SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

As part of the monthly Grand Priory Day of Recollection, Sung Mass of Our Lady's Saturday will be celebrated in the Church at 12 noon.

The office of Lauds will be sung at 10am; and Vespers, Holy Hour and Benediction at around 3.30pm, to which all are most welcome.

This is a very good preparation for the season of Advent, which begins the following day.

PURGATORY - A MEDITATION

We are very grateful to Fr John Hemer MHM for providing the following meditation on Purgatory, based upon the homily he preached in the Conventual Church on All Soul's Day.  Fr Hemer is a scripture scholar, and formation adviser at Allen Hall, the diocesan seminary.

All Souls

Purgatory and prayer for the dead is one of those areas which sharply divide Catholics from many other Christians. Why is this? It’s to do first of all with the different understanding that Catholics and some of the churches of the Reformation have regarding what exactly salvation means. In classic Lutheran theology, when a person stands before God for judgement, Christ (in Luther’s words) “wraps the cloak of his virtues around the sinner”. So when God looks at you or me on judgement day what he sees is not the sinner that I am, but the virtues of Christ which are then imputed to me. God declares me to be ‘just’ and that’s salvation. This means that I remain the same lousy sinner, but God pronounces another verdict on me. Luther described the Christian before God as a “dung heap covered with snow”

Catholic theology is rather more positive about the way God deals with the human condition. When the priest mixes the wine with a little water at Mass he says this prayer: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity” That’s an amazing claim. As Catholics we claim that we become like God; that our share in the life of God grows to fullness. (The Orthodox churches of the East are much stronger and clearer on this than we often are. They say that the point of Christian life is ‘divinisation’) Bear in mind that on the first page of genesis the Bible tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God. That image is tarnished and obscured through sin so God makes sure that when we join him finally and for ever, we bear that image fully.

This process of being made like Christ begins at Baptism, and many of us, most of us, die before it is complete. It must somehow be completed since that is God’s original intention for us. So after death there is still room for God to purify us, complete us, make us fully the people he wants us to be. That’s what we call Purgatory, it is the finishing off of that process.

You may ask: “why can’t God just forgive, wipe the slate clean? In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father just runs and forgives the boy, end of story. But it’s not the end of the story. Jesus deliberately doesn’t tell us how it all ends. The Father’s loving embrace, one of Jesus’ most powerful images of God, is only the beginning of a story When the father embraced him the son knew he was loved, forgiven welcome, but it would take time maybe years for him to feel fully at home and allow that love to turn him into someone who would never feel the need to leave home again. He still had to repair his relationship with his older brother (and the brother had plenty of room for improvement too.) So although the father’s forgiveness is immediate and unconditional, it was the beginning of a process of healing and reconciling which could perhaps be quite lengthy.

The same is true with the woman who had a bad reputation in the town who wipes Jesus’ feet in Luke 7. She is forgiven, there and then, but her many sins will have done all sorts of damage to her character and self-esteem. Although she knows that she’s fully accepted by God, it may take many years to repair the damage her dissolute life has done.

So when we are forgiven of our sins we are truly forgiven. I once heard a priest say: “After confession your sins are buried at the bottom of the sea, and God puts a sign there saying ‘No Fishing’”. That’s true but we know how sin damages all sorts of things and even after forgiveness, complete forgiveness, we may have to work quite hard to repair that damage.

In classic Lutheran theology the accused man walks out of court acquitted, with a verdict of innocent recorded against his name, but he’s still the same lousy no-good. In Catholic theology God is not content just to acquit him, but he wants to turn him turns him into someone truly good and loveable and beautiful, the person he intended him to be in the first place.

Most of us I suppose would be happy for God to just let us off the hook, but his purpose is much bigger, he wants us to become holy – like him. We would settle for mere acquittal, but God will settle for nothing less than our full transformation and the Catholic Church will settle for nothing less than insisting on God’s purpose being realised in all its fullness.

Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel gives us the sense that by continually partaking in Eucharist we become like Christ, we draw his life. As St. Augustine says we become what we eat. We offer Mass for the dead because they took part in Eucharist here and that began the process of transformation into Christ. In another way the Eucharist offered for them continues to help them in that growth and transformation.

I’m not much of a craftsman or an artist. If I have to make something with my hands I settle for the easiest solution, usually involving nails or glue and probably quite a lot of grunting and shouting. A craftsman won’t do that. He’ll take his time and make something both functional and beautiful. God is just such a master craftsman, he wants only the best for his children. He intended us to be like him and he isn’t content until that is fully realised. Purgatory is the place where the last stages of that process take place.

An unfortunate trend has grown in some places whereby a funeral Mass is called a “Memorial Service for Joe Bloggs” or sometimes even “A Celebration of the Life of Joe Bloggs” It’s important to realise that a Requiem Mass is nothing of the sort. It is like every Mass, a celebration of the life, death and resurrection of Christ. If you want, it’s a memorial service, but it is Christ who is remembered and made present, not the dead person. And in doing that, Joe Bloggs has the chance of salvation, of eternal happiness. Yes we do give thanks for his life, but we do that in union with Christ. The Mass is first and foremost about Christ, not the person who’s being buried.

A memorial service is something people do when they don’t believe they can do anything to help the dead person. My father was not a Catholic and when he died the local Vicar came to pay his respects, and I must say was very gracious and charming. We’d brought Dad’s body back home, and the Vicar went and looked in the coffin for a moment but said no prayer. As an evangelical I suppose he didn’t believe in praying for the dead. But I remember thinking to myself that if as a priest all I had to offer bereaved people was sympathy I’d be very badly off indeed. Sadly for many people the best they can do for their dead loved ones is keep their memory alive. That’s well and good and necessary but it’s for the benefit of the living. It does the dead no good. As Catholics we can help actually them, with our prayers. In fact the only thing we can do which helps the dead is praying for them. That’s why the Catholic Church does it incessantly every day hundreds of thousands of times, at every single Mass.

Often people die and we have unfinished business with them. All too often we see the tragedy of someone dying with broken relationships before they or their estranged loved ones had chance to do anything to mend the rift. People feel particularly powerless and feel the loss very acutely when that happens. Praying for the dead means that even in that dreadful situation we are not powerless, we can do something.

Someone once said that the Church is the only organisation that doesn’t loose members through death. We believe in the communion of saints. We here on earth, the Church Militant, the souls in purgatory, the Church Suffering and the saints in heaven, the Church Triumphant are all in this together. The saints can help us, and we can help those who have finished one phase of their journey towards union with God, but haven’t quite made it to the end. 

8th DECEMBER - SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

This most important Feast of the Church will be marked in the Conventual Church with a Sung Mass at 6.30 pm, at which the music will be provided by the choir 'Cantores Missae'.

The music for Mass will be:
Missa Trahe me post te Victoria
Tota pulchra es Palestrina
Sacerdotes Domini Palestrina
Alma redemptoris mater Palestrina

Later in the evening, at 9 pm, the solemn Alma Remptoris Mater will be followed by Tallis's Videte Miraculum, sung by the choir 'Schola Baptista', in honour of Our Blessed and Immaculate Mother.

Videte miraculum matris Domini: concepit virgo virilis ignara consortii,
stans onerata nobili onere Maria; et matrem se laetam cognosci, quae se
nescit uxorem. Haec speciosum forma prae filiis hominum castis concepit
visceribus, et benedicta in aeternum Deum nobis protulit et hominem.


Behold the miracle of the mother of the Lord; a virgin has conceived though she knows not a man,
Mary, who stands laden with her noble Burden; knowing not that she is a wife, she rejoices to be a mother.
She has conceived in her chaste womb one Who is beautiful beyond the sons of men,
and blessed for ever, she has brought forth God and man for us.

The painting shows Saint Francis and Blessed John Duns Scotus venerating Our Lady's Immaculate Conception.  Duns Scotus preached this Dogma in England in the 13th Century, nearly two centuries before the Feast was established universally in the Church by Pope Sixtus IV, when this was truly a Catholic country.

Dos tua, Virgo Pia, hæc est.

ADVENT CAROL SERVICE IN AID OF THE HOSPICE

You are warmly invited to attend

A SERVICE OF ADVENT LESSONS AND CAROLS

in the Conventual Church of Saint John of Jerusalem,

at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday 15th December, 2009

The renowned choir ‘Cantores Missae’, under the direction of Charles Finch, will sing carols and motets.

There will be a retiring collection for the 

much-needed support of

Saint John’s Hospice.

Following the service, all are warmly welcome to join members of the Order for mulled wine and mince pies in Fortescue House, adjacent to the Hospital.

ASSISTED SUICIDE - URGENT APPEAL BY THE BISHOPS FOR YOUR HELP

The Bishops of England and Wales have asked us all to write in response to the Consultation Document issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions.


Visit the Bishops Conference webpage HERE for more information about why this is so important, or read the Diocese of Westminster commentary HERE.


You might wish to listen to Archbishop Peter Smith explaining the gravity of the situation:

from Catholic Church (England/Wales) on Vimeo.


As the Bishops' website is rather complicated, you can more easily download the form HERE. 
The questionnaire begins on page 7.  The answers are 'yes' or 'no' from drop-down menus, the Bishops offer advice on how to reply. 


When you have filled it in, either email it to:
assistedsuicide.consultation@cps.gsi.gov.uk


or post it to: 
Assisted Suicide Policy Team
Crown Prosecution Service Headquarters - 6th floor
50 Ludgate Hill
London
EC4M 7EX

Responses must be received by 16th December.

PLEASE ACT, DO NOT IGNORE THIS APPEAL.  THIS LEGISLATION THREATENS THE LIVES AND DIGNITY OF EVERY PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY.

Our Lady, help of Christians, pray for us.

1st NOVEMBER - ALL SAINTS DAY.

It was a great joy on this Feast of the Church, that the Mass, in the presence of the Grand Prior with a congregation of over 80 faithful, was celebrated by Fr Dominic Robinson, SJ, to whom we are most grateful for all the support and assistance he has given us over the past months.

On All Souls Day, November 2nd, a Requiem Mass was sung by Fr John Hemer MHM, to whom we also extend our profound gratitude.

OCTOBER 10th. ROSARY CRUSADE OF REPARATION

The Annual Rosary Crusade procession in honour of the Immaculate Heart of Mary this year was attended not only by several member of the Order, as has become customary in recent years, but also by a group of the Companions and Faithful of the Conventual Church, including our youngest altar server, who walked with one of the Order's Lourdes banners.

The weather was fine and, as usual, the Holy Rosary was recited all along the route from the Cathedral to the Oratory, and hymns sung as we passed through the crowd of shoppers on the busy streets of Belgravia and Knightsbridge.


The Crusade was well attended by over 2,000 people, in spite of the Cathedral also being packed for a Day with Mary.  Benediction at the Brompton Oratory was celebrated by Mgr. Emmanuel-Marie de St Jean, Abbot of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse.   The sermon was preached by Fr. Nicholas Schofield of this Diocese.

May Our Lady shower blessings upon our Country and upon the Church.

"FAITH MATTERS" LECTURES - THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH

Your attention is drawn to a series of lectures designed to deepen our awareness of our Faith, in the face of questions and misunderstanding in the world around us.  The talks are given by some outstanding speakers, and promise to be very worthwhile.

They are to be held on Wednesdays during November and December at Vaughan House, 46 Francis Street, SW1, the Diocesan offices behind Westminster Cathedral.

For more information, and how to book, click here to visit the Diocesan webpage.

NOVEMBER - MONTH OF THE HOLY SOULS

The month of November is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Souls, when we pray for the release of the souls in Purgatory, including our parents, family and friends.

Simply put, Purgatory is where those who have died in grace, but who have not fully atoned for the punishments resulting from their sins, go to finish their atonement before entering Heaven. A soul in Purgatory may suffer, but he ultimately has the assurance that he will enter Heaven when his punishment is complete.

As Christians, we don't travel through this world alone. Our salvation is wrapped up with the salvation of others, and charity requires us to come to their aid. The same is true of the Holy Souls. In their time in Purgatory, they can pray for us, and we should pray for them that they may be freed from the punishment for their sins and enter into Heaven.

We believe that those Holy Souls for whom we pray will continue to pray for us after they have been released from Purgatory. So if we, too, should die after confessing our sins, but before atoning fully for them, those souls for whom we have prayed will offer prayers for us while we are in Purgatory. It's a comforting thought, and one that should encourage us, especially in this month of November, to offer our prayers for the Holy Souls.

Monday 2nd November is the COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED, and a Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 6.30pm.

During the following week, 1st to 8th, a Plenary Indulgence applicable to the Holy Souls may be obtained every day by a visit to a cemetery, or prayer for the dead if you are unable to visit, under the usual conditions of Holy Communion, sacramental confession, and prayer for the Holy Father's intentions.  On the 2nd November, the same indulgence applies to prayers for the dead in any church or chapel.

SATURDAY 31st OCTOBER

As part of the monthly Grand Priory Day of Recollection, Sung Mass of Our Lady's Saturday will be celebrated in the Church at 12 noon.

The office of Lauds will be sung at 10am; and Vespers, Holy Hour and Benediction at around 3.30pm, to which all are most welcome.

"THE SACRED MADE REAL - SPANISH PAINTING AND SCULPTURE 1600-1700". Archbishop Vincent Nichols offers a spiritual meditation upon three works in the current National Gallery exhibition

The Sacred Made Real from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.
Click here for further details on the National Gallery site

OCTOBER 15th. VISIT OF THE RELICS OF SAINT THERESE TO THE HOSPICE

In the evening of Thursday, after they left Westminster Cathedral, the relics of St Thérèse came to the Hospital of Saint John and Saint Elizabeth, and Saint John's Hospice.

The relics have been touring the country as part of their continuous mission around the world, following the Saint's wish to be a missionary, formally recognised by Pope John Paul II's declaration of her as Patron of Missions.

The visit to St John's Wood was planned to be for the benefit of the sick and dying, and several hundred pilgrims came to venerate the relics in the Conventual Church.

Many Hospice patients came to the church, and other pilgrims came from the local parish of Our Lady, Lisson Grove, and the neighbouring parishes of Swiss Cottage and the Rosary Church, Marylebone, and local convents and old-peoples' homes, including Barbara Brosnan Court.  We were also very pleased to welcome the Little Sisters of the Poor from St Anne's Home, Stoke Newington, where Canon McDonald is now Chaplain. Some of the Order of Malta Lourdes pilgrims were also present.

At the invitation of the Chairman of the Hospital, Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary of Westminster, celebrated a sung Mass at the close of the visit, which was attended by more than 200 people. The 18th century vestments worn had been restored by one of the patients present at the Mass.

We are very grateful to the many teams of carers and helpers who made the visit such a success.

As the relics left the church, a piper played "The Little Flower - St Thérèse of Lisieux" a new composition written specially for today's visit to the Hospital.

We pray that the many graces the visit of the relics have brought will renew the life and work of the Hospital and Hospice, and bring hope and faith to those who were present. (Click on the photographs to enlarge them.)

FAREWELL PRAYER 

Loving Father, We thank you for the visit of the relics of St Thérèse to our country. We ask you to draw us more deeply into your love And to fill us with confidence in your mercy. Help us to become, like St Thérèse, love at the heart of the Church. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.

The Bishops have provided additional photographs, click here.

Further updates and images will be added when they are available.

St Thérèse of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, pray for us.

OCTOBER 13th. FEAST OF BLESSED GERARD, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER. VISIT BY THE GRAND MASTER AND SOLEMN VOWS OF FRA' DUNCAN GALLIE

Tuesday 13th October is celebrated in the Order of Malta as the Feast of the Founder, Blessed Gerard, and this year the celebrations in the Conventual Church were of particular joy and solemnity, before a crowded church.

The Grand Master, with the Grand Prior, the Chaplain of the Grand Priory and professed knights

We were greatly honoured by the visit of the Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Matthew Festing, who received the solemn (perpetual) vows of Fra' Duncan Gallie, Chancellor of the Grand Priory of England, and Member of Sovereign Council.

The vows take place during Mass, and are in two parts.  Firstly, following the Epistle, the creating as a Knight – the giving of the sword and spurs; and secondly, after Communion, the religious vows, sworn upon an open Missal, by which the candidate comes into full membership of the Order.

The insignia prepared for the sword to be blessed

The giving of the sword

The spurs

The lighted candle

The first part of the vows is followed by the Gospel of the Mass, during which the Postulant stands holding his candle.

The homily was preached by Monsignor Antony Conlon, Principal Chaplain to the Grand Priory.  Click here for an extract from the text.

After the Communion, the postulant returns to the Grand Master for the clothing in the habit as a religious.

I, N. VOW TO ALMIGHTY GOD, IMPLORING THE ASSISTANCE OF MARY IMMACULATE, OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST AND OF BLESSED GERARD, TO OBSERVE POVERTY, CHASTITY, AND OBEDIENCE IN PERPETUITY TO WHICHEVER SUPERIOR I WILL BE ASSIGNED BY THE HOLY ORDER AND I INTEND TO MAKE THESE VOWS IN THE SPIRIT OF THE STATUTES AND LAWS OF THE ORDER OF MALTA.

The Grand Master embraces the Postulant: 

M.  I now acknowledge you and truly count you as one of our brothers.

P.  I, too, so consider myself, by the grace of the Lord our God and by your favour, my Most Eminent Lord. 

He is then clothed in the religious habit of the order and receives the Stola, decorated with the symbols of Our Lord's Passion, the yoke of the Knight, to remind him constantly of his life of service and charity, following the pattern of our Saviour.

The Mass, presided over by the Grand Master who has the rank of Cardinal, was celebrated by our chaplain, Fr Ronald Creighton-Jobe of the London Oratory.  It was followed by a reception in Brampton House.


We all wish Fra' Duncan many congratulations, and join in replying to his request for our prayers.

PRAYER OF THE ORDER OF MALTA

Lord Jesus, Thou has seen fit to enlist me for Thy service among the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. I humbly entreat Thee through the intercession of the most holy Virgin of Philerme, of St John the Baptist, Blessed Gerard and all the Saints, to keep me faithful to the traditions of our Order. Be it mine to practise and defend the Catholic, the Apostolic, the Roman faith against the enemies of religion: be it mine to practise charity towards my neighbours, especially Poor and sick  Give me the strength I need to carry out this my resolve, forgetful of myself, learning ever from Thy holy Gospel a spirit of deep and generous Christian devotion, striving ever to promote God’s glory, the world’s peace, and all that may benefit the Order of St John of Jerusalem.  AMEN

The Grand Master with Fra' Duncan Gallie after the Mass

Photographs © www.sophieziegler.com

SAINT HUGH, RELIGIOUS OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 8th OCTOBER

Saint Hugh was born about 1168 at Alessandria (Italy).

He became a knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.

After lengthy service with the Order in the Holy Land,

he was elected Master of the Commandery of St John di Prè

in Genoa (Italy), where he worked in the infirmary nearby. 

He was renowned for miraculous powers over the natural elements. 

He is believed to have died in 1233.


St Hugh's name is inscribed in a panel of the outer wall of the Conventual Church in London.

From the Collect

Saint Hugh,

God gave you the power to heal the sick by the sign of the cross.

Pray that God will give all our members

the spirit which inspired your own love

to serve God in our sick brothers and sisters.

THE RELICS OF SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS

The relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux are being exposed for veneration in churches throughout England & Wales.   St Thérèse (1873–97), the “Little Flower”, was a Carmelite nun inspired by an intense devotion to the person of Jesus Christ. Her practice of complete fidelity to Him in the smallest events of daily life, her “Little Way”, gives an example that shows how a profound spiritual life can be within the reach of ordinary men and women.   This teaching, as she lived it, is described in her autobiography, “The Story of a Soul”. It led the Church to declare St Thérèse a Doctor of the Church, a teacher of the most profound truths of the Catholic faith.

The visit of her relics to our busy capital city teaches us that the most important work in life is to learn to know and love God in our own lives.   Relics remind us that God himself made human life holy when he became a man, Jesus Christ. He continues to make himself known in the words and deeds of holy people.

Relics are a sign of God’s presence in his saints and a focus for our prayer. The relics of St Thérèse recall her “Little Way” of complete fidelity to Jesus Christ. In them she comes to us and invites us to follow Him.  To prepare as a community to receive the relics into our Diocese, and to invite St Thérèse to pray for us and open our hearts to the grace of God, a Novena is recommended.

Click here for the leaflet describing the arrangements for veneration at the Cathedral.

NOVENA PRAYER

Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.

V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.

R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.



Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.




Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be
St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, pray for us.

A PRAYER TO SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX

Lord Jesus, through the life of St Thérèse, you have brought new hope to all who long to open their hearts to you. Teach us the secret of her ‘Little Way’ and help us to realise that we can always talk with You and bring You our gratitude, our smiles and our tears. Stay with us, Jesus, so that in the midst of our busy hours, we may turn to You in loving trust. Transform each passing moment of time into a moment of prayer. Fill every troubled heart with the confident faith of St Thérèse. In joy and in sorrow, in every circumstance, may our hearts rest in Your peace, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

St Therese in Westminster from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.

SAINT THERESE'S PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
for your priests labouring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young priests;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in Purgatory;
but above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptised me;
the priests who absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.
O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
And bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

HYMN TO SAINT THERESE
From clear high mansions of that shining palace
Where you enjoy the light of God's dear presence,
And plead our causes, mindful of your promise
Shower down your roses.

Roses of faith to shed its light supernal,
Roses of hope when obstacles surround us,
And for our strengthening in daily living
Roses of pure love.

Through your own childlike confidence and candor
Send us the rose of quietly discerning
Love of a Father, shining in each happening
Both sweet and bitter.

This be our portion, God forever blessed,
Father eternal, Son and Holy Spirit,
Whose is the glory which through all creation
Resounds forever.

CONCERT OF SACRED MUSIC

The renowned choir, MUSICA CONTEXTA, will give a concert of sacred music in the Church on Wednesday 7th October at 7.30 pm.

For more information visit their site.

The concert is open to all, and you are warmly encouraged to attend.

OCTOBER, MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY

October is traditionally the Month of the Holy Rosary. The feast, which falls on Wednesday 7th, has a great significance for the Order of Malta, as it is the commemoration of the victory of the Battle of Lepanto against the Turk in 1571, in which Our Lady's holy assistance is attributed to the prayer of the Rosary. In more recent time victories, including the fall of the Siege of Vienna, have been attributed to Our Lady's intercession through the prayer of the Rosary.

In our own age we ask Our Lady to pray for peace in the world, and for strength against the powers of darkness which surround us in all walks of life. Especially in the Hospital and Hospice we ask her intercession for the conversion of those in our country who would wage war on the sick, the elderly and the unborn.

THE HOLY ROSARY WILL BE RECITED BEFORE THE THURSDAY MASS EACH WEEK DURING OCTOBER, BEGINNING AT 6.15 pm.

INVESTITURE OF COLONEL PACE 18TH JUNE 2009

On Thursday 18th June 2009, in the presence of the Grand Prior, the President of the British Association, Mr Charles Weld, invested Colonel Tommy Pace, RAMC, who has been sacristan of the Conventual Church for over thirty years, as a Knight of Malta.

CORPUS CHRISTI 2009

On Sunday 14th June, the transferred Feast of Corpus Christi, a solemn Mass and procession around the Hospital was celebrated by members of the Order, Companions and their families, and the Sunday congregation, with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at altars set up in the grounds and in the Hospice Reception. The procession was followed by a picnic lunch for families in the garden of the Order Chancellery, to which parishioners and members of the Order and their children came, and who enjoyed the sunny weather.

REQUIEM FOR DAVID LUMSDEN OF CUSHNIE

A Requiem Mass was celebrated, in the presence of the Grand Prior, for the repose of the soul David Lumsden of Cushnie, Knight of Honour and Devotion, Director of Ceremonies of the Scottish Delegation, on Saturday 6th December 2008.

Requiescat in Pace

INSTALLATION OF 56TH GRAND PRIOR ON 21ST APRIL 2008

Following the election of the Grand Prior of England Fra' Matthew Festing as 79th Grand Master of the Order on 11th March 2008, Fra' Fredrik Crichton-Stuart was installed by His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grand Master as Grand Prior of England on 21st April, in the Conventual Church.

Click here for more photographs.

HOLY EASTER TRIDUUM

Since 2003 the Holy Easter Triduum has been celebrated each year by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the Conventual Church, as part of a spiritual retreat. These ceremonies are open to all.

The office of Tenebræ is celebrated each morning, and the Liturgies celebrated solemnly. Spiritual conferences are given each day by one of the chaplains to deepen our understanding of these Sacred Mysteries.

Below are some photographs of the ceremonies in 2007 and 2008, the first showing the procession of the Blessed Sacrament leaving the church at night on its way to the Altar of Repose.

The Good Friday veneration of the Cross is emphasised by the gaunt character of the denuded church.

The Easter Fire is blessed in the Hospital courtyard, as the Paschal Candle is prepared.

The glories of the Resurrection are celebrated at the Mass of the Easter Vigil, as all the majesty returns to the Church's Rites.

Surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluia.

REQUIEM FOR HENRY BENEDICT, CARDINAL DUKE OF YORK

Frequent are the occasions upon which Requiem Masses, both funerals and memorials, are celebrated in the Church, for patients of the Hospital and Hospice, and members of the Order of Malta and their families.

Rarely however are such grand occasions seen as that celebrated on 22nd September 2007, the 200th Anniversary Requiem of Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York.

His Excellency Bishop Bernard Longley celebrated Pontifical Mass of Requiem for the repose of the soul of the man who might have been King of England.

Requiescat in Pace.

REQUIEM FOR THE LATE GRAND MASTER 14TH FEBRUARY 2008

Fra' Andrew Bertie, the first English Grand Master of the Order, was born on the 15th May 1929 elected on 11th April 1988, and died on 7th February 2008. His funeral took place in Rome, in the church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine.

A Requiem was celebrated in the Conventual Church in London on 14th February 2008.

Requiescat in Pace.

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

The 19th century was the period of the great revival of Catholicism in Britain and symptomatic of this movement was the reintroduction of the Order of Malta into this country. The Order, so powerful in Europe in the Middle Ages, was suppressed in England along with the other Religious Orders by Henry VIII.

The wish to reintroduce the Order to Britain coincided with the return from the Crimea of the Sisters of Mercy to Bermondsey where they had been established in 1839. These nuns had nursed wounded British soldiers at Scutari and Florence Nightingale had written to them "… you were valued here as you deserve… the gratitude of the Army is yours".

Cardinal Wiseman was determined to establish a hospital for the poor of London, particularly the incurably sick and for children, and he saw in the Sisters of Mercy and in the Knights nursing and administrative ability to enable him to achieve his aim. In 1856 the nuns moved into 47 Great Ormond Street. The hospital opened on the Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (17th November) 1856, following the purchase of the property by a group of leading Catholic laymen including the Duke of Norfolk and Sir George Bowyer.

Sir George Bowyer constructed the present magnificent church both for the knights of Malta and for the nuns and their patients. It was opened on the Feast of St. John 1864 by Cardinal Wiseman, the architect being George Goldie, a leading Catholic architect of the day, and was built "in the Italian baroque style particularly favoured by Anglican converts to Rome".

In the early l890's the Hospital moved to St John’s Wood, a former property of the Order before the Reformation, with the Children’s Hospital remaining in Great Ormond Street. The church was carefully dismantled and re-erected as the centrepiece of the new Hospital designed by Edward Goldie, the son of the original architect. The foundation stone of the reconstruction was laid by Cardinal Vaughan on 7th June l899 and it may be seen at the back of the church.

When Sir George Bowyer died in 1883 he left his heart to the church and it still lies beneath the slab marking it in front of the High Altar.

The Italianate façade of the church immediately informs the visitor that this is a Church of the Order of Malta - Maltese crosses abound.

The design, by George Goldie, is in fact a fairly close copy of the church of S Nicholas des Lorrains in Rome. Much of the contents of the church were installed in 1864, including the marble High Altar under its baldacchino; this was the gift of the Lieutenant Grand Master of the Order to the British Knights. The altar to the right, in Siena marble with a Spanish tortoiseshell reredos and crucifix, was the gift of Cardinal Wiseman, but had formerly belonged to the Throckmorton family, many of whose descendants are members of the Order today.

The church also contains two 17th century statues of saints over the west door facing the altar. These are reputed to have once been part of the stern decoration on one of the Order's galleys.

To the left to the sanctuary sits the large red and gilt throne occupied by the Grand Master of the Order when in England and by the Grand Prior of England at other times. The large black rock is from Mount Phileremos on Rhodes (the seat of the Order from l310 to l523) and is surmounted by a reproduction of the Icon of Our Lady of Philermo to whom the Order has a special devotion.

Visitors to the church will be struck by the large number of Maltese Crosses included in the decoration. The eight pointed cross has been used for 900 years by the Order and although its origins go back into the mists of time, it is probable that it was first used by merchants from Amalfi in Italy. The Order took it with them to Malta and that island adopted it as its own. Down the years it has been used as an illustration of the four cardinal virtues and the eight beatitudes by spiritual writers. Today it continues to be the principal badge of the Order.


For reports from the Tablet of June and July 1864 on the occasion of the opening of the Conventual Church, click here.


For a short biography and report of Sir George Bowyer's funeral, click here.

WELCOME

Welcome to the new blog for the Conventual Church of Saint John of Jerusalem.

As a first post, we include below some photographs from the Mass for the re-establishment of the Grand Priory of England on St John's Day, 23rd June 1993, and the Installation of Fra' Matthew Festing as 55th Grand Prior, in the presence of the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Luigi Barbarito, members of the hierarchy of England, and much of English Catholic society.

As many will know, Fra' Matthew is now Grand Master of the Order.


Please pray for the humanitarian and spiritual works of the Order of Malta.

Sancta Maria de Phileremo, ora pro nobis.
Sancte Joannes Baptista, ora pro nobis.