I have enjoyed a piece in AVE, the newsletter of the [Anglican] Society of Mary, about the Pilgrimage to Lourdes which, nearly fifteen yeats ago, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, led; and at which he preached during the International Mass over which Cardinal Kasper presided.
Rowan recently said:
"I have never on any other occasion in my entire life preached to more people about Jesus than on that day. And just think -- it was Our Lady that made that possible."
Yes. That's rather how I felt, soon after we entered into Full Communion, when I led the annual Rosary Procession from Westminster to Brompton, and preached there from that lovely 20th Century baroque pulpit.
What a privilege! How kind so many people have been to me!
The Brompton and Birmingham Oratories must be within the half-dozen ... No; fewer ... finest Catholic churches in Great Britain. Fitting settings, you will be thinking on this Feast of our Lady's Presentation, to celebrate our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Light! [Readers will be aware how, in Byzantine iconography, Light is such an important element in the celebration of this festival.] You could visit her shrine in Clacton-on-Sea (although the fine neo-Romanesque church there was horribly vandalised by ... er ... )
Ave Regina Caelorum! Ave Domina Angelorum!!
4 comments:
Dear Father. I haver been meaning to akt you this question for quite some time and as "preaching" is in your post today I will ask it- "Have you ever preached to a congregation about sanctification?
The New Testament is clear that Jesus established His Catholic Church for two purposes- Salvation and Sanctification - but I don't think I have ever heard a sermon about Sanctification - what it is how it happens etc.
Yesterday The Bride and I were at Mary Mother of The Light Catholic Church in Tequests, Fl and sang this, as we do every Sunday
You have united, O Lord,
your divinity with our humanity
and our humanity with your divinity;
your life with our mortality
and our mortality with your life.
You have assumed what is ours,
and you have given us what is yours,
for the life and salvation of our souls.
To you, O Lord, be glory forever.
From The Maronite Divine Liturgy
A beautiful hymn dense with doctrine.
Readers may be interested in a book distributed by Byzantine Carmelites with the title "Mother of the Light". It may be ordered at Amazon:
Mother of the Light: Prayers to the Theotokos Hardcover – January 1, 2019
by V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas (Author)
Translated by the V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas, is a collection of 13 prayers and 3 canons to the Mother of God. The prayers, originally written in Greek, are ascribed to St Ephraim the Syrian (and are the first published English translations of the Greek Ephraim in 300 years). The canons are the works of St Theodore the Studite, St Methodios of Constantinople, and St John of Euchaita (Mauropous). The prayers and canons are united by their spirit of compunction, praises of the Theotokos, and entreaties for her intercessions and deliverance. A brief, but powerful, introduction accompanies the translation that addresses the place of the Theotokos within the Orthodox Church, and the spiritual and historical importance of the translated prayers and canons. Beautifully manufactured, Mother of the Light, is a round back hardcover, sewn bound, and offset printed on 100gsm Munken paper. It features a beautifully debossed cover, decorative endpapers, two page marker ribbons, and original artwork.
https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Light-Archimandrite-Maximos-Constas/dp/1939028825
Devotion to Our Lady of Light is indeed found in the West. The French shrine of ND de Lumières at Goult-Lumières, between Avignon and Apt, is an ancient shrine of Our Lady where in 1661 a man had a vision of a child covered from head to toe in light.
Dear Father Justin, Bi-ritualist?
Imma buying that book, thanks for the tip.
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