New Author Joins the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma

A new member of The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma has joined us today.

Timothy Graham, a layman, writes a blog entitled That Which Remaineth and it is a joy to welcome to The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma a Catholic blogger who joined the Church in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham set up by Pope Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Welcome, Timothy, thank you for joining us in our efforts to evangelise and to communicate the Holy Faith through the internet and we look forward to your contributions to The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma blog. We look forward to your reflections and thoughts and of course also look forward to meeting you personally at the next Guild meeting.

Blessed Titus Brandsma, Pray for Us

A very warm renewed welcome to The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma. I'm Laurence England, author of That The Bones That You Have Crushed May Thrill and I have been elected Chairman of the Guild. I'm not a renaissance prince, so I'll keep this acceptance speech short. Boom, boom.

On a more serious note, like Richard Collins, I would like pay tribute to the previous Chairman. It will be hard to fill the shoes of Dylan Parry, whose drive and energy has kept the Guild going. Thank you and God bless Dylan for all his hard work. I hope and pray that God gives me the grace to be a good, dedicated and reliable Chairman for this wonderful enterprise - a Guild of Catholic bloggers known for our fidelity to the Successor of St Peter and to the Magisterium of Holy Church, love of the Catholic Faith and our desire to evangelise the World through the internet; to make Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Blessed Lady loved and known.

Faithful to the end: Blessed Titus Brandsma

As Catholics we live in interesting, if difficult times. Many storms now assail the Holy Church as secularism and unbelief increase especially in the West. Very little appears to be held sacred. Marriage, the building block of society and the family itself is under intense threat here and throughout the World. Our brothers and sisters in many parts of the World are being martyred. The sanctity of human life is disregarded and those in positions of power and influence wish to disregard it even more, when it is their solemn duty to defend it. The Church Herself is attacked as much from within as She is from without.

We can be assured that in such times, persecution of the Catholic Faith will come but in what way and as to the severity, we are still unsure. We do not know what the future holds, but we have in Blessed Titus Brandsma a patron who showed unwavering love for the Lord and who, because of his outspoken criticism of Nazism eventually paid the ultimate price out of love for God and his His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. May his model and example, his great love, give us the zeal and courage to write boldly and courageously in defence of the One True Faith, as evangelists and apologists who desire to be close to the Sacred Heart of our Jesus, always respecting and upholding the dignity of all human life, made, as it is, in the image and likeness of God.

Blessed Titus Brandsma, Martyr of Dachau, pray for us.

We have white smoke...we have a new Chairman!

Please welcome Laurence England as the new Chairman of the Guild!

But first, let me again pay tribute, on behalf of all members, to the great work and initiative of Dylan Parry in establishing the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandma in the first instance.

Without Dylan it is true to say that we probably would not have a Guild today, and, as good Guild practice dictates, we remember him in our prayers and wish him God’s providence for the future. Thank you Dylan.

Well, we held the election as outlined in previous posts and three members were duly nominated and, out of those, Laurence’s name had the most votes. So, for those who do not know Laurence (surely no one falls into that category) and his excellent blog, That The Bones You Have Crushed MayThrill, let me paint you a brief biographical picture.

Laurence England resides in the Brighton area (where he is blessed by having Fr Ray Blake as his PP) and is what I would describe as a ‘young man’……I believe in his early to mid thirties.

He has a special focus on the poor and the homeless and social injustice of every kind and, for me at least, he is the prompt of my Catholic conscience in matters of the care of those unloved and disadvantaged by society today.

Readers of his blog will know that Laurence attends many orthodox events, such as the Michael Voris talk in London and the Walsingham Pilgrimage.

But perhaps, I should let Laurence speak for himself in his own blog introduction:-

“….I converted to the Catholic Faith in 2001 at the Cathedral of the Precious Blood in Westminster after a period of soul searching and prayer. I attend St Mary Magdalen Church in Brighton and write regularly for this blog (TTBYHCMT) and the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma on issues relevant to the Catholic Faith.

I am particularly enthusiastic about Pope Benedict XVI’s reforms of the liturgy and attend the Traditional Latin Mass every Friday.”

Welcome, Laurence, and may the Guild prosper under your leadership.

Richard Collins - Linen on the Hedgerow

Three Masses, one sacrifice.....one great video

Who could fail to be moved by the video clip below?

It represents, the Mass, of course, but also the universality of our Faith and our liturgy.

Unchanged and unchanging; wherever you are in the world, the Tridentine Latin Mass is there.

A fitting reflection for the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul tomorrow 29th June.

Richard Collins - Linen on the Hedgerow

Thanks to Fr JJ 

After the Death of DOMA

The death of the Defense of Marriage Act is the death of religious liberty.  All faithful Catholics and Christians, Muslims and Jews, who believe that homosexual behavior is fundamentally sinful, and that homosexual inclinations are akin to other evil temptations, are now incapacitated by law from prohibiting same-sex couples from seeking to 'bless' a 'marriage' in their churches.  Here is the blood-money quote from the decision:

“DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty.”

When liberals talk about singling "out a class of persons"  for enhancing "their own liberty,"  what they really mean is that if you disagree with them you are headed to the concentration camp.   The "Patient Protection and Affordability Act"  actually protects no patient, but does create more IRS agents, and "Affordability" can be defined as an average increase in premiums of about 20% per person.  I only mention this in case you are one of the low-information voters, or elected representatives, who haven't been reading the laws passed by Congress in the last 5 years, and therefore haven't understood the linguistic trend to turn the English language into a hot-yoga class.

But I digress.  Here is a simple hypothetical situation to assist you in understanding what the impact of this 5-4 (!) vote will be at your local parish:

Mary Fran is a 65 year-old grandma.  Her divorce in 1974 left her free to pursue her ambition to learn liturgical dance at the local Jesuit/Sacred Heart combined university.  Her daughter, Chastity, never married,  but does have three children who have never known their fathers any more than Chastity did when she picked them up at the local rave nightclub.

Mary Fran has been working as Liturgical Minister for her Pastor, Father Lupusinoves, at Saint Edward Parish in Snowden.  She is delighted to hear from Chastity that her grandchild, Pat is engaged to Chris.  She asks Fr. Lupusinoves if the young love-birds can be married at St. Edward after measuring the length of the main aisle for the proper ratio between the walk up to the front and the dress already purchased by Pat for the big day.

Having appreciated Mary Fran's incredible choreography for many years, particularly the nymph-dance and bacchanalia for the last Good Friday service, Father signs the papers without a second thought.  An appointment is made for Father to  meet with Pat and Chris and take care of the marriage instruction, but Father can't work it in until 2 months before the wedding, so he trusts Mary Fran with passing on the paperwork and helping her grandchild and fiance with the basics of marriage prep.

Reports come back to Father that everything is progressing wonderfully.  The parish hall is booked.  Caterers and decorators are hired.  Dresses and Tuxes are purchased or rented, flowers are on special order.  Every material aspect of the wedding is planned, and non-refundable deposits are paid, well before Father meets the couple.

As you probably guessed. Pat and Chris are two women.  Or two men.  Mary Fran has followed the logical path of what she has taught during her time as Liturgical Minister.  Father Lupusinoves might or might not get a reprimand from his bishop if he goes through with this.  The one certainty is that he if doesn't honor the contract he signed, he will face a major lawsuit from Pat and Chris.

If people of faith do not want this to happen in their parishes, civil/legal marriages will have to be separate from the sacrament of marriage.  Ironically, that is at the core of what Mary Fran has believed since her divorce in the 70's.  The Mary Fran's of the world have convinced themselves that the sacrament of marriage was invalid, personally and globally.  She passed this belief on to Chastity who never even bothered with it.

And now the third generation not only disregards the sanctity of marriage, but mocks it.

24 hours to do your duty

Not a heavy cross to bear...

Sorry to labour this point but, if you are a member of the Guild, please nominate your choice of Chairman/President/Leader by Friday 21st June 6pm.

Just make your choice and email the name to me at r.collinsassoc@btinternet.com

I have to say that I have not been overwhelmed with nominations...but, that is not necessarily a bad thing, just that it would be nice to have a few more names in the hat.

You do not need to know your nomination, you just need to believe that she/he would make a good leader for the Guild.

Your nomination will remain secret between two neutral parties; me and Fr Tim.

Neither of us are standing so - your secret is safe with us.

So please, how can I say this politely?

Extractum digitum?

Unbelievable Irish Government Telling Church to Stay Out of Politics

What happened? The rot has set in......

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2318/Irish-Prime-Minister-Tells-Church-to-Stay-out-of-Politics.aspx

To elect a new leader.....

Bl Titus, guide us in our search for a new Chairman

...members and followers may know that our Chairman, Dylan Parry has resigned from blogging and, as a result, feels that he can no longer act as Chairman to the Guild.

This is a cause of great regret to the Guild as, of course, the ‘guild’ concept originated with Dylan and established itself well, under his guidance, in the three years since its inaugural meeting.

I know that Guild members will want to join in with a general vote of grateful thanks to Dylan for his dedication towards the Guild and for his considerable efforts in establishing it.

So now, we need a new leader and the plan is that we issue a call to nominate a fellow member (or, indeed, oneself) to pick up the baton and lead the Guild forward.

Fr Tim has asked me to initiate proceedings to this effect but that, dear friends, is as far as it goes. I have no ambitions to occupy the post, hence, I will not be standing (just in case any member felt rash enough to propose me).

The process will be as simple as possible; nominations should be sent to me by email r.collinsassoc@btinternet.com .

Only members may nominate (an excellent chance to become a member, you do not need to be a blogger, just Catholic, or aspiring to be, and a user of the new technologies).

 Facebook, Twitter  and other social media members are very welcome, full instructions on the blog.

The closing date for nominations will be Saturday 22^nd June 2013 after which, the names of those put forward will be emailed privately to all members who should then cast their vote, again to my email address by June 29^th, Feast of Ss Peter & Paul.

An announcement (assuming that we have a clear vote) will be made within a few days.

Copies of all nominations and votes will be forwarded to Fr Tim for the sake of the integrity of the process.

So please respond with a nomination and also remember to offer a prayer that we find someone of Dylan’s calibre to lead us on.

Thank you

Richard Collins

Musica Sacra Scotland Conference Saturday 9th November, Glasgow.

All the details and registration details here.

Top people. Top stuff.

Renovating the Right Way

I've been in many parishes while renovations were taking place, and it can be hard to make a space that feels reverent.  Folding chairs, basketball hoops, and bad sound systems can make it hard to focus on why we are at Mass in the first place.
I was reprimanded last weekend for speaking too loudly as I was leaving our parish hall, which is substituting for our church during renovations.  The irony was that I was taking about how wonderful it was to have so much of the sacred in our temporary chapel.

Look at this:

I want you to notice a few details here.  The altar was crafted for this purpose, and holds the Tabernacle.  There is a table between the chairs for Father's biretta.  In the dark opening in the distance, you can see the door of the temporary plywood confessionals.  The statue of Saint Anthony is one of several that we moved from the church to increase the sense of the sacred in this temporary home.  The icons of the Madonna were transferred as well.

You can pick out other features, but special note must be given to the communion rail.  It was lovingly crafted last week by a parishioner who knew it was important.  I'm thinking of making some small foam pads to assist those who cannot kneel on the floor during the Eucharistic prayers.

So, Father Cook, I'm sorry I was being loud after Mass.  I was just so happy that such care has been given to create a holy temporary space.

For more on the renovation please visit: http://www.stpeterchurch.net/

A Visit to Tyburn

If anyone who reads this blog has not visited the Adoration Chapel at Tyburn Convent in London near Marble Arch, or the museum of the relics of the martyrs, I highly suggest doing this.

The relics remind us all of the great sacrifices Catholics who went before us suffered. We can also gain strength from meditating on their lives.

The stained glass windows in the crypt museum not only are unique, but truly lovely. These depict the beatitudes in conjunction with the lives of the martyrs of Tyburn. This one is from the Shrewsbury Diocese site, but there are more on Flickr.

Why we venerate and meditate on the lives of the martyrs may seem strange to many people who do not want to face suffering.

However, in these times, which so obviously are witnessing a re-paganization of Europe, one must reflect on the graces of perseverance and hope.

Hebrews 12:1

Douay-Rheims 

And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us:

Please help this good priest (and blogger)

St Jean Vianney - also tormented by the devil

 Some of us know Fr Mildew (as he blogged) as a great and doughty fighter for the Faith.

You will recall, also, that he came up against a certain Mgr Basil Loftus and was treated to a series of threats that Fr M found most upsetting.

I have been informed that there are forces at work, out there, who would still like to plague Fr Mildew with taunts and jibes, how devilish.

Now, I am not, definitely not, stating that this is coming from Mgr L, but there are others who love to indulge in priest baiting.

It would be helpful, therefore, if any links or connections to Fr Mildew are removed from any blogs that may still be carrying them.

And, please remember this good priest in your prayers...the persecution of Catholic priests did not end in the 18th century...it carries on apace.


Richard Collins - Linen on the Hedgerow