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| Abbot David censes the blessed Sacrament before the procession |
Last Saturday the Ordinariate was invited to be part of the Day with Mary at Buckfast Abbey. These days occur around the country each year and are well worth attending. They are supported by the Friars of the Immaculate together with the Sisters. The day is very much connected with the vision of Our Lady at Fatima.
As Father Abbot reminded us at the solemn mass, the Abbey is a shrine of Mary (Our Lady of Buckfast) and so it is emminently suited to such a day of teaching and devotion. In his homily Father Abbot eloquently defended our devotion to Our Lady in a very biblically centred way.
Four of the local Ordinariate clergy were able to attend the procession of the Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon. One of the Ordinariate's new Seminarians, who works at the Abbey, Michael Vian Clarke, also assisted as a thurifer.
One is often affirmed by the presence of protestors and Saturday was no exception. Fr Ian and Michael were accosted by a "born again" Christian at the door of the Abbey Church who began making the accusation of idolatry with regard to our worship and veneration. Fr Ian asked her on what authority she based her interpretation of Scripture, suggesting her's was merely personal opinion, and Michael robustly accused her of making an idol of Holy Scripture. She decided to beat a retreat.
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| Frs Furness, Chinery, Hellyer and Lashbrooke led by the banner of Christ |
The morning had been filled with a Crowning of our Lady followed by a procession of the Statue of Our Lady of Buckfast, public recitation of the Rosary, Solemn Mass of Our Lady, and then lunch in the Grange. After the procession of the Blessed Sacrament and benediction in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, we returned to the high altar for a time of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Then we went for a cup of tea.
Both in our corporate devotions to Mary and in our adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, something very powerful is communicated of the great Mystery of God whose grace can so fill Mary that she willingly becomes the Mother of God through the message of an Angel, and God who wills to come to us in the species of Bread communicating that grace into our lives. Deo gratias.
