FSSP Vocations discernment weekend

Vocation discernment weekend

27-29 July 2012 in Reading:

For any English-speaking Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).
Starts on Friday 27th July 2012 at 6pm (arrivals from 5pm) – ends on Sunday 29th July 2012 at 3pm.
Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, assisted by Fr Matthew Goddard, FSSP and Rev Alex Stewart, FSSP.

Location: St John Fisher House, 17 Eastern Avenue, Reading, RG1 5RU, England.
Programme: Spiritual conferences, socials, Holy Mass each of the three days (Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite), silent prayer, and optional private talk with Fr de Malleray, FSSP. Fr de Malleray will explain what a vocation is in general and to the priesthood in particular.

Cost for the whole weekend, 2 days + 2 nights, full board: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.

Contact: Tel: 0118 966 5284; Email: malleray@fssp.org; website: www.fssp.co.uk/england

Vocation discernment weekend

Vocation discernment weekend:

30 March - 1 April 2012

at St John Fisher House in Reading:

For Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).

Starts on Friday 30th March 2012 at 6pm (arrivals from 5pm)– ends on Sunday 1st April 2012 at 3pm. Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, assisted by Fr Simon Leworthy, FSSP and Rev Ian Verrier, FSSP – one of our seminarians from Birmingham (read his interview in the Catholic Herald last month here).

(picture: Palm Sunday 2009 in Reading)

Location: St John Fisher House is the residence of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England & Wales.

Address: 17, Eastern Avenue, Reading, RG1 5RU, England.

Access: 27mn from London Paddington by direct trains up to every 10mn, and from London Waterloo. Direct trains from Oxford, Bournemouth, Bristol, Newcastle, York, Birmingham, Gatwick Airport, Southampton Airport, etc. Direct 'RailAir' buses from Heathrow to Reading train station every 20mn. Motorway: M4. Trains: www.nationalrail.co.uk. Buses: www.nationalexpress.com

Limited overnight accommodation: please book now.

Programme: Spiritual conferences, socials, Holy Mass each of the three days (Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite) including Solemn High Mass on Palm Sunday, silent prayer, private talk with Fr de Malleray, FSSP. Fr de Malleray will explain what a vocation is in general and to the priesthood in particular. Read here the Holy Father's recent Letter to seminarians. Extract: "The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church's liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations."

Cost: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.

New: our special Vocations flyer and videos on www.fssp.org.uk/england/pages/vocations.

Contact: Tel: 0118 966 5284; Email: malleray at fssp.org

Web: www.fssp.co.uk/england; International: fssp.org; Youths: www.juventutem.org

St John Fisher House is the residence of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Reading, a Catholic international priestly society canonically established in the dioceses of Portsmouth and of Northampton, and in the Archdiocese of St Andrew's & Edinburgh.

We had 11 men staying here at our last Vocation discernment weekend before Christmas. We hope you can be with us this next time. God bless you!

(Picture: coat of arms of the FSSP embroidered on vestments worn by Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts H. Exc. Juan Ignacio Arrieta at minor ordination in Germany of Rev James Mawdsley, FSSP (from Durham) on 11 February 2012. Read Liverpool diocesan priest Fr Henry's report on the event here.)

Vocation discernment weekend / Altar servers' weekend

Vocation discernment weekend, at St John Fisher House in Reading on 16-18 December 2011:

For Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).

Starts on Friday 16th December 2011 at 6pm – ends on Sunday 18th December 2011 mid-afternoon. Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP.

Location: St John Fisher House is the residence of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England & Wales.

Address: 17, Eastern Avenue, Reading, RG1 5RU, England.

Access: 27mn from London Paddington by direct trains up to every 10mn, and from London Waterloo. Direct trains from Oxford, Bournemouth, Bristol, Newcastle, York, Birmingham, Gatwick Airport, Southampton Airport, etc. Direct 'RailAir' buses from Heathrow to Reading train station every 20mn. Motorway: M4.

Limited overnight accommodation: please book now.

Programme: Spiritual conferences, socials, Holy Mass each of the three days (Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite) including polyphonic Sunday Mass, silent prayer, private talk with Fr de Malleray, FSSP. Fr de Malleray will explain what a vocation is in general and to the priesthood in particular. Read here the Holy Father's recent Letter to seminarians. Extract: "The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church's liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations."

Cost: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.

New: our special Vocations flyer and videos on www.fssp.org.uk/england/pages/vocations.

~~*~~

Altar servers' weekend (residential): at St John Fisher House in Reading on 18-20 November 2011:

For single Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).

Starts on Friday 18th November 2011 at 6pm – ends on Sunday 20th November 2011 mid-afternoon. Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP.

In a convivial atmosphere, come and learn (or improve) how to set the vestments and sacred items before Mass and to serve Low Mass and Benediction. EF Mass on the Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Fr de Malleray will give explanations on the liturgy.

Limited overnight accommodation: please book now. Non residential participants welcome.

Cost: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.

Lanherne Convent appeal

by Dr Joseph Shaw

I too have received the same e-mail as Fr Sean and Fr Ray Blake.

The Sisters of the Immaculate at Lanherne have for ten years occupied a convent owned by the Carmelites. This is not odd for them as they are unable to own property. However the Carmelites have announced that they wish to put the convent on the open market, unless... well, unless the Sisters can come up with something.

They are a thriving community who use Traditional Mass the 1962 Breviary. They are a sister order to the Friars of the Immaculate, who have a base in Stoke and two of whom accompanied the LMS Pilgrimage to Walsingham.

Please pray for a solution to be found. The community is unique in the British Isles and if they lose the convent they will have to return to Italy. The order, and the community at Lanherne, is international.

If we English Catholics can't find a home for these sisters who want to devote their entire lives to praying for us, then I say we do not deserve the conversion of England for which we all long.

(reposted from LMS Chairman blog)

First Mass of Fr Marek Grabowski FSSP

by Dr Joseph Shaw

Fr Marek Grabowski FSSP made news with his ordination in Poland, this being the first traditional ordination since 1970. He is well known to the English Traditional Catholic community, as he has often visited Reading and was a member of staff at the St Catherine's Trust Summer School in 2007. It was wonderful to see him back here again as a priest. He celebrated Mass with the assistance of Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP as deacon, and Fr Simon Leeworthy FSSP as subdeacon.)

I have never seen St William of York so full. There were people crowded at the back, the extension had about 30 people in it, and of course there was the choir in the choir loft. In all about 120 people. (No, Paul Inwood, not the 'same 30 people' in Portsmouth diocese people going to more Masses than before, but four times that number at St William of York alone.

Afterwards Fr Grabowski gave 'first blessings'.

More photos here.

(reposted from LMS Chairman blog)

5th Vocation discernment weekend (UK)

5th Vocation discernment weekend, at St John Fisher House in Reading on 22-23-24 July 2011:

For Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).

Starts on Friday 22nd July 2011 at 6pm – ends on Sunday 24th July 2011 mid-afternoon. Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP.

Location: St John Fisher House is the residence of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England & Wales. Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth has allowed for its canonical establishment in Reading on 1st August 2010.

Address: 17, Eastern Avenue, Reading, RG1 5RU, England.

Access: 27mn from London Paddington by direct trains up to every 10mn, and from London Waterloo. Direct trains from Oxford, Bournemouth, Bristol, Newcastle, York, Birmingham, Gatwick Airport, Southampton Airport, etc. Direct 'RailAir buses from Heathrow to Reading train station every 20mn. Motorway: M4.

Limited overnight accommodation: please book now.

Programme: Spiritual conferences, socials, Holy Mass each of the three days (Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite), silent prayer, private talk with Fr de Malleray, FSSP. Fr de Malleray will explain what a vocation is in general and to the priesthood in particular. Extract from the Holy Father's recent Letter to seminarians. Extract: "The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church's liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations."

Cost: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.

New: our special Vocations flyer and videos on www.fssp.org.uk/england/pages/vocations.

Convent needs Sisters, Sisters need Convent

by Fr Tim Finigan

Joseph Shaw at the LMS Chairman's blog has news from the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. They are appealing for benefactors to help them start a new community in Darlington. If you have the funds, you could own a beautiful building and do a good work for the Lord in letting the Sisters use it for its proper purpose. The photo above is of the sisters at Lanhearne and is from Joseph Shaw's flickr set. Here is the information from Lanhearne:

Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, Lanherne Cornwall

DARLINGTON CARMEL (one of the very early Carmels to be established in England [1830]) is up for sale. The very few remaining sisters are soon to move out. At Lanherne we have known about this for several months and we have been to visit the establishment. Wonderful for our needs! The Sisters are not going to leave Lanherne, in fact another house is needed as a new foundation. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate have a goodly number of vocations; especially sisters who at the moment belong to the “active” branch who have a vocation to the contemplative life. So another contemplative house is needed. There is a major problem. Yes, you’ve got it! The FSI have no money and the Carmelites at Darlington require one and half million pounds. If you know Darlington and the Carmel then you will be surprised that it’s going for only £1,500,000. It’s large and fine, in good order and a Grade 2 listed building.

So we are looking for a benefactor. Franciscans cannot own property and therefore a possible benefactor would continue to own the Carmel and would let the FSI use it – or a trust could be set up. It is possible that with a serious bit of thinking other activities may be considered - retreats etc. ALL is possible. May I remind you that the FSI use ONLY the 1962 liturgical books. A centre for traditional Catholics in the north of England would be a great help to many people.

Please pray that a benefactor or a group of benefactors may be found.

Please contact me and let me know your thoughts.

Father Joseph M Taylor
Lanherne Convent
St Mawgan
Newquay
Cornwall
TR8 4ER

(reposted from The Hermeneutic of Continuity)

Invocation 2010

Invocation 2010 is a UK national festival aimed at young men and women aged 16-35, who are looking to deepen their relationship with Christ, discern God’s will for their lives and perhaps be open to the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

This year's event is taking place from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 July at St Mary's College, Oscott (near Birmingham).

For more information see the website at www.invocation.org.uk

Priests Training Conference (Ushaw)

LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Ushaw College, Durham.

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS) is organising a residential training conference for priests wishing to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Ushaw College, Durham, one of England’s most prestigious seminaries.

The conference will run from Monday 12 April to Friday 16 April 2010 (i.e. Low Week) and will feature Traditional liturgies in Ushaw’s magnificent neo-Gothic St Cuthbert’s Chapel together with a Gregorian Chant schola and polyphonic choir.

Expert tuition in the celebration of Mass in the Usus Antiquior will be provided on a small group basis. There will be tuition in Low Mass, Missa Cantata and Missa Solemnis and there will be streams for beginners and more advanced students. There will be a keynote lecture and 1962 Missals and altar cards will be available.

There will be opening and closing High Masses, daily Mass and Devotions, and Rosary. There will also be a closing Conference dinner with guest speaker.

The subsidised fee to participants is only £115.00 which includes all accommodation, meals and training materials. There are limited places and priests are asked to register as soon as possible.

Further details and registration forms can be obtained from the LMS office (Tel: 020 7404 7284, e mail: info at latin-mass-society.org) or from the conference organiser, Mr Paul Waddington (Tel: 01757 638027, e mail: paul at gooleboathouse.co.uk).

Paul Waddington said, “This is the second time the LMS has organised such a training conference at Ushaw College and we are delighted to be going back. I hope the laity will tell their priests about this wonderful opportunity to learn the Usus Antiquior in the setting of one of England’s finest Catholic seminaries.”

Latin Mass Society, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH
Tel: 020 7404 7284
E mail: info at latin-mass-society.org
Website: latin-mass-society.org

(photo: Fr Ray Blake)

Contemplative Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate

by Fr Joseph M Taylor

I imagine many readers of the NLM will already know the name Lanherne. Lanherne Convent in Cornwall, in the far south west of England, is the home of the Contemplative Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate in the UK. This branch of the Franciscan Order has four contemplative houses for women religious in the world. Two in Italy (Citta Di Castello and Albenga), one in the Philippines, and Lanherne. Someone with a vocation first enters the apostolic sisters where she does her postulancy, novitiate and takes temporary vows and probably final vows also. It is only after some years – perhaps five, six or seven - that a sister feels her vocation is to the contemplative life. Perhaps the superiors think that this sister is called to the contemplative life. Therefore at this stage a sister might well pass from one way of the religious life to the other vocation. My point being one does not enter the contemplative life direct from “the world”.

After the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum in 2007 the FSI superiors decided that these four contemplative houses would take up the full and exclusive use of the 1962 liturgical books.

I wrote an article several months ago for the Latin Mass Society’s magazine, The Mass of the Ages which gives a brief resumé of what goes on at Lanherne and gives a history of the convent and of the Carmelites who own the house and lived in it for about two hundred years. Yes, indeed, the Carmelites (the few remaining ones are in a Carmel in the north of England) have been very generous towards our Franciscan nuns as on vacating Lanherne, they then welcomed the Franciscans to live there as their “guests”. Eight years have now passed and quite naturally the Franciscans are concerned about the future of the convent building. It would be a wonderful work of Providence if our nuns were more secure at Lanherne.

Several good things have happened at Lanherne Convent since my article appeared in Mass of the Ages in the early part of this year. In fact, the full Office (1962) has been sung since Christmas Eve 2008 and the Little Office of Our Lady has been recited (in full on a daily basis) over the last couple of months. The Little Office is said every day except on Mondays, when the Office of the Dead is recited.

I thought the readers of this journal might well be interested in the liturgical timetable of the nuns. Perhaps you could say some Office at the same time as the community or the rosary or other devotions. Just as the sisters are praying for you, so you can pray for them and for the intentions for which they offer the Office. A real union in prayer.

• Rise at midnight - Matins and Lauds at 12.10 am
• 5.35 am - Lauds of Our Lady (in cell)
• 6 am - Prime followed by Little Office Prime
• Meditation and Terce and Little Office Terce
• 7.30 am - Conventual Mass (sung daily)
• 12.20 pm - Sext (+ Little Office Sext)
• 1.20 pm - None (+ Little Office None)
• 3 pm - Vespers (Little Office – in cell)
• 3.15 pm - Vespers
• 3.45 pm - Rosary and Litany
• 4.15 pm - Meditation and anticipated Little Office Matins until 5.40 pm
• 8.25 pm - Compline (followed by Little Office Compline in cell)

• Stations of the Cross – Fridays at 8.20 pm
• Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction – Fridays 8.40 am – 1 pm

The Sunday timetable varies very slightly – the main difference is that the Conventual Mass is at 10 am

It is important to remember that at Lanherne we have a contemplative community. Therefore there is a strict observance of “enclosure”. Today enclosure is much misunderstood. People, including many Catholics, ask such questions as how can such a life be justified in view of the Gospel, which invites Christians to become a light in the world and to proclaim the “good news” to all people? Historically enclosure was freely chosen from the very beginning by the nuns themselves in order that they could be truly free to get on with their daily business of the praise and worship of Almighty God. It was much later that enclosure became an object of canonical legislation.

When writing before I explained that the nuns at Lanherne live entirely on the alms of the faithful. They are truly poor! As the community is the only one we have in England and Wales which offers Holy Mass and the Divine Office according to the 1962 liturgical books it is very important that we should support them by our prayers and our donations. I am aware that Lanherne is a long way from almost everywhere else in the UK and is therefore difficult to visit, but perhaps the readers of the article should be thinking about a visit to Cornwall during 2010.

By the time you read this article another sister will have joined the Lanherne community, this will bring the total to fourteen sisters. At this stage there will be a problem. Fourteen is about the maximum number that Lanherne can accommodate. You will ask what next? Indeed a good question. An additional house will soon be needed and it is here that you may be able to help. Do you know of any convent which is either up for sale or about to be up for sale? The Sisters would need a property to be bought by a benefactor(s) as they themselves own nothing. The ideal building would be one with an existing enclosure and therefore we are thinking of ex-Carmelite, Poor Clare, Benedictine, etc. but other buildings might be suitable also. Let me have any suggestions and thoughts on ways of raising funds!! Please write to me:- Father Joseph M Taylor c/o Lanherne Convent (address below).

Reverend Mother at Lanherne wishes me to thank you all for your gifts during the last year. If you have donated you have no doubt received a little note from Mother. At present we are in need of funds for a number of liturgical items, in particular a Tenebrae Hearse (used at the Sacred Triduum to hold the 15 unbleached candles). This year we had to made do and mend with something very unsuitable! We also are in need of a good, very good ombrellino (an “umbrella” for transferring the Blessed Sacrament from one altar to another and Reliquaries (we have the relics, but not the containers).

Please continue to be generous – the address for benefactions is:- Reverend Mother, Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, Lanherne Convent, St Mawgan, Newquay, Cornwall, TR8 4ER UK. Cheques can be made payable to "Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate".

~~*~~

Fr. Taylor also sends in some photos from the convent and the life of the nuns there.


















The Skull of English Martyr, St. Cuthbert Mayne
(all photos by and copyright Wayne Perry;
reproduced from The New Liturgical Movement)

Franciscans of the Immaculate settle in Stoke on Trent

by Oliver Hayes

Great news has come in from Fr. Tim that the Franciscans of the Immaculate have just been given the church of St. Joseph in Burslem, a real architectural gem in the Potteries. They are coming to my diocese of Birmingham from Southwark. Having seen for myself the success they have had in reviving the historic convent at Lanherne, we can hope for much from them.

Let us hope that the initiative will be a success unlike the failed attempt to set up a traditionalist parish in St. Vincent de Paul, Liverpool. Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire have been a bastion of Catholic traditionalism since the council, and let us hope the presence of the friars will bolster it. Make a special intention for the novena leading up to the Assumption!

The story of this church itself is well worth telling, as the following article from The Sentinel of Stoke on Trent demonstrates. There is also an audio file about its restoration here.

Fred Hughes reveals the intriguing story behind an artistic gem preserved in Burslem.

It's nearly 80 years since two artistic giants dazzled the fertile canvas of Stoke-on-Trent. Alas their names and reputation have faded over time. But their work and legacy are preserved in an extraordinary mural of Christ in Glory on the sanctuary ceiling of St Joseph's RC Church in Burslem.

"It is most certainly a stunning work," says freelance writer Carmel Dennison. "Obviously it has tremendous merit in its spiritual location, but as a stand-alone work of art it commands an important place in the social heritage of the Potteries."

Carmel's research into the background of this Christian representation has resulted in a booklet entitled The Forsyths At St Joseph's Church, Burslem. It tells the incredible story of father and daughter artists joining forces with a priest and the local Member of Parliament to produce one of the city's little-known treasures.

"The church itself was commissioned by the parish priest Reverend William Browne and designed by the distinguished 20th century architect JS Brocklesby," Carmel tells me. "The style is Italian and the colours of the bricks, which were locally made at Fenton, were chosen to reflect a herringbone pattern.

"The astonishing thing about it is that it was paid for by subscription and congregation collection, and it was constructed by the hands of the unemployed men of Burslem, brought together during a time of distress and mass unemployment in the 1920s.

"Father Browne recruited these men from around the town and paid them with a daily bowl of soup and a chunk of bread. It is a credit to Burslem's community that the church was built in such a short period of time."

St Joseph's rose from the ruins of an old pottery factory. Father Browne even got the men to demolish the potbank first as they daily got stuck-in with pick and shovel. And as the church building grew, the newly appointed Burslem School of Art principal, Gordon Forsyth (1879-1952), watched with interest, as did the newly-elected Burslem MP Andrew MacLaren.

"It was MacLaren who later suggested to Father Browne that because the church had been built by Burslem's unemployed men, they should be the ones to decorate it," Carmel continues. "He said they should be enrolled in the School of Art so they could be taught the skills to make the stained-glass windows. Naturally there was no money to fund this notion so MacLaren took his plan to Forsyth. Soon a free Saturday morning class at the Wedgwood Institute was up and running for 50 St Joseph's parishioners."

At the time the church was being built, Forsyth's daughter Moira (1905-1991) was a young art graduate. Her archived correspondence, at London's Victoria & Albert Museum, reveals how the windows were made as her father taught unemployed potters and miners in a year how to cut and set the specially-selected coloured glass to correspond with the windows at Chartres Cathedral in France.

"It was an amazing feat," says Carmel. "Imagine nowadays the unemployed returning to school to learn an artistic trade from one of the finest watercolour artists of the day. And nobody got paid for their services!"

And so a bond was forged between the community, a politician, a priest and two artists. In 1945, Scotsman MacLaren lost his seat and left Burslem. He died in 1975 at the age of 82.

Gordon Forsyth, himself a radically-driven socialist, designed the windows and altar panels for St Joseph's. He retired at the end of the war and died in 1952, aged 73. His public work can be seen in the hospital buildings at Hartshill and Haywood.

But it is Moira Forsyth who ultimately completed the work at St Joseph's. Taught pottery design by her father, Moira exhibited her ceramic figures at the White City Fair to worldwide acclaim in 1925. After graduating at the Royal College of Art, she moved from ceramics to glass. Her stained-glass work can be seen in Guildford Cathedral, Norwich Cathedral and Eton College Chapel.

"Moira was totally immersed in St Joseph's Church," declares Carmel. "By the early 1930s, the priest and the art teacher's daughter began planning the huge mural for the sanctuary ceiling. Once the idea was spun, Moira, although creatively prominent by this time, refused from the outset to accept a commission fee, settling for five guineas a week incidental expenses.

"Most of the preparation was done at the artist's studio in London and was completed in 1937. Father Browne was delighted with the result. In a letter to Moira he writes, 'The ceiling has surpassed all my expectations. I congratulate you with all my heart. It is a lasting memorial to your genius and places you side-by-side with the great masters of the past'.

"And this is not just the view of a parish priest. Bernard Rackham, former keeper of ceramics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, valued Moira's work among the best he'd seen. She later received the Queen's Award for lifelong services to the arts. But among her finest work surely is the mural at St Joseph's in Burslem."

(reproduced, with permission from The Expectation of Our Lady;
also see St Mary Magdalen)

Vocation retreat with Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr de Malleray, FSSP

Is God calling ME?
Come and discern:
Vocation Retreat (2 nights)
4-6 August 2009

Preached by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, Ecclesiastical Assistant Juventutem
www.juventutem.org & fssp.org.uk
Starts: Tuesday 4th August 2009 at 1pm –
Ends: Thursday 6th August at 3pm

Theme: "Ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest." (Mt 9:38)
Retreat for celibate lay men, age 16-40 (English-speakers living in or outside the UK)
Vocations video: www.fssp.org/objet/flashpretreEN.htm

Cost: no set price (donations welcome).

Schedule: Silent retreat (inside the premises); meals with table reading on the theme of the retreat or music; includes a one-hour conference in the morning and in the afternoon; coffee-break; walks around the house in beautiful countryside of Devon; possibility of private meeting with the Retreat Master and of confession. Eucharistic Adoration.
Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite each of the three days:

• Tues. 3pm : St Dominic, Founder of the Order of Preachers;
• Wed. 11am: Dedication of St Mary of the Snows;
• Thurs. 11am : Transfiguration of OLJC.

Location: in Axminster, Devon (between Exeter and Yeovil).
By car: near A35, south of M5.
By rail: Axminster station: trains from London Paddington, London Waterloo, etc. A lift from and to the railway station can be arranged, also from the London area.

Booking and contact: Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, Reading RG2 0DH, Berks – Tel.: 0118 987 5819 – E-mail: fij_malleray at fssp.org
Website: www.fssp.org.uk

To make a donation to help others – especially students – attend the retreat: please use contact above (£ cheques made payable to "FSSP England" – please mention "Retreat Sponsoring". Thank you very much). FSSP England is a registered charity no 1129964.

Men's retreat, July

by Fr Tim Finigan

The monks of Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbey in Flavigny will be giving a a five-day (silent) retreat for men this July, following the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius.

The retreat will be from 26-31 July this year at Cold Ash, Berkshire in the United Kingdom. The monks of Clairval have a preference for Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.

Here is a link to register an interest and get in contact to find out more details.

(reposted, with permission, from The Hermeneutic of Continuity)

Franciscans of the Immaculate in England

The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate were founded in 1970 and the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate some years later. Both are now of Pontifical Right and belong to the First Order of Franciscans. Recently they have begun to move back towards the Usus Antiquior, or "extraordinary form" of the Roman rite.

Here are a selection of articles about this - the second includes practical ways in which you can help them at Lanherne in mid-Cornwall, UK:-

• NLM: Franciscans of the Immaculate predilect the Usus Antiquior
• NLM: More encouraging News from the Franciscans of the Immaculate - their House in Lanherne, England
• What Does the Prayer Really Say?: Brick by Brick in Cornwall
• Holy Smoke: Wonderful contemplative nuns bring traditional Latin worship back to Cornwall

Pilgrimage to Wigratzbad for Priestly Ordination of British deacon

Pilgrimage of UK group to Priestly ordination of Rev William Barker:
Wigratzbad, Bavaria, June 26-29, 2009

Message from Fr de Malleray FSSP:

Dear Friends,

For the first time since the ordination of Fr Brendan Gerard, FSSP in 2006, a British deacon formed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter according to the Roman traditions of the Church is going to be ordained a priest in Europe. Rev William Barker, FSSP will be ordained a priest in Wigratzbad (Bavaria), the European international seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, on Saturday 27th June 2009, by His Exc. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda in Kazakhstan (Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith wrote the preface to Bishop Schneider’s book Dominus est on Holy Communion).

We intend to have a delegation of British faithful. A rough estimate of cost for 2 days and 2 nights is £170/person. Includes all transportation with direct Ryanair flight from London Stansted, and bed & breakfast accommodation.

Depart from London Stansted airport on Friday 26th June 2009 at 1.50pm. Arrival back at London Stansted on Sunday 28th June 2009 at 5.30pm (return flight £65.94, as of today)

Follow in the footsteps of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who, on Easter Sunday 1990, visited the motherhouse and first international seminary of the FSSP and offered Holy Mass. With the FSSP (a priestly society of pontifical right now numbering 350 members worldwide; see www.fssp.org), come and pray with and for this future British FSSP priest.

~~*~~
If you are interested in this pilgrimage, please leave a comment here with contact details. (All comments are moderated for your privacy.)

FSSP Vocations Retreat in England

"Please support me with your prayer, and I will be happy to do the same in the recollection of the retreat, invoking divine power on each one of you, on your families and your communities."

-- Pope Benedict XVI, 25 Feb. 2007

Retreats preached at Douai Abbey (Berks., UK) by Fr Armand de Malleray, of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter

Vocation Retreat (2 nights)
7-9 January 2009

Starts Wednesday 7th January 2009 at 2pm –
ends Friday 9th January 2009 at 11am

Theme: "Ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest." (Mt 9,38)
Retreat for celibate men, age 16-40 [Vocations video]

Cost: £70 - to cover:
1-Accommodation: single room with en-suite bathroom, full board. The Guest Master suggests a donation of £58.75 per person.
2-Retreat Master’s expenses: a minimum £11.25 per person expected.
N.B. special reduction for students: £45 everything included.

Schedule: Silent retreat (inside the premises); meals with table reading on the theme of the retreat or music; includes a one-hour conference in the morning and in the afternoon; coffee-break; walks around the Abbey; possibility of private meeting with the Retreat Master and of confession; daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite; other devotions possible (Rosary, meditation).

Possibility of attending some of the monks prayers (Douai Abbey is a community of monks of the English Benedictine Congregation).

Location: Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton RG7 5TQ, Berkshire, United Kingdom (about 1 hour west from London). Website: www.douaiabbey.org.uk

By car: Douai Abbey is situated 1 mile north of the A4 about half way between Reading and Newbury in Berkshire. The turn off the A4 is about 6 miles from M4 Junction 12.

By rail: the nearest station is called MIDGHAM, but it is actually in Woolhampton village: trains from London Paddington, Reading & Newbury. A lift from and to the railway station can be arranged directly with the Guest Master (tel.: 0118 971 5399).

The building is equipped for wheel chairs.

Booking and contact: Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, Reading RG2 0DH, Berks – Tel.: 0118 987 5819 – E-mail: malleray[at]fssp.org. Website: www.fssp.org.uk

N.B. Your payment will take place at the Abbey during the retreat. Deposit has already been paid. No other payment required.

To make a donation to help others – especially students – attend the retreat: please use contact above (£ cheques made payable to "FSSP England" – please mention then "Retreat Sponsoring". Thank you very much).