Ash Wednesday 1st March 2017

Holy Mass in the extraordinary form will be offered on Ash Wednesday at Sacred Heart, Morriston, Swansea, at 6 p.m.

A useful introduction to the Season of Lent can be found at the following site  

http://maternalheart.org/lent.html

Traditional Prayers for Lent

A number of traditional prayers and devotions associated with the Traditional Mass and liturgy can be found on the following site.

http://www.salvemariaregina.info/Prayers/Lenten.html

 Stabat Mater -  Pergolesi

           

Prayer:

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last. 

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had pass'd. 

Oh, how sad and sore distress'd
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One! 

Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son. 

Is there one who would not weep,
Whelm'd in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold? 

Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd,
She beheld her tender child
All with bloody scourges rent. 

For the sins of His own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent. 

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above;
Make my heart with thine accord. 

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ our Lord. 

Holy Mother! pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified. 

Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died. 

Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourn'd for me,
All the days that I may live. 

By the cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of thee to give. 

Virgin of all virgins best,
Listen to my fond request
Let me share thy grief divine. 

Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine. 

Wounded with His every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swoon'd
In His very blood away. 

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In His awful Judgment day. 

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defence,
Be Thy cross my victory. 

While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee. 

Holy Mass on Sexagesima Sunday (19th February) at 3 p.m.

Holy Mass will be offered this Sunday 19th February, Sexagesima Sunday, at 3 p.m. at Sacred Heart,Morriston, by kind offer of Father Jason Jones.

There will be an opportunity for refreshments in the Sacred Heart Centre after Mass. 

The season of Septuaagesima is not specifically mentioned in the new calendar.  It refers to the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday, and is a kind of pre-Lent which gives us the opportunity to prepare for Lent itself.

Here is a commentary for the season from the traditional  parish of the Maternal Heart in Australia, which we often refer to on this site.

SEPTUAGESIMA

Three weeks prior to Ash Wednesday, on the day before Septuagesima Sunday, a touching ceremony is held. A choir assembles, chants the divine office and, afterwards, sings a bittersweet hymn bidding farewell to the word "Alleluia"

We do not now deserve
To sing the Alleluia forever;
Guilt forces us
To dismiss you, O Alleluia.
For the time approaches in which
We must weep for our sins.

That ceremony, known as the Depositio of the Alleluia, ushers in the season of Septuagesima,  the roughly seventy days prior to Easter that help us make the transition from the joy of Epiphany to the penitence of Lent. 

So important was Lent to both Eastern and Western Christians that they actually had a separate season to prepare for it. Thus, the day after Septuagesima Sunday, they would begin a period of voluntary fasting that would grow more severe as it approached the full and obligatory fast of Lent. The amount of food would be reduced, and the consumption of certain items, such as butter, milk, eggs, and cheese, would gradually be abandoned. Starting on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, this self-imposed asceticism would culminate in abstinence from meat. Thus the name for this seven-day period before Ash Wednesday, is "Carnival," from the Latin carne levarium, meaning "removal of meat." Finally, within the week of Carnival, the last three days (the three days prior to Lent) would be reserved for going to confession This period was known as  "Shrovetide," from the old English word "to shrive," or to have one's sins forgiven through absolution.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

A reminder that Holy Mass will be offered at 3pm this Sunday at Sacred Heart Church, Morriston.

Refreshments available in the Parish Centre after the Mass.

All are welcome.