Credo in Spiritum Sanctum

I believe in the Holy Ghost – He is the uncreated, perfect, animating, vivifying, enlivening Lord, Who moved upon the waters at Creation, Who is sent forth and makes and creates, Who is the spirit and ‘soul’ of the Holy Catholic Church; He is the Communion between the Father and the Son, proceeding from Them Both as from a single principle, worshipped and glorified together with Them in the Unity of the Trinity; He Who is true God with Them, equal in glory and majesty, eternal, infinite, almighty; He spoke in many and divers ways of old through the prophets, in the Law, in the Gospels and through the preaching and teaching of the Apostles and their rightful successors in the Church; He is the communion, the true bond of fellowship, between all the Saints, those elected and made holy by His divine indwelling grace, first imparted at Holy Baptism (the water thereof made holy by the secret admixture of His grace, as once He sanctified Jordan); He is invoked to illapse upon Holy Church's offerings, sanctifying and blessing them, transsubstantiating the elements into the Holy Gifts (for what is wonderfully accomplished by the words of the Second Person is at one and the same time accomplished by the blessing of the First and the epicletic overshadowing of the Third, since all works external to the Trinity are the common work of all Three), just as He by His overshadowing joined once for all Body and Blood to the Eternal Word, the very sacramental Gifts that are now in this time of grace given to make holy those who receive them, that they may become what they are (the second marvellous conversion, the sacred commerce of the sacrament), imparting the Fire of the Spirit to those christified by the Body and the Blood; He is Himself the Forgiveness of Sins (as one of the Whitsuntide Collects prays); He guarantees (as was shewn to the prophet Ezechiel) the resurrection of the flesh, and thus He imparts to this mortal flesh immortal vigour, that it may endure unto life eternal, world without end. Amen.

(From a synthesis of the Apostles’, Athanasian and Nicene Creeds, with respect also to the Armenian version of the Nicene: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated and the perfect; Who spoke through the Law, prophets, and Gospels; Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles, and lived in the saints.”)

Pentecost Sunday is the anniversary of my baptism, confirmation and first Communion, now just over a quarter century ago – how strange that sounds... I suppose that Sunday Mass in my parish was at nine o'clock in the morning, the same time as it still is (though this year I have instead been to the vigil Mass at six in the evening, where I assisted with the singing of the Ordinary, appropriate hymns and the Latin Sequence): how appropriate, just as on that Whitsun morn 1,980 years ago St Peter's preaching drew the first harvest of souls to the waters of rebirth.

God the Holy Ghost, save and sanctify me a most unworthy sinner.

23rd Anniversary

Pentecost Sunday morning 2010, marks the 23rd anniversary of my Baptism, Confirmation and first Communion.  Glory be to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

(To be accurate, I received the Sacraments of Initiation on Pentecost Sunday, 7th of June 1987, but I think it more fitting to keep the anniversary on the feast day rather than on the actual date.)

May He Who began the good work in me bring it to completion.  Amen.

Baptism, Vespers and Benediction

"If Tristan turns out a priest, I'll know whom to blame!" - that's what his Dad said beforehand, explaining how having Fr Tattersall come down from Melbourne to Hobart to baptize young Tristan, and having various Traddie friends come too, meant that the Baptism according to the Traditional Rite was to have Vespers of Trinity Sunday and Benediction added on after it...

About forty relatives, friends and faithful assembled at St Joseph's church, Hobart (a handsome church, with original rood and high altar intact, albeit the former rood screen was taken down; at least there is some fine woodwork evident in the sanctuary panelling and forward altar; there are several valuable nineteenth century American paintings hanging in the sanctuary, of Our Lady, the Ascension and St Joseph, one being away for restoration; and there is also original Pugin stained glass in the church, the inscription begging one to pray for "the good estate of Augustus Welby Pugin") at 6 pm.  In due course the ceremonies of Baptism proceeded, preceded by a sermon; after little Tristan Michael Casimir was duly exorcised, christened and made a child of God, co-heir with Christ and temple of the Holy Ghost, the priest, servers and choir parati made ready for the highly appropriate Vespers in praise of our Triune God.  

Somewhat shakily, yours truly joined in the chanting, led by the two rulers of the choir on stools in the sanctuary, and after the Evening Office of the Church had been prosecuted another hiatus ensued while all remaining was made ready for Benediction, whereat the supreme worship of latria was paid to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament exposed, that we might love Him and desire Him yet more: O salutaris... Prayer for Christian Unity... Tantum ergo... Benediction itself... the Divine Praises... Adoremus in æternum...

The evening's great dose of sacramental worship concluded at half seven.

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent; the Forty Martyrs

To-day's ferial collect (for Tuesday in the second week of Lent) is more than usually difficult:

Perfice, quæsumus, Domine, benignus in nobis observantiæ sanctæ subsidium: ut, quæ te auctore facienda cognovimus, te operante impleamus.  Per...

I would render this as follows, trying to be painfully literal:

Perfect, we beseech, Lord, the benign help of holy observance in us: that, what we know (Thee being the Author) ought to be done, may we fulfil, Thee working.  Through...

(An interesting verb, perficere - from per and facere; the latter root meaning "to make", the former, in this case, "thoroughly" or "very": hence the full verb meaning "to complete, to finish", or quite literally, playing on the word and its derived noun, "to make perfect".)

But what is this "holy observance" that for us ought be made perfect as a goodly support?  Obviously, Lent, or more correctly adhering to its hallowed and sanctifying rituals and rules, we pray is to be for us a wholesome underpinning for our wellbeing, that God may perfect His work in us: and hence the second half of the prayer - what we know is of God, what we know by His Revelation ought be done, we also know we can only fulfill in full measure by His grace, His activity in us: and this can only be achieved by the saving work in us of our One Saviour and Mediator Christ.  We ought therefore look to Him Who is the Author and Finisher of Faith, Who sets the example of virtue and right action, and Who gives the grace that we may run the great race, finish the course, keep the Faith, and win the immarcescible crown.

******

To-day is also the commemoration of the Forty Holy Martyrs (Ἃγιοι Τεσσεράκοντα), who according to tradition were Christian Roman legionaries who, rather than renounce the True Faith, perished by cold and exposure on a frozen lake near Sebaste in Armenia - and when one of their number apostatised at the last and gave up both his place and (we fear) his access to salvation, the constancy of the remaining Christians so moved the hearts of one of their pagan fellow soldiers that - spurred on to superhuman self-sacrifice by a secret inflow of the Spirit's grace - this erstwhile pagan and true hero thereupon declared himself resolved to live and die as a sudden Christian with the brave martyrs expiring on the ice, and went to join them in death and glory, saved by God from the false empire of darkness at the last gasp, rather like the Good Thief.  

(In the icon, the apostate soldier flees into the black door of a building - having abandoned the Faith, for a short temporal reward he has spurned the endless delights of heaven, and instead shall merit hell: he has escaped out of the frying pan, into the fire! - while, moved by mysterious illumination and inspiration, a bystander divests himself of his apparel to go out onto the icy lake, there to freeze to death and so mount to celestial glory.)

The fact that one of the Forty Martyrs was thus unbaptized illustrates the comforting doctrine that God is not Himself bound by His sacraments, and may by extraordinary means effect the salvation of chosen souls.  This is not to downplay the extreme importance of baptism - one may not without sinful presumption depend upon what is a most unusual and special grant of grace outside of the norm which all are called to participate in through actual sacramental baptism - but rather it must be interpreted as an instance of "baptism by desire" and moreover "baptism by blood", whereby, respectively, a catechumen dying short of baptism has nonetheless an explicit desire (votum) therefor which it pleases the Lord to fulfil extrasacramentally, and likewise a believer as yet unbaptized, when put to death in hatred of the Faith, is as it were bathed in the sacred laver of his own lifeblood, and by his special likeness to Christ in His Passion is extrasacramentally united to Him by a gratuitous gift of grace.

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui gloriosos Martyres fortes in sua confessione cognovimus, pios apud te in nostra intercessione sentiamus.  Per...

(Grant, we beg, almighty God, that we who acclaim the glorious Martyrs strong in their confession, may feel and know in what is ours their pious intercession with Thee.  Through...)

We should recall the constancy of these Forty Martyrs throughout these Forty Days, that we may imitate those who endured their sufferings (or rather were miraculously moved to join themselves thereto) and not with the reprobate fall away, that Lent and the Christian life be for us an unfulfilled promise we reject, rather than a saving gift from the Lord.

As we know the saints do ever intercede for us, may we have the grace to recognize in our souls, in our bodies, in our lives and in our labours what great blessings God is pleased to grant us at their plea.

Here are their Kontakion and Troparion (sung in the Byzantine Rite yesterday, on the 9th):

O holy and triumphant Forty Martyrs, you renounced every honour of military life in order to follow the Lord of Heaven.  O blessed ones, you suffered in fire and water, wherefore you received from heaven as your reward the crowns of glory and immortality.

By reason of the sufferings the saints endured out of love for You, we implore You, O Lord and Lover of Mankind, to deliver us from all our pain.

The Shoes of the Fisherman

I read the Papal novels of Morris West when I was a teenager, and it was pleasant to revisit them tonight by watching the old film of The Shoes of the Fishermen with some friends.

It must be said, the film is more than worth viewing for the sake of the very faithful depiction of the ecclesiastical customs, costumes, and ceremonies alone - culminating in a Papal coronation!

This morning, having come late to Mass, but in time enough, I was then able to help Fr Rowe by serving at a baptism.

A pleasant feast of the Maternity of Our Blessed Lady to all - the first anniversary of my taking up the Roman Breviary.

Perhaps

St Ignatius Loyola said while giving a retreat that the answer to most questions in life is "Perhaps". Shall I keep my good resolutions? Perhaps. Shall I remain long in the grace of God, or fall back into sin? Perhaps. Shall I be saved? Perhaps. But there is one question whose answer is not "Perhaps": Shall I die and be judged? Most certainly.

This was the example preached, and indeed the import of Fr Rowe's sermon at Mass today: like the unjust steward in the parable, we shall in due season appear before the dread tribunal of Christ, and be sentenced. Live, therefore, now and hereafter in such a state, fortified by grace, prayer, and the sacraments, as shall merit a favourable judgement!

This morning I slept in, but made it to church in time for confession, and then was asked to help serve: for the 11.15 am Mass was not to be the usual Low Mass, but a sung Mass, with Quartessence providing chant and polyphony, so I wasn't needed in the choir instead. I was struck by the fact that all the servers were adult men, the majority married with children (unlike myself, of course). The reason for the change in schedule - Michael's first child, Teresa Marie, was to be baptised after the Mass. In the event, I remained on to assist Fr with the baptism (and ancillary ceremonies: enrolment in the Miraculous Medal and Brown Scapular, and consecration to Our Lady), and after that joyful event came over to the party following.

Of your charity, please pray for little Teresa Marie, that she abide in goodness and love all the days of her life, and so pass to eternal bliss with Christ.

I'm going over to my aunt's place tonight to mind it for her while she's away; since I have some time off work, I plan to keep tomorrow as a day of retreat, and have planned a schedule of prayer: please God it bear fruit.

I plan amongst other things to consider the Epistle (Rom. viii, 12-17a) of this Sunday, and its Collect:

Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God; and if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

Largire nobis, quæsumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quæ recta sunt, propitius et agendi: ut, qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus. Per...

(Grant to us, we beseech Thee, Lord, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to Thee. Through...)

Roadtrip Report

Departure: about 1pm, Easter Sunday.

Return: about 8pm, Easter Monday.

Approximate distance covered: 400km+.

Having had a good sleep in till 11.30am, and having been at the Trad. Vigil, which suffices for Matins, Compline, and Lauds, all I had to read on Sunday at noon was Prayer during the Day from the Divine Office. Luxury!

Once dressed, packed and breakfasted, I drove from home about 20km to Good Shepherd Church, Kelmscott, with my car already packed by Fr Rowe the day before, prior to the Vigil, with vestments, candles, booklets, and whatnot (in other words, with everything needed for Mass at Bunbury, plus vestments for Kelmscott). The journey took about half an hour - then, upon arrival there, the vestments were unpacked, and, after making my Easter confession, I went to practise the music with Fr Terence (who was to play the none-too-reliable electric organ, as well as sing). Fr Richard joined us shortly before Mass began, just before 2pm. Fr Rowe and servers - including Aaron, who was bringing the Frs R. & T. on the trip in his car - processed in.

The proper Vidi aquam, Mass propers psalm-toned, Mass Orbis factor, Credo III, the Victimæ paschali, O filii et filiæ (solo by yours truly) at offertory and Ad regias Agni dapes at communion - after I made my Easter communion - some organ interludes, and "Through the Red Sea brought at last" for a recessional, comprised our modest and rather unevenly-executed programme. (The Ad regias Agni dapes is an especial favourite of mine, since it is so appropriate for the reception of Holy Communion in Eastertide, and I like in this season to use part of it as a prayer at the Elevation of the Host.) But of course this was but the ornament of the Holy Liturgy, in which we have seen the resurrection of Christ, once more made present in His Body and Blood as our feast and sacrifice, triumphant on the very day of His victory over death.

Fr Rowe gave a short sermon (based on an earlier remark of Fr T.) lampooning the local unbelieving Anglican Archbishop, for his comments in the newspaper to the effect that those believing in the literal, physical resurrection of Our Lord were "living in fairyland": as Fr Rowe pointed out, it is pretend clergy of a pretend church that are living in fairyland [as could be said quite literally of their Dean at St George's, BTW], and one may well ask why they bother at all with their ecclesiastical pretense: is this not hypocrisy? As the Apostle reminds us, If Christ be not risen, our faith is in vain - but He is risen, and His resurrection is our hope.

Come 3pm, Mass concluded, and - after some tasty sandwiches and fizzy cordial provided by the servers' mother - we headed off in convoy for Bunbury, that great metropolis of the South (population approx. 81,000). Along the way, not one but two stops for petrol! (Aaron thought, when I stopped to refuel, that he wouldn't need to fill up even though he had stopped at the servo too, but he revised that opinion further down the track, and, since they were following us, I had perforce to pull over as well.) Because of all this dawdling, we really had to rush... at least, en route, Fr Rowe led a Rosary for himself and me, and likewise the Chaplet of St Michael, and Vespers and Compline from the Roman Breviary, thus completing the cursus of the day prior to 6pm...

We arrived at St Thomas' Church in Carey Park (a suburb of Bunbury) at about a quarter to six in the afternoon, with most of the people already there and waiting for us. Fr Rowe sent Fr R. into the confessional, and lined up the prospective penitents, and then helter-skelter we all got ready for Mass. The music was the same as for Bunbury, albeit with only Fr T. and myself to sing, and a slightly less ill-behaved electric organ... Fr R. sang the Mass (which began a bit late, at about 6.15pm), and gave a beaut homily (which I suspect he was repeating from an earlier Easter Vigil); we finished by 7.15pm, and then had a good chat afterward with various of our friends and acquaintances - including the family of Peter, a sometime-commenter on this blog, who's currently visiting some Traditionalist Carmelites in America.

Aaron and his two priest-passengers headed off to stay with Michael, who often makes the commute to Perth to serve at the Pro.! But Fr Rowe and I were to stay with friends of ours, with whom he always stays and with whom I've stayed when I've done the Bunbury run with Fr before. Lucky us - Frank (our host) had some dhufish, a Western Australian delicacy, for us, which a mate had caught; lucky for us, since it can be $70 a kilo. A royal Easter feast; Frank shewed me the vintage car he's renovating also, which was quite something. And then, finally, to bed after ten.

Up at 7.30am, breakfasted, dressed, packed, and back to church (Aaron and Fr R. had already been in at 7am for a first Low Mass) for Low Mass at nine in the morning on this Easter Monday holiday: about twenty people came, and Fr Rowe gave them a sermon on the Scriptural proofs of the Resurrection, continuing our anti-Anglican theme. Aaron and the other priests arrived toward the end of Mass, and afterward, after the packing up, we split up - they went to visit the local Discalced Carmelite Nuns (concerning whom I blogged last year), while we went to visit Rosemary and family (Gerard her son was the server today, and he helped yesterday too), lovely people, and while there Fr and I joined them for brunch of bacon and eggs.

It wasn't till after twelve that we returned to St Thomas' to collect the pyx with the Sacred Host. (Fr Rowe takes communion to a shut-in in Mandurah as part of his round trip each month.) I had only past the first psalm of Matins, when he returned with Our Lord. From then till Mandurah, we had Rosary, Chaplet of St Michael, Vespers and Compline (! - he'd finished the rest already), Divine Mercy Chaplet, and so forth: it was a great privilege to travel with a priest carrying the Blessed Sacrament, tho' I didn't manage much more than a very conventional devotion.

Once in Mandurah, while Fr made the sick call I finished Matins and Lauds just about, and then we popped in to visit Gerald for lunch-cum-afternoon tea, during which Aaron and Frs T. and R. arrived, fresh from the same heavy traffic we'd had, but still delighted to have had converse with the nuns, who had all assembled in the large parlour, and had fed them quite a feast into the bargain. Very Catholic! But it was after 2pm by the time we had got to Mandurah, and didn't leave till half-past three: so, back to hard driving on the second-last lap.

Once en route, Fr decided to anticipate Matins and Lauds for Tuesday! So I felt very confused indeed with all this Office. Back at last to his presbytery, we unloaded everything, and to cut a long story short then I had to take him into town for the last Mass of the day at the Pro., not because he was to say it - Fr Terence did - but because he had to set up for the ceremonies afterward...

Arriving at the Orate fratres, by the time I'd run back to the car for my Breviary it was almost time for the consecration, and so I adored at the Elevations then prayed Prime, Terce and Sext, with a pause for a spiritual communion at the Ecce Agnus Dei. After the Last Gospel, Leonine Prayers, and Regina cæli, there was time to complete the Office with None.

[Does anyone else find the sequence Matins (interrupted), Vespers, Compline, Matins (continued), Lauds (interrupted, then completed), Matins of the next day, Lauds of the next day, then finally Prime, Terce, Sext and None of today rather bizarre? I felt disoriented.]

Then - the supplying the ceremonies of Baptism for little Augustina, who'd been laved in the waters of regeneration in the hospital soon after birth in an emergency; now all her friends and family were assembled, including me, who know her mother slightly. Fr Terence did a great job, catechising and preaching as he led us through the ceremonies, which were rounded off by enrolling her in the Brown Scapular and Miraculous Medal, and consecrating her to Our Lady, as is the pious custom. What a beautiful end to Easter Monday: a tiny baby publically recognized as one of the newest members of the Mystical Body of Christ, as we celebrate with joy His triumphant resurrection.

I had been tired, but all this evening ritual restored me, and I joined everyone for a light supper in the garden by the church afterward, before finally driving back to my house.

It's been a great trip, but it is really good to be back home.

Happy Easter to all readers; if you're not clergy I doubt you've had quite so busy or churchy an Easter as I!