphrases of the orations at Mass were hardly even that: but years past I obtained (largely from Fr Z's WDTPRS) literal renderings thereof, which, together with the Latin originals, I printed out onto small inserts put into my modern missal; while I only took my Breviary to Mass this morning, I did take the relevant insert with me inside its front cover, and was struck by how bad and misleading those stupid ICEL prayers are - look to just the Collect (originally that of the 6th after Epiphany) and Prayer after Communion (that of the 5th after Epiphany, with two words different):

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut, semper rationabilia meditantes, quæ tibi sunt placita, et dictis exsequamur et factis.  Per...

(Grant, we beg, Almighty God, that we, meditating always on rational things, may fulfil those things which are pleasing to you by both words and deeds.  Through...)

ICEL: Father [no, "Almighty God" - how hilarious that late-1960's committee members rendered the address to the Deity by a term that the feminists would have already hated!], keep before us the wisdom and love you have revealed in your Son [they have taken semper rationabilia meditantes, and changed it into a reference to God's revelation in Christ - which is good, but in no way a translation].  Help us [so much for "grant, we beg"!] to be like him in word and deed [yes, to do what pleases God is to live as Christ did on earth, but that's not at all what the original actually said], for he lives and reigns... [having so rewritten the collect, they now conclude it with Qui tecum vivit... not Per Dominum...]

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut illius capiamus effectum, cujus per hæc mysteria pignus accepimus.  Per...

(Grant, we implore you, Almighty God, that we may obtain the effect of that of which we have received a pledge by means of these [sacramental] mysteries.  Through...)

ICEL: Almighty God [they got this bit right for a change], help us to live the example of love [this seems to be their kindergarten version of pignus, a pledge or foretoken] we celebrate [no, what "we have received"] in this eucharist [what a dumbing down from "mysteries"], that we may come to its fulfilment [an elucidation of "effect"] in your presence [a fair enough expansion and explicitation, though not in the original].  We ask this... [again, a rubbish paraphrase: "through Christ" implies both that we ask and that God grants all through the One Mediator, Jesus our Lord]

I think my fisk of these poor attempts at prayer shews just what a crock ICEL sold us; to think that such crap has been inflicted on Roman Catholics these forty years.

******

The Breviary has a commemoration at Lauds of the Chair of St Peter (and of his fellow Prince of the Apostles, St Paul, under one conclusion - for these are the Christian Romulus and Remus): I recall with thanksgiving and prayer that this day, the 22nd of February, eight years ago, I was in Lismore for the episcopal ordination of my former parish priest, Geoffrey Jarrett - ad multos annos!

Oremus pro Antistite Lismorensis Godefrido:

Stet et pascat in fortitudine tua, Domine, in sublimitate nominis tui.  [Cf. Micheas v, 4]

(Let us pray for Geoffrey, Bishop of Lismore*:

(May he stand and shepherd in Thy strength, Lord, in the sublimity of Thy Name.)

[* Literally, "Lismorensine High-Priest"!]

Candlemas at Carmel

The day dawned cloudy and drizzly, thanks be - and has been cool and wet and clouded over all day long, amen!  Goodbye hot weather.

It was still early when I headed up to Carmel, remembering to bring candles to be blessed, and after some prayer went down to the large parlour, with about twenty other congregants, who were handed little candles which were then lit.  Next, how splendid, what a privilege to see what so few do: the screen drawn back, and the joyful nuns arranged in two rows ready to process, attired in choir capes over their habits, all wimpled and veiled (but for the postulant sister, next to the white-veiled novice in the front), and all carrying tall lighted candles in one hand, and the music they were to sing in the other.  Fr Kene came in, the sisters sang a hymn, then he began the rite, blessed the candles (forgetting to asperse them, the holy water bucket being behind him - I dabbed mine with holy water later), and had us form our two processions - the nuns within the enclosure, and we without, but both singing "Hail to the Lord Who comes"...

Hail to the Lord who comes,

Comes to his temple gate,

Not with his angel hosts,

Not in his kingly state;

But borne upon the throne

Of Mary's gentle breast;

Thus to his Father's house

He comes a humble guest.

The world's true light draws near

All darkness to dispel,

The flame of faith is lit

And dies the power of hell.

Our bodies and our souls

Are temples now for him,

For we are born of grace-

God lights our souls within.

O Light of all the earth!

We light our lives with thee;

The chains of darkness gone

All sons of God are free.

Oddly, after both processions reached their destination in the chapel, Mass continued as per the Novus Ordo rubrics with the Gloria - but which was not sung as Fr expected, but said!  Yet the good sisters did later sing the Sanctus and Agnus Dei in plainchant, together with chanting in English the psalm, the Memorial Acclamation, the Amen, the Lord's Prayer, its Doxology, the Communion verse and a final hymn; they seem to have set strict rules for progressive solemnity (such as which days exactly on which to sing the Gloria) that have curious consequences: in this case, bathos.

Fr Kene, again proving himself much superior to the local Tasmanian clergy, preached a good sermon, amongst other things reminding us that Candlemas is called Hypapante or Encounter by the Greeks, and praying in conclusion that one day, at the hour of our death, Our Lady may receive us in her arms, and present us to the eternal Father.

Just before the procession, I had been introduced by the nice lady I'd met on Sunday to her husband (apparently one of the adherents of the Traditional Anglican Communion - since it's already online, here's a link to his story) and to the local T.A.C. bishop, dressed soberly with a large pectoral cross, who came with them to Mass!  I noticed later that both men crossed themselves at the conclusion of the Creed and Sanctus, and at the Elevation, and of course abstained from communion.  After the liturgy, I had a short conversation with "the Rt Rev David Robarts, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and Bishop of the Southern Apostolic District" - he seemed a fine fellow and I hope to see more of him.

Of course, he was unable to give me any details of the T.A.C.'s ongoing negotiations with Rome regarding their return to Catholic unity, but seemed most positive, despite observing that these are difficult times for Christians in the West, and that whether among the generality of Catholics after Vatican II, or among the Anglicans he served as a priest for many years prior to his withdrawal from them into the T.A.C. and his subsequent elevation, the great lack is that of an awareness of transcendence, of the idea of the Holy.  (Certainly at Carmel one feels some awareness of the mystery of the Divine, and finds a well-ordered liturgy: from a slightly different I wonder what were his feelings as he attended the Mass being celebrated by a Nigerian priest, on loan to this dying Archdiocese.)

Later on, at work, I reflected how strange it was to have had a window into Carmel this morning, to have processed with candles, to have offered and received the Mystic Sacrifice - who of my colleagues would comprehend it? - and moreover to have met the local T.A.C. bishop and discussed varied matters with him.  Upon arriving home I found that another friend - Fraser Pearce - had sent me two books: the Carmelite Proper for the modern Divine Office, and a Carmelite Ritual of 1952.  An interesting day.

Afternoon Benediction at Carmel

This Sunday being the first of the month, there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of the Carmelite monastery here in Launceston from after the 7.30 am Mass until Benediction after 3 pm.  I haven't previously gone, always being otherwise engaged, but I did drive back up there this afternoon - it takes less than 10 minutes by car, after all - especially as they have begun advertising it as "One Hour with Jesus", there being None at 2 pm, silent prayer from 2.15 pm, and Benediction supposedly starting at 3 o'clock.  

I arrived just on 3 o'clock, and read None to myself while I knelt coram Sanctissimo, before I spent a little time in quiet prayer; at ten past three, the sound of a car was heard outside, and soon enough a rather tardy priest, hurriedly vested in cope, came out into the sanctuary to give Benediction.  It was simple but reverent, with an opening hymn, the usual prayer for Christian Unity (said) followed by Tantum ergo (during which incense was offered in adoration of Christ in the Eucharistic species) with versicle and collect (all sung), the Benediction itself with Fr taking up the monstrance with the humeral veil and blessing all while a bell was rung, then the Divine Praises said in unison, and the reposition hymn "O Bread of heaven".  The whole was done in English, and concluded at twenty past three.  I'd say there were a dozen laity in attendance - and of course all the nuns were there, audible but invisible...

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...

Candlemas Eve

Before Mass this Sunday morning, a nice old lady came up, said "Are you Joshua?" and then - well, luckily she's not a blog reader stalking me, it turns out her husband is the fellow I've emailed regarding getting information about the local T.A.C. parish or whatnot here in Launceston.  Apparently, he will be at Mass with his wife to-morrow morning, and will talk with me then.

I'm pleased that, given the early hour of Mass at Carmel, and the fact that work begins late to-morrow, I'll be able to attend Candlemas: according to the notice outside the chapel, the blessing of candles will be held in the large parlour, with procession to follow (i.e. the nuns will process from their side of the parlour, behind the grille, and through their secret halls up into their screened-off choir in the chapel, while the priest and laity will walk back out the parlour door, and through the passageway into the open wing of said chapel...

I must again plan to get away to Mass by 7am, and remember to bring the candles I bought to be blessed.  (Maybe I'll even say Matins of the feast to-night, by anticipation: in fact, I must, since with the pressures of work upon me I won't have the luxury of saying Matins in the morning.  It must be Lauds and Prime before work.)

Early Mass at Carmel

I didn't much feel like dragging myself out of bed this morning at half six, but had to get up in order to be at the 7.30am Mass at Carmel...

One of the Nigerian priests lent to Tasmania recently was the celebrant: Fr Kene, from the Archdiocese of Onitsha.  (There are three of them, the other two being Frs Christopher and Felix.  A confrere from their archdiocese, stationed in Western Australia some years ago, heard of the shortage of priests here via a television documentary, and contacted his Ordinary, Archbishop Valerian, about arranging help for us poor priestless Catholics at the end of the earth!  Since Onitsha - in Eastern Nigeria, on the Niger River, with 2 million people, 2/3 of them Catholics - has about three hundred priests, it seemed good to the Archbishop there to lend some to the Archbishop here, and a nice connexion was found: the mother of Archbishop Adrian Doyle was the niece of one the Vicars Apostolic of Onitsha back in the 1920's and early 1930's.)

It's refreshing to get a good orthodox sermon in Tasmania!

******

On the musical side of things, it appears that the good nuns sing the same selection of hymns each year; to-day, as per schedule, the nuns had Exposition from after Mass until Benediction at 3pm, so a version of O Salutaris was sung, but at the start we joined with them in Montgomery's superb paraphrase of Psalm 72, "Hail to the Lord's Anointed"; we sang three verses, here are six (the original had eight):

Hail to the Lord's Anointed!
Great David's greater Son;
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun;
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.

He comes with succour speedy
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying,
Were precious in his sight.

He shall come down like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love, joy, hope, like flowers,
Spring in his path to birth;
Before him, on the mountains,
Shall peace the herald go;
And righteousness, in fountains,
From hill to valley flow.

Arabia's desert-ranger

To him shall bow the knee;

The Ethiopian stranger

His glory come to see;

With offerings of devotion,
Ships from the Isles shall meet,
To pour the wealth of ocean

In tribute at his feet.

Kings shall fall down before him,
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore him,
His praise all people sing;
To him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end.

O'er every foe victorious,
He on his throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious,
All-blessing and all-blest;

The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever;
That Name to us is Love.

Breviary Offices versus OF Masses

As I'm now in Tasmania, and have been serving the Christmas Masses at Carmel, it's been back to a (quite acceptable) Novus Ordo; and one benefit of serving has been that I've been able to receive communion, kneeling, from our visiting priest, under both species.  (Some traddies have weird reservations about touching the chalice, but that's mad.)

In the Ordinary Form, to-day is the feast of the Holy Family, while according to the Breviary it's the Sunday in the Christmas Octave, and the Holy Family won't be feasted until Sunday the 11th of January.  (Ever since Benedict XV extended this feast to the whole world, it's been difficult to find an older Sunday to push aside so as to fit it in: and I must say it seems to me better to have the Holy Family celebrated in the Octave than after Epiphany.)

Indeed, there's plenty of confusion coming up; while the Octave of Christmas is really just about equivalent to the Solemnity of Mary Mater Dei, as a glance at the respective Offices demonstrates, here in Australia the bishops in their wisdom have transferred the Epiphany to the nearest Sunday, meaning that this year on Sunday the 4th in the Breviary I'll be celebrating the Most Holy Name of Jesus, while perforce I'll hear Mass of the Epiphany, whose Office will occur on the Tuesday; and the same thing will occur with the Baptism of the Lord...

And last but not least, to-day is Childermas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents (read more here), which took precedence over the Sunday until the last preconciliar simplification of the rubrics; Fr alluded in his homily to the truth that Our Lord sanctified the whole course of human life from conception onwards, and one might think that in this dark age of widespread fœtal murder, to have the child-victims of raging Herod commemorated even on a Sunday would be no bad thing.  

(Don't forget, BTW, that to-day is Proclamation Day in South Australia, marking the 172nd anniversary of that Province.)

Christmas Masses at Carmel

Well, all that's done and sorted: serving the Dawn Mass, that is!  I even had to play with the dreaded thurible; Mum charitably said afterward, I noticed you've got better at it (in the past I was hopeless as thurifer, and normally avoid the task whenever possible).

After the predictability of serving the Latin Mass, serving at the Novus Ordo is confusing - so many prudential judgements to be made, so little direction as to what to do...  and the sanctuary at the Carmel, in its chapel of the Immaculate Heart, is rather oddly shaped, since the altar faces the nuns' choir (separated off by the grille), while the people sit to the left of the nuns' choir (or if you prefer, the nuns are to their right) in a separate transept, the whole chapel making a V-shape.  As a result of this, the sanctuary isn't rectangular, but extends out toward the layfolk a triangular wing; and the credence is far over on the Gospel side, so to speak, while the sedilia is against the wall on the Epistle side; and the stand for the thurible (when used) is thoughtfully put next to the tabernacle on the wall behind the altar.  I have over time worked out or tried to work out ways of operating in this space, but I wish for some definite instruction.

In any case, for the record, regarding the music, the dear sisters sing hymns as always at the start and end of Mass, and also sing together a Gelineau setting of the Responsorial Psalm.  Since Fr has been using the Confiteor, they have had the chance to sing the Kyrie in chant (a simple one), and now of course the Gloria from Mass XV, and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Mass IX.  They have their own simple and rather mournful tone for the Alleluia and verse - ditto for the Amen at the end of the Canon (Fr's used the Roman Canon for these two Christmas Masses, including all the saints).  The Memorial Acclamation (unexpectedly bearable) has been "Lord, by your cross and resurrection..." in the chant-like setting from the Missal.  The last item the nuns sang, after they made their communion, was a meditative repetition of Gloria in excelsis Deo (à la Taize).  While not singing the orations or the Preface this morning as he did last night, Fr did lead us in singing the Lord's Prayer and following items as per usual.

Fr of course preached two good sermons; at Midnight, mentioning amongst other things the tenderness of God in becoming a little child, and the significance of night: negatively, it stands for man's sundering from God; positively, for rest, refreshment and repose after the model of God's resting - Our Saviour comes in the night to scatter the darkness of sin and lead us into everlasting rest.  This morn, he spoke on many rich themes, that are fast fading in my tired brain!  But two stand out... First, he quoted to us the second of the Christmas Prefaces, and explained how Our Lord came in human flesh to show us the great love of God for us, to restore the unity of Creation with the Divine, and to teach us true humility, which is primarily founded on the stupefying condescension of the Deity toward us in love, and only secondarily on a realization of our finitude and sinfulness.  Second, he quoted the Byzantine sticheron that follows -

O Christ, what shall we offer You for your coming on earth as a Man for our sake? Every creature that has its being from You gives thanks to You: the angels offer hymns of praise, the heavens give a star; wise man present their gifts and the shepherds, their wonder; the earth provides a cave and the desert a manger. As for us, we offer You a Mother, a Virgin Mother. O God who are from all eternity, have mercy on us!

- and pointed out how Our Lady in her love, care, charity, selfless giving and contemplation stood as exemplar of the ideal response to the human race, and posed the question, What in return will we give God this Christmas?  "Love so amazing, so divine, / Demands my soul, my life, my all" (quoting Isaac Watts rather than our priest, but the sentiment is the same).

24th December: Mass in the Morning

Serving Mass at Carmel again this Christmas brings back happy memories - for I've done so for many years, on and off.  Fr is obviously a recollected priest, given that he not only recited the vesting prayers before Mass, and at Mass joins his hands juxta rubricas (something most priests, being lazy, don't bother with), but conjoins his thumb and forefinger from the Consecration to the ablutions (as Fr Mannes does).  If this is the Novus Ordo, I must say I don't mind it...   

I enquired after Mass, would he like me to bring wine as well as water for the ablutions?  Yes, he replied.  This all reminds me of what was said of the more conservative clergy when the 1549 B.C.P. was brought in: that they kept as much of the old ceremonial as they dared, and celebrated at side altars "Holy Communion of Our Lady" or "of the Apostles" just as if they were still offering up their accustomed Votives.  (BTW, "Our Lady" is, or rather ought be, a  title for the Blessed Virgin perfectly acceptable even to Anglicans, since the Book of Common Prayer, in its table of "Lessons Proper for Holy-Days", refers to the "Annunciation of our Lady" - let Protestants take note!)

In any event, Fr preached inter alia on the sense of eager expectation that Advent ought have enkindled in our hearts, that we might arise and awake early as the Prophet tells us in the lessons from Isaias read in the Office, and be as it were bursting with longing for Christmas and the Christ Child to come - he adduced how little children love getting up early, especially at Christmas, not always to the delight of their parents (amusement), and caused more titters from the sisters when he praised them for doing the same so joyfully! - for we needs must have that childlike sense of wonder and awe at even the natural order, at the rising sun at dawn, at each new day, given to us gratis, that helps feed our even greater amaze at beholding things supernatural, above all God's great Gift of Himself incarnate for us at Christmas.

Christmas at Carmel

Mother Stephanie, Prioress, has kindly allowed me to come and serve the Christmas Masses at the Carmelite Monastery here in Launceston; Fr Bernard Gordon, a Wollongong priest currently on staff at the Sydney Seminary, is the visiting priest who will offer these (he arrives to-day and departs Monday).  

(The Carmel is located in West Launceston, hard by the Cataract Gorge - just out of frame on the top of the hill on the left.)

My family and I have much cause to thank these holy nuns, for their prayers indeed have stormed heaven on many occasions.  What a saintly community, in recent years blessed with young and stedfast vocations!  And among them all, after Mother Stephanie, I think particularly of Sr Paul Joseph, the former extern sister with whom we've dealt in times past, who is now very old and frail, necessitating her withdrawal into the cloister.

In preparation, Mum has been handwashing my surplice...

Times are as follows: Sunday and weekdays 7.30am, excepting Christmas with both Midnight Mass (which Brian will serve instead) and Dawn Mass at 8.30am.  Deo gratias!

Back Safe and Sound

I was tempted to book to stay another night, but decided against it; so, after booking out, I went and heard Mass at Our Lady of the Southern Cross, then had a rather good breakfast at the same local cafe as yesterday - coffee, plus french toast with banana, bacon and maple syrup; a combination which I hadn't had since my trip to Lismore for Bp Jarrett's consecration eight years ago.  Memories...

(Oh, and BTW last night's meal at the wine bar turned out not to be drawn from among various tapas - which are available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - but from a fine menu: so I had roasted artichoke and mushroom soup, followed by crispy skin duck confit on brussels sprouts with pancetta and green beans.  I went to bed fairly early, but read until late about the disasters awaiting us with global warming: it's a genre called "climate p__n", you know the word I mean.) 

Leaving Dunsborough, I drove up to Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, in the national park, and took an hour's circuit around the windswept headland, including a peek from the whale lookout (alas, none, though blue, humpback and southern right whales all rest on their migrations in Geographe Bay).  The low colourful vegetation was in flower, with a pronounced scent, and the sand grading to eroded limestone underfoot was unusual to walk on.  Quite pleasant to get some sun, of which I now feel the effects!

By the time I drove away it was lunchtime, so I headed off down many a country road toward Yahava, a local coffee roaster that had been recommended to me; to be honest, having got there, I thought it nice enough but a bit overrated.  Far more to my taste was Knotting Hill vineyard opposite it, where I met some fine people - retired wheatbelt farmers having a tree-change (as they say nowadays) by moving down South and establishing a very pleasant and successful winemaking estate around an artificial lake.  Their wine I found very passable indeed, and bought some, plus a "vineyard platter" for my late lunch.  A walk around the lake did me the world of good, and it was really nice to meet such down-to-earth, goodhearted people - and their very cute pet dogs!

Finally I turned for home, but not without stopping off at Gelorup outside Bunbury, to catch up on my prayers at the Carmel there, and to spare a prayer for Br Peter, late of Bunbury, now with the Carmelite Monks over in the States.  Since I decided to detour to the coalmining town of Collie - very clean and tidy, even with a great big coal train going through the middle of the place when I arrived - I therefore added another 70 km onto the return trip, meaning that the last hour and a half was in darkness.

What have I been listening to in the car as I drive?  Some ABC radio, but mostly some CD's I brought along:

• Music for a Hidden Chapel (Byrd's Marian anthems and polyphonic Propers for Easter and the Assumption, sung by Chanticleer: the wordpainting is stunning, as in the Easter Sequence Victimæ paschali and the former Assumption Introit Gaudeamus omnes, and it was well worth a second listening);
• Sing to God (gadzooks! Taize! - an old gift to me of nice muzak, giving something of the psalms and other Scriptures in easily digestible form);
• Tafelmusik (4 CD's of Telemann, played by Musica Antiqua Köln; this great set came to me free, from an old priest who was retiring - ora pro eo).

It was good to get home at 7.45 pm, unpack, and share a good roast dinner with my mates, who'd thoughtfully organized a proper meal for us all.

And now, to bed.

(Of your charity, prayers, please, for a certain vital intention.)

How Sweet to Die a Carmelite

Of your charity, please pray for Peter (late of Bunbury) who is trying his vocation with the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming (having departed thence just under a month ago). Now, to live a Carmelite is hard - but, as the proverb continues, to die a Carmelite how sweet it is!

For proof of this sentiment, I quote from the annual Auxiliary Newsletter from the Carmel of Launceston, as penned by Mother Stephanie Mary of Divine Providence, the Prioress (which my Mum has just sent me to read):

Sister Mary Monica, who was one of our foundation sisters and had been ill for some time went to God in a very beautiful and peaceful death on March 10th [2008]. We were all with her in prayer as she left this world at the moving words "Go forth Christian soul...". Her last weeks in our infirmary were marked by her peaceful surrender to God and her gratitude for all the sisterly care and love given her over those last weeks. How grateful we are to her for her great contribution to our community of nearly 60 years. Some of you may have known her earlier when she held the office of prioress several times. Please pray for her now. I am confident she is now praying for us all from heaven. Her funeral Mass on March 13th was really lovely and Father Terry Southerwood [Dean of Northern Tasmania] preached a beautiful homily.

I'm not ashamed that this simple yet uplifting account almost moves me to tears. Heaven! Thou shouldst be the only hoped-for sight!

Please pray also for holy perseverance for Sr Elijah Mary of Mount Carmel, OCD, who took her first vows at the Launceston Carmel on the 8th of September (Our Lady's Birthday) last year.

A lovely Carmelite custom, to which I've been privy on occasion, is that at the Easter Vigil, after all renew their baptismal promises, the nuns then renew their vows: I quite clearly recall hearing one of them saying "I, Mother Mary of the Holy Ghost..." and so on.

(The Carmel of the Immaculate Heart in Launceston, Tasmania, was blessed and opened on the 7th of June 1975, some 33 years ago, having relocated from the nearby country town of Longford, where it had originally been founded on the 15th of June 1948, from Adelaide in South Australia: so this is their diamond jubilee year. Sr Mary of the Holy Ghost, one of the foundation sisters, is still alive and active, Deo gratias.)