A Perfect Storm

5th December 2013 saw an impressive storm hit large parts of the UK.  Here is how it looked on Stronsay, the island next door to Papa Stronsay.  Gusts were estimated at up to 80 mph, causing flooding in the village of Whitehall.

How can I keep from Singing?

One of my happiest mornings was spent in 2008 in St Cecilia in Trastevere, built upon the remains of the house of St Cecilia. Time spent in the crypt of this Roman church is truly an extraordinary experience, as it is left almost as the saint would have known it, the large grain pits near which she was imprisoned, the shrine even to Minerva set there by her pagan relatives. Most wonderful was to be favoured with the key to the gated, almost ciborium like, golden chapel under the high altar where one can see the sarcophagi of the Saint, with that of her chaste husband St Valerian, through a stone lattice. I had read the wonderful account of the finding in the 1500s of her incorrupt relics, still stretched downwards as she had fallen, the blood still fresh in the wounds on her neck, and this more than a thousand years after her death. As nobody dared to touch them in this wonderful state, to this day we have no idea of what her face looked like and that is why the famous statues of her, carved by one who had seen the miracle, never show her face directly, she is always stretched downwards. There, close to her shrine, all of this came alive in my mind.

The famous phrase associated with the holy martyr we celebrate today is "singing to God in her heart", it is what holy tradition tells us she did in the direst moment of her life, and it is considered in some way why she is the patroness of musicians. I know this is a little different, and I know the words to this song, which first appeared in 1868 of unknown origin, have been somewhat de-Christianised in this more modern version, but none-the-less they fit St Cecilia very well and raise one’s heart and mind to remember a holy and innocent one, who will surely protect us in our direst needs if we call upon her intercession, singing in our own hearts.

Br Nicodemus Mary, F.SS.R.

"My life goes on in endless song, above earth's lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn, that hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear its music ringing, it sounds an echo in my soul... how can I keep from singing? 

"While though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the Truth, It liveth. And though the darkness 'round me close, songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that Rock I'm clinging. Since Love is Lord of Heaven and earth... how can I keep from singing? 

"When tyrants tremble in their fear and hear their death knell ringing; when friends rejoice both far and near... how can I keep from singing? In prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them are winging; when friends by shame are undefiled... how can I keep from singing?" 

Fr Yousef Marie in Sydney

Last Sunday Fr Yousef Marie, F.SS.R. celebrated Holy Mass in the Church of the Fraternity of Saint Peter in Lewisham, Sydney Australia.

The choir at Maternal Heart of Mary church are really rather good.  Here is an example of them singing the Corsican version of the Tantum Ergo sung during Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Battleground St Thecla in Ma'loula

Today is the feast of St Thecla, the first woman martyr 

called "apostle and protomartyr among women". 

Just a few hundred miles away from some of us,

her holy tomb has become a war-zone 

over the past three weeks. 

While it is difficult to ascertain exactly who is fighting who, 

who is conspiring against who, 

and who wants what, 

what is clear is that one of the most

 ancient Christian holy places is being menaced.

 It seems now to have been taken back from the rebel forces

and peace seems to have returned. 

The sacred place was guarded during these past weeks

 by a very tenacious group of Orthodox nuns,

 and their Abbess Pelagia,

 obviously a "mulier fortis" even in the face of Al-Quaeda!

The nuns refused to leave the monastery. 

The following images and film clips, often of not very good quality,

 recommend at least to your prayers

 our suffering brothers and sisters in Syria, 

by giving you a flavour of what has been life for those

 living in Ma'loula in the shadow of

 St Thecla's tomb, during September. 
Various nationalistic and political opinions or prejudices are expressed 
which are not the intention or part of this post, 
and simply form part of the background to these events.

Remember them at your Masses today!

 Tourists before the tomb of St Thecla in more peaceful days.

 The Holy Martyr St Thecla, a young noble maiden of Konya,

 heard St Paul's discourse on virginity and became his disciple,

 Her mother and fiancé Thamyris, feared St Paul's injunction

 that "one must fear only one God and live in chastity"

 and their fear ended in an attempt to burn the saint at the stake

 from which she was miraculously saved by the onset of a storm. 

She travelled with St Paul to Antioch of Pisidia. 

There a nobleman named Alexander desired Thecla

 and attempted to take her by force.

 She fought him off, assaulting him in the process, 

and was put on trial for assaulting a nobleman. 

She was sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts, 

but was again saved by a series of miracles when the lions protected her.

St Thecla's Monastery, Ma'loula.

In Ma'loula, where her relics repose, tradition says that while being pursued by soldiers of her father who wished to capture her because of her Christian faith, the saint came upon a mountain, and after praying, the mountain split open and let her escape through. - the name of the village comes from the Aramaic word meaning 'entrance'. It is known as one of three places where Western Aramaic is still spoken.

The village is also the site of the Greek Catholic Monastery of St Sarkis, one of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria. It was built on the site of a pagan temple, and has elements which go back to the fifth to sixth century Byzantine period.

Now for an insight into September, 2013.

The BBC reports the general situation during the occupation of Ma'loula.

Proclaiming the occupation, the insurgents in the convent confronted by the nuns.
All Arabic but the atmosphere gives a sense of the crisis.

Russia Today correspondent reports.
Footage of Syrian Catholic Prioress Mother Agnes-Mariam.

Greek Catholic refugees arriving in Damascus.

Greek Catholic funeral of victims in Ma'loula.
Catholic Patriarch Gregorios Laham officiates.

Govenment forces retake the monastery, Abbess Pelagia speaking - unfortunately no subtitles.

Papa Stronsay makes the news

UPDATE:  The new international version of this video is now available below.

On the day of our most recent professions, STV (Scottish national television) were on Papa Stronsay to film the event.  The video can be seen here.

Very Rev. Fr Michael Mary, F.SS.R. being interviewed.

Graces Almost Beyond Belief

As many of you surely know, this Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday.  The promises made to St Faustina concerning this devotion are truly amazing.

The Graces available on this day are simply stupendous; it’s like a plenary indulgence, without the requirement of complete detachment from all sin.  This opportunity given to us by Christ Himself should not be missed.

Listen to this in order to prepare yourself and to take full advantage of what our Good Lord offers to you:

We adore Thee, O Christ!

I thought that perhaps some of our readers might like to hear this recording of our singing here at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.  This rendition of Adoramus Te Christe, by G. P. da Palestrina, was sung during Mass this Palm Sunday, 24th March.

Adoramus te, Christe,
et benedicimus tibi,
quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum.

We adore Thee, O Christ,
And we bless Thee,
Who by Thy Holy Cross
hath redeemed the world.

The English-speaking seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP).

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, NE, USA

A Devotee of St Martin of Tours?

I found this video very touching. In a world where so much of what we see and hear is violence and immoral, anti-religious behaviour, it is so very refreshing to see something like this - genuine charity from one person to another. It is a wonderful feeling to help someone out, especially when they are in great need:

Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?  And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Matt 25:37-40

The Rape and Murder of Pakistan's Christian Children

Cardinal Turkson

When we posted the clip that Cardinal Turkson had played to the Synod of Bishops
we received some critical comments which we did not publish.

I invite you to read this article carefully and to
check the sources that are linked to this article
(by clicking on the underlined words). 

It is not possible to be indifferent to the sufferings of
these Christians of Pakistan. 

Not all are Catholic.
All are Christian and persecuted. 

The Authorities cited include the
Information Service of the Pontifical Mission Socities "FIDES"

 and the 

Vatican News Agency.



The West sighed in relief when Rimsha Masih, the 14-year-old Christian girl arrested in Pakistan on August 16 for allegedly burning pages of the Quran, was finally released. Yet the West remains clueless concerning the graphic abuses--including rape and murder--Christian children in Pakistan routinely suffer, simply for being Christian. Consider two stories alone, both of which occurred at the same time Rimsha's blasphemy ordeal was making headlines around the world.

Mugadas Kainat, RIP
14 August, 2012

On August 14, another Christian girl, 12-year-old Muqadas Kainat (which means "Holy Universe") was ambushed in a field near her home in Sahawil by five Muslim men who "gang raped and murdered" her. At the time, her father was at a hospital visiting her sick mother. He and other family members began a frantic search, until a tip led them to the field where his daughter's body lay. The postmortem revealed that she had been "gang raped and later strangled to death by five men." Police, as usual, did not arrest anyone. As a Salem News report puts it, "Complicating matters is the fact that several Christian girls in this remote area have been raped and forced to both marry into the Muslim community and abandon their own religion, human rights groups report. … [T]here is a history in this part of Pakistan according to the Christian community, of local authorities failing to investigate cases of rape or other violence against Christians, often for fear of influential Muslims or militants."

Similarly, on August 20, an 11-year-old Christian boy, Samuel Yaqoob, went to the markets of Faisalabad to buy food for his family, never to return. According to Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, "After extensive searching his body was found near a drain in the Christian colony, bearing marks of horrific torture, with the murder weapon nearby. His nose, lips and belly had been sliced off, and his family could hardly recognize him because the body was so badly burnt. Some 23 wounds by a sharp weapon have been identified in the autopsy. When sending his body for an autopsy, police raised the possibility of sodomy. Parts of Pakistani culture have a strong homosexual pederast culture, and Christian and other minority boys are especially susceptible to rape and abuse because of the powerlessness of their community and their despised status. In one case fairly recently, a Christian boy was kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed by a police officer, his body similarly being dumped in a drain."

These were just some of the stories concerning the sexual abuse and murder of Pakistan's Christian children that occurred last August--even as the world stood in awe at the Rimsha Masih blasphemy case. Here are ten more anecdotes, chosen at random from the many former documented cases:

1. Nisha, a 9-year-old Christian girl, was abducted by Muslims, gang-raped, murdered by repeated blows to her head, and then dumped into a canal (May 2009).

2. Gulfam, another 9-year-old Christian girl, was raped by a Muslim man. Though not killed, she was left "in shock and in the throes of a physical and psychological trauma." During her ordeal, her rapist told her "not to worry because he had done the same service to other young Christian girls" (Dec. 2010).

3. Lubna, a 12-year-old Christian girl, was kidnapped, gang-raped, and murdered by a group of Muslims (Oct. 2010).

4. Kidnapped last Christmas Eve, a 12-year-old Christian girl known as "Anna," was gang raped for eight months, forcibly converted and then "married" to her Muslim attacker. After she escaped, instead of seeing justice done, “the Christian family is in hiding from the rapists and the police" (Oct, 2011).

5. After gang-raping a 13-year-old Christian girl, a band of Muslims came to her house when all male members were away working and "mercilessly" beat her pregnant aunt causing her to lose female twins to miscarriage: “They murdered our children, they raped our daughter. We have nothing left with us,” lamented an older family member. The police went on to accuse the 13-year-old raped girl of "committing adultery with three men" (June 2012).

6. A Muslim man murdered a teenage Christian girl, Amariah, during an attempted rape: he had “grabbed the girl and, under the threat of a gun, tried to drag her away. The young woman resisted, trying to escape the clutches of her attacker, when the man opened fire and killed her instantly, and later tried to conceal the corpse" (Dec. 2011).

Mehek


7. Muslims abducted a 14-year-old Christian girl, Mehek, at gunpoint in broad daylight from her parents' house. One of her abductors declared he would "purify her" by making her "Muslim and my mistress" (Aug. 2011).

8. Shazia, a 12-year-old Christian girl, was enslaved, raped, and murdered by Chaudhry Naeem, a rich Muslim lawyer, who was acquitted. His wife and son had participated in abusing the child (Nov. 2010).

9. Nadia, a Christian girl who was abducted in 2001 when she was 15-years-old and forced to marry a Muslim, only recently returned to her Catholic family (Jan. 2012).

10. A powerful Muslim businessman had two Christian sisters kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam, and "married" to him (May 2011).

In every one of these cases, Pakistani police either failed to act or sided with the rapists and murderers.
The above anecdotes represent a mere sampling of the documented atrocities committed against the children of Pakistan's Christians, who amount for a miniscule 1.5% of the nation's population. Then there are the stories that never make it to any media--stories of silent abuse that only the nameless, faceless victims know.


"2  year old toddler"


For example, it took five years for the story of a 2-year-old toddler who was savagely raped because her Christian father refused to convert to Islam to surface. After undergoing five surgeries, her anatomy remains disfigured and she suffers from several permanent complications. Her family lives in fear and hiding.
How many Christian children in Pakistan are being mauled in silence, with their stories never surfacing?

And what animates this savagery? Discussing the aforementioned rape of 9-year-old Gulfam, local sources in Pakistan put it well: "It is shameful. Such incidents occur frequently. Christian girls are considered goods to be damaged at leisure. Abusing them is a right. According to the [Muslim] community’s mentality it is not even a crime. Muslims regard them as spoils of war."

Indeed, here is how the late Majid Khadduri, "internationally recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on Islamic law and jurisprudence," explained the idea of human "spoils" in his War and Peace in the Law of Islam:

The term spoil (ghanima) is applied specifically to property acquired by force from non-Muslims. It includes, however, not only property (movable and immovable) but also persons, whether in the capacity of asra (prisoners of war) or sabi (women and children). … If the slave were a woman, the master was permitted to have sexual connection with her as a concubine.

From here, one can begin to understand the rabid fanaticism that possessed Pakistan's Muslims concerning the Rifsha blasphemy case, which resulted in mass riots, Muslim threats to take the law in their own hands, and the dislocation of Christians, some of whom have been forced to live and worship in the wilderness: If infidel Christians, especially their children, are seen as mere "spoils" to be used and disposed of with impunity, certainly it must be intolerable for Muslims if one of these "sub-humans" dares to desecrate Islam's holy book--the same book that ordains their inhuman status.
And herein is the true significance of the Rifsha Masih case: success is measured not in the fact that this one particular Christian child got away from the savageries of Islamic law and culture, but whether her ordeal will begin to open Western eyes to the terrors Pakistan's Christian children routinely face.

By Raymond Ibrahim
Frontpage Magazine



© 2012, Assyrian International News Agency.  
All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use

Rain at Last!

As many of you will know, this summer has been really harsh in the United States, with drought conditions over much of the country.  This site can help to give you some idea of the situation: http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/drought.html

Having just arrived back at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton Nebraska for the start of a new year, I have been able to see first-hand just how dry it has been, and it has been very dry!  But today, Our Good Lord sent us a little present!

Annual Papa Stronsay Bonfire

 Saturday 25th August saw the long awaited annual Papa Stronsay bonfire and BBQ.  It had been planned for earlier in the year, but due to bad weather it had to be postponed.  Thanks be to God, the weather turned out fine on the evening of the 25th!  We were glad to welcome a good number of the Stronsay community to Papa Stronsay for the occasion.

Br. Seelos celebrated his 21st birthday on the 22nd August.  Therefore he was given the honour of lighting the fire.

Blessing the fire:

 Domine Deus, Pater omnipotens, lumen indeficiens, qui es conditur omnium luminum: novum humc ignem sanctifica, et praesta; ut ad te, qui es lumen indeficiens, puris mentibus, post hujus saeculi caliginem, pervenire valeamus.  Per Christum Dominum Nostrum. Amen.

Lord God, Almighty Father, Maker of all light, and the light that never fails; hallow  this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this world we may come with pure hearts to Thee, our perpetual light; through Christ our Lord.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy!

Public Profession Video

The Public Profession of Vows

(video of the ceremony)

The sermon of his Lordship is at 00:32:15
The public profession of vows begins at 00:58:15
Litany of Loreto at 00:48:38
 Tantum Ergo at  01:27:19
 Divine Praises sung in English at 01:30:54
 Adoremus at 01:32:45
Hymn Our Lady of Good Succour to Our Lady of Aberdeen at 01:34:34

Bishop Fellay.

An edifying presentation by Bishop Fellay.

Bishop Fellay speaks.

Our hearts and prayers support him.
 

Seminary Lightning Storm

 On Wednesday night, we had a quite spectacular storm here in Denton, Nebraska, where Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary is located.  I was woken up by a loud thunder clap, and was unable to get back to sleep due to all the flashing and thunder.  So I went to my window to have a better look, and decided to get our camera out to take some photos and video.  There were rather a lot of photos, and you can see them all on our Facebook page, but I will put a few here as well.  This first photo was taken while there was no lightning - it was pitch-black.  All the pictures after that were taken during the same night, so the sun is not shining in any of them:

 The darkness of the night.  All the following photos were taken during the same dark night.

 

 For a fraction of a second everything is as bright as a summer day!

A faint shadow of God's almighty power can be seen in the nature He created!

Some video footage of the storm.  There were a lot of smaller flashes which the camera didn't pick up, but you can get the idea.

Ordinations to the Subdiaconate

Saturday 28th January saw the ordination of seven young men to the Subdiaconate at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.

The future Subdeacons processing into the chapel holding a candle in their right hand, and, hanging over their left arm, the tunicle and maniple in which they will later be vested.

The candidates prostrate themselves before the altar.

Br. Martin Mary, F.SS.R. was given the great privilege of cantoring the Litany of the Saints with one of the other seminarians, which can be seen in the video below.

The camera used to film the Litany would not go beyond ten minutes per clip, so there is a small jump in the middle where a new one was started.

the tradition of the instruments to the Subdeacons, who touch the cruets...

...and the chalice.

The amice is pulled over the head.

The maniple is given them to reverence,

and finally they lay their right hand upon the Epistolarium, from which they will now chant the Epistle at a Solemn High Mass.

May God make them all good and holy priests!

A Happy and Holy New Year

Incline unto my aid, O God;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Deus, in adjutorium meum intende;
Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
(Ps. 69:2)

Smile!

A Magnificent Storm

Sunday 27th November the occasion of a magnificent storm, with the wind turbines on mainland Orkney reportedly recording gusts of up to 130mph!

These photos as well as the video at the bottom of the post were taken looking down the main street of Whitehall village, Stronsay, with the harbour on the right.

Note the seaweed in the road, as well as in the video below, which was taken just outside our chapel.

Second Vespers of Our Lady of the Rosary

I recorded the Magnificat Antiphon and Magnificat from the Second Vespers of yesterday's feast, Our Lady of the Rosary, here at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary and I thought that the readers of our blog might like to hear it. The recorder was a little too close to the schola and so there is some distortion.

"Cristiada" to be released soon.

We hope that we are alerting you
to a suitable Catholic movie
concerning the Mexican War
for
Christ the King.

Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.
Martyr
(13 January, 1891 - 23 November, 1927)

Blessed Miguel Pro, was a Mexican Jesuit priest,
executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church
and Beatified on September 25, 1988. As Blessed Fr. Pro walked from his cell
to the courtyard and the firing squad,
he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly.

Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners
with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other
and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ
and shouted out,
"May God have mercy on you! May God bless you!
Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent!
With all my heart I forgive my enemies!"

Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot,
Blessed Father Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ
and shouted the defiant cry of the Cristeros,
"Viva Cristo Rey!" -
"Long live Christ the King!"

When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him,
a soldier shot him point blank.

Blessed Miguel shot point blank.

+
Cristiada
is a drama film and historic epic,
currently in post-production,
directed by Dean Wright and written by Michael Love.

It is based on the true story of the Cristero War (1926-29),
a rebellion which arose out of
the Mexican government's persecution of Catholics in the 1920s.

Although filmed in Mexico, it is in English.
The film is the directorial debut for Wright,
veteran visual effects supervisor on films including
The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003).
It is projected to be released in 2011.

(Source)