Institute of Christ the King in Belfast

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve just been informed that Monsignor Schmitz and Canon Lebocq of the Institute of Christ the King will be at St Paul’s Church, Falls Road, Belfast on the evening of 24 March 2011.

24 March is the feast day of St Gabriel the Archangel, celebrated on the day before the Feast of the Annunciation. It will be good to hear Monsignor Schmitz give a talk at 7pm followed by a celebration of Holy Mass.

I hope that as many people as possible will come to St Paul’s to hear the talk and attend Holy Mass.

St Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, pray for us.

and three became one

As of today, no further posts will be posted on this site. This does not mean that I am stopping writing on this issue. No, it means that they will be available on my other, and longer running, blog,

Gyronny Herald

I would ask that you go there to read them.

Shame on Glastonbury’s vandal

Gospel for St Nicholas, Bishop & Confessor

 

Today is St Nicholas's Day - the origin of Santa Claus

13-14“Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.  ^15-20“But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up in the Temple sanctuary. The prophet Daniel described this. If you’ve read Daniel, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t return to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen during the winter or on a Sabbath.

^21-22“This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God’s chosen people, the trouble will be cut short.  ^23-25“If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I’ve given you fair warning.

(Matthew 24:14-23, The Message)

Of Gods and Men

I look forward to the being able to watch the French film Of Gods and Men at Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast during the week beginning 31 December 2010 (according to Artificial Eye).

Seven French Cistercian monks were kidnapped and then killed at Tibhirine in Algeria, amidst rising religious and factional violence. Their murderers were never found.

“When it happened, as a nation, France was shocked,” says the film’s producer Etienne Comar.

“Ten years later in 2006, the same questions resurfaced. Why did it happen? Why did they die? I decided, as a movie, that rather than portray their death, it was more interesting to show them living. There is no answer to their deaths.”

BBC News

Here is a clip – I want to see more.

Viewers see the monks going about their daily business: praying, singing, healing the sick, cooking in the most unhurried, un-modern fashion.

loc. cit.

This is what happens in monasteries – the silence, the prayer, the listening and searching for God is what is important there.

Prayer for religious vocations

Pope Benedict XVI visits the Cistertian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz.

Hail Mary, full of grace;
all generations call you blessed.

Hail Mother of God; when asked by the angel
to bear the Son of the Most High,
filled with faith, you responded:
“Let it be done unto me.”

Holy Mother of Jesus, at the wedding feast at Cana,
you prompted your Son to perform his first sign.

Be with us as we discern our life’s work
and guide us in the way we are called to follow
in the footsteps of your Son.

Holy Mother of the Savior, at the foot of the cross
you mourned the death of your only Son.

Bless and embrace the loving parents of all priests,
deacons, brothers and sisters.

Holy Mother of the Good Shepherd,
turn your motherly care to this nation.

Intercede for us to the Lord of the harvest
to send more laborers to the harvest
in this land dedicated to your honor.

Queen of Peace, Mirror of Justice, Health of the Sick,
inspire vocations in our time.

Let the word of your Son be made flesh anew
in the lives of persons anxious to proclaim
the good news of everlasting life.
Amen.

Links

Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (American Site)

Ordo Cisterciensis

The Portal Magazine – ignoring the reality

Just after I watched the CNN interview with Bishop Andrew Burnham who is leaving the department of state called the ‘Church of England’ to be received into full communion with the Holy See, I noticed an advertisement for The Portal Magazine. I thought that I should subscribe to it.

Sadly, those who have put the ordering form together, have made it difficult for those of us who recognise the country in which I live as Northern Ireland, and not Ireland. Indeed the choice given for country was:

• England
• Wales
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Not in the UK

Now despite the bail-out by Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom offered to Rialtas na hÉireann, the reality is that Her Britannic Majesty’s United Kingdom consists of those parts of the UK called:

• England, which incorporates other parts including:
  • The Principality of Wales;
  • The Borough of Berwick upon Tweed; and
  • Cornwall;
• Scotland; and
• Northern Ireland.

Éire (or in the English language Ireland) is somewhere quite different and not part of the UK. It would be helpful if the editors would get this distinction correct.

Church recognises differing areas

Of course it may be argued that the Church has hierarchies that recognise different borders to those of the actual states. However, if it were following that system it would be:

• England & Wales;
• Scotland; or
• Ireland.

But on the form it is just after you fill in your postal address.

So how have I left it?

I have filled in my postal address ending with the line

Northern Ireland

and then selected

Ireland

from the list.

I have also sent an email to the editors of the magazine giving them this blog as a reference.

Bring the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus to Belfast

Christ the King in Swiebodzin

It would be great if somewhere in Belfast we could have a statue of either Christ the King or even better of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Perhaps opposite the Spirit of Thanksgiving across the river Lagan, next to the Odyssey Complex?

The Promises of the Sacred Heart

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

I will give peace in their families.

I will console them in all their troubles.

I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.

I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.

Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

Tepid souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.

I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.

In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

Imagine a statue like this in Belfast?

Thanksgiving, Andy Scott (2005), Oxford Street Belfast.

An Act of Consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

To the Sacred Heart of Jesus I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take You, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father, and turn away from me the strokes of his righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in You, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Your goodness and bounty.

Remove from me all that can displease You or resist Your holy will; let your pure love imprint Your image
so deeply upon my heart, that I shall never be able to forget You or to be separated from You.

May I obtain from all Your loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Your Heart,
for in You I desire to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying in bondage to You.

Amen.