Stabat Mater Menevia

Stabat Mater Menevia
We praise you O Lord and we bless you, for by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world

Sunday 30 June 2013

Confraternity members send their prayers to Fr Mansel Usher

                           Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his ordination 29th June 1951

On Saturday 6th July 2013 Reverend Deacon Mansel Usher will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood at St Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea at 11.30am


We dedicate our prayers to Mansel for his vocation and thank Almighty God for sending us another priest.

Fr Mansel's first Mass will be at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Morriston on Sunday 7th July at 11am.

A spiritual bouquet is being prepared for Fr Mansel and those who wish to dedicate a Mass or a Rosary on his behalf should contact Fr Jason Jones at The Sacred Heart.


                     PRAYER FOR A NEWLY ORDAINED PRIEST

O God, the source of all holiness, whose consecration is ever effective, whose blessing is ever fulfilled, pour out on these servants of yours, whom we now raise to the dignity of the priesthood, the gift of your blessing.
By their noble and exemplary lives let them prove that they are really elders of the people, and true to the norms laid down by Paul to Timothy and Titus.
Let them meditate on your law day and night, so that they may believe what they have read, and teach what they have believed, and practice what they have taught.
 May justice, constancy, mercy, courage, and all the other virtues be reflected in their every way of acting.
May they inspire others by their example, and hearten them by their admonitions.
May they keep pure and spotless the gift of their high calling. For the worship of your people may they change bread and wine into the body and blood of your Son by a holy consecration.
 May they through persevering charity mature "unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ," and rise on the day of the just and eternal judgment of God with a good conscience, true faith, and the full gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever

Monday 24 June 2013

Forthcoming Latin Masses in Menevia

Next Saturday (29th June), Feast of Ss Peter & Paul and a Holyday of Obligation

Mass at 12 noon at The Sacred Heart, Morriston, near Swansea


    Petitions to St Peter and St Paul

O
 holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, I choose you this day and forever to be my special patrons and advocates; thee, Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, because thou art the Rock, upon which Almighty God hath built His Church; thee, Saint Paul, because thou wast fore-chosen by God as the Vessel of election and the Preacher of truth in the whole world.
 Obtain for me, I pray you, lively faith, firm hope, and burning love; complete detachment from myself, contempt of the world, patience in adversity, humility in prosperity, attention in prayer, purity of heart, a right intention in all my works, diligence in fulfilling the duties of my state of life, constancy in my resolutions, resignation to the will of God and perseverance in the grace of God even unto death; that so, by means of your intercession and your glorious merits, I may be able to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and may be made worthy to appear before the chief and eternal Shepherd of souls, Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for endless ages, to enjoy His presence and love Him forever. Amen. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

V. Thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.
R. They shall be mindful of Thy name, O Lord.


Let us pray:


O God, Whose right hand raised up blessed Peter, when he walked upon the water and began to sink, and thrice delivered his fellow Apostle Paul from the depths of the sea, when he suffered shipwreck: graciously hear us and grant, by the merits of them both, that we also may attain unto everlasting glory.
 Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen 

An indulgence of 500 days


And Mass next Sunday (30th June) will be at 3pm at St Benedict's, Sketty.

Diary note: Mass on Tuesday 16th July (Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) will be at 6pm at the Church of The Holy Cross, Aberaeron.

An opportunity for fish and chips and honey ice cream afterwards!

Thursday 20 June 2013

Next Sunday is the 5th after Pentecost

And Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be at St Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea at 12 noon (many thanks to Fr Michael Burke, celebrant).

Sunday 23rd June.......


                                                  Exaudi Domine

Tuesday 11 June 2013

A challenge to the youth of Wales

Please note: Sadly, there is no Latin Mass in Menevia this coming weekend (15th/16th June) - but please pass on this post below to any young Catholics you may know:-


Do you know of the Chartes Pilgrimage?

No?

Well it takes place in May every year starting from Paris and taking three days to walk the 75 miles or so to the Cathedral of Chartres.

And who goes on this pilgrimage?

Mainly young people - about 10,000 of them!

Are you up to the challenge of joining the 2014 Pilgrimage?

Here is an account from Rhoslyn Thomas who walked the pilgrimage this year:


 CHARTRES 2013 REPORT



Notre-Dame de Chrétienté - Our Lady of Christendom - Pentecost pilgrimage (Le pèlerinage) from Notre-Dame de Paris to Notre-Dame de Chartres 


A FIRST CHARTRES PÈLERINAGE



by Rhoslyn Thomas,   Cardiff Latin Mass Society – 26/5/2013
Photos from Aline Reynaud and Official Pictures >> LINK TO OFFICIAL PICTURES<<
 
Last year, I took part in my very first pilgrimage: the LMS pilgrimage to visit the shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. This year, I decided to make the jump between that and the Chartres pilgrimage. I had heard many things about Chartres: some said it wasn’t so bad, you just had to “keep walking”, others said it was hellish (oh dear…). However, all agreed that it was worth it, that the feeling you got after completing it was like nothing else. Even those who had felt like giving up on the first day were now booking their place once again this year. I decided that I was up for the challenge.


The British contingent was separated into two chapters: Our Lady of Walsingham (for the older pilgrim) and the Juventutem chapter, whose patron saint would be St Alban. Being 24, I was in the Juventutem chapter. Behind our chapter, we had a group of pilgrims from the Chavagnes school in France, led by a much loved priest who was one of our chaplains at Walsingham last year: Fr Bede Rowe. At one point, when some of us (including myself) were lagging behind, Fr Rowe decided to stage a ‘hostile takeover’ and chased us down the road with his chapter, shouting “Jog on! Jog on!” (yes, this really happened)! This tactic worked and we had caught up with everyone else in a matter of minutes. 



Chaplain of the Juventum Chapter Fr Whithoos and deacon Nicholas (soon to be ordained) alongside the Chaplain of the Chavagnes Chapter Fr Bede Rowe, which followed behind the whole way. Fr Gideon can be seennext to Fr Rowe.
Our chapter was also blessed to have two priests. Our priests were Fr Withoos and Fr Gideon, who heard confessions every day. Knowing that Pope Pius XII went to confession every day (and what a holy man he was), I tried to take advantage of having this sacrament on tap while I was there. The priests also read out meditations, sang hymns with us and generally gave us advice; we were so thankful to have them with us. In fact, one of the best things about the pilgrimage was seeing priests walking around in cassocks and nuns in habits (and not a polyester skirt in sight)! Oh, happy day!


Now, for the walking…the first day was, dare I say it, fairly easy.  I believe it consisted of about 27 miles, but I didn’t really feel it. I think I was just so delighted to be praying the rosary in Latin, singing hymns and listening to meditations. We were due to get into camp at about 8pm and, as predicted, the heavens opened. Before we’d even got to the campsite, most of us were soaked. We had to collect our bags (which, having been brought by lorry from Paris, were all set out for us according to our country of origin) in the rain and set up the tent in the rain too (there were communal tents already put up, but a very kind pilgrim had offered to share her private tent with me). However, by the time it came to eat our dinner, the rain had stopped and we were all laughing about the day we had just had. There is truly so much happiness to be found when you think things cannot get any worse! I laughed all the way through the pilgrimage, particularly when I was soaked to the skin and up to my knees in mud.


The next day was a very early start. I was awake by 4.30am, but the official wake up call came at 5am over a loudspeaker (in French), accompanied by classical music: “My dear pilgrims, it is 5am. It is time for you to exit your tents” (2 minutes later) “Pilgrims, I see that you are still in your tents. It’s time to wake up, pack things away, come and have your breakfast…move!”. And so this Frenchman continued every morning until every pilgrim had left the campsite. I believe most pilgrims had a sort of love-hate relationship with him, but we would never have left on time without his dulcet tones.


For me, the second day was much harder than the first, though it was slightly shorter in terms of distance. The good thing about this is that I had plenty to offer up! Every time I wanted to sit down or my feet were really hurting, I thought: ‘Lord, I’m offering this up to You for x,y,z’. If I had not suffered, I would not have been able to do that. Suffering is a blessing if we use it wisely, I think.


The third day was D-day. When Chartres cathedral was in sight, I forgot all the pains in my body. I forgot that the rain was lashing down, that I was walking uphill. I was focused on getting to that mass and when I did, it was worth every second of pain. It was a Pontifical high mass with no fewer than three bishops, one of whom gave us a Pontifical blessing. The cathedral was packed and there were more priests (with plenty of lace), friars and nuns there than you could shake a stick at! I very rarely cry, but after receiving Communion that day, I couldn’t help but shed a couple of tears. You have to experience the whole thing to appreciate how superb it was. Of course, Our Lord is present at every mass, but when a mass is done in such a way which tries to acknowledge, as reverently as possible, that He is there, both spiritually and physically, and how glorious He is, there is nothing better.


All in all, I would advise anybody, who is in reasonably good shape, to do the pilgrimage. In Our Lady of Walsingham’s chapter, there were many pilgrims who were over 60 and I am convinced that some of them were nearer to 70. Most of them did the whole pilgrimage and I never heard any of them complain, which put me to shame! For those who are near my age, you do not have to be at Ironman triathlon fitness level. The knowledge that everything you do is for God is all the motivation you need. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.



See also -

And, if you are interested in preparing for May 2014, full information may be found by contacting the organisers HERE
It would be good to have a really strong Welsh presence next year.

Friday 7 June 2013

Devotion to The Sacred Heart....

.....in Swansea.

Where else than at the Church of The Sacred Heart, Morriston?

Final Rosary, Vespers and Adoration tonight (7th June) at 9pm


No words are sufficient to describe the
 essence of love contained in this picture


Thursday 6 June 2013

Rosary, Vespers and Benediction

Tonight (Thursday 6th June) and also, Friday 7th June, to mark the end of the Forty Hours devotion and also on the great feast of The Sacred Heart, at the church of The Sacred Heart, Morriston at 9pm.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Mass on the third Sunday after Pentecost

Latin Mass in the old rite will be at the Church of St Therese at Sandfields, near Port Talbot on Sunday 9th June at 5pm

PRAYER FOR DAILY NEGLECTS


  ETERNAL FATHER, I offer You the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all its love, all its sufferings, and all its merits.
First, to expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall ever be, world without end. Amen.
Second, to purify the good I have done poorly this day and during all my life. Glory be, etc. 
  Third,  to supply for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and all my life. Glory be, etc.

HISTORY:  Soon after death, a Poor Clare nun appeared to her abbess, who was praying  for her, and said: "I went straight to Heaven because I paid all my debts by virtue of this prayer."

Sunday 2 June 2013

40 Hours Adoration in Morriston

The Church of The Sacred Heart, Morriston, nr Swansea


                 
                     Picture: Pinoy Catholic

The Forty Hours commences at 3pm Wednesday 5th June
 - please come and adore and watch a while





Pange Lingua
Of the glorious Body telling, 
O my tongue, its mysteries sing, 
And the Blood, all price excelling, 
Which the world's eternal King, 
In a noble womb once dwelling 
Shed for the world's ransoming.


Given for us, descending, 
Of a Virgin to proceed, 
Man with man in converse blending, 
Scattered he the Gospel seed, 
Till his sojourn drew to ending, 
Which he closed in wondrous deed.

At the last great Supper lying 
Circled by his brethren's band, 
Meekly with the law complying, 
First he finished its command 
Then, immortal Food supplying, 
Gave himself with his own hand.

Word made Flesh, by word he maketh 
Very bread his Flesh to be; 
Man in wine Christ's Blood partaketh: 
And if senses fail to see, 
Faith alone the true heart waketh 
To behold the mystery.

Therefore we, before him bending, 
This great Sacrament revere; 
Types and shadows have their ending, 
For the newer rite is here; 
Faith, our outward sense befriending, 
Makes the inward vision clear.

Glory let us give, and blessing 
To the Father and the Son; 
Honour, might, and praise addressing, 
While eternal ages run; 
Ever too his love confessing, 
Who, from both, with both is one. Amen.