3rd and 4th Sundays after Easter

Yester-day we had our usual Latin Mass in Hobart, not on the first but on the second Sunday, as Fr Quinn was at a conference interstate at the beginning of the month. Next Sunday, the 18th of May, we will have a Missa cantata at the earlier time of 10:00 am. Maintenance work is occurring at St Canice, so it is possible that we may have to relocate at least temporarily, but the details are still frantically being finalized.

I apologise for not having blogged much, but my time has been taken up with many most welcome blessings, to say nothing of the usual demands of work and ordinary life. I have also attended some happy events – such as the solemn Mass, with the singing of Palestrina's Missa Papæ Marcelli, for the installation of Fr Tattersall as parish priest of the personal parish for the Latin Mass community in Melbourne; and the ordination of my friend Justin to the diaconate at the Ukrainian Cathedral in Melbourne. God bless the two of them in their sacred ministry, to the glory of God and the sanctification of souls.

Congratulations Fr Sia

Please join with me in giving thanks to Almighty God for the ordination to the priesthood of Fr Brennan Sia, in Perth, Western Australia. What David said by the Holy Ghost of Christ now applies to him: Tu es sacerdos in æternum.

I met Fr Sia while I was living in Perth some years ago, and last ran into him in Rome... While I was unable to attend his ordination on Friday night, he very kindly accepted his first Mass stipend from me, and offered Mass for my intentions to-day.

I am sure he will be most grateful for every prayer that he be a wise and holy priest:

O God, who made your Only Begotten Son eternal High Priest, grant that those he has chosen as ministers and stewards of your mysteries may be found faithful in carrying out the ministry they have received.

Lord our God, who in governing your people make use of the ministry of Priests, grant to these men a persevering obedience to your will, so that by their ministry and life they may gain glory for you in Christ. 

O God, who have willed that your Priests should minister at the holy altar and serve your people, grant by the power of that sacrifice, we pray, that their labours may constantly please you and in your Church bear that fruit which lasts for ever. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

—Roman Missal, 'Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions', I. 6., alt.

The Ordinariate Grows

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross – not yet a year old, having been established on the feast of the Sacred Heart in 2012 – continues to grow, quietly and steadily; to-day, its thirteenth priest will be ordained: Fr Gordon Barnier.

Some time ago, another priest of the Ordinariate gave an interview in Kairos, the Melbourne Archdiocesan magazine, indicating that there were fifteen in formation, so we trust that in due course a few more men will be ordained for priestly service in full communion with the Catholic Church. 

In a similar way, groups of Anglicans have been admitted into that full communion – most recently, several members of the St Patrick's Ordinariate Group (centred on Benalla, in north-east Victoria), in early April.  The members of these groups are often widely-spread, but now, rather than being on the fringes of Anglicanism, mainstream or "continuing", they are full members both of the Catholic Church worldwide, and in a special way of the local Ordinariate.

Of your charity, please pray for the following priests of the Australian Ordinariate, especially on the anniversaries of their ordination as Catholic priests:

Western Australia (2):

Very Rev Mgr Harry Entwistle, Ordinary (ord. 15/6/12)

Fr Stephen Hill (ord. 1/3/13) 

Victoria (4):

Fr Christopher Seton (ord. 8/9/12)

Fr Neil Fryer (ord. 8/9/12)

Fr James Grant (ord. 8/9/12)

Fr Ramsay Williams (ord. 8/9/12) 

NSW (1):

Fr Warren Wade (ord. 12/12/12) 

Queensland (6):

Fr Antony (Tony) Iball (ord. 18/10/12)

Fr Lyall Cowell (ord. 18/10/12)

Fr Andrew Kinmont (ord. 5/4/13)

Fr Gordon Barnier (ord. 26/4/13)

Fr Owen Buckton (ord. 1/2/13)

Fr Ron(ald) Wallis (ord. 5/4/13)

Please pray, too, for the Ordinariate, and those considering entering full communion in it, that it may welcome many souls heeding the call to unity, and thus bear fruit for the wider Church:

Our Lady of the Southern Cross, pray for them.

Axios!

The Russian Catholic parish in Melbourne is flourishing, and has just had the great joy of the ordination of two of its members: Anton Usher to the diaconate, and Justin McDonnell to the subdiaconate – they are both good and devout men, much learned about all matters liturgical, musical and spiritual, and will certainly be a support and ornament to their pastor, Mitred Archpriest Lawrence Cross.

The ordinations took place on Sunday; I was able to fly over to Melbourne for the weekend, and stayed with Justin and his wife Lydia (whom now I address as Hypodiaconissa).  Come Sunday morning, we drove up from the outer suburb where they live, about 40 km (25 miles) to the Russian Catholic church of Holy Trinity-St Nicholas, in the inner suburb of St Kilda East.  This is a former congregationalist church recently purchased and extensively renovated for the use of the Russian Catholic parish, thanks to a most generous grant from the Vatican.  The ladies of the parish were already preparing the celebratory lunch to be had much, much later on... Soon enough, the choir arrived, much supplemented for the occasion by excellent singers from around Melbourne. (The singing was nearly all in English, save for some of the litanies and the Cherubikon.)  Yours truly was employed in menial tasks suited to his capacity, such as peeling hardboiled eggs and putting up party decorations.

His Excellency Robert Rabbat, Bishop of the Greek Melkite Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand came down from Sydney to celebrate the Divine Mysteries. (Unfortunately, the Russian Catholics have had no bishop of their own for many years now).  Both after the subdiaconal ordinations, and before the final prayer at the Divine Liturgy, the good bishop addressed us briefly (Archpriest Lawrence having been delegated to preach the sermon): I was most impressed to hear a bishop so conversant with the Gospels, and so spiritual in his understanding thereof - what a blessing! As he exhorted the congregation, by our prayers we ought help bear the Cross with Anton and Justin, rather than crucify them, as parishioners can.

(I ought add that two Ukrainian priests concelebrated with the Bishop, alongside Archpriest Lawrence, and two deacons attended, one Roman, one Ukrainian Rite - the latter undertaking the deacon's parts, being more adept at the requisite ceremonies.)

Worship began with the Third Hour (mainly in Church Slavonic, but with the Psalms in English) at 10:20 am. His Excellency entered the church for vesting at 10:30 am, an episcopal throne and bema having been erected for the occasion in the midst of the nave. That done, he proceeded to confer the lectorate on Anton; Justin had previously received this minor order. Next, the two men were ordained subdeacons together.

After that, Hierarchical Divine Liturgy began; I noted by my watch that the Epistle was read 90 minutes after we had began. Strangely, or not so strangely, this most elaborate and lengthy worship did not seem to deter at all the 60 or more parishioners and friends who were filling up the nave. I was next to a friend, a seminarian of the local Roman archdiocese; my only complaint was increasingly sore feet as we stood for the whole liturgy.

Most movingly, the order of the diaconate was conferred upon Anton in the appointed manner to me until then unknown - he was ordained directly after the Eucharistic Prayer, just before the Litany leading into the Lord's Prayer. When he came forth after Communion to lead the litany of thanksgiving, all were most glad and edified to see him our new deacon. The Liturgy concluded at 1:35 pm, some three and a quarter hours after our corporate worship commenced.

The ensuing festal lunch was most welcome, as was conversation with many friends new and old.  One of the Latin-Mass-goers who had come along for the occasion (many being friends of Justin) remarked to the effect that the Roman Liturgy moves the mind, but the Byzantine the heart.  I must say, as a Roman who loves the East, that the Divine Liturgy has a power to uplift to heaven the heart even of this poor sinner.

Ἄξιος! Многая Лета!

Diaconal Ordination

Of your charity, pray for Brennan Sia, who will be ordained a deacon by the Archbishop of Perth on the 7th of December.  I got to know Brennan through friends of mine when I was living in Perth some years ago, and more recently on some of my trips to Rome I have met up with him amongst others, since he did some years of study at the NAC (where I was most hospitably received for lunch at the invitation of several Australian seminarians, including Brennan).  God willing, once he proves himself as a deacon, the People of God may hope to see him serve the Lord as a priest in due season.

St Stephen, pray for him.

The Australian Ordinariate Grows

Latest news from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross:

Please pray for WARREN WADE to be ordained priest by the Most Rev David Walker, Bishop of Broken Bay, by letters dimissory from the Very Rev Harry Entwistle, at 7:30 on Wednesday December 12th in Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara, NSW.

He will be the eighth priest and ninth cleric of the nascent Ordinariate.

According to records of the TAC's Anglican Catholic Church of Australia, Warren Wade is their priest for the parish of St Mary the Virgin, which currently meets in North Turramurra, one of the northern suburbs of Sydney (and thus within the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay).

Furthermore, an Ordinariate group is forming in north-east Victoria, around Benalla. My great-aunt and great-uncle live there, so I'm delighted to here of this (though the former is a lapsed and the latter a still-practising Presbyterian, making them probably none too interested in this themselves). 

Brisbane Ordinariate Ordinations!

It seems strange, but a quick search of the Brisbane Archdiocesan website, and then a google or two, has failed to turn up any mention – other than reportage of the announcement of the date and venue some months ago – of the ordination of several incoming Anglicans for the Ordinariate this Thursday just past, the Feast of St Luke.

However, all is well, the happy event has indeed taken place, there has been no unforeseen delay: I finally found this mention in the weekly bulletin of St Stephen's Cathedral:

Thank you to everyone who assisted in any way with the Ordinations on Thursday evening. Your assistance was very much appreciated.

The bulletin also included this pleasant reflection, which I assume the author will be happy enough for me to quote in extenso:

Witnesses to Christ

I always get a certain thrill out of attending an ordination. Not only do they remind me of my own ordination, but they remind all of us that we are called to offer our lives in service of the Church and the Gospel. For me, an ordination stands as a pertinent reminder that the Church is not primarily about the past, but is in fact about the present and the future.

On Thursday night, as many of you would be aware, we celebrated the ordinations of Lyall Cowell and Tony Iball to the Priesthood and Stephen Hill to the deaconate. All ordinations are a significant moment in the life of the church; however these ordinations had an extra significance. These men were being ordained to minister to the newly instituted “Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross,” which is often referred to as, “the Anglican Ordinariate”. This ordinariate was created by the Holy Father as a vehicle to allow some Anglican communities to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

In his homily on Thursday night, Archbishop Mark Coleridge made a very important point. While we can get caught up with a lot of “church speak” and perhaps even find the various complexities of the church’s structure bewildering at times, the purpose behind Thursday’s ordinations is remarkably simple. These men, like all ordained ministers and indeed the whole church, are called to witness to Christ. That is to say, they are called to look upon Christ with the eyes of faith, to hear his voice and to experience his power, and then to testify to the truth of what they have experienced. While members of the Ordinariate may speak in an accent which is new to the Catholic Church, the message is the same, Jesus Christ risen and active in our world.

The church does not speak with one homogeneous voice, with a single monotonous expression. Rather, it speaks with the rich sounds of many voices. All of us, in a certain sense, speak this message of Christ with a different accent. We each bring something unique, from our own perceptions and experience of Christ. The challenge for each of us is to add our own voices to the “great cloud of witnesses” which is the church.

Please keep [Deacon] Stephen, [and Fathers] Lyall and Tony in your prayers as they begin this new chapter in their lives as witnesses to Christ.

Fr Michael Grace

In any case, here is the Collect of St Luke, in two forms from the Anglican Patrimony, to pray for blessings on all involved, and all others:

Almighty God, who calledst inspire Luke the physician, whose praise is in the Gospel, to be an Evangelist, and Physician of the soul; May it please thee, that, by the wholesome medicines of the doctrines delivered by him, all the diseases of our souls may be healed; through the merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (1662 BCP) 

Almighty God, who didst inspire thy servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of thy Son: Graciously continue in thy Church the like love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of thy Name; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Book of Divine Worship)

Brisbane Ordinariate Ordinations

Praise the Lord: two more men to be ordained priests for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.  The Ordinariate's official website states:

Your prayers are asked for Lyall Cowell and Antony Iball to be ordained priest, and for Stephen Hill to be ordained to the transitional diaconate, in St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, on the evening of the Feast of St Luke, Thursday October 18th 2012.

The ordinations will be conducted by the Most Reverend Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane, on behalf of the Very Reverend Harry Entwistle, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.

A quick check of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia's directory reveals that Antony Iball is currently curate at the ACCA's Patmos House Community in  Brisbane; I assume the others are also associated with the same – certainly a 2011 report lists Stephen Hill as "the youngest priest of the TAC" and also as a curate there.  There is a Padre Lyall Cowell listed as an Anglican Army chaplain... so he may come, not from the TAC, but from the Brisbane Anglican diocese.

Patmos House was for some time in the care of Bp David Chislett, prior to his leaving the ACCA a year or more ago.  Is the Patmos House Community of lay faithful to enter the Ordinariate en bloc?  Pray that it be so.

Off to Marvellous Melbourne

I love Melbourne; and will be glad to fly over there for a little holiday break this evening.  To-morrow, I'll attend the inaugural Ordinariate Mass at Holy Cross, South Caulfield, at 11 am – and also Evensong at the same at 7 pm, if I have read their schedule aright.

For those four priests just ordained this morning, I pray every blessing, that their ministry be fruitful, and they give great glory to God and a good hope to men.  May their congregation, just-received into the full communion of the Catholic Church last night, alike receive every blessing from the Lord, that they persevere and grow in holiness to his honour and their own salvation, preaching the Gospel by their very lives, and thus evangelizing all.  Our Lady of the Southern Cross, rejoicing with these co-heirs and adopted brothers and sisters of her Son, on this happy feast of her Nativity, will no doubt intercede with a mother's love for them all.

Prayers for Those to be Ordained

I will fly to Melbourne this Saturday afternoon, God willing – though I'll be too late to attend the Saturday morning ordinations at St Patrick's Cathedral on Our Lady's birthday, I will be attending the Sunday Mass to be concelebrated by four of those newly-ordained at Holy Cross, South Caulfield, and there share the joy of those just come into full communion with the Catholic Church, as the first Victorian members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross join in solemn worship, offering Christ to the Father, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all the Holy Church of God.  Of course, we must not forget the other four men also to be ordained priests of God and ministers of the New Testament: they, too, will be celebrating their First Masses in Melbourne this Sunday.

The Anglican Patrimony that such incomers bring with them contains such gems as these following prayers for those to be ordained: while I should have posted them earlier, at least now I have tardily done so I hope readers may spare a moment to pray them for all those soon to be ordained, particularly these four for the Australian Ordinariate: James Grant, Neil Fryer, Christopher Seton and Ramsay Williams.  It will be my pleasure to assist at their Mass, to receive their blessing, and to congratulate them on their brave move into full communion.

******

Let us pray for those that are to be admitted into Holy Orders.

V. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness;

R. And let thy saints sing with joyfulness. 

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who hast purchased to thyself an universal Church by the precious blood of thy dear Son: Mercifully look upon the same, and at this time so guide and govern the minds of thy servants the Bishops and Pastors of thy flock, that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred Ministry of thy Church. And to those which shall be ordained to any holy function give thy grace and heavenly benediction; that both by their life and doctrine they may set forth thy glory, and set forward the salvation of all men; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  

ALMIGHTY God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed divers Orders in thy Church: Give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all those who are to be called to any office and administration in the same; and so replenish them with the truth of thy doctrine, and endue them with innocency of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great Name, and the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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V. O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord:

R. Praise him, and magnify him for ever.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross, pray for them.

St Augustine of Canterbury, pray for them.

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for them.

500% Increase

On Our Lady’s Birthday, the 8^th of September, His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne will ordain eight men, four of whom will be ordained for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross:

• James Grant, 
• Neil Fryer, 
• Ramsay Williams, and 
• Christopher Seton.

Their ordination (just over a month away) will extend the Australian Ordinariate from Western Australia to Victoria, and quintuple its number of priests.  No doubt their ordination, consequent upon formal reception into full communion, will be paralleled by the reception also of many of their parishioners, resulting in much good for souls.

Now, who are these good men?  For a start, they are all from the mainstream Anglican Church in Australia...

There is a James Grant who is a retired Anglican bishop, but I suspect he’s not the one making the jump!  I find a newspaper article (available online) quite critical of compromised modern Anglicanism by one James Grant, “departing priest of Jika Jika” in Melbourne’s northern suburbs… is this the one who will soon be part of the Ordinariate’s clerical ranks?  The website of his (former?) parish – last updated in February – talks of its worship being in the tradition of the Catholic revival, with vestments, candles, even incense…  This same James Grant is described as “ordinariate-bound” in an article by Bp Robarts posted on the website of Fr Stephen Smuts (a TAC priest in South Africa).

As for the others, a comment on Smuts’ blog reveals them to be: Fr Neil Fryer, retired priest from All Saints, East Saint Kilda (the last true Anglo-Catholic church in Melbourne, as the commenter described it); Fr Ramsay Williams, former Parish Priest also from All Saints, East St Kilda; and Father Christoper Seton, Parish Priest of All Saints Kooyong (and a leading member of Forward in Faith Australia) – the latter has been forcefully in favour of accepting the Papal invitation for years, and, one prays, will be bringing many with him: he certainly will, if his reported comments from 2009 about his parishioners badgering him to lead them home to Rome prove fruitful.

I find also that Neil Fryer was received into the Church on the 2^nd of April this year, as a handy online parish bulletin notes – as it says it was “through the ‘Personal Ordinariate’” he has the rare distinction of joining it before it had even been established!

Eureka!  On the excellent Melbourne Archdiocese website, I find an account about Ramsay Williams: he was first a journalist, then for 38 years an Anglican priest, and was received into the Catholic Church last year; happily, he has been part of the Mentone parish, whose priest, Fr Walshe, is an excellent mentor and a model pastor.

God bless these men as they prepare for ordination and priestly service in Our Lady's Australian Ordinariate: as they are to be ordained on her Nativity, well may we regard them as a birthday gift to her – and from her, for all her spiritual children.  Our Lady of the Southern Cross, pray for them.

The Once and Future Father

Fr John Hunwicke – as out of respect I have not ceased to address him, in regard to his renowned wisdom as a spiritual elder, disseminated via his far-famed blog of old – having come into full communion with the Holy Father last year on Wednesday of Holy Week, as part of the English Ordinariate, and having endured a bitter test by having his ordination deferred for a year (owing to the machinations of certain... persons), is – rejoice! – to be deaconed on the 26th of May, the feast of good St Philip Neri (whose sons the Oratorians have, I trust, been faithful supports to Fr H.); and one hopes in Christ that He will have very soon thereafter "a wise and faithful priest, who in his days pleased God" standing at the altar to sacrifice in the beauty of holiness.

May I invite one and all to join in a Novena to St Philip Neri this year, with the special intention of praying a double portion of grace for this faithful man?

While on the 26th I'll be in Europe – hurrah! – I'll be in France, not England, and walking the pilgrim way to Chartres from Paris; together with prayers for Fr H., I also plan to ask graces for another cleric, himself resident in France, recommending them to Our Lady (and of course, begging her to cast a pitying eye on me a sinner, on all those near and dear to me, and on all poor sinners).

The Novena to St Philip begins, of course, this Thursday the 17th of May: I will post daily texts for it.

Oremus.

Seven Miles from Sydney

Thanks be to God: Fr Paul's Ordination and First Mass have been wonderful, and it was great to catch up afterward with so many old friends from all around Australia.  As he reminded us at the end of Mass this morning, Holy Mother Church grants a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions) for the priest who offers and the people who attend his first Mass; and of course yester-day I received his priestly blessing, of inestimable value.

Please pray that Fr Paul may be a good and wise priest and preacher, for the salvation of souls and the greater glory of God.

******

Being in Manly, too, right on the Pacific, seven miles from Sydney on that spectacular ferry route, has been good indeed.

I'll while away the afternoon by visiting John, whose wedding I will attend next week, also in Sydney (it's just a simple wedding, with Solemn High Mass in the Cathedral; I forget if he's persuaded the Cardinal to assist).

Enjoying the view of the Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay last night, having taken that marvellous scenic ferry into the city for to see a movie, I was reminded of former P.M. Paul Keating's dictum, "If you're not in Sydney you're just camping out"; and earlier on, while traipsing round Manly, was amused and pleased to come across the electorate office of another great potential leader, Tony Abbott...

Time to go have yum cha for lunch again, I think.

******

P.S.  Looking back, I discover that the date I blogged this was the 3rd anniversary of my beginning this blog: St Sabbas (whose feast-day it is, and whom I have taken as patron of this enterprise), pray for us!

Ordination of Rev Br Paul Rowse, O.P.

Prayers, please, for Rev Br (soon to be Fr) Paul Rowse, a Dominican I know, about to be ordained a priest to-morrow; he's an old friend of mine, and I'm flying up to Sydney for the weekend to attend his ordination and first Mass.  As they say in Bavaria, to attend the first Mass of a new priest one should not shirk travelling far.  Ad multos annos!

Feast of Deacons

St Stephen, as well as the First of Martyrs, was the First Deacon; hence his feast is the Feast of Deacons.

O quam gloriosus est beatus Stepanus Martyr et Levita, qui ante Apostolos regna cælestia possidere meruit et ad Patris dexteram Filium videre!

(O how glorious is blessed Stephen the Martyr and Deacon, who ahead of the Apostles deserved to possesss the kingdom of heaven and to see the Son at the Father's right!)

Tu principatum tenes in choro Martyrum similis Angelo: qui pro te lapidantibus Deum deprecatus es, beate Stephane, intercede pro nobis ad Dominum.

(Thou holdest the first place in the choir of Martyrs like an Angel: thou who didst beseech God for those who stoned thee, blessed Stephen, intercede for us with the Lord.)

— Magnificat anthems from the Dominican Rite

May I take this opportunity belatedly to congratulate my friend Rev Br Paul Rowse, O.P., who was ordained deacon earlier this month?  He knows that my finances prevented me from attending his ordination (and that of his colleague, now Fr Vincent), just as I missed his solemn profession, despite being specially invited, mea culpa: I take this opportunity to declare I will make every effort to make his priestly ordination sometime next year...

I assume that these two newly ordained friars will have been very busy over Christmas, and may well to-day be enjoying a dies non (Dominican jargon for a day when the Prior dispenses the community from the choral office, on account of their tiredness; this usually happens thrice a year, after Christmas, after Easter and after St Dominic's Day).  "Sleep on, and take your rest!"  ;-)

In the meanwhile, I pray that he, like Stephen, may be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, full of grace and fortitude, endowed with the grace of preaching for the salvation of souls and the glory of God, holding fast to the mystery of faith.

He will be amused, no doubt, to recall that Scripture and the Liturgy compare deacons to angels, as servants of the Lord, ministering at the Holy Table, and His messengers, preaching the Word...

Since as a strange sort of volunteer I also hold a running brief for promoting the patrimony of those Anglicans coming into union with the Church, here is the BCP final Collect from "The Ordering of Deacons", changed to the singular:

ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things, who of thy great goodness hast vouchsafed to accept and take this thy servant unto the Office of Deacon in thy Church; Make him, we beseech thee, O Lord, to be modest, humble, and constant in his Ministration, to have a ready will to observe all spiritual Discipline; that he, having always the testimony of a good conscience, and continuing ever stable and strong in thy Son Christ, may so well behave himself in this inferior Office, that he may be found worthy to be called unto the higher Ministries in thy Church; through the same thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honour, world without end. Amen.

Anglican Re-Ordination Prayer

Apparently, since 1998, a special prayer is added to the Catholic ordination rite administered to Anglican convert clergy, by order of the CDF; it is said before the Litany, and does not replace the ordination prayer itself. I found this quoted over at Damian Thompson's blog by one of his commenters:

Oratio ad gratias agendas pro ministerio ab electo in Communione anglicana expleto

[Prayer for giving thanks for the former ministry of the ordinand in the Anglican Communion]

Deinde omnes surgunt. Epsicopus, deposita mitra, stans manibus iunctis versus ad electum dicit:

[Then all rise. The bishop, having doffed his mitre, standing with joined hands, facing toward the ordinand, says:]

N., the Holy Catholic Church recognizes that not a few of the sacred actions of the Christian religion as carried out in communities separated from her can truly engender a life of grace and can rightly be described as providing access to the community of salvation. And so we now pray.

Et omnes, per aliquod temporis spatium, silentio orant. Deinde, manus extensis, Episcopus orat dicens:

[And all, for a certain space of time, in silence pray. Then, with extended hands, the Bishop prays saying:]

Almighty Father, we give you thanks for the X years of faithful ministry of your servant N. in the Anglican Communion [vel: in the Church of England], whose fruitfulness for salvation has been derived from the very fullness of grace and truth

entrusted to the Catholic Church. As your servant has been received into full communion and now seeks to be ordained to the presbyterate in the Catholic Church, we beseech you to bring to fruition that for which we now pray. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Populus acclamat:

[The people acclaim:]

Amen.

Ordination Mass

As mentioned below, I obtained tickets to a Papal Mass to-day. To see Peter...

I entered the Basilica about an hour beforehand, and, thanks to the ushers moving us up the nave a long way, ended up - significantly - directly at the foot of the statue of good St Philip Neri, my patron. Grazie, Filippo buono!

Having so long to wait afforded time to read Matins through to Terce.

The Mass was a Latin Novus Ordo, at which five bishops were to be ordained: three Vatican diplomats, one Curial official, and a new Ordinary for Frascati, one of the seven suburbicarian sees around Rome (and former diocese of Cardinal Henry Stuart, the Cardinal-King, known to Jacobites as Henry IX). It took about two and a half hours: an hour from the start till the end of the Gospel, an hour for the Ordinations (including homily), and half an hour for the Eucharistic Liturgy.

A few parts only were not in Latin; the Pope's words of introduction, the two first readings (annoyingly and unnecessarily read by a layman and laywoman - when instituted lectors ought suffice), the homily, and the Communion Psalm (Psalm 22, The Lord is my Shepherd).

The texts of the Liturgy were nearly all sung. The Misereatur wasn't, and with no lectors the first two readings weren't either; but a deacon sang the Gospel of the sending of the seventy-two beautifully.

His Holiness preached an excellent homily, of which I could understand just enough to look forward to finding an English translation of it...

The words in presentation of the ordinandi, the questions and promises, the giving of the Gospel, ring, mitre, and staff were spoken also, as was the prayer after the Litanies (which would have fitted better if sung) and the prayer of consecration of the new bishops (which traditionally would have been sung, albeit it is very long).

As for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a vast surprise for me was that in St Peter's itself, not one man stood at the Orate fratres, nor until after all had responded to it - so much for the new General Instruction!

The Prayer over the Gifts was spoken also (a pity, it fits better if chanted), as was the Eucharistic Prayer after the Sanctus, the prayer for peace (which also can fittingly be sung), the Ecce Agnus Dei, and the three clauses of the Solemn Blessing before the final benediction.

Communion was a bit of a scrimmage: one eventually found one's way to the nearest barrier, and a priest came by with a ciborium. It seemed safest to receive on the hand, lest in the melee the Host fall to the ground... (I easily become nervous about this when standing; if I could have knelt it would have been far otherwise.)

The Holy Father of course has restored kneeling for Communion at the rail where he administers the Sacrament: now for this to be extended throughout the great Basilica!

The Ordinary was the Missa cum Jubilo (am I right that this is Our Lady's Mass? the Pope referred to to-day as feast of the Holy Name of Mary in his introduction and his homily). The Ite missa est was also from this setting. Oddly, though it was printed, the Kyrie wasn't sung: when the organ boomed forth after the penitential rite (the 3rd form, two versicles), the Holy Father at once intoned the Gloria, which I suspect he wasn't supposed to (even Homer nods), and the M.C. prudently decided not to cause embarrassment by stopping him.

As for the Proper, this came from the Simple Gradual, dressed up with some typical Sistine choir polyphony for the verses. It actually resembled the Missa normativa, the first draft of the Novus Ordo, with a responsorial psalm sung at the start, in between the readings, at the offertory (this was actually the beautiful Ubi caritas, answering to a responsorial canticle) and at communion (this last was sung in Italian, as a sop to the people). The Alleluia was that placid tame same-old one sung the whole world over: A-le-lu-ya, a-a-le-lu-ya-a, a-le-e-lu-u-ya!

It being an Ordination Mass, the hymn Veni Creator was sung, and the Litanies of the Saints chanted; the one showpiece of the choir was a motet, Exsultate Deo, during the laying on of hands (with so many bishops present, this took forever); and almost at the end of the Mass, the new bishops processed about giving their first pontifical blessings, during a chanted Te Deum.

Unfortunately, despite the deacon singing Flectamus genua before the Litanies, few of the faithful knelt (the serried ranks of clergy up the front all did), making mockery of his Levate afterward. More disappointingly, few knelt even for the consecration - remember that in Italy, the norm is to kneel not for the whole Eucharistic Prayer, but for the Epiclesis, Consecration, and Elevations only.

Ordinations

Tu es sacerdos in æternum, secundum ordinem Melchisedech!

I am delighted (as Archbishop Hart always says - except to unwelcome visitors!) to mention that to-day in Melbourne an old friend of mine, Cameron Forbes, will be ordained priest (together with Joseph Danh Truong) by His Grace the Archbishop at St Mary's Cathedral.

As to-day is the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, Mother of God, let us fly to her patronage, and invoke her maternal care especially for these beloved sons of hers, who, as priests, are a special delight for Our Lady - for in them as ministers of the New Testament she sees her Son, our One Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ. May her prayers help them live conformably to their most high calling, to be men of sacrifice and blessing, by the grace of God.

(In Rome, where I will be when this post appears, I will hope to add my poor prayers for this end.)

******

These two must be ordained by now - since it's the hottest part of the day here in Rome - so God bless them at the prayers of Holy Mary: ad multos annos.

I, too, attended an ordination to-day: at St Peter's, the Holy Father ordained five bishops. May they, too, be found good and faithful servants of the Lord, wise shepherds of His people.

Torrens in Austro

The Wills are currently entertaining some guests, including myself, and kindly gave me a chance to update my blog, now that I've been fortified with a vol-au-vent and some cups of tea!

In reverse order:

• This morning I had the privilege of serving two private Masses: Fr Rowe's, and Fr Mannes' - the latter being assisted at this his first Roman Rite Low Mass by Fr Rowe as chaplain. A select group ('stable' group?) attended. I was doubly privileged in that Fr Mannes offered Mass for my intentions, as I'd handed him a stipend for his first Latin Mass, a repetition on this feria of the Mass of the 4th Sunday of Advent. The Epistle (I Cor. iv, 1-5), proclaiming that "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among the dispensers that a man be found faithful...", was most appropriate for the first Low Mass of a priest; and the Gospel (St Luke iii, 1-6), read to-day as yesterday and as the day before, detailing as it does the preaching ministry of St John Baptist, very apposite for a Friar Preacher! And it struck me that the Postcommunion Sumptis muneribus - about the greater and greater increase of the effect of our salvation being accomplished by frequentation of the sacred mysteries - was certainly being fulfilled.
  

• Yesterday was marked (after I first served Fr Rowe's private Mass, and received a post-Mass blessing with a relic of St Monica) by Fr Mannes' first Ordinary Form Mass, which was quite a splendid affair, held at Holy Rosary Church before a large congregation. While an altar crucifix was overruled, in most ways otherwise it was a reform of the reform affair, with a choir of friends chanting the Introit Rorate cæli, the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Communion, together with many other pleasant items - such as "O come, O come, Emmanuel" at Offertory, and at Communion, Pange lingua in alternating chant and polyphony, followed by polyphonic Alma Redemptoris Mater and the ineffable Sicut cervus of Palestrina: having made my communion, I was almost in ecstasy hearing this! Curiously, there were an awful lot of kneeling communions, including those of several priests and deacons in choir - let bishops and friars take note. (The auxiliary of Adelaide was at a prie-dieu in the sanctuary, and Dominicans, Franciscans and secular priests concelebrated.) Before I forget, Rev Br Vincent preached a very fine and intellectual homily, which I cannot now recall in extenso, and the other deacon assisting Fr Mannes sang the Gospel. I noticed Fr Mannes kept his fingers conjoined from Consecration to the ablutions, and observed a number of traditional and Dominican usages... About the only drawback was the lack of ad orientem celebration (which is still too brave a statement for Australia), together with the embarrassment of lady readers - one of whom suddenly appeared at the lectern to ask us all to "read the communion antiphon", a gauche intervention that she noticeably regretted when the choir struck up soon after.

• In preparation for the ordination to come, I served Fr Rowe's Ember Saturday Low Mass earlier in the afternoon on Saturday, he agreeing in consideration of the occasion to read all six lessons. The actual grand joint ordination took place at the Cathedral here in Adelaide, His Grace Philip Wilson officiating. Again, the liturgy was very high church by general Australian standards (though His Grace unfortunately - unlike Fr Mannes - doesn't sing at all), but reminded me of how much the Novus Ordo can resemble learning to drive in a manual car: too much bumping and grinding of the gears! For instance, a fine hymn to a very Anglican tune opened the liturgy (and a versified Magnificat to the tune of "Jerusalem" closed it), and Missa Orbis factor provided the Kyrie - but alas la(d)y readers, none too skilled in reading, irrupted into the sanctuary, providing a strange contrast to the Gospel chanted by a deacon; and a friend of mine sang the Responsorial Psalm very well, a piece which is usually annoying after all, but then very wierdly sang the Alleluia verse to a modern tune but in Latin - why? Wilson more or less got the ordination alright, though he misnamed Br Vincent as "James" shortly after diaconizing him, and almost stuffed up the laying on of hands for Rev Br Mannes prior to the prayer of consecration - we twitted him at the afterparty, was he really ordained? The music, provided by the same choir of friends mentioned above, was very pleasant, and I was very glad to hear Ronan's setting of Tu es sacerdos being sung! After the one-and-a-half hours of the liturgy passed by, we all received Fr Mannes' first blessing, Deo gratias.
  

And lack of time precludes me more than alluding to the good time that was had by all at the various post-liturgy functions that were held over this weekend, or to the good folk who kindly put me up and/or put up with me (such as Roman and Terra), or to my enjoyment of this return visit to the beautiful city of Adelaide, or to my nearly missing my plane from Perth to Adelaide because I was sitting quietly in the departure lounge trying to finish Lauds, didn't know the flight was boarding since the P.A. system wasn't working!

As I'm in the capital of South Australia, on the river Torrens, the following Psalm 125 seems highly applicable:

In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion,
facti sumus sicut consolati.
Tunc repletum est gaudio os nostrum,
et lingua nostra exsultatione.
Tunc dicent inter gentes:
Magnificavit Dominus facere cum eis.
Magnificavit Dominus facere nobiscum;
facti sumus lætantes.
Converte, Domine, captivitatem nostram,
sicut torrens in austro.
Qui seminant in lacrimis,
in exsultatione metent.
Euntes ibant et flebant,
mittentes semina sua.
Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione,
portantes manipulos suos.

When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion,
we became like men comforted.
Then was our mouth filled with gladness;
and our tongue with joy.
Then shall they say among the Gentiles:
The Lord hath done great things for them.
The Lord hath done great things for us:
we are become joyful.
Turn again our captivity, O Lord,
as a stream ["torrens"] in the south.
They that sow in tears
shall reap in joy.
Going they went and wept,
casting their seeds.
But coming they shall come with joyfulness,
carrying their sheaves ["maniples"?!].

Travel Plans

Since I'll be en route all too soon, I've scheduled posts about the O Antiphons to appear bright and early each morning from to-morrow until the 23rd inst.  

For those interested to know, since I won't have a chance to post much for the coming few days, Deo volente, I will arrive in Adelaide to-morrow afternoon at 4.55pm (please, no mobbing me at the airport), in plenty of time to attend the joint ordination of Rev Br Mannes to the priesthood and Br Vicent to the diaconate at St Francis Xavier Cathedral at 6pm on Saturday.  Come Sunday, I'll be at Holy Rosary Church for Fr Mannes' first Mass at 10am.  Ad multos annos!

Hopefully I will catch up with some of the nice (Tr)Adelaide people I know from WYD and previous visits to the City of Churches, through Br Mannes in fact - and it will be nice to meet his parents again, it's been years since I saw them last.  My short visit to Adelaide will also encompass - you guessed it - serving Mass for a certain priest who is also attending this Dominican extravaganza: having known Mannes for years, he's looking forward to seeing him made a priest.  Then on Monday afternoon and evening I'll fly on to Launceston via Melbourne, arriving back in Tasmania at 10.05pm; though based on past experience, I wouldn't be surprised if the flight be delayed...