Pope Benedict XVI overcomes disappointment with trust in God

New deacons for the Ordinariate

Congratulations to the seventeen men ordained to the Diaconate in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Catholic Church, yesterday in Westminster Cathedral.

From a press release:

Seventeen men were ordained Deacon on 26th May 2012, at Westminster Cathedral for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. They were ordained by Bishop Alan Hopes, on behalf of Monsignor Keith Newton.  The large congregation included members of their respective Ordinariate Groups and also former parishioners from their time as Anglicans.  In the homily, Mgr Andrew Burnham pointed to the candidates' many years of priestly service and the energy, experience and wisdom which they bring to the Catholic Church. 
The music included the Mass for five voices by Byrd and motets by Tallis and Victoria.  The hymns "Crown him with many crowns" and "Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour" were sung with great zeal, as befits the Anglican patrimony, and Dubois' "Toccata" for organ provided a joyous conclusion to the liturgy.

Ordinariate Conference in June

Members of the Ordinariate are very excited to be gathering for a day together at Buckfast Abbey. To be in the Ordinariate itself still feels like a great honour, even a year on, and gathering together to meet and get to know one another better is always a treat. On top of that it is a great privilege to host such a well respected theologian as Professor Tracey Rowland, especially as she is in the UK for only a brief few days, on her way home (in Australia) from Rome.

One of the exciting things about being a member of the Ordinariate is being conscious that one is part of something being formed by the Holy Spirit in the Church. Our dream to be in the full communion of the Catholic Church has been fulfilled, but we are not to sit on our laurels. God has called us to Apostolic Work for that is why we have been given the church structure we have been given (not a society or prelature). The exciting thing is that while we are confident God knows what He is about, we have not yet fully discerned His purposes for us. We hope very much that Professor Rowland will help reflect on our calling and the meaning of the Ordinariate in the context of what the Church calls, the New Evangelisation.

Most of those booked on the day are members of the Ordinariate but we would welcome both our Anglican and diocesan Catholic brothers and sisters to join us if they wish. Already about a dozen Anglicans have booked places.
There are still plenty of places so book now with me at  buckfast@ordinariate.org.uk 
Fr Ian

The Day's programme

  9.45am    Arrivals begin
10.15am    Mass
10.45am    Coffee
11.00am    Talk 1 - Prof Rowland
12noon      Angelus
12.05pm    Lunch & free time (packed lunch or The Grange)
 1.30pm     Talk 2 - Prof Rowland
 2.30pm     Question time
 3.00pm     Free time
 3.30pm     Evensong & Benediction  in the Abbey
 4.15pm     departure

Directions to the Conference centre: http://www.buckfast.org.uk/page-directions.html

The Conference centre has its own parking, although the Conference centre is part of the Abbey site. Put simply drive past the normal entrance for visitors, turn right where the road dips and rises a little, and turn right again. Follow the wiggly lane until you come to the car park.

We look forward to seeing you.
Bookings with Fr Ian:  01752 266523  or  buckfast@ordinariate.org.uk
                Christ the King Presbytery, Armada Way, Plymouth, PL1 2EN

Ascension of our Lord



Giotto's The Ascension ca.1305



We celebrated joyfully the solemn feast of The Ascension of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Buckfast Abbey. We sang "Alleluia! sing to Jesus" to Hyfrydol, Vidi Aquam for the sprinkling, the Missa de Angelis Gloria, "Rejoice the Lord is King" to Gopsal for the offertory, and "Praise my soul the King of Heaven", after mass proper we sang English version of the Regina Caeli in front of the statue of Our Lady.

The Abbey Church is currently undergoing lots of works. The whole of the North aisle and transept are boarded off, and there is lots of cement dust in the air. The cleaners must be working on overdrive to keep things clean. In an effort to reduce growth of this dust on precious parts of the Abbey furniture various items have been boxed in perspex, e.g. the font and reredos.

The Statue of Our Lady is now situated on the south of the Altar in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and it is a pleasure to sing the Regina Caeli there each Sunday.

Sermon by Fr Ian

"God goes up with shouts of joy..."

I wonder how we should imagine the Ascension in our thoughts? A friend told me that during a pilgrimage to Holy Land the local guide led them up the mount of ascension to point to an indentation in the rock saying that our pushed off the ground with such might at the Ascension that He left behind a foot shaped indentation in the rock! Should one imagine a kind of Superman?

Or at the Anglican Shrine Church in Walsingham, if memory serves me correctly, if one looks up in the Ascension Chapel one sees a pair of feet sticking through the ceiling. Again I am not sure it is very helpful.

The word "ascension" is used not to suggest that Jesus went into the sky like a rocket, but that the risen Christ was raised, body and soul, to a higher and ultimate form of existence. "Why? Surely the resurrected Lord had acheived all that was necessary for salvation?"  Well the answer is "not quite".

Yes, Christ had risen victorious from death and evil, but His human nature was still attached to the Earth and had yet to reach the climax of existence - the fullness of life in the Trinity.

So what we celebrate is the climax of salvation history; for in Christ, humanity was brought into the Godhead!  In His divine nature Christ is always at the right hand of the Father, but in emptying Himself of His equality with God and the taking on of humanity - Christ walks humbly through His human existence so enabling us to follow. So ultimately, in the Ascension, after conquering death, the enemy and evil, He draws His humanity (body and soul) to the right hand of the Father.

So we can now grasp that one of the Persons of the Trinity, the Son of God, the eternal Word, Jesus Christ, is in His human nature as well as His divine nature, fully part of the divine perfect communion.

So this celebration reveals to us the ultimate destination for our following of Christ. It is not a disembodied existence we look forward to, but a resurrected bodily existence in the fullness of the communion of God.

It is in the context of this aspect of the Ascension, that we also remember that Christ sent His disciples out into the world: making disciples of the nations and baptising in "the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Our mission is in the context of knowing our ultimate destruction and longing for all people to find it in Christ.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

News of the Ordinariate in Australia

The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, announced today that Pope Benedict XVI intends to announce the establishment in Australia of a Personal Ordinariate for former Anglicans to commence on 15th June 2012. This new community will be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.

The Ordinariate and The Great Works

"What is the Ordinariate?" This is the question I am consistently asked especially by Catholics. As I attempt to answer such a question it has become clear that most Catholics are not aware of how the church has within it many different structures. As one gently explains this, one is confronted with a further question: "So why has an ordinariate been created for former Anglicans?" Another question is usually implied, "Why can't they join a diocese as Anglicans have been doing up until now?" A good question.


The truthful answer is that we are still discerning why. Those of us who have entered the Ordinariate responded to a call by the Holy Father through Anglicanorum Coetibus. The response was primarily an act of faith. We heard a call, trusted in the Holy Father, and responded to the call in faith.


However we are all trying to discern a more substantial answer to the question.


1. The first part of the answer flows from a desire for Christian unity. It seems to me that all those who have entered the Ordinariate have done so because of a desire for Christian Unity - the unity that Our Lord prayed for, which we believe is a visible unity that will be, by definition, obvious to the world.


It seems to me that while there is much we Catholics can learn from our Protestant brothers and sisters, what we should not learn from them is their ecclesiology (this is the study of what the church is). Protestant ecclesiology, of one form or another, rests upon an understanding of the church as being a spiritual unity that does not require visible unity. "It is only a man-made institution" is something I frequently hear regarding the visible church. The insight of Catholic ecclesiology is that the Church is both visible and invisible and derived of Christ our Lord, who in the Incarnation was both visible and invisible. She cannot accept that there is more than one visible Church, nor that she is merely an institution, because that would be trying to say there is more than one Christ! It also begins to imply that Christ's visible nature (i.e. His humanity) did not really matter. Orthodox Christianity has always rejected that notion. Jesus Christ's visible humanity is every bit as essential as His invisible divinity, because the unity of the two (without diminishing either) is critical to our salvation. In a nutshell: only God can save us, and He does so by uniting divinity with what needs to be saved, that is, our humanity. The name of Jesus means, God saves. And it is in the person of Christ that our salvation is brought about.


2. The second part of the answer flows from this visible unity, or the reason for the visible unity, if you like. "That all men may know that you are my disciples." Christians need to be visibly united, i.e. in one visible body/institution, because then she will be effective in her mission to the world.

So what we can call "The Great Works" of the Church is our obedient response to Our Lord's command. I believe that our response to the call for visible unity is also part of a desire to fulfil Our Lord's Great Commission.

The final word of the Risen Christ before His Ascension, is the Great Commission:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19* Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20* teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."   Matthew 28 RSVCE

For the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham this means England, Wales & Scotland. Our dedication to Our Lady of Walsingham emphasises this. There is a prophecy that when England returns to Our Lady of Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England!

It seems to me therefore that in order for us to understand why the Ordinariate has been created for former Anglicans, we must realise that the structure has been created for missionary purposes in order to fulfil the The Great Works. This I think means we need to remember that whilst an ordinariate has some similarities (canonically it is a "particular church") to a diocese, it also has some similarity with a missionary order.

In the following video clip, Fr Andrew Small OMI (of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the USA) describes The Great Works as "to share the hope that saves; the person of Jesus Christ and His Church." Perhaps a mission statement for the Ordinariate?




These are things we need to ponder upon in our discernment especially during these early years.
Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.
Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us.
All saints and martyrs of England, pray for us.


Fr Ian Hellyer

PRAYERS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

O Mary, recall the solemn moment when Jesus, your divine Son, dying on the Cross, confided us to your maternal care. You are our Mother, we desire ever to remain your devout children. let us therefore feel the effects of your powerful intercession with Jesus Christ. make your Name again glorious in the shrine once renowned throughout England by your visits, favours, and many miracles.
Pray, O holy Mother of God, for the conversion of England, restoration of the sick, consolation for the afflicted, repentance of sinners, peace to the departed.
O blessed Mary, Mother of God, our Lady of Walsingham, intercede for us. Amen.

Dedication of England to the Mother of God

(formerly recited on Rosary Sunday every year after Mass)

O IMMACULATE Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of Grace, and Queen of the kingdom of thy Son, humbly kneeling before thee, we offer thee this country in which we live. It once was thine. Before it was robbed of the holy Faith all its children were thy children, and thou wast honoured throughout its length and breadth as its Protectress and its Queen. Again do we consecrate it to thee; again do we dedicate it as thine own Dowry. We offer our own hearts, that their love and service may ever grow and increase. We offer all our brethren those multitudes who know thee so little or know thee not at all. May thy prayer bring back the country’s ancient faith. May thy intercession lead us to a closer union with thy divine Son. We consecrate ourselves to Him through thee. Obtain for us, and for England thy Dowry, every grace and blessing, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.Let us pray.
O Holy Mother of God, Virgin ever blest, O Mary Immaculate, pray for us, intercede for us, disdain not to help us. For we are confident and know for certain that thou canst obtain all thou wiliest from thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, the King of ages, who liveth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
_________________________

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and our own most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England, thy Dowry, and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee. Through thee it was that Jesus our Saviour and our Hope was given unto the world; and he hath given thee to us that we might hope still more. Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated English brethren, that they may be united with us in the one true Fold. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works, we may all deserve to see and praise God together with thee in our heavenly home. Amen.



"Be like a watered garden" BXVI

At the Regina Caeli on Sunday, the Pope called on every community "to be like a watered garden where they can germinate and grow all the seeds which God sows in abundance" and "in particular families are the primary place in which the love of God 'breathes'..."

Over the last weekend I have been away in London celebrating a family member's wedding liturgy. The Pope's words came via Youtube as I reflected on the importance of family in the life of the church. It has also been on my mind as I have been writing an essay on Canon Law with particular reference to Catholic education and the Church's understanding that parents are the primary educators because they are the ones who bring offspring to life.

The gift of our maleness or femaleness is a great mystery but goes to the very heart of what it is to be a human being and not least amongst these mysteries is the propensity to be fruitful and to multiply (I think no one at the wedding could have accused me on this occasion of not practising what I preached!) . It is also at the heart of our struggle to retain our nation's understanding of what marriage is, and what is at its heart.

I am currently also writing a short essay on the fear of overpopulation - this time for my own enjoyment and to get my thoughts straight. But again how crucial it is to understand this crucial of matters in the light of what God reveals, rather than according to the opinions of men. How easy it seems for human beings, devoid of God's inspiration , to regard children as only a problem (or even a curse) rather than a blessing.