FURTHER UPDATE - ROSARY on the COAST

ROSARY on the COAST  – SUNDAY 29th APRIL at 3pm

The Rosary will be led by the GRAND PRIORY OF ENGLAND on the Thames Estuary, between Leigh-on-Sea and Southend, which is officially the nearest North Sea coast to London!

The Arrangements for Sunday are as follow : MEET AT THE PETERBOAT Public House, on the Seafront in Old Leigh, 27 High St, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 2EN, from 12.30. It's a good place. Be there definitely by 2.30, as we may move off after that.   MAP, CLICK HERE

SMOM FACEBOOK Event HERE.  Not essential to sign up, obviously, but helps us assess numbers.

Depending on numbers we shall either join with the local parishes, including our dear friend Monsignor Kevin Canon Hale, the local Parish Priest, or lead the Holy Rosary independently.

TRAINS OUT OF FENCHURCH STREET (fast to Leigh-on-Sea) :
09.55 - arr10.55, 10.25 - arr11.25, 10.55 - arr11.55, 11.25 - arr12.25, 11.55 -arr12.55, 1225 - arr13.25, 12.55 - arr13.55, 1325 - arr14.25
From the Station to the Peterboat is pleasant walk of about 1/4 hour behind the cockleshells.

MASS TIMES at Leigh-on-Sea (shorter walk if you take the train to Chalkwell, the next station, 5 minutes longer train journey) :
8am, 9.30, 11.30.
Parish website (for directions etc) HERE

More general information may be had from the Rosary organisers' website, HERE, where those of you who are unable to join the Malta London group can join other groups or set up your own.  There is an interactive map showing where the Rosary is happening. There are lots! We would, however, ask that wherever you go, you do so visibly as a Member or Companion of the Order of Malta, or OMV. Our common witness is important; this is Tuitio Fidei.

PLEASE TELL FRIENDS ABOUT THIS AND BRING THEM ALONG.

See previous posts HERE

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us

Our Lady of Philermo, pray for us

FIRST MASS AT SAINT MARGARET'S CHAPEL, EDINBURGH

His Grace the Archbishop of Edinburgh has most generously placed for the benefit of the Order in Scotland the beautiful chapel of Saint Margaret, in the Gillis Centre, the seat of the Diocesan curial offices. The Chapel is just beyond the Meadows to the South of the City, in Morningside, an easy journey, even a walk, from the City centre.

The handsome chapel, with a romanesque nave, was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham, with input from his then associate Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. It was opened in 1835, and the gothic chancel added by Archibald McPherson in 1893. Ancestors of present members of the Order, including Lord Ralph Kerr and Robert Monteith of Carstairs, had links with the Chapel. It houses the relics of Saint Crescentia, believed to have been a young Roman girl martyred for her faith, which were donated by Pope Gregory XVI. The Reliquary in which they are preserved was designed by Pugin.

Masses will be organised by the Order in Scotland on a regular basis.  The first took place on the evening before the Edinburgh Ball, Friday, 13th April, the feast of Pope S Martin I.

The Mass was celebrated by Father Scott Deeley, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, beautifully served by Companions, in the presence of Fra' Ian Scott, Grand Prior.   Father Deeley will be joining the Order on Saint John's Day this year.  Liam Devlin played the organ, and was responsible for the excellent music. The suitably grand recessional was Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary.

The Mass was followed by a wonderfully organised reception in the Library, under the able direction of Mrs Mark Hamid. Many members of the Order, Companions and friends were present, including a very young member, whose family had travelled from Wick. The photograph shows her receiving a medal from Peter McCann, at the reception which followed in the Library. The photographs were very kindly taken by Scottish Companion Uilliam ÓhAicéad.

A convivial Dinner followed, attended by Monsignor Burke, who had regrettably been prevented from arriving in time for the Mass.

It is to be hoped that members will continue to support these Scottish Masses in ever growing numbers.

REMINDER - APPEAL!!! DONATE FOR CANDELABRA FOR THE BLESSED SACRAMENT!

U P D A T E!

We are re-posting below this Appeal, with sincere thanks to those Readers who have already contributed so generously.  The Appeal has still a little way to go to reach its target, and we ask you again to be generous.  Fr.Z's blog was very successful in raising £5,000 for a Blessed Sacrament canopy for this same church of Corpus Christi, so let no-one say that our Readers are less willing to share in honour of the Blessed Sacrament!

Come on! Do it NOW!

The Church of CORPUS CHRISTI, MAIDEN LANE, near Covent Garden in London, the first church in England to be dedicated after the Restoration of the Hierarchy to the Mystery of Corpus Christi, has for the past few years been undergoing a comprehensive restoration, and is to be formally opened by His Eminence Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, on the Feast of Corpus Christi this year, Sunday 3rd June.

The Church will become a centre for adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Diocese.

The Parish is seeking contributions of funds toward the purchase of a pair of English Gothic candelabra, which have come from a Catholic church, and bear the symbols of the Holy Family, Jesus Mary and Joseph, on enamel shields. It is hoped that members of the Order of Malta and Companions and Friends will contribute generously; part of our charism as an Order is the promotion of excellence in the Sacred Liturgy, as a part of our work of Tuitio Fidei, and this is a very good practical way of doing it.

They would stand either side of the High Altar and would be used for the Feast of Corpus Christi and particularly for the annual 40 Hours Devotion which is to be restored at the desire of His Eminence the Cardinal.

For those wishing to make further Lenten almsgiving, here is a good opportunity!

The Candelabra cost £6,000. Donations may be made on the Parish's special Candelabra Donations page HERE.

Those readers with blogs, Twitter or Facebook pages etc, are encouraged to disseminate this notice as widely as possible.

Should you wish to give more to the wonderful work at Corpus Christi, general donations to the Restoration Fund may be made HERE.

Benefactors are recorded in the Benefactors’ Book and are remembered at the Altar in a specific Benefactors’ Mass each month.

For those wishing to participate spiritually in the work of the Church of Corpus Christi, you may join the SODALITY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, visit the website HERE. 

Adoremus in aeternum Sanctissimum Sacramentum!

FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Monday of Low Week is the transferred feast of the Annunciation, which fell on Palm Sunday, and thus could not be celebrated then.  Happy Feast to all our readers.

"The angel Gabriel descended in the midst of a heavenly light. The light enveloped the Virgin, and the angel was vested in a garment so bright that I can not compare him on earth. 

"When she saw the light with her own eyes, she got up and was seized with fear. Looking at the angel, she found on his face the reflection of her chastity. She was standing, in an attitude of modesty, listening, all her senses attending. 

"Then the angel greeted her and annouced to her the will of God; His words pleased the heart of the Virgin, filled her senses and set her soul on fire; however, her virginal modesty and love for God prompted her to ask for an explanation. 

"When she was instructed, she opened her heart with all good will, then knelt down and said: "I am the servant of God, that your words are fulfilled. Then the whole Trinity with the power of the Divinity, the good will of Humanity, and the nobility of the Holy Spirit penetrated his whole virginal body."

Blessed Mechtilde of Magdeburg (†1282)

The Angel of the Lord announced unto Mary !

And She conceived by the Holy Ghost !

The image shows the Annunciation by Caravaggio.

Readers may wish to revisit Fr Stephen Morrison's talk on this Mystery at the Annunciation Day Recollection last year, HERE.

EASTER GREETING FROM THE GRAND PRIOR

Dear Friends,

I write to you from Rome, where I have assisted over the last three days at the solemn ceremonies of the Easter Triduum, as I am sure many of you have all over the world. You have been in my prayers before the altar throughout these days.

In this age it is easy to lose sight of the fact that our Salvation is already assured by Christ's Sacrifice on Calvary and Resurrection. So many troubles beset us on every side. This is no less true of our own beloved Order of Malta.

But these holy days show us that the Battle is won — Hell’s armies flee. I am grateful to our Chaplain for his insightful mediations which we have been privileged to read during Holy Week. All we need to do is to keep the Faith, and we are thereby collaborating with the Risen Christ in our own Salvation. But we are also collaborating in the Salvation of our fellow men, because we are all brothers within the Church which He founded on Maundy Thursday, and which he entrusted from the Cross to the maternal care of Mary, Mother of the Church - "Son, behold thy Mother". 

Let us ask Her prayers, the prayers of Our Lady of Philermo, that all of us in the Order of Malta, and all of you who pray together and work for the Poor within our great Order family, may never waver from the path we have been shown over these last few days.

A very Happy Easter to you all.

Fra' Ian Scott

Grand Prior

The picture above shows the Resurrection, by a follower of Caravaggio, around 1600, possibly Francesco Boneri, knows as 'Cecco del Caravaggio'. It is housed in the Art Institute of Chicago.