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Rosary in the Garden

Bishop of Hibernia & The IslesLeave a comment

Today, we have had some technical difficulties with the online Rosary and Mass so there will be no livestream this evening. However, the Rosary will still be said by our clergy this evening for the deliverance from the Coronavirus.

The meditations that were to be used in the livestream are shown below so that you may use them yourself.

First Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection

This is the day which the Lord has made, let us be rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118.24

In Genesis we read that God rested on the seventh day, and that day was always kept holy by the Jewish people. On Saturday in Holy Week, the body of Our Lord rested in the tomb, and on the first day of the week He rose again, victor over death and sin.

That glorious resurrection was indeed the proof that Jesus was truly God, and He has promised that those who follow Him in this life, taking up their cross daily, shall also share in the resurrection and have life everlasting.

May His sweet Mother be our help, our advocate, and bring us at last to where she reigns in glory, Queen of angels and of men.

Second Glorious Mystery: The Ascension

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.

Psalm 24:7

Although Christ ascended on high, and clouds of glory hid Him from His disciples, we know that His Name is ever mighty on earth, and more, that we have His abiding presence on our altars. He allowed His brethren to witness the Ascension, not only for their consolation, but also for ours; that, believing their testimony, our hope of eternal life, of rising from the dead to reign with Christ in Heaven, might be strengthened and hallowed.

May Mary help us to live for Christ, that we may share the expectation of ascending to the heavenly Kingdom which was her joy and consolation after her Divine Son had left her behind in this world to work for Him here below.

Third Glorious Mystery: The Descent of the Holy Spirit

… The Holy Spirit, with a sudden sound, came down on the disciples and changed their minds, filling them with love for Himself.

Breviary, Whit Sunday

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, was sent to pour that spirit into the hearts of men. And never, since that first Pentecost, has the world so needed an outpouring of love. A large number of people are cold and indifferent, Christ and His Kingdom do not enter into their calculation; others are tired, exhausted, despondent, the Gospel has no meaning for them. Far worse still are those who are fixed in their hatred of the Cross, of God, of all religion. Let us beg Mary, who longs for the salvation of all mankind, to help us so to fill our own lives with the love of God, that we may be able to shed its warmth on our fellow men, and by prayer and sacrifice help to uphold the Cross which alone can redeem and comfort.

Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption

How should corruption attack that body into which the Lord was received? For her there was prepared a straight, smooth, and easy way to Heaven. For if Christ, the Life and the Truth says, Where I am there also shall My servant be; how much more shall not His Mother be with Him?

St John Damascene

We will beg our heavenly Mother that at the moment of our death our souls may be found worthy to be taken to Paradise, to be joined again to our bodies at the general resurrection. May her intercession be mighty on our behalf, and when we have passed through the gate of death, may she “show to us the blessed fruit of (her) womb, Jesus”.

Fifth Glorious Mystery: The Coronation

Truly happy are you, O holy Virgin Mary, and worthy of all praise, for from you has dawned the sun of justice, Christ, our God.

Breviary

Our sweet Mother, Mary, is crowned by her Son, Queen of Heaven, of the whole hierarchy f angels, and of all those of mankind who have believed in God and followed Christ on earth. May their happy lot be ours.

Hail, then, O Mother … pray without ceasing for us to Jesus your Son and Our Lord, that through you we may find mercy in the day of judgment, and may be able to obtain those good things which are prepared for those who love God.

Breviary

And there, in the joy of the presence of God, and the company of all the saints, we shall keep our true Easter.

Note:

The meditations above are based on those found in the ninth chapter of Simple Rosary Meditations by a Dominican Tertiary, 1951.

Daily Rosary and Mass for Deliverance from the Coronavirus

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In accordance with my call for daily Prayer of the Holy Rosary to pray for global deliverance from the Coronavirus pandemic, to pray for those who are sick and those who have sadly died, and to give thanks to Almighty God for the dedication and self-sacrifice of our front-line emergency workers and other key workers, I invite you all to join in a live-stream of the Holy Rosary direct from a member of the NCCUKI Clergy’s private Chapel or study each day at 6pm BST.

You are all invited to join in: will it be possible to have a Rosary Circle that spans the entire world?

The pattern will be:

Mondays and Thursdays – the Joyful Mysteries

Tuesdays and Fridays – the Sorrowful Mysteries

Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays – the Glorious Mysteries.

The Prayers will be recited in Latin, but the Fatima Prayer after each Decade will be in English. There will be a brief meditation on each Mystery from Fr Patrick Peyton, well known as “the Rosary Priest”.

On Mondays until Saturdays, following the Rosary, the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass will be live-streamed (Latin, Missale Romanum of 1962). There will be a pause between the Rosary and the start of Mass whilst the Celebrant vests; the live stream will stay on during this time so that you may make your private preparatory prayers before Mass before the “virtual Altar”. You are most welcome to stay online to hear Mass each day.

On Sundays, the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass will be live streamed at 11am BST, and following the daily Rosary at 6pm there will be Benediction.

The live streams – Rosary and Mass or Rosary and Benediction – will be on the NCC United Kingdom and Ireland Facebook Page (fb.com/NCCUKI) each weekday from just before 6pm or each Sunday from just before 11am starting on Tuesday 14th April 2020. I will arrange a rota between myself, Bishop Michael and Fr Simon OSMC to officiate and host the live stream. However, the live stream of Mass each Sunday morning and of the Rosary and Benediction each Sunday evening will be from my Chapel.

Unfortunately the technology is not at the moment available to us to be able to hear the responses of anybody else who is taking part: but that does not matter, Almighty God is able to hear all of us as we make our prayers to Him.

May God’s Blessings be with you, and may you all stay safe and well.

‡Petrus Angliæ et Cambriæ
Archiepiscopus Metropolitanus

Let’s make an Easter resolution

Bishop of Hibernia & The IslesLeave a comment

Today we should relish the joy of Easter. We should thank God for letting us share in the victory. We shout thank God for giving us this hope. But let’s not stop there. Let’s not just enjoy Easter. Let’s not just eat chocolate eggs, and cakes. Let’s let Easter change our lives. 

Christ’s Resurrection is not just a nice idea: it is the power of eternal life at work in us. Surely we ought to do something for the weeks of the Easter season to plug into that power. Many of us have made an effort to live Lent in a special way. Many of us will have given something up for Lent. OK so, this year we have had to give up our physical church buildings for Lent. Giving something up is a practical way to give the special graces God sends during Lent some room to work in our souls. If we gave something up to live during the penitential season of Lent, then surely we ought to take something up as a way to help us live the joyful season of Easter. 

In the Gradual today, the Psalmist encourages us to remember that “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Why do we not make an Easter resolution to help us do just that, to help us rejoice and to keep in mind the eternal life in Christ that is waiting for us if we remain faithful to him. 

It does not have to be complicated, it can be very simple. It could be watching a classic film together with your family each Sunday between now and Pentecost especially if it is a joyful, uplifting film. It could be having a special get-together with friends on Fridays, albeit one that will almost certainly be online due to the restrictions on our movements. Please do not have an actual gathering in your home or elsewhere. It could be taking some time to re-read some of your favourite books. 

If we ask the Holy Spirit to give us some ideas, he won’t be stingy. He just needs us to decide to let Easter make a difference in our lives, the way it ought. 

Our souls need that as much as they needed the time of penance and contrition that we lived in Lent. The Church is a wise mother giving us six weeks of Lent but eight weeks of Easter. 

Today, as we receive the risen Lord in the Eucharist spiritually or physically, let us promise him that we will find a way to benefit from that wisdom. 

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠

Deus, qui hodiérna die per Unigénitum tuum, æternitátis nobis ádiutum devicta morte resrásti: vota nostra, quæ præveniéndo aspíras, étiam adjuvándo proséquere. Per eúmdem Dóminum. Amen.

The Paschal Message of the Presiding Archbishop for 2020

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Surrexit Christus Vere, Alleluia, Alleluia!

The traditional proclamation on Easter Sunday. However, one feels at the present time that “Alleluias”, though liturgically permitted, may not be quite appropriate for a while yet.

It goes without saying that we all are living today in troubled times. A virus, a disease, a plague, the like of which none of us have experienced in our lifetimes, or in the lifetimes of our parents, grips the entire world. Indiscriminate about whom it infects – young or old, rich or poor, entirely healthy or with underlying illness; nobody knows who might have been infected or who might be infected.

Read the rest by clicking on the link below.

Archbishop’s Easter Message 2020