Tag Archive for ‘liturgy’
MM 50 Years Ago
A Candle Meditation A candle at the celebration of Mass burns toward God. We are like these candles and must allow God to light the wick of our souls so that we may be consumed and transformed into the warmth of the flame that soars to God. In our world which by the fall of […]
The Prayer of the Faithful
The sacrament of Baptism produces a variety of effects in the person receiving the sacrament. The Catholic Catechism declares, ‘Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn […]
Annunciation and Agony
Sacred buildings and requisites for divine worship should be truly worthy and beautiful and be signs and symbols of heavenly realities. (General Instruction of the Roman Missal: NZ Edition, 288) In the last two issues of the Messenger this column addressed the sanctuary of St Francis de Sales and All Souls in Devonport. One feature […]
Decorum and Liturgy
The Bishops of the Second Vatican Council defined liturgy as “a sacred action through which, with a rite, in and through the Church, the priestly office of Christ comes to be exercised and continued, which office being the sanctification of humanity and the glorification of God.” That statement contains very big ideas: Liturgy is a […]
The Sanctuary Cross
There are fashions in liturgy as in all human endeavours. The look of vestments changes from one decade to the next, the style of furnishings and decoration varies according to the tastes of those responsible for organizing them. Liturgy is innately conservative and the pace of change is usually quite slow, but anything alive undergoes […]
Asking for a Blessing instead of Communion
“I recommend that, at times, you attend Mass yet do not take communion.” This is an odd recommendation from a Catholic priest. The Church has devoted much effort to promoting the reception of the Eucharist. In 1905 Pope St Pius X issued a decree “On Frequent and Daily Reception of Holy Communion” in which he […]
The Prayer after the Our Father
After the Our Father the priest says the following prayer: Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, […]
With Blessed Joseph her Spouse
In this Year of Faith we are celebrating 50 years since the opening of the second Vatican Council. One of the things that John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli) did to ensure the success of the Council was to put it under the patronage of St Joseph. In doing this he would have been aware of […]
Fr Greeley and “Daring to Say”
In May of this year a Chicago diocesan priest called Andrew Greeley died. For those of us who trained for priesthood in the 1970s and 1980s his books were all around us, and I, for one, was strongly influenced by his writings. He was a prolific author. A sociologist by training, he had the ability […]
Saturday 29 June
STS PETER AND PAUL Acts 12:1-11, Ps 34, 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18, Matthew 16: 13-19 Theophany Theophany: the appearance of God. God appeared to Peter, in his cell, as “light”, as a sure guide. How does God appear to me? I see God in fleeting crepuscular light. I see God in a disabled man accompanying, slowly, […]
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