ST PANTALEON - REPORT ON SAINT JOHN'S DAY

This feast of Saint Pantaleon, which falls tomorrow, upon which the Order commemorates annually a great naval victory over the Turks in 1659, seems a good occasion to publish the somewhat belated report on the Saint John's Day Mass.  The observance was instituted by Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson, the greatest Master of Rhodes.

Saint John's Day was celebrated as a High Mass, with the Chaplain of the Priory, Monsignor John Armitage assisted by Fathers Stephen Morrison OPraem and Gerard Skinner.

Monsignor Armitage's homily is given below.

HOMILY ST JOHN’S DAY 2021

Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, doubted the message of Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would give birth.  "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur." Zechariah loses his voice. Contrast the next visit of Gabriel to Our Blessed Lady at the Annunciation, for this was the encounter where Mary found her voice. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to his Word.”

A voice lost and a voice found. Zechariah’s voice will only return when the words of the Angel come true.  Marys “yes” was given for she was open in her heart to receive this gift for she had “conceived him in her heart before she conceived him in her womb”. 

Mary is troubled by the words of the Angel; Zechariah doubts the words of the Angel. Our Lady’s faith reassures her to put her fears aside, Zechariah’s doubt, silences him, he will not speak again until he sees, the words fulfilled in the birth of his Son John the Baptist. The words of Jesus to Thomas ring true. “Doubt no longer but believe.”

Our Lady and Zechariah, although they respond differently to the Angelic invitation, eventually arrive at the same point. It is a point of prayer and thanksgiving that became the foundation of the Churches daily prayer - Mary's Magnificat and Zechariah’s Benedictus. It doesn’t matter where we start on the journey, our faith and the mercy of God will always bring us to the encounter with the one who calls us friends.

Mary's Son will bring “his mercy on those who fear him from age to age and  fill the hungry with good things.” Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son will tell of the one who is to come who has visited his people and redeemed them, thus saving his people from the hands of those who hate us, giving us the mercy that was promised to us by our fathers. Mary is the bearer of the Word incarnate, Elizabeth will be the bearer of the Voice which will proclaim his coming. Mary the Mother of Mercy, Elizabeth the Mother of the prophetic voice who will proclaim our delivery from our enemies so that we might serve him without fear. 

These two patrons of our beloved Order, Our Lady and St John the Baptist, both announce the mercy of God, through the forgiveness of our sins, this is the proclamation of the Good News,  for he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

The Hospital in Jerusalem was under the patronage of St John the Baptist. Since the earliest days of our Order his words “He must increase, and I must decrease” has lived in the noble hearts of our brothers and sisters, who like John have stepped aside to make a way for the Lord. Mary’s faith and John’s humility are the very spiritual foundation of our relationship with Jesus. Our vocation as a member of the Order calls us to “step aside” and to give all,  to follow Christ so that we may serve “Our Lords the Sick”; we are called to “step aside” from our doubts and fears, that we may be instruments of the Mercy of God; we are called to “step aside” from ambition and greed so that we may share what we have with those who have nothing, we are called to “step aside” from the hardness of heart that restricts the flow of God’s grace and generosity in our life, so that we may become experts in humanity who by our loving service have penetrated the depths of the hearts of the men and women of today, sharing  their joys and their hopes, their anguish and their sorrows, thus we defend the Church, by serving the Sick and the poor. 

The renewal called for by our Holy Father Pope Francis is a spiritual renewal, that must be rooted in the hearts of every member, or it will not bear fruit.  Many fine words might be said and written, but they will fall on barren soil, hardened hearts.  “You renew the Church in every age by raising up men and women, outstanding examples of your unchanging love.” These words from the preface of saints must become the heart of our own personal renewal, where we will understand Why we do, what we do.  What we do in the service of Our Lords the Sick and Holy Mother Church must  be grounded in prayer and  truth,  and the fruit will be a radical generosity arising from a humble contrite heart the fountain of all nobility.   Prayer will change us, the truth of the Word of God and the teaching of the Church will set us free, and radical generosity will bring to life the words of Our Lord, “when you did this to the least of your brothers you did it to me." 

We do not seek to renew the Order for the sake of the Order, we seek to embrace the words of Our Lord. “I have come bring you life and life in abundance” and we wish to share this abundance in the service of our brothers and sisters in their need.  

The challenges we face today are challenges that all of humanity faces in these difficult times. Governments and humanitarian organisations provide material resilience in the face of need, but man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. As servants of the Church, we are witnesses to the Spiritual resilience which is the Body of Christ; once again we gather around the Sacrifice of the one who says, “This this is my body and I give it to you.”  Let us “step aside” from our fears and anxieties.

St John the Baptist, pray for us

St Pantaleon, pray for us

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

Our Order owes much of its liturgical origins to the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

HOMILY FOR BLESSED DAVID GUNSON PILGRIMAGE

Once again (both as he preached Blessed Hadrian Fortescue last week, and also the 'virtual' homily for the very depleted pilgrimage last year in lockdown) we are overjoyed to present the Pilgrimage Homily given formally, and in person, by Fr Stephen Morrison, OPraem, last night.

The Mass was offered by Fr Morrison at the Church of Our Lady of La Salette, Bermondsey. We had the added privilege of a visiting Oscott seminarian to serve the Mass, Mr Gregory Becket, a most felicitous circumstance, as he is of the family of Saint Thomas a Becket, to whom Blessed David's mother was related, so a cousin of our Martyr.

Grand Prior emeritus Fra' Ian Scott, and Monsignor Armitage, Chaplain of the Grand Priory, were present.

As every year, the Mass was followed by a silent walk along (to refer the Fr Stephen's homily) the Via Dolorosa of the Old Kent Road, also in happier times the Pilgrimage route to St Thomas's shrine in Canterbury.  While much of London was apprently being flooded, we hardly had any rain. The Shrine prayers at St Thomas Waterings were followed by an al fresco supper.

Here, then, is Father Stephen's wisdom.

Feast of Blessed David Gunson, Martyr

(preached the day after the EUFA Cup Final in which England lost to Italy)

 

It was my privilege to preach at this year’s Grand Priory patronal feast of Bd Adrian Fortescue, last week, and it is therefore a double honour to have been asked to preach also for Bd David Gunson today. While my words this evening are not exactly a “second episode,” I will begin by picking up on just one of the points I made last Thursday, which will serve as our starting point today. And it is this: it happened here. 

Last week I suggested that we take a special pride in the place and manner of our martyrs’ victory. “How proud we are that this via crucis was on our streets: the way to Tower Hill became Adrian Fortescue’s and Thomas Dingley’s climb to Calvary Hill, and the way to the famous pilgrims’ “stopping point” of St Thomas Waterings became the “statio ad Crucem” for Blessed David.” It happened here. Even more reason, surely, to pray that we, who carry the white Cross of the Order of St John, should be inspired to place our footsteps in those of Christ’s, and to climb Calvary’s hill ourselves, wherever that may be, as they did. As we make our little walking pilgrimage this evening, we might reflect that “it will be the greatest honour of our chivalry to walk in the train of the King of Kings, following the supreme witness of our confrere who once waited on and fought for an earthly Prince, and learned to do the same for the Prince of Peace.”

The events of 1539 and 1541 are not mere historical data. The red ink printed on our liturgical ordo is symbolic of innocent blood valiantly offered, the martyr’s palm, the victory laurels of heroes, and a trumpet call to the entire Church throughout the world – “Salvete, flores martyrum!” For the worldwide Order of St John keeps the feasts of Blessed Adrian and Blessed David, looking to these Englishmen for inspiration today, almost five hundred years later. Our confreres throughout the world turn to England. And what do they see? A fine sight! Not, or perhaps not only, our own delightful eccentricity…(!): rather, they see the tradition of chivalry and noble service going back centuries, with its various flowerings throughout that time, as Mary’s Dowry reveals her jewelled treasures one by one, century by century – the sons of England walk tall amid that hallowed number who distinguished themselves both in their tuitio fidei and their obsequium pauperum. And as if to reinforce my point about the “here and now” nature of our feast, even last night’s football game saw the secular world turn their eyes to our capital and see if England’s sons were up to it. They were also treated to an eccentric sight. The cup final may have ended in defeat for England, but there are some obvious caveats worth pointing out: firstly, “at the end of the day” (as they seem always to say to the press, after a game…) there are no real winners nor losers, and the comparison may seem trivial in the extreme: both teams in the cup final can surely shake hands and acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses; but secondly, and more to the point, may I confess experiencing a little frisson of spiritual joy as I hung the flag of St George from our Priory window yesterday afternoon? Yes, there is the excitement of patriotic spirit; but to those of us with the eyes of faith to see, the red Cross of our Saviour, the emblem of our martyr-patron, is perhaps enduring because it is almost a sacramental. How many red crosses like this, I thought, are now fluttering in the breeze over our land? How many are hung out by unbelievers, or even by infidels and atheists? Are they not a silent but eloquent sign to Heaven that England, somewhere deep in its soul, has not forgotten Jesus Christ and His Cross, even if it might at face value be read as if they have? Could we who believe, therefore, not turn this gesture into a prayer, sent to Heaven by semaphore, in which England begs the Lord of Calvary not to forget her, even if she has so long forgotten him - yet not quite entirely? Is not this ancient sign of knightly service, taken up by crusaders – both saints and sinners – in years gone by a reminder to us, and perhaps also to God, of His formerly bestowed gifts, and our formerly returned service? 

Call me a romantic if you will – but all it takes is a conscious act of the will, and even a humble flag-waving at a cup final can become an earnest prayer for a far more important victory. 

If such symbolism is not lost on us, then we are ready to undertake this evening’s act of devotion. Our commemoration of Blessed David Gunson is also a sign to the whole world that a Calvary was climbed here, a passion undergone here, a sacrifice offered here, one which was a conscious and free imitation of that Calvary of Christ, that Passion of our Saviour, that Sacrifice of the Son of God, offered once far away and long ago, and renewed here on our Altars. Just as the miracle of the Holy Mass brings Calvary to us, and us to Calvary, the martyrs’ deaths provide a similar point of focus, since they died in imitation of Christ and following in His footsteps. Calvary came to London, and London to Calvary. A betrayal had already taken place. Herod, Pilate, the mob – they were all there. Paradise was promised to the penitent, and fruitfulness promised to the Church, by the bravery of an English sailor, stretching out his limbs to the butchers as once a Galilean carpenter did. Oh to have the eyes of faith in which to see the realities of this mystery! It happened here. 

Suffering, in imitation of Christ, is something to which you and I are all called. And how we rebel against it! Each little inconvenience or trial, each experience of pain or sorrow, each twinge of our aching bodies and each thorn of anxiety in our souls – they are all invitations to participate in something glorious, and yet we naturally run away from them, ask the Lord to take such nails and thorns away, and may even think that we deserve better. Such a thought makes us feel ashamed, and unworthy of our calling. Don’t ask me for an easy answer to this, but how do we learn to embrace the Cross, as the saints did? Is there a way to open the eyes of our souls to see in the discomforts and sufferings of this life a real business-proposition from the King of Kings, to join Him in the enterprise of Saving the world? The currency used for this transaction is the Precious Blood, which we meditate upon this month. He pays the sum up-front, on the Cross, wiping out the debt of human iniquity. He asks only for our cooperation, our willingness to take up our own cross and follow Him. I say ‘ask’ but of course He really demands this of us, as a commandment of love, saying that if a man does not do so, he is not worthy of Him, as we read in the Gospel of the Mass (Jn 12:24-26), “Whoever serves me must follow me”. When the eyes of our confreres in the Order turn to London this evening, they see with us the worthy example of one who nobly cooperated with Christ, and took part in the economy of Salvation, wishing to lose his life in order to find it, and what a transaction it was! O admirabile commercium… The returns on his investment were beyond human imagining. In the eyes of the world, he lost everything, and England seemed to lose too. But in reality, having given everything, he gained even more – and so did England. In doing so, he was only paying in full what had already been promised before: On 12^thJuly 1541 he completed the transaction first promised at his postulancy on 20^thOctober 1533 and at his profession on 25^thMay 1535. The First Class has many examples among its ranks of those who sealed their solemn vows in blood: “It is accomplished.” And so the passion was complete; tetelestai; and it happened here. 

Our witness today is a martyrdom of sorts; we will silently witness to the fact that grace won a victory on our streets, while the secular authorities scored an own goal. No commemorative plaque would quite do it justice. In Nazareth, the proclamation over the Altar marks the spot of the Incarnation thus: “Hic Verbum caro factum est;” the Word became flesh here. We might need something more like that for St Thomas Waterings… This station along a pilgrim’s way became a calvary for David Gunson, Knight and Martyr. Here his blood was shed, in imitation of Christ, for you and for many. But let the real commemoration not be in brass; let it be writ large in our hearts this evening. Let us tell ourselves – I will accept the Cross, I will not run away from it, I will embrace it. And let us tell Our Lord – I wish to love and follow you, my Lord, I wish your footprints to be the path for my own rebellious feet to follow. Let me do it out of love. “This is my body, given for you, this is my Blood, poured out for you.” These words of yours, Lord, Blessed David made his own… and with trepidation, I wish to make the same offering of myself, here, and now. Whatever calvary you choose for me, Lord, here – take – this is my body. Here, take – this is my blood. De tuis donis ac datis –you gave it to me, and it already belongs to you, I have already promised it back to you as a down payment for Heaven: I complete the sacrifice, I see only endless mercy in your plan for me, I’m all yours. 

And so, one man’s loss is a nation’s gain, an Order’s gain, Heaven’s gain – a win, finally, for our beloved country. 

 

Blessed David Gunson, Pray for us. 

LATE NOTICE - REQUIEM FOR MGR CONLON

We are advised that the Church of the Assumption Warwick Street, together with the Latin Mass Society, of which he was long-time chaplain, will have a sung Requiem for the late Dr Conlon, 26 years Chaplain to the Grand Priory, this coming Wednesday, 14 July, at 6.30 pm. The Mass will be celebrated by the Rector of Warwick Street, Fr Mark Elliott-Smith.

This most fitting day is Mgr Conlon's birthday.  Those who celebrate it will not have to think of Bastille Day.

You are all firmly encouraged to attend.

Requiem æternum dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.

HOMILY FOR BL. ADRIAN FORTESCUE

The Solemnity of the Patron of the Grand Priory was celebrated with joy and pomp in a High Mass (OF) at Warwick Street, the celebrant being Fr Michael Lang of the Oratory, assisted by Fathers Stephen Morrison OPraem and Gary Dench. The music was sublime, under the direction of Toby Ward.

We are delighed to publish below the meditation upon one of Blessed Adrian's maxims, preached by Fr Stephen.

Fr Stephen will also be preaching for the Blessed David Gunson pilgrimage on Monday, to which people are encouraged to come (Our Lady of la Salette Bermondsey, 6pm, Monday 12th July).

Bd Adrian Fortescue, Patron of the Grand Priory of England

 

“Obey well the good Kirk, and thou shalt fare the better.”

- Bd. Adrian Fortescue, collected proverbs.

 

Although today is a feast for all of us, whatever our level of association with the Order of St John, it is a particular patronal solemnity for those members of the First and Second Classes, all those on the roll of the Grand Priory, since it is of the Grand Priory that Blessed Adrian is principal patron. Along with the sacrifices commemorated this month of the Venerable Sir Thomas Dingley and the Blessed David Gunson, we remember with pride the sons of this country who exchanged an earthly for a heavenly crown as members of the Order, all of them good servants of the Crown, but God’s servants first and foremost. Blessed Adrian died because he preferred “to obey God” rather than compromise his Catholic faith. Since Knights of Justice, and Knights and Dames in Obedience, have in common either the vow or the promise of obedience, it seems right to meditate this evening on that Evangelical Counsel, especially in the light of the palm of martyrdom. For those of us who have made a vow of that counsel, on this your solemnity, I pray that the words of Blessed Adrian scribbled at the end of a volume written in his own hand seven years before his death, may inspire you today: “Obey well the good Kirk, and thou shalt fare the better.” Taking a look again at his collection of proverbs, there are many that are wonderful. I suggest that this one - “be blythe at thy meat, and devout at thy Mass” - is one that you already keep rather well! And just as I do not reproach any of you of any lack either of blitheness or devotion, neither do intend a sermon on a martyr’s obedience to be a reproach to any of you. Far from it. No sooner do we examine the notion of holy obedience than we realise that all of us, daily, are disobedient…even though we try to obey God, our superiors, and legitimate authority, we so easily fall into sin. As my novice master told me, the conventual life will hopefully keep you poor, and chaste, to a far greater degree than if you were in the world. What it cannot make you is obedient. Obedience is tough. Those of you in vows, and those of you in obedience, stand to gain a great deal from our confrere Blessed Adrian’s intercession, who urges us with a smile to obey well the good Church, that we may fare the better for it. 

Before examining the virtue of obedience, let us remember that, one thing that makes it easier is precisely our conventual life, in whatever form that takes. We obey God and our superior together. Yes, only I am responsible for my own will, my own decisions, my own free choices. But this virtue is not lived individually, but collectively. Obedience makes collective existence possible and indeed fruitful. We will see how it brings freedom, the freedom to choose God above all else as the martyrs did, but it is a collective freedom, one which brings a common purpose, a common peace, and a common good. So, together with Adrian, Thomas and David, our saintly confreres, let us seek and find that purpose, that peace, that good. 

“Obey.” Obedience is at the heart of the life of the Trinity – because the Son obeys the Father. St Paul reminds us that Christ was humbler yet, “obediens usque ad mortem,” when He embraced the Cross to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation. Every martyr adds his own blood to Christ’s when he walks the via crucis to martyrdom. How proud we are that this via crucis was on our streets: the way to Tower Hill became Adrian’s and Thomas’ climb to Calvary Hill, and the way to the famous pilgrims’ “stopping point” of St Thomas Waterings became the “statio ad Crucem” for Blessed David (come with us on Monday to retrace this latter sorrowful and glorious way). Obediens usque ad mortem. Our Beatus was obedient to the Good Church, because he was united with Christ in His obedience to the Father, led on that way by the Spirit. Let the Holy Ghost then so inspire us, who carry the white Cross of the Order, to place our footsteps in those of Christ’s, and to climb Calvary’s hill ourselves, wherever that may be. It will be the greatest honour of our chivalry to walk in the train of the King of Kings, following the supreme witness of our confrere who once waited on and fought for an earthly Prince, and learned to do the same for the Prince of Peace. 

The “Good Kirk” reminds us that there was also a bad one – the pretence of the monarch in the Act of Supremacy rendered sour the once loyal and most Petrine of churches, cutting it off from that lifeline which is communion with the Holy See. The Good Kirk, the Church of God, is that which is faithful to the deposit of Faith, and united to Peter. And this faith of Blessed Adrian in obedience to the Church was not dependent on who precisely it was who occupied the chair of the prince of the Apostles: Paul III was no saint; he had five children by his mistress, and there is a famous portrait of him and his grandchildren by Titian! It might be easy to mock, but the Farnese at least had a catholic understanding of family planning (!) and it was Paul III who bravely issued the two excommunications of King Henry VIII, the first having been suspended in the wise hope of his repentance, failing which the second was then issued. It was the principle, not the persons, which mattered; the office, not the particular office-holder. The Pope was the Pope, and the King’s good Majesty was that of the Lord’s Anointed – even “Defender of the Faith” at one stage – but when the Pope’s spiritual and temporal authority in this realm was seized by the King, a faithful Catholic had no option but to obey God over the King. Obedience, dear brethren, is to legitimate authority. Pilate was told by Christ that he would not have authority, were it not given to him by above. Our Blessed Lord did not deny even Pilate’s right to execute the death penalty, as legitimate (though resented) authority in that place – but he made clear the injustice of His own condemnation as King of the Jews: “My Kingdom is not of this world.” And Blessed Adrian faced the dilemma of those who love this realm, but seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. Obey well the good Kirk, and thou shalt fare the better. I wonder whether, before his execution, the martyr thought of this proverb he had recorded several years earlier, with a wry smile… was this faring better? The martyr, by a special grace, knows that it is indeed to fare better to die for Christ in obedience to him. It was the same grace that made Sir Thomas More regret the clemency of death by beheading rather than the passion of Tyburn, and wish it otherwise for himself and for his children. “How sweet would be our children’s fate, if they, like them, could die for Thee.” I think Blessed Adrian would have received that same grace of courageous submission to the will of God in faith and obedience. 

“Faring better.” Submission of one’s will to the Will of God is a fiat which, like Our Blessed Lady’s, renders us free, and ostensibly so. Obedience brings freedom, not chains. There is a difference between genuine liberty and license, as we know – the former is a virtue, the latter a real enslavement. The obedience of those in the Grand Priory, whether by vow or by promise, gives you the freedom to serve, and to serve above all else. We are commanded to love, but we have volunteered to serve. The feudal obedience of serfdom leaves no personal choice to those recruited, leaving room for the ego to grow, but not for the soul to flourish; the chivalrous obedience of the religious means the channelling of one’s will towards God, the source and goal of its flourishing; as our prayer has it, “may I forget myself, and love God more.” This is a loving service which can be summed up in the word “friendship.” Our Lord says, I call you servants no longer, I call you friends.” Our obedience gives us this intimacy with God, where we truly find Him, and His Will, and truly find ourselves, having placed our wayward will under the harness of his Providence. And since “greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends,” we can see that friendship with God leads to that loving devotion to God’s own – friendship in our common obedience with our confreres, and friendship with the poor and the sick. Blessed Adrian knew that fiat, and lived it to the end.

Finally: Friendship, service, chivalry, these all seem like a young man’s ideals. But our martyr was a full 57 years old when he joined the Order, and 62 when he died. We’re never “past it” to do the right thing. He went up to the Altar of God, the God who gave joy to his youth – and indeed, he looks remarkably young in his iconography; whether this is the result of graceful ageing and good genes, or whether it is the artist’s way of showing a sort of timeless holiness, I leave to you to decide. But I think that, reading the accounts of their deaths, many martyrs who face the scaffold later in life seem to bounce with the energy of the young, and radiate a youthful holiness, God restoring in them the joy of their youth – perhaps there is something of the Holy Innocents in all God’s martyrs, the babes and sucklings in whose mouths, the psalmist says, God has found praise to foil his enemies. “My beloved comes, leaping over the mountains like a gazelle, like a young stag,” as we read in the Song of Songs. We are never too old to further our conversion, to further our progress in obedience. To say we are “past changing” or “past improving” is the lament of the coward, and it is not worthy of a Christian, let alone a Knight of the Order of St John. 

So let us be rejuvenated tonight, by our Confrere’s example and merits. By his prayers, may the Grand Priory flourish. May our obedience, in imitation of Christ’s own obedience to the Father, make progress along the way of perfection. Together, may we seek and find a common purpose, a common peace, and a common good. May we discern the limits of temporal authority, so as to obey heavenly authority with a good conscience. May we find in our obedience that liberty and that friendship which was the special virtue of Blessed Adrian and a grace which led him to victory. And may our promise of fidelity to Christ in His “Good Kirk” mean that we indeed ‘fare the better’, usque ad mortem in this life, and eternally with the Saints in the next. 

Blessed Adrian Fortescue, Pray for us.