Dear Friends

I hope you will enjoy this Thought for the day. It is from our founder.

"We should not say to God that we have big problems,

but we should tell our problems that we have a great God"

God bless

Deacon Arthur

Heralds of the Gospel

The Feast of the Ascension

 

 

The great Doctor of the Church, Saint Augustine, wrote:

"Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him.

Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.

For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies."

 

Jesus Christ is the Head and we are the members of His Mystical Body. The Bishop of Hippo reminds us that the Head and the Body are the "One Christ." So, if we are one with Christ this is the Feast of every faithful as well.

 

Best wishes for you and your family

Deacon Arthur and Br Michael

Heralds of the Gospel

MASS IN HONOUR OF BLESSED MARGARET POLE IN FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD CASTLE (Nr BATH) - 26 May 2012

Date: Sat, May 26th, 2012 6:00:00 pm

Location: St Leonard's Chapel, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Nr Bath  BA2 7RS

Description:

Mass at St Leonard's Chapel, Farleigh Castle in honour of Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury with an address by Lucy Beckett.

There is no need to book for this event.

For further details contact Dom Gervase Murray-Bligh on 01761 235144.

Born at Farleigh Castle 1473, Margaret was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence. The font in the Castle Chapel where she was baptised was symbolically decorated with white roses for the Plantagenet family and honeysuckle.  A portrait in the National Gallery depicts Margaret holding a sprig of honeysuckle.

Margaret married at 18 to Sir Richard Pole and had five children. Her son Cardinal Reginald Pole became Archbishop of Canterbury.  Leading a quiet life of a noble woman of her time Margaret was involved in the education of Mary Tudor and opposed the King’s plans regarding Mary’s legitimacy.  The writings of her son, Cardinal Pole and his opposition to King Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell put his family in danger. Margaret suffered persecution for her faith and her views.  She was executed at the Tower of London in 1541 and beatified by Pope Leo XIII 1886.

Pope donates £150,000 to Britain’s ordinariate

From: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/05/02/pope-donates-150000-to-britains-ordinariate/

Pope Benedict XVI has donated over $250,000 (£150,000) to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, in what is described as a “great help” by the ordinary.

The Apostolic Nuncio for Great Britain, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, who is said to have been instrumental in securing Pope Benedict’s assistance, said: “The Holy Father’s gift of $250,000 is a clear sign of his personal commitment to the work of Christian unity and the special place the ordinariate holds in his heart. I pray for the continuing success and development of the Ordinariate.”

Speaking after the announcement of the gift, the nuncio spoke of the need for further fundraising: “I urge all those who share our Holy Father’s vision to lend their spiritual and material support to the ordinariate, especially in these early days.”

When addressing the bishops of England and Wales at their plenary conference last week, Archbishop Mennini referred specifically to the ordinariate and appealed to the bishops to continue to offer their support and generosity.

He said: “I know that the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has already been mentioned but, this year, as you probably know, Mgr Keith Newton kindly invited me to preside at their Chrism Mass, an occasion which I must say that I found moving and prayerful. Do please continue to be generous in your support of their endeavours. In a time of recession and of diminishing resources we are all finding ourselves having to take difficult decisions, and not just financial ones.”

Responding to the gift, the ordinary Mgr Keith Newton said: “I am very grateful to the Holy Father for his generosity and support. This gift is a great help and encouragement as we continue to grow and develop our distinctive ecclesial life, whilst seeking to contribute to the wider work of evangelisation in England and Wales.”

Mgr Newton expressed his gratitude for the Apostolic Nuncio’s vocal support. He said: “The support and encouragement given to us by the Apostolic Nuncio has been very significant.

“We were very pleased to welcome him as the principal celebrant of our Chrism Mass: a clear sign of our deep desire to remain closely united the Holy Father,” Mgr Newton said.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established in January 2011 to enable Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. It comprises around 1,200 lay faithful and 60 clergy spread across the Britain.

The ordinariate welcomed over 250 new members this Easter, and two men in their 20s were ordained. Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster will ordain deacons for the ordinariate later this month at Westminster Cathedral.

Although the sum of money donated by Pope Benedict is substantial the cost of running the ordinariate on an annual basis is estimated at £1 million, including the cost of supporting priests’ families. In July 2011 a charity, Friends of the Ordinariate, was established to support the ordinariate.

50th INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS - DUBLIN - June 2012

Since Pope Benedict XVI announced that the 50th International Eucharistic Congress will be held in Dublin in June 2012, people have been asking "what exactly is a Eucharistic Congress and what is its purpose?"

A Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering of people which aims to:

• promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church
• help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy
• draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist.

The Congress normally takes place every four years. The daily celebration of the Eucharist is at the very heart of the Congress. The wider programme of the Congress includes other liturgical events, cultural events, catechesis and testimonies, and workshops during the week of the Congress. The most recent Congress was held in Quebec in 2008 and was a source of encouragement and renewal for the many thousands who took part.

Most people in Ireland are familiar with the fact that a Eucharistic Congress was held in Ireland in 1932. Our parents and grand-parents speak of it as a significant event in their own experience of Church. Since we started preparing for the Congress, people from all over Ireland and even further afield have sent us a wide range of memorabilia relating to the 1932 Congress, some of which will be on display at a special exhibition in 2012.

Archbishop Piero Marini, President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, explains in greater detail the meaning of a Eucharistic Congress in his address to the Irish Catholic Bishop’s’ Conference in June 2009: The Shape, Significance & Ecclesial Impact of Eucharistic Congresses. 

http://www.iec2012.ie/index.jsp?p=107&n=134

Jesus Waits for us Here with Divine Longing

St. Peter Julian Eymard

Adore and visit Jesus, abandoned and forsaken
by men in His Sacrament of Love.
Man has time for everything
except for visits to His Lord and God,
WHO IS WAITING AND LONGING FOR US
in the Blessed Sacrament.
The streets and places of entertainment
are filled with people;
the House of God is deserted.
Men flee from it; they are afraid of it.
Ah! Poor Jesus!
Did you expect so much indifference
from those You have redeemed,
from Your friends, from Your children, from me?
Sympathize with Jesus Who is betrayed,
insulted, mocked, and crucified far more ignominiously
in His Sacrament of Love than He was
in the Garden of Olives, in Jerusalem, and on Calvary.
Those whom He has the most honored, loved,
and enriched with His gifts and graces
are the very ones who offend Him the most
by their indifference.
Offer up for this intention all that you have suffered
during the day or week
that Jesus may be loved and adored by all.
Because we ourselves are unable to atone for
so much wrong,
we unite ourselves
to the infinite merits of our Savior Jesus.
Receive His Divine Blood
as it mystically flows from His Holy Wounds,
and offer it to the Father
in perfect atonement for the sins of the world.
Take His sufferings
and His prayer on the Cross
and beg the Heavenly Father
for pardon and mercy for all.
Unite your reparation
to that of the most Blessed Virgin
at the foot of the Cross or the altar,
and from the love of Jesus for His Divine Mother
you will obtain everything.

---

May - Mary's Month.

Many Christians, even Catholics, think that devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a late, perhaps medieval development. But from the earliest days of the Church, Christians have revered Mary and sought her intercession.

Traditionally, the Catholic Church devotes each month of the year to a particular devotion. In May, it is the Blessed Virgin Mary. This devotion arose among Jesuits in Rome in the late 18th century and quickly spread throughout the Western Church. By the time of Pope Pius IX's declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, it had become universal. Crowning Our Lady’s statue and other special May events in honor of Mary, such as public recitation of the rosary, became common from this time.

We are encouraged to incorporate some prayers to the Blessed Virgin into our daily prayers during this month.

Prayer of Saint Augustine to the Blessed Virgin

Blessed Virgin Mary,

who can worthily repay you with praise

and thanks for having rescued a fallen world

by your generous consent!

Receive our gratitude,

and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins.

Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven

and enable them to make our peace with God.

Holy Mary, help the miserable,

strengthen the discouraged,

comfort the sorrowful,

pray for your people,

plead for the clergy,

intercede for all women consecrated to God.

May all who venerate you

feel now your help and protection.

Be ready to help us when we pray,

and bring back to us the answers to our prayers.

Make it your continual concern

to pray for the people of God,

for you were blessed by God

and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world,

who lives and reigns forever.

Amen.