Holiness - St Martin of Tours & Abba Anthony

It was a while back (11 Nov) but in the Office of Readings, St Martin of Tours, when about to die;

He saw the devil standing near and cried out, 'Blood stained beast, what are you doing here? You will find nothing of yours in me, you living death. I go to the arms of Abraham. These were his last words. Then he surrended his soul to God.

I thought, imagine being able to say that at the hour of your death! But then, fine for him, a Bishop, a saint.

But immediately came to mind

It was revealed to Abba Anthony in his desert that there was one who was his equal in the city. He was a doctor by profession and whatever he had beyond his needs he gave to the poor, and every day he sang the thrice-holy hymn with the angels. (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

The bar has been set pretty high for us all

The Black Art of Minute taking

A colleague of mine has not taken minutes before, so I have offered to give a lesson in 'The Black Art of Minute Taking'

I'm tempted to use this...

Archbishop of Tuam on recent 'event' at Knock

I'll be going at Christmas as Cellarer clan going to Mayo to spend Christmas with the inlaws. I'm not expecting to see any apparitions...

ARCHBISHOP
Most Rev. Michael Neary DD LSS,
Tuam, Co. Galway.

News

Statement by Archbishop Michael Neary
on the Shrine of Knock
The Meaning of Knock

Knock is a much loved place of pilgrimage and prayer. Ever since the apparition in 1879, believers from home and abroad have made the pilgrimage there in increasing numbers. The most renowned of all pilgrims to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock was his Holiness, Pope John Paul II, who came for the centenary of the shrine in 1979, thus reaching ‘the goal of his journey to Ireland’ where he was able to ‘make yet another pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Mother of Christ, the Mother of the Church, the Queen of Peace.’ (Homily at Mass in Knock, 30 September 1979).

The great gift of Knock consists in a particular way in prayer and the celebration of the sacraments, in penance and the conversion of life. ‘All those who have come to Knock have received blessings through the intercession of Mary…The sick and suffering, people handicapped in body and in mind, troubled in their faith or their conscience, all have been healed, comforted and confirmed in their faith because they trusted that the Mother of God would lead them to her Son Jesus’ (Pope John Paul II). It is this trust in the Mother of God, this turning to her divine Son borne out in the practical care of the sick, and in the celebration of the sacraments of reconciliation, anointing and Eucharist that lie at the core of the Knock pilgrimage.

For one hundred and thirty years now the pilgrims to Knock have been pilgrims in faith. They ‘walk by faith and not by sight’ to quote the words of St Paul (II Cor 5:7). This is their great blessing, the blessing in fact that Jesus mentions to the doubting Thomas: they have not seen and still they believe (Jn 20:29).
The Authentic Identity of the Shrine

Such faith makes Knock pilgrims firm in hope and active in love for the sick and suffering. They do not expect visions or seek further apparitions. God has manifested Himself in Jesus Christ and His people have responded ever since. It is not healthy, does not give glory to God and certainly is not good witness to the faith to be looking for extraordinary phenomena.

The apparition of 1879 was neither sought nor expected by the humble, honest people who were its astonished witnesses. Their faith reveals the patience and humility that characterises true belief. The Shrine of Knock is living witness to that faith.

Unfortunately, recent events at the Shrine obscure this essential message. They risk misleading God’s people and undermining faith. For this reason such events are to be regretted rather than encouraged.

The Shrine of Knock will be best served by retaining its authentic identity.

ENDS

Orthodox thoughts

The spotlight is on the Personal Ordinariates initative at the moment, however relations with the Orthodox certainly appear to be on the move as well.

Strong public condemnation of protests by group of Orthodox opposed to talks.

Protests of radical Orthodox opposed to dialogue with the Catholic Church interrupted the work of the weeklong meeting. The country's police arrested four citizens and two monks of the monastery of Stavrovunio, confirmed Amen.gr.

The Orthodox representatives called the protests "totally unjustifiable and unacceptable, as they present false information which creates confusion," the communiqué stated. "All the Orthodox members of the commission re-affirmed that the dialogue continues with the decision of all the Orthodox Churches and advances with fidelity to the truth and to the Tradition of the Church."

Archbishop Hilarion on recognition of orders and communion.

Most Orthodox responses to questions about Catholic orders I have seen are vague, or some would say yes, others no, or, we do not know.

“To all intent and purposes, mutual recognition of each others Mysteries already exists between us. We do not have communion in the Mysteries, but we do recognize each others Mysteries”, declared Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev) on the air during a broadcast of the program “The Church and the World” on the television channel “Russia”, on October 17th (video and text, http://vera.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=237432).

“If a Roman Catholic priest converts to Orthodoxy, we receive him as a priest, and we do not re-ordain him. And that means that, de facto, we recognize the Mysteries of the Roman Catholic Church”, explained Archbishop Hilarion.

Responding to the question of whether Roman Catholics can receive Communion from the Orthodox, or Orthodox Christians from the Roman Catholics, Archbishop Hilarion said that such giving of Communion should not take place, inasmuch as ”eucharistic communion has been broken”� between the Orthodox and Roman
Catholics. But, at the same time, he made clear that in some cases such
Communion is possible: “Exceptional cases occur, when, for example, a Roman Catholic is dying in some town where there is no Roman Catholic priest at all in the vicinity. So he asks an Orthodox priest to come. Then in such a case, I think, the Orthodox priest should go and give Communion to that person.”

Until recently, this sort of talk would have had you soundly rounded upon by a large number of senior Orthodox

A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church.

At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, “We must find unity as soon as possible and finally celebrate together,” L’Osservatore Romano reported.

“People don’t understand our divisions and our discussions,” the bishop stated. He affirmed that he will “not spare any efforts” to work for the quick restoration of “communion between Catholics and Orthodox.”

Bishop Tichon said that “the theological dialogue that is going forward in these days in Cyprus is certainly important, but we should not be afraid to say that we must find as soon as possible the way to celebrate together.”

“A Catholic will not become an Orthodox and vice versa, but we must approach the altar together,” he added.

The prelate told the Pontiff that “this aspiration is a feeling that arose from the works of the assembly” of his diocese, held in Rome, in which all the priests and two delegates from every Bulgarian Orthodox parish took part.

“We have come to the Pope to express our desire for unity and also because he is the Bishop of Rome, the city that hosted our assembly,” he stated.

EWTN in Scotland

EWTN have been in Scotland filming. Commentary with photo's here. Use the archives posts in the side bar on the right to see all posts of trip.

They have been to Pluscarden Abbey, interviewed James MacMillan, Sr Rosanne Reddy of the Sister of the Gospel of Life and Cardinal O'Brien of St Andrew and Edinburgh Archdiocese, among others.

The majority of this weeks tapings are intended for a new EWTN series slated to air in 2010, entitled "My country, My Faith". His eminence, Cardinal Keith O Brien, is among this days guests, although he will appear on another series entitled "Catholic lives Scotland"

There is a great need for the Gospel in Scotland, the only Scottish seminary has closed, the Pro Life movement is small and Catholicism is under siege culturally. Nethertheless, there are many who have 'lit one candle' and who can use our prayers.

Culture of Death works in many ways

Call to end middle class benefits

Benefits for the middle classes should be taken away to avoid higher taxes, a centre-right think tank has suggested.

Reform says payments including maternity pay, child benefit,

Labour has spent years discouraging people to have children with a range of anti family policies, now the biscuit tin is empty there are calls (from the right, here, but they will all be looking at it) for variety of benefits to be halted. Were we to lose maternity pay and child benefit this would be big disincentive to many people either having children at all or having any more.

Standard Political Caveat - No Party Bias here - I can't be doing with labour - p.c. secular agenda. I cant be doing with the liberals. Anti Life Policies. I can't be doing with the Tories. Me, Me, Me laissez faire capitalism. Really struggling to vote for anyone next election!

Any chance of a building swap?

This is St John's. Before the injury, when I could, I stopped in on the way home. It is a beautiful church in which to stop and pray.

Unfortunately it is St John's Episcopal Church. Full photo tour here

My parish, and before I get into trouble, is a great parish with a great priest, is unfortunately in a building sense, this.

The original Church, which had been the diocesan Cathedral, burnt to the ground in 1961 and was replaced by the above. You can see more photo's here. - Need to click photo tab.

On my travels in Scotland and England my shoulders usually drop as we drive past a medieval / Victorian Church on the way to Mass in a late 20th Century box.

At the end of the day, It is a small price to pay though.

A wee thought. Where a C of E / C of S parish folds with a good Church building, should we actively be trying to get a hold of them to use? The 'old buildings are expensive' argument does not always hold, some 60's / 70's buildings were so poorly designed and / or constructed they eat money as fast as older properties.

Anyone know of any examples where a RC parish has taken over a folded C of S / C of E parish Church?