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!

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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.