Father Donald's Golden Jubilee

In case he is too shy to tell you himself, I interrupt this broadcast to tell you that today, St John's Day, was Father Donald's Golden Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood. Conventual Mass at 11 in the Abbey was followed by a very pleasant lunch in the Guest House. Despite the short notice a reasonable crowd of family and friends turned up, including of course, his brother, Father Nivard, whose own Golden Jubilee is next month, and four of their five sisters - Noreen, Mary, Patricia and Josephine. Ad multos laetissimos annos.

Liam

My little piece of Scotland

My little piece of Scotland Scotland on Sunday: 21 June 2009, E-mail MY FAVOURITE little piece of Scotland has got to be Nunraw, East Lothian. My little brother Joe was born here. I like it because there are lots of trees to climb and rhododendrons for us and the cat, Hardy. I also like it because there are lots of flowers to pick for my mum and neighbour, Maggy. The monks live in the abbey, two roads up above us. They are very nice and we go to see them for church sometimes. The monks have a farm where my second neighbour Gerry works. It's not a "farm" farm because they only keep cows in it. They clear out the cages when the cattle are out mating and feeding. At Nunraw in the houses it's very cold but outside it's a little warmer. At Nunraw there is a popular tree that is the lime tree. When you go through the arch past our houses there is a whole road of lime trees up to the farm. I have lived here for eight years. I am bilingual, my dad is French and my mum is Irish. They have lived in Scotland for 20 years. My dad lives in Haddington and it's nice there as well. In Haddington I have a friend called Katherine and we went to Yellowcraigs beach with her. Although we have a small garden we can fit lots of games into it. Joe, Papa and I play piggy-in-the-middle, football, catch-bounce pass and chest pass with our teddies Tortia, Chocko, Goldie and Teddy. We go for walks along the River Tyne with our pets in the buggy. A few times we cycled ten miles from Haddington to Longniddry and back along the cycle path. It's a lot of fun and we stop at our favourite places: the car park, the pond where we make bridges, the park, the bench and Longniddry, where we watch the trains. I enjoy having two houses and a cat. We got the cat to keep the field mice away. Hardy (the cat) has killed 20 field mice at the moment. I like him. Saoirse Joy Murphy (eight), Nunraw

Saint Aloysius Springburn

It was joy to welcome our friends from St Aloysius Springburn, Glasgow.

Herewith are the PHOTOS of the Pilgrims at the Farm Barns just after your Way of the Stations of the Cross.

And walking up the hill was a great achievement by the brave seniors. Some ladies were all-out after climbing the hill of the South Avenue. And they got the rest of the distance to Church for the Mass.

Fr. John pointed out that they missed a Saturday this time for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga’s feast.

God reward all the good people.

Father Faber

Frederick William Faber

Library collection of Fr. Faber. In 1946 at the foundation of Nunraw, the Mother-House of Roscrea sent a consigment of library books containing the hardbacks of Fr. Faber’s. All for Jesus The Precious Blood Bethlehem The Blessed Sacrament The Creator and the Creature Growth of Holiness Spiritual Conferences The Foot of the Cross (8 vols., London, 1853-1860). Some of the old volumes are now the worse of wear, and are in need of by better reprints. From the old print I found this riveting reading from: All for Jesus, Frederick FABER pp. 97-79 "ALL FOR JESUS CHAPTER IV. INTERCESSORY PRAYER. What goes to the saving of a soul ―-what is involved in a soul being saved the mystery of prayer―So Gertrude's vision of the Ave Maria―the three instincts applied to tile practice of intercessory prayer―for whom we should intercede―1. for those in mortal sin―2. for the Iukewarrn―3. for the saints on earth―4. for those in tribulation―5. for our benefactors―6. for those aiming at perfection―7. for (he increase of the accidental glory of the blessed―8. for the rich and noble―the time, place, and method of intercession―joy and freedom from vain―glory the fruits of intercessory prayer. SECTION 1. THE SAVlNG OF A SOUL. LET. us see what goes to the saving of a soul, and what is involved in its being saved. In the first place, it was absolutely necessary that God should become man, in order that that soul should be saved, according to the dispensation of God. It was absolutely necessary that Jesus should be born, teach, act, pray, merit, satisfy, suffer, bleed, die, for the saving of that single soul. It was necessary that there should be a Catholic church, faith, sacraments, saints, the Pope, and the sacrifice of the Mass, for that one soul. It was necessary that there should be a supernatural gift, a marvellous participation of the Divine Nature, called sanctifying grace, and that on this should be accumulated loving acts and impulses of the Divine Will, in the shape of manifold actual graces, preventing, accompanying,· following, and efficacious, else that soul cannot be saved. Martyrs must die, doctors must write, Popes and councils must expose and condemn heresy, missionaries travel, priests be ordained, for the safety of that single soul. When all these preparations are completed, and by an act of merciful omnipotence that soul is created out of nothing, then there must be a guardian angel appointed over it; all through its life Jesus must be occupied about it; Mary must have a great deal to do with it; all the angels and saints must pray and interest themselves about it. To every good thought, pious word, and devout action, and, of course, they soon come to be innumerable, a participation of the Divine nature, grace, must concur. Unseen evil spirits have to be warded off from it, and foiled in their attempts upon it. Hourly temptations have to cause more or less emotion among its advocates in heaven. Every attribute of God vouchsafes to legislate for its advantage, so that it plays upon them all like one who fingers the keys of a musical instrument. The Precious Blood has to be communicated to it through extraordi­nary sacraments, which are full of mystery, and were invented both as to form and matter by our Lord Himself. All sorts of things, water, oil, candles, ashes, beads, medals, scapulars, have to be filled with a strange undefinable power by ecclesiastical benedictions in its behalf. The Body, Soul, and Divinity of the Incarnate Word have to be communicated to it over and· over again till it becomes quite a common occurrence, though each time it is in reality a more stupendous action than the creation of the world. It can speak up to heaven, and be heard and obeyed there. It can spend the satisfactions of Jesus as if they were its own, and can undo bolts and bars in Purga­tory, and choose by its own determinate will whom it will liberate, and whom it will pass over. And all the time it is so near to God, and its heart is a place so sacred and so privileged, that none but God Himself can communicate grace to it, not even the angels, nor the Mother of God herself, blessed throughout all ages. . . ."

"Saving of a Soul". These last words, " none but God Himself can communicate grace to it , not even the angels, nor the Mother of God herself, blessed throughout all ages.", are so obvious but, at the same time, I am surprised by illumination in this basic of faith.
Maybe Faber radiates, from his Italian and Oratorian tradtion, his immersion of spirituality and devotion, while, on the other hand, Newman reflects the very distinctive apologia for sincere searching.

On the Heralic Shield of the Diocese of Paisley has the motto "FOR THE GOOD OF SOULS". The Bishop Emeritus, John Mone, used to speak on the theme of the intercession for souls.

Joseph-Marie Cassant

June 16, 2009 Blessed Joseph-Marie Cassant This morning on this Memorial Fr. Thomas introduced the Mass by the amazing catalogues of Blessed Fr. Joseph-Maria’s record of successes of intercession of prayer for healings and favours. Thomas made the striking contrast between the abundance of attributed favours by the concealed monk and the dearth of miracles to promote the Cause of John Henry Newman of such renown. Later, after saying it would be ironical if a miracle occurred in favour of Fr. Faber, Thomas said it may not because the popular Faber was better showing off himself. I had to admit my likeness of Frederick Faber’s at least eight substantial spiritual works, ‘All for Jesus’ etc. In the booklet “Blessed Joseph Cassant” the writer Jean Christophe-Christophe comes to this surprising peak in: “Beyond Death Three months after his death, the unexpected recovery of a pregnant woman who was operated on for cancer, was already attributed to Brother's intercession. Other favours followed and in 1926, a small book entitled "Two Flowers of the Desert" made him more widely known. From 1903 to 2001, there were recorded four hundred and eighteen interventions on his part: conversions, reconciliations, cures or notable improvements in health, success in studies, material favours. From 1936 to 2001 one thousand eight hundred fifty messages were received, coming from thirty countries, all of which testify to admiration and confidence towards "the dear little Father." The accumulation of these signs caused official inquiries to be made at Toulouse, Agen and Rome. They concluded on June 9th 1984 by granting a decree recognising the heroicity of the virtues of Brother Marie Joseph and on October 3rd 2004 he was beatified by Pope John Paul 11.” The Booklet, Blessed Joseph Cassant, is one of the ‘Nine Biographical Profiles of Servants of God, Cistercian Witnesses of Our Time’, published by the Sisters, Trappiste, Vitorchiano, Italy. Dec 2008. The essential spirituality, ‘First of all Jesus’ is that of both Spiritual Father, Andre Malet, and disciple, Joseph-Maria, (from the cup two doves, symbolizing Father Andre and his disciple, quench their thirst). I think of the Novice Master, Fr. Andrew Hart, at Nunraw. Andrew would lend the Novices the manuscripts of one Andre Malet’s writings. Fr. Andrew has succeeded keeping awake after the Night Office by translating Malet’s La Vie Surnaturelle 1933. Hopefully I will find the whole of the lost copy. “The message of his Life: First of all Jesus Brother Marie Joseph goes straight to the essential: personal relationship with Jesus. He understands intuitively, that God searches for us and saves us in the celebration of the Eucharist. His life is an offering of self to the Father and everything then becomes intercession. In his suffering, he looks at the cross of Jesus, each morning he desires the Bread of Jesus, at every moment he can count on the Heart of Jesus. How many times in his correspondence does he not allude to this Heart of Jesus to which he confides himself without restric­tion, himself and all those he loves! A holy card modified by himself manifests his attachment to the Eucharist and to the Heart of Jesus. On the top there is a cross planted in a burning and radiating heart, encircled with thorns; from this heart fall drops of blood that are gathered in a chalice reminiscent of the Eucharist; from the cup two doves, symbolizing Father Andre and his disciple, quench their thirst. “The spiritual father (or mother) Brother Marie Joseph reminds us also of the indispensable presence of a guide or spiritual companion. Without Father Andre Malet, the young monk would not have attained the stature and the balance of a human and Christian life. Father Andrew knew how to enlighten and channel Brother's generosity, to free him little by little from his anxieties and a sort of "inferiority complex" arising from his difficulty with studies. But right away one must underli­ne the complete confidence and frankness of the young monk towards his counsellor. He could be helped because he practiced in an exceptional way "openness of heart".

Corpus Christi

CORPUS CHRISTI 2009

When God threw the planets into space and set the universe turning we can imagine the angels being filled with wonder and praise, especially so when the jewel of this earth evolved - the waters, the dry land; the mountains and hills; the plants and animals; and finally man himself. The whole story is wonderfully told for us, of course, in the first chapters of Genesis. Then, as the history of mankind progressed, the Angels observed hints of another new creation that must have whetted their appetite for something even more wonderful.

First of all they observed the mysterious “Tree of Life” in the midst of the Garden of Paradise, a tree that gave the gift of immortality to whoever partook of its fruit. Then there was that prophetic sacrifice of bread and wine offered by the shadowy figure of Melchizedech. Then there was the unleavened bread of the Exodus, a bread that become a central part of Israel’s liturgical life. Then there came, of course, the wonderful bread from heaven in the desert.

By this time we can imagine the angelic intelligences realising that this is all leading up to some great work of the Lord to come in the future. But what on earth could it be? Were these images of “Bread” foreshadowing ‘Someone ‘or ‘Something’? Are angels given to guessing? I wonder. They couldn’t realise yet that the Eucharist itself was part of this great evolving plan; part of that Great Secret of the Incarnation of the Son of God, hidden from all ages.

But, to continue our journey through the history of revelation; after this there was the “Bread of the Presence” which had to be placed before the ark of the covenant at all times, then, in the time of Gideon there was the mysterious dream of a great round of bread rolling down on the camp of the enemies of Israel and utterly destroying it. Surely all these stories revolving round bread have some Eucharistic significance!

Next comes one of the most beautiful and powerful images of the Eucharist in the whole of the old Testament: the scene where the prophet Elijah, fleeing for his life and collapsing into a sleep of exhaustion in the shade of a desert bush, is wakened by an angel to find bread and water by his side and the angel telling him to rise and eat or the journey will be too much for him.

But what we can be very sure of is that no matter how great the intellects of the Angels, no matter how high in the order of being the Cherubim and Seraphim, they could never have dreamed of the wonder that this was actually leading up to, and how, even they must have been astonished and filled with wonder and praise at Miracle of the Body and Blood of God Incarnate becoming Bread and Wine to nourish the children of God on their journey to their heavenly homeland. Are there any limits to the Loving Omnipotence of our God.

Community Sermon in Chapter

by Dom Raymond Sunday 14 June 2009

Saint Lutgard

It is the Memorial day of Saint Lutgard.

We remember St. Lutgard for her blindness in sight and her mysticism in light of inner sight. We enjoy hearing of her mystical life. In the Gospel this morning (Mt. 5:43) seems in great, contrast “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

Whether we hear words of poetry, mysticism or Scripture we are guided and enriched in the liturgical unfolding.

In the Night Office the Response and Verse to the 1st Nocturne of Office of Virgins so well present the sense of Lutgard,

“The Kind has desired the beauty which he himself has made; He is your King and your Spouse.

V. You are wedded to your God and King by whom you are endowed, adorned, redeemed and made holy”.

We enter into the Eucharist in the love to ‘wed to God’

Thomas Merton had thoughts of revising this book.

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Newcastle History Group

Saturday 13 June 2009. The Northern East Catholic History Society Summer Excursion The Guest House was full of weekend residents. Charles guided the History Group through to the historic Chapel. His talk of the Painted Ceiling which is full of Heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire and Animals and Flowers, I took the photos of everyone looking to the ceiling heights. What I love the better are the Liturgical Symbols. Once, during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I looked up to the painting and for the first time I discerned the Pelican feeding its chicks in one panel, and on the next panel the figure of the Gazelle, the beautiful Scriptural expression of swift and leaping in spirit, Both symbols are replete with reflection in this little Oratory. From that signature key the panoply of Heraldry of States of Europe seems make the Communion of the Saints present. I promised to forward photos in Attachments by email, or in a Blog. Since it was the Eve of Corpus Christi some walked, others b y the coach, through the drive. And Dom Raymond celebrated the Mass i n the more spacious Abbey Church. From: Grace of History Group. Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 2:44 PM Dear Father Donald Many thanks for your email. The photos you have so kindly sent are great souvenirs of a fascinating building and a wonderful community. To hear Corpus Christ Vigil Mass in such a setting was a rare privilege. I also enjoyed the Nunraw blog and will show that and the photos to Fran k, my husband, who enjoyed Nunraw as much as I did. With a ll best wishes to you and to all at Nunraw God bless you and all your work Grace

Balmerino Abbey

Welcome Publication

CITEAUX Commentarii cistercienses

2008, t. 59

Life on the Edge
The Cistercian Abbey of
Balmerino, Fife (Scotland)

A monastery is not just the cluster of buildings enclosed within the monastic precinct. It is also the community - religious and lay - who inhabited it, the complex of lands, rights and privileges assembled to sustain that community, and the interaction with notables and neighbours whose influence helped shape its history.

The small Cistercian abbey of Balmerino, on the southern shore of the Firth of Tay in north Fife, has long languished in relative obscurity, consigned to a supporting role in Scottish monastic studies with dismissive comments based on the fragmentary nature of its physical and documentary history. Current research is demonstrating how wrong that interpretation is. These chapters will present a diametrically opposed view of the significance of the surviving record and its value as a source of evidence for the social, economic and environmental history of Balmerino Abbey specifically and the wider region more generally.

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See also

Posted: Tuesday, 9 June 2009
At Balmerino Abbey, Fife. 9th. June 1997.

Recalling - THE FOURTEENTH CENTENARY of St Columba