A Treasure To Be Shared

Vicente Juan Masip (1507–1579)  Salvador Eucarístico To consume the Holy Eucharist is to be consumed by Christ. It’s a line that sounds paradoxical at first, but in the Christian tradition it expresses one of the deepest truths of communion: the one who eats becomes the one who is eaten. The Eucharist reverses the ordinary logic of eating. In daily life, the one who eats assimilates the food; the food becomes part of the eater. But in Holy Communion, the opposite occurs. We do not assimilate Christ into our life — Christ assimilates us into His. To consume the Eucharist is to be drawn into the life, love, and mission of the One who gives Himself as food. This is why the Fathers speak so boldly: “You will not change me into yourself… but you will be changed into me.” The Eucharist is not merely nourishment; it is transformation. Christ does not become ours so much as we become His. His life overtakes ours, His charity reshapes our desires, His humility reorders our pride, His mis...

Among the most beautiful and uplifting prayers in the Ordinariate liturgy—received from the Book of Common Prayer—is the Post‑Communion Thanksgiving, often called the General Thanksgiving or simply Almighty and Everliving God . This prayer forms a luminous bridge between Holy Communion and the Church’s mission: having received Christ, we are sent to bear Him into the world for the salvation of souls. The following reflection consists of: a line by line commentary. a brief note concerning the potential impact of the Prayer. an acknowledgment of the structure of the Prayer. the theological orientation of the Prayer. a way to meditate on the Prayer ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son,...

THE CHRISTIAN YEAR BY THE REV. JOHN KEBLE Thursday before Easter Transcribed from the 1887 Cassell & Company edition by David Price As the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Daniel ix. 23. “O Holy mountain of my God, How do thy towers in ruin lie, How art thou riven and strewn abroad, Under the rude and wasteful sky!” ’Twas thus upon his fasting-day The “Man of Loves” was fain to pray, His lattice open toward his darling west, Mourning the ruined home he still must love the best. Oh! for a love like Daniel’s now, To wing to Heaven but one strong prayer For God’s new Israel, sunk as low, Yet flourishing to sight as fair, As Sion in her height of pride, With queens for handmaids at her side, With kings her nursing-fathers, thronèd high, And compassed with the world’s too tempting blazonry. ...

THE CHRISTIAN YEAR BY THE REV. JOHN KEBLE Wednesday before Easter Transcribed from the 1887 Cassell & Company edition by David Price Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done. St. Luke xxii. 42. O Lord my God, do thou Thy holy will— I will lie still— I will not stir, lest I forsake Thine arm, And break the charm Which lulls me, clinging to my Father’s breast, In perfect rest. Wild fancy, peace! thou must not me beguile With thy false smile: I know thy flatteries and thy cheating ways; Be silent, Praise, Blind guide with siren voice, and blinding all That hear thy call. Come, Self-devotion, high and pure, Thoughts that in thankfulness endure, Though dearest hopes are faithless found, And dearest hearts are bursting round. Come, Resignation, spirit meek, And let me kiss thy placid cheek, And read in thy pale eye serene Their blessing, who by faith can wean Their hearts from sense, and learn to love God...

THE CHRISTIAN YEAR by the REV. JOHN KEBLE Transcribed from the 1887 Cassell & Company edition by David Price. Third Sunday in Lent When a strong man armed keepeth his place, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. St. Luke xi. 21, 22. See Lucifer like lightning fall, Dashed from his throne of pride; While, answering Thy victorious call, The Saints his spoils divide; This world of Thine, by him usurped too long, Now opening all her stores to heal Thy servants’ wrong. So when the first-born of Thy foes Dead in the darkness lay, When Thy redeemed at midnight rose And cast their bonds away, The orphaned realm threw wide her gates, and told Into freed Israel’s lap her jewels and her gold. And when their wondrous march was o’er, And they had won their homes, Where Abraham ...

Dear Readers, in the wake of the much desired announcement of Saint John Henry being declared a Doctor of the Church, the 38th Doctor, that is, it is important to hear the saintly Newman in his own words. Various voices are already attempting to claim Newman as their own, to further a liberal agenda, or to condemn Newman as the progenitor of what is, to some minds, the accursed Second Vatican Council, as if his great mind's contribution of the development of doctrine is grounds for dismissing a council that many (most?...) have yet to properly digest and distinguish from the "media council" criticized by Pope Benedict XVI. This ongoing debate underscores the complexity of Newman's theological contributions and the ways in which they intersect with contemporary issues in the Church. As scholars continue to explore his works, it becomes increasingly clear that his insights might offer a path to reconcile differing viewpoints within the Church. This blogger, along with m...

1957 Enid Mary Chadwick (26 October 1902 – 24 October 1987) was a English artist known for religious art and children's religious books. The daughter of an Anglican minister, Chadwick attended an Anglican convent school in Oxford run by the sisters of the Society of the Holy and Undivided Trinity . She lived in Walsingham for more than fifty years. Graham Howard photograph Photo Gallery: The High Altar Reredos https://www.walsinghamanglican.org.uk/photo-gallery/high-altar-reredos/ Chadwick trained at the Brighton School of Art (founded 1859) prior to going to Walsingham in 1934. Chadwick contributed extensively to the Anglican Shrine's artwork, including murals, statues, and other decorative elements. See also: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/19-july/features/features/enid-chadwick-brought-colour-to-the-shrine The Reverend Charles Smith, a later Administrator of the Shrine, who gave the address at the funeral for Chadwick (28 October 1987), described her style as “d...

Simnel Cake | BBC image - from the NEWS Notes of SJHN Victoria, BC Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace, may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. - Collect for Mothering Sunday, Divine Worship: The Missal. Mothering Sunday falls every year on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, also called Mid-Lent Sunday or Refreshment Sunday, referring to its sense of respite halfway through this season of fasting and penitence. Medieval traditions surrounding this Sunday ranged from the practice of daughters visiting their mothers – especially important for those engaged as domestic servants away from home – to the gifts of simnel cakes or wafer cakes. These various customs came from the medieval recognition of this day as ‘Lætare Sunday’. In the Middle Ages, many Sundays were refe...

At the website of the Ordinariate (OLSC*) Catholic Parish of Saints Ninian and Chad, the question, 'What is the English Patrimony?' is answered as follows: The English, or Anglican, Patrimony is the sum total of the spiritual, liturgical, pastoral, cultural and social traditions that have come down to us primarily via the experience of Christian life primarily in England, but also to an extent from the whole of the British Isles. It begins with the first unknown missionaries to England, from the protomartyr Saint Alban, and continues through the Celtic Church, the Roman-Gregorian Mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. It includes the lives and writings of great figures like Saint Bede the Venerable, Edward the Confessor, Saint Anselm, Saint Richard of Chichester, Saint Hilda of Whitby, Margery Kemp, Walter Hilton, Richard Rolle, the Lady Julian of Norwich, the author of the Cloud of Unknowing , St Aelred of Riveaux, and continues down through the era of the time of the separ...

The Great O Antiphons prayed during the past week preceding Christmas bring us into the mystery of the Incarnation by immersing us in a relationship with Jesus under various titles that speak to the nature of His person and identity. The ancient O Antiphons - from whence comes the hymn O come, O come Emmanuel - began on 17th December. These sentences of Scripture are sung before and after the Magnificat at Evensong from 17th-24th December, and form the Alleluia verse at Mass on the same days. Each Antiphon addresses the coming Messiah by a different title, and refers to a prophecy of Isaiah, thus intensifying our Advent preparation and bringing it to its joyful conclusion on Christmas Eve. | Victoria Ordinariate Let us briefly recall the titles of Christ presented in the O Antiphons. S      Sapientia (17th) Wisdom A      Adonai (18th) Lord and ruler R      Radix Jesse (19th) Root of Jesse C      Clavis David (20th) Key of Da...

Friday 19 April St Alphege, Bishop & Martyr [Abstinence] Saint John Henry's, Victoria, BC Mattins 9 am | Terce 9.30 am Confessions 9.30-9.45 am | Low Mass 10 am Ælfheah (c.953 - 19 April 1012), or Alphege, was Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester and eventually Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being chosen abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity earned him an elevation to the episcopate and, finally, archbishop. Ælfheah promoted the intercession of Saint Dunstan while also encouraging education. He was kidnapped by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and executed the following year after refusing to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a (martyr) saint in 1078. In 1170, Thomas Becket, later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah before being murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Old English: Ælfhēah, "elf-tall" Source: Rumble, "From Winchester to Canterbury" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church .

There are new churches designed by tradition-minded architects that capture the true, the good and the beautiful.  Many Catholic churches of a contemporary design, however, lack a sense of the holy in their design. They hardly evoke the thought that Almighty God is worshipped therein, and that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is Present - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - in the tabernacle. Which is to say, God is there! And! - God Present, might it be appropriate to acknowledge the sanctuary as the heart of the universe? The centre of time? The soul of eternity? The hope of Christians? Though there are many God inhabited sanctuaries, they are all one because God is One. God is not divided. The one Sacrifice of Calvary is manifest throughout time. The Mass unites the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection all-in-one. The Mass is not a repetition, but an entering into the Paschal Mystery. As eternal, the Mass re...