Announcing Sacra Liturgia San Francisco: June 28 - July 1, 2022

After postponements caused by the global pandemic, Sacra Liturgia is delighted to announce its fifth international conference on the Sacred Liturgy to be held, at the invitation of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, in San Francisco, California, USA, from June 28 – July 1, 2022.

His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah will give the keynote presentation and shall be joined by a number of internationally renowned speakers and liturgical scholars including Bishop Steven Lopes, Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, Father Michael Lang, Dom Alcuin Reid, Professor Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka and Professor Duncan Stroik in addressing a variety of liturgical questions pertinent to the life of the Church in our day. In line with previous international conferences in Rome, New York, London and Milan, Sacra Liturgia San Francisco 2022 will include daily exemplary solemn liturgical celebrations of Mass or Vespers, concluding with a Pontifical Mass of St Junipero Serra, the Apostle of California, on his feast day, July 1st.

Further details of speakers and topics will be announced in October. Registration prices and facilities, including affordable accommodation options, will be made available in January 2022.

The full conference programme will be published after Easter.

Sacra Liturgia is profoundly grateful to Archbishop Cordileone for his invitation to come to San Francisco and for the opportunity to reconvene there. We look forward, in line with our previous conferences, to an informative event that will form its participants in the spirit and power of the Sacred Liturgy and its authentic renewal in the Church of the twenty-first century.

PS. At the time of writing the dates of the seventh international English speaking Saca Liturgia Summer School, to be held in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, in the summer of 2022 are being decided. They will be published through the usual Sacra Liturgia media in due course.

MESSAGE OF BISHOP DOMINIQUE REY

I am delighted that the fifth international Sacra Liturgia Conference will be held in San Francisco in the United States of America from 28 June - 1 July 2022. Since 2013 in Rome, New York, London and Milan, clergy, religious and laity concerned for the worthy and integral celebration of the Sacred Liturgy have come together to further their own learning and formation in the Sacred Liturgy, to pray the liturgy together, and to renew and build friendships amongst those active in what Cardinal Ratzinger once described as “the new liturgical movement.”

Sacra Liturgia San Francisco 2022 will continue this work, emphasising the essential nature of authentic liturgical formation and of the true and beautiful celebration of the Sacred Liturgy in the life and mission of the whole Church in the 21st century.

I am profoundly grateful to His Excellency, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, at whose personal initiative Sacra Liturgia will come to his Archdiocese. So too I am delighted that His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah, will be present as a keynote speaker: all those who heard his powerful addresses to Sacra Liturgia in London and in Milan will look forward to his contribution next year. I thank him and all the speakers in advance for their willingness to contribute.

The success of previous Sacra Liturgia conferences has been predicated on the generosity of local organisers, benefactors and sponsors. Without them we could not operate or provide admission at reasonable rates, particularly for students, seminarians and religious. I thank in advance all those who will help us to do this again for Sacra Liturgia San Francisco. Almighty God will not fail to reward your kindness!

I pray that Sacra Liturgia 2022 will bring many blessings to San Francisco, the United States and to the Universal Church!

+Dominique Rey

Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO

The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council taught that “Zeal for the promotion and restoration of the liturgy is rightly held to be a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, as a movement of the Holy Spirit in His Church. It is today a distinguishing mark of the Church’s life, indeed of the whole tenor of contemporary religious thought and action” (SC, n. 43).

The Sacra Liturgia international conferences on the Sacred Liturgy have been promoting the Council’s vision of zeal for the promotion and restoration of the liturgy for the past eight years. We are honoured and delighted to welcome Sacra Liturgia here to San Francisco for its fifth such international conference, to be held from June 28 – July 1, 2022 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah, will give the keynote presentation. The conference will also feature a number of other internationally renowned speakers and liturgical scholars, including Bishop Steven Lopes, Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, Father Michael Lang, Dom Alcuin Reid, Professor Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka and Professor Duncan Stroik who will address a variety of liturgical questions pertinent to the life of the Church in our day. In line with previous international conferences, Sacra Liturgia San Francisco 2022 will include daily exemplary solemn liturgical celebrations of Mass or Vespers, concluding with a Pontifical Mass of St. Júnipero Serra on his feast day, July 1st. The Mass will be held in the Basilica of Mission Dolores (founded directly by St. Serra) and will be the premier of the newly-composed Mass in Honor of St. Júnipero Serra by the composer in residence of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, Frank LaRocca.

Further details of speakers and topics will be announced in October. Registration prices and facilities, including affordable accommodation options, will be made available in January 2022. The full conference program will be published after Easter.

We look forward to an informative event that will, with the grace of God, further the “movement of the Holy Spirit in His Church” and affirm the restoration of the Church’s Sacred Liturgy as the “distinguishing mark of the Church’s life, [and] indeed of the whole tenor of contemporary religious thought and action.”

Ordination and First Mass for the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian

On the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, His Excellency Dominique Rey, bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France, ordained Dcn Danka Pereira, a member of the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian, to the priesthood in the traditional rite. Three days later, Fr Pereira celebrated his first solemn Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; both of these celebrations took place at the church of St Trophime in the town of Bourmes Les Mimosas, which is under the Fraternity’s care. Our thanks to them for sharing these photos with us, and our congratulations to Fr Pereira, to his family, friends, religious family, and diocese - ad multos annos!

Bishop Rey reads the admonition to the ordinand from the Pontificale.

The Litany of the Saints is sung, led by two cantors who kneel at the entrance to the sanctuary; the ordinand prostrates himself, while all others kneel.

After the bishop has imposed hands on the ordinand, all the priests in the church do the same.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Photos from the Populus Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in Rome

This past weekend, the Populus Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage to Rome was celebrated once again, coinciding with the EF feast of Christ the King. Here are some photographs of the various events; the photographer really outdid himself with the last group of shots, with some very nice photos from the little choirs that overlook the sanctuary of Trinità dei Pellegrini

On Friday, October 25th,  the Premonstratensian Fathers of the Abbey of Gödöllő in Hungary, assisted by the schola and servers of St Michael’s Church in Budapest, Hungary, celebrated a Solemn Votive Mass of the Holy Cross in the church of St Mary of the Martyrs, better known by its secular name, the Pantheon.

Earlier that same day, the clergy of the Institute of the Good Shepherd led the Stations of the Cross at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, with a solemn exposition, blessing with and veneration of a relic of the True Cross.

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Subdiaconal Ordination in Fréjus-Toulon

Today, on the feast of St Leontius, bishop of Fréjus and patron of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, Bishop Dominique Rey ordained to the subdiaconate Brother Danka Pereira, a member of the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian, and Abbé Przemyslaw Karczmarek of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. The ceremony took place at the church of St Trophimus in the little town of Bormes-les-Mimosas, during a Prelatitial Mass, with the exceptional use of those pontifical vestments required when the bishop celebrates a low Mass in which he confers orders  Our congratulations to the ordinands and to their religious communities, and our thanks to FSJC for sharing these pictures with us.

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Tonsure, Minor Orders and Subdiaconal Ordination in Fréjus-Toulon

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Christmas photoposts (which will resume tomorrow) to bring you some photographs from our good friends of the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian. On December 23rd, the Saturday Ember Day of Advent, His Excellency Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon conferred the clerical tonsure, minor orders and subdiaconate on various members of the Fraternity and of the Monastery of St Benedict. You can see the complete photosets on their Facebook page. Our congratulations to these young men, to their religious families, and to the diocese. As we end this year of grace, let us remember to thank God for all of the benefits we receive from Him through the sacred liturgy and the ministry of the priesthood, and never forget to pray for all priests and seminarians throughout the world!

The tonsure of the clerics.

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Ember Saturday Ordinations in France

This past Saturday, His Excellency Dominique Rey, bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, conferred the minor orders on four seminarians of the diocese, and one of the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian, and ordained to the priesthood a Frenchman incardinated in the Scottish diocese of Argyll and the Isles. The ordinations were performed in the course of a Pontifical Mass of the Ember Saturday in Advent, an occasion traditionally designated as one of the proper days for ordination rites; back in very ancient times, one of the seven orders was conferred before each of the readings. The ceremony was held in the magnificent basilica of St Maximin, where the relics of St Mary Magdalene are kept; Dom Alcuin Reid, who needs no introduction to our readers, served as the MC. The full set of images can be seen on the Fraternity’s Facebook page.

Our thanks to Bishop Rey for this edifying example of cultivating these ancient and beautiful traditions of the Church, and our congratulations to the ordinands.

The ordinands come forward for the minor orders.

A porter receives the key of the church...

... and performs his new office.

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Sacra Liturgia UK: Day 4

The final day of Sacra Liturgia UK began with Prof. Helmut Hoping's paper on one of the most fundamental aspects of our liturgy, Liturgy and the Triune God: Rethinking Trinitarian Theology. Prof. Hoping started with the observation that the liturgy is prima theologia, the primary locus of theology, in which we first speak to God rather than about God. The subject of theology is the mystery of God in his revelation to us as Trinity, and this is a fundamental part of liturgical prayer.

Prof. Hoping then explored what the New Testament has to say about the Trinity, touching on how Jesus prayed, the importance of the shema (Mk. 12:29-31; cf. Dt. 6:4-9), Christ as High Priest and heavenly liturgist in the book of Hebrews, and the sacrificial Lamb in the book of Revelation. He noted that the Roman Rite shows a patrocentric character, in which prayer is prayed in a trinitarian manner - ad Patrem per Christum in unitate Spiritus sancti. As the Holy Spirit reveals to us the intimacy of the personal relationship between the Father and the Son, so too the liturgy allows the individual Christian to enter into the I-Thou relationship through trinitarian prayer and sacramental Communion. In short, the trinitarian foundation of the liturgy and Christian life is absolutely indispensable to our entire being, as well as our relationship to God and to one another as Catholics.

Fr Michael Cullinan then gave us a slightly different perspective as a moral theologian in his paper The Ethical Character of the Mysteries: Observations from a Moral Theologian. His central thesis was that what people see and hear in our churches through the liturgy has grave moral importance for their lives. However, instead of applying moral principles to the liturgy, as often done in times gone by, he asked how can we derive moral principles from the liturgy?

As well as the moral-theological perspective, Fr Cullinan gave an ecumenical perspective by mediating his reflections through theologians from the Eastern Churches and Protestant sources, such as Christos Yannaras, Vigen Guroian, John Zizioulas, Paul Ramsey, and Oliver O’Donovan. Among other insights, he pointed out that:

Historically, certainly since the late Middle Ages we in the West minimised sacraments to their essential requirements for validity, we simplified and individualised liturgy to allow individual low Masses, and then all too often we regarded the whole world of art, music and architecture as mere icing on the cake: delicious and sweet but not particularly nourishing or essential. So we have to convince ourselves that what people see and hear at Mass is important to their moral lives.

A particularly astute, moral observation was also made by Fr Cullinan regarding the minimalist celebrations of the liturgy common in many rich, Western nations, which have simplicity without nobility (cf. SC 34):

For the first time in religious history people do not seem to want to offer to God the best they have and they do not see anything wrong in this. Often it is the people who have most, perhaps far more than their parents and grandparents, who want the barest worship spaces. Whereas it is often the poorest who want to subscribe to statues and richly ornamented vestments. The moral theologian should suspect that something may be going on here, to do with both psychology and sociology.

Fr Cullinan concluded with the question that, if what happens in our parish liturgies does not present the challenge and glory of the Christian life to people, if it fails to communicate the fullness of the Gospel, how then shall they be saved? He provided much food for thought regarding the moral implications of contemporary liturgical practice, which also has ramifications for the effectiveness of the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms.

The next paper was given by Prof. David Fagerberg on Doing the World Liturgically: Stewardship of Creation and Care for the Poor. I would not be the first person to observe that, in the contemporary Church, the very mention of the phrase "social justice" causes many eyes to roll and cynicism to rear its head. However, Prof. Fagerberg's contention that liturgy ought to be concerned with social justice, specifically stewardship for the environment and care for the poor was very challenging.

The narthex, he said, can be seen as a permeable membrane between the sacred and secular, and liturgy should overflow from the sanctuary:

Liturgy is our perfection, for there we are being filled with the love of God by joining the choreography of his divine love, and performing the work of a cosmic priesthood.

Prof. Fagerberg pointed out that one way of defining liturgy is to understand it as a restored participation in the original created order. A failure to understand this quickly ends in a negation of the shema; either the signs of creation no longer point to the Creator, with nature quickly becoming opaque, then a substitute, and finally an idol; or our neighbour is no longer seen as a fellow image of God, with the consequence that he quickly becomes a competitor, then an opponent, and finally an enemy.

The problem, Prof. Fagerberg said, is not with the world per se, but with our reception and interpretation of it. Money, sex and beer are not problematic, but avarice, lust and greed are. Due to the fall, our passions get in the way of a right relationship with the world, and thus also with God. The liturgy and the sacraments fortify us and equip us for a participatio actuosa in the world, to enable us to do the world as it was meant to be done - liturgically.

The fourth talk was given by Mgr Andrew Burnham, on Divine Worship: The Missal and "the liturgical books proper to the Anglican Tradition" (Anglicanorum Coetibus, III). Mgr Burnham took us through the history of Anglican-Catholic ecumenical dialogue, including the USCCB's "pastoral provision" of 1980 and the 2003 Book of Divine Worship, culminating in the recent liturgical books of the Ordinariate.

He talked about the work of the Anglicanae Traditiones commission and the CDWDS, and the sources used by them, including the influence of the Episcopalian (USA) 1928 BCP on the Ordinariate Missal. Mgr Burnham mentioned that this American influence has meant that many UK Ordinariate groups have experienced somewhat of a rupture in their worship due to the different Anglican liturgical contexts in the UK and USA. Certain features of Divine Worship: The Missal as compared to the usus recentior were discussed, such as the offertory prayers of the usus antiquior being the default for the Ordinariate (with the Pauline Missal's offertory available as an option). Mgr Burnham expressed the hope, shared by many at the conference, that the Ordinariate's liturgy will influence the next typical edition of the Missale Romanum, and that the barriers as to who can use which book will begin to fall (i.e. that non-Ordinariate priests will be able to use Divine Worship).

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone then offered some concluding reflections, summing up the talks and liturgies of the conference. He urged patience with regard to the upcoming work of the CDWDS regarding the question of the reform of the reform, but said that the celebration of the Mass ad orientem in the usus recentior would go a long way towards preparing the way for it, and reiterated Cardinal Sarah's appeal to priests to begin celebrating Mass eastwards from the 1st Sunday of Advent this year. He encouraged all present to pay attention to the details of the liturgy in the celebration of it, holding up the London Oratory as an model and exemplar. Rubricism is a danger, as we are fallen human beings, but so is laxity and negligence. The Archbishop was keen to stress that there is a proper place for attention to detail in the liturgy, for people pay close attention to the things and people that they love dearly, and worship of Almighty God is central to who we are both collectively as the Body of Christ and individually as members of it.

Finally, Bishop Dominique Rey announced that the next Sacra Liturgia conference will be held in Milan at the University of the Sacred Heart from June 6th-9th, 2017. The conference will be in English and Italian, with all the presentations being translated. More details will be announced after the summer.

The conference ended with Solemn Mass according to Divine Worship: The Missal, celebrated by the ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Mgr Keith Newton.

A huge thank you goes to Bishop Dominique Rey, Dom Alcuin Reid, Fr Uwe Michael Lang and everyone else who had a hand in organising Sacra Liturgia UK. It was lovely to meet so many people who are passionate about the worship of the Church at a very informative and illuminating conference, with wonderful, devout and prayerful celebrations of the sacred liturgy. Deo gratias!

(More photos and extracts from all the talks over the four days can be found at the Sacra Liturgia Facebook page. Apologies for the slight delay in this final account of the conference!)

Sacra Liturgia UK Program Announced for July 2016

The full conference programme for Sacra Liturgia UK, which will be held in London, from July 5-9 this year has now been published on the conference website and may be consulted through the link on this page: http://sacraliturgiauk.org/programme/

The conference is open to anyone. Registration will open in the morning of Tuesday, 5th July at 10h00 at the London Oratory (St Joseph's Hall).

Conference sessions will be held at the central location of Imperial College in South Kensington, a distinguished research university with excellent conference facilities.

The inaugural session with the address by Robert Cardinal Sarah will begin at 17h30pm on Tuesday, 5th July (preceded by Vespers at the Oratory Church, see below.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the morning sessions will run from 9h00 to 13h15 (with a coffee break). The afternoon sessions will run from 14h30 to 17h30 (with a tea break).

The conference is non-residential: delegates are responsible for their own accommodation and meals, though tea and coffee will be provided each day. Conference delegates will be able to use the cafés and restaurants of the Imperial College campus for meals.

Click here to view and download the complete programme.

Liturgical Celebrations

Tuesday, 5th July 16h30:
Solemn Vespers (Breviarium Romanum 1961)
St Anthony Maria Zaccaria (III cl.)
The Oratory, Brompton Road, London SW7 2RP
Celebrant: Bishop Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon
Music: Oratory Choir, directed by Patrick Russill

Wednesday, 6th July 19h00:
Solemn Pontifical Mass (Missale Romanum 2002)
Votive Mass of Saints Peter & Paul
The Oratory, Brompton Road, London SW7 2RP
Celebrant & Preacher: Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.
Music: London Oratory School Schola Cantorum, directed by Charles Cole

Thursday, 7th July 19h00:
Solemn Pontifical Mass (Missale Romanum 1962)
Votive Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest
The Oratory Church, London SW7 2RP
Celebrant & Preacher: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco
Music: Oratory Choir, directed by Patrick Russill

Friday, 8th July Evensong (Ordinariate Use)
Feria
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B 5LZ
Celebrant: Mgr Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

All liturgical celebrations will be open to the public. Seating will be reserved for conference delegates.

Conference delegates will receive a ticket for admission to the Concert of Sacred Music; other tickets may be available for the public space permitting.

Priest delegates will need to make their own arrangements to celebrate Mass, and are reminded of the need for a valid celebret.

Concert

On Tuesday, 5th July 19h00: Concert of Sacred Music with the London Oratory School Schola Cantorum, directed by Charles Cole Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BA

Tonsure and Minor Orders in Toulon, France

On Saturday, December 19, H.E. Dominique Rey, Bishop de Fréjus-Toulon conferred the tonsure and minor orders on seminarians of the diocese and the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian, at the basilica of St Marie Madeleine à St. Maximin. Afterwards, a Solemn Mass for the Ember Saturday of Advent was celebrated coram episcopo. Here is a selection of photos from the event album from their facebook, reproduced with the permission of the FSJC; you can see the rest over there.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Message of Bishop Dominique Rey on the Announcement of Sacra Liturgia USA 2015

Photo © CNA Petrik Bohumil

Toulon, France – 8th December 2014

Bishop Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France, has welcomed the announcement of Sacra Liturgia USA 2015. “I am delighted at this initiative, which we began in Rome with Sacra Liturgia 2013, and which continues the work of fostering a greater appreciation of the fundamental role of liturgical formation and celebration for the mission of the Church in the twenty-first century,” he said.

“As the Second Vatican Council taught, ‘the Sacred Liturgy is the source and summit of life and mission of the Church.’ Our first duty is the worship of Almighty God. Thus, if unjustly we do not give the liturgy its primary place in Christian life or if our liturgical celebrations are somehow not as they should be, the New Evangelisation will be impeded. The urgent work of bringing people to Christ, or of bringing them back to the practice of their Catholic faith, will suffer. That is why we must begin with getting right liturgical formation and celebration,” Bishop Rey continued.

“I am profoundly grateful to His Eminence, Cardinal Dolan, for so readily welcoming Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 to the Archdiocese of New York,” Bishop Rey said, “and to the organisers and speakers who have already done so much to prepare what will be an important opportunity for liturgical formation for all involved in the Church’s ministry.”

“May God bless this new Sacra Liturgia initiative. May it bear much fruit in the United States of America, and beyond!”

Sacra Liturgia Summer School, 5-20 July 2014: Updated Program

The website of Sacra Liturgia (www.sacraliturgia.org) has posted an updated program for the Summer School to be held in La Garde-Freinet in the south of France (Provence) from July 5th to the 20th. The full details, including the link to the registration form, information about transport, etc., are available at the website, but here is the basic program of events:

A two week (three Sunday) English-language liturgical summer school following on from the international conference Sacra Liturgia 2013, organised by the Monastère Saint-Benoît of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, in association with the Ad Fontes Institute of Lithuania, designed for families, individuals and groups of clergy and laity who wish to holiday in Provence in the South of France whilst having the opportunity to participate in liturgical celebrations according to the usus antiquior, including Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by Mgr Dominique Rey, the Bishop of of Fréjus-Toulon, and in pilgrimages and visits to historic sites, including the Royal Basilica and relics of St Mary Magdalen at St Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume, the chapel and relics of St Roseline of Villeneuve (†1329), and the ancient Cistercian Abbey of Le Thoronet, as well as in practical and academic liturgical formation. Training in Gregorian chant will be available for participants (including beginners) by tutors led by Adrija Čepaitė, the conductor of the womens' vocal ensemble Graces and Voices.

The mountain village of La Garde-Freinet, situated in a wine growing region some 20 km from Saint-Tropez and approximately 15 km from the Mediterranean Sea, is an ideal holiday location with mountain walks, a Provençal market, shops and restaurants. English is widely spoken in the village. Participants will arrange their own accommodation and meals and transport.

Academic Lectures: The lectures listed below are those confirmed to date. Other lectures and lecturers will be added in due course.
Liturgical Theology (2 lectures) - Father Gabriel Diaz Patri
The Twentieth Century Liturgical Movement - Dom Alcuin Reid
After Sacrosanctum Concilium: Continuity or Rupture? - Dom Alcuin Reid
Pastoral Liturgy Revisited - Dom Alcuin Reid
The Usus Antiquior: Its History and Importance in the Church after the Second Vatican Council - Dom Alcuin Reid

Practical training options:
Low Mass practice (for clergy and seminarians)
The Sacred Ministers at Solemn Mass including chants (for clergy and seminarians)
Sung Mass (missa cantata) including chants (for clergy and seminarians)
Serving low, sung and solemn Mass (men and boys)
The chant of the Mass and Office (any participants - beginners, intermediate & advanced)
Reading course in the 20th century liturgical movement (any participants)

Daily Schedule:
This schedule will change on days of pilgrimage and on July 11th & 18th. All liturgical celebrations will take place in the parish church and are open to the public. The lectures, training and evening presentations are open to registered participants.

The high altar of the chapel

Lauds: 6:00 a.m. (followed by private Masses)
Prime: 7:00 a.m.
Confessions: 8:30 a.m.
Terce: 8:45 a.m.
Sung Mass: 9:00 a.m.
Academic lecture: 10:15 a.m.
Break: 11:15 a.m.
Practical training: Chant/Ceremonies: 11:30 a.m.
Sext: 12:45 p.m.
None: 2:00 p.m.
Reading course discussion: 5:00-5:30 p.m.
Vespers: 6:00
Evening presentation and panel discussion & aperitif:  6:30-8:00 p.m.
Compline 8:00 p.m.
Latin-English texts of the Divine Office, including the musical notation, will be supplied for registered participants.

Summer School Programme:
- Sat 5 July: Registration from 3:00 p.m. (registration is possible on other days, as people arrive)
Solemn Vespers 6:00 p.m., followed by aperitif
- Sun 6 July: Normal schedule (without lecture or training sessions) Including Solemn Mass 9:00 a.m. & Solemn Vespers & Benediction 6:00 p.m. followed by aperitif.
- Mon 7 July: Normal schedule
- Tue 8 July: Normal schedule
- Wed 9 July: Normal Horarium (9:00 a.m. Solemn requiem Mass)
- Thu 10 July: Normal schedule
- Fri 11 July: No lecture or training sessions (preparation for solemn Mass) Solemn Mass of St Benedict 11:00 a.m.

The chapel of Notre-Dame de Miremer (near La Garde-Freinet- photo © Lainie Wrightson)

- Sat 12 July: No lecture or training sessions. Solemn Mass 11:00 a.m. – Chapelle N.D. de Miremer, followed by a picnic.
- Sun 13 July: Normal schedule (without lecture or training sessions) Including Solemn Mass 9:00 a.m. & Solemn Vespers & Benediction 6:00 p.m. followed by aperitif.
- 14 July: Normal schedule

The choir altar at St Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, where Solemn Mass will be celebrated.

- Tue 15 July: No lecture or training sessions. Solemn Mass 11:00 – Basilica of St Mary Magdalen, St Maximin; afternoon visit to the cave of St Mary Magdalene at La Sainte-Baume
- Wed 16 July: Normal schedule
- Thu 17 July: Schedule as normal up to and including 9:00 a.m. sung Mass No lecture or training sessions Visit to the Abbey of Le Thoronet & Pilgrimage to St Roseline of Villeneuve (†1329).

The incorrupt body of St Roseline

- Fri 18 July: No 09:00 Mass Lecture & training sessions as normal; Solemn Pontifical Mass 6:00 p.m. (Votive Mass of the Holy Cross) Celebrated by Mgr Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon.

H.E. Bishop Dominique Rey

- Sat 19 July: Normal schedule
- Sun 20 July: Normal schedule (without lecture or training sessions) Including Solemn Mass 9:00 a.m. & Solemn Vespers & Benediction 6:00 p.m. followed by aperitif.

Usus Antiquior Ordination Season Is Not Over

We have seen this year already images of ordinations according to the Extraordinary Form for the ICRSS, the FSSP, and the IBP. However, with these, the usus antiquior ordination season 2010 is not over. The French Summorum Pontificum blog reports that on Saturday, 4 September, Mgr Nicolas Brouvet, auxiliary bishop of Nanterre, is going to celebrate pontifical Mass and ordain a new priest for the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer. On Sunday, 26 September, Mgr Dominique Rey, bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, will ordain a new priest of his diocese in his cathedral.

News of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy

It has been a while since we have last mentioned the Missionaries of Divine Mercy, a community attached to the usus antiquior founded by Msgr. Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, that paragon of French bishops (see earlier posts here and here). Now Berenike of Laodicea has found a very good interview with their founder, Fr Fabrice Loiseau (the interview is in French, but even if you don't understand the language, interspersed are some nice images of the community):

The community also has a very well done website, where they explain their origins.

Berenike has made a translation which I reproduce here:

Our community was born of the meeting of two men, two pastors: Dominique Rey, bishop of the diocese of Frejus-Toulon, and abbé Fabrice Loiseau, then a priest of the FSSP. The bishop was looking for a community attached both to the old rite and to diocesan unity, the priest was seeking that same unity and the possibility of being profoundly missionary through the spirituality of the Divine Mercy.

After many meeting in the diocese, including evangelisation camps on the beaches of Var [region of France], the project of the community was born as a response to these aspirations. Frs Jean-Raphaël Dubrule and Eloi Gillet, then seminarians, joined the project and completed their formation at the diocesan seminary at La Castille. Other young men joined the community and became diocesan seminarians at La Castille, where they prayed the liturgy of Paul VI during the week and the traditional liturgy at the weekend in the parish, and during their apostolate.

The Society of the Missionaries of the Divine Mercy was born in September 2005, as an association of diocesan right attached to the diocese of Frejus-Toulon.

Three pillars emerged naturally

- witness to Mercy, as Christ revealed it to sr Faustina

- a great eucharistic devotion, with a particular attachment to the celebration of the liturgy in the rite of St Pius V, in the spirit of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum

- a missionary zeal for the New Evangelisation, especially among the muslims.

What I find especially appealing about this young community - presently consisting of three priests of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, seven seminarians, three youth in propaedeutic formation and three in discernment - is their strong missionary impetus, which nicely dispels the caricature sometimes made of those attached to the usus antiquior, i.e. being solely focused on the liturgy to the detriment of apostolic activity. As the Missionaries of Divine Mercy demonstrate, the two go hand in hand, and true and fruitful apostolic activity cannot but be rooted in and flow from the worship of Almighty God.

The French Catholic TV channel KTO has made a documentary about three priests carrying out unusual apostolates among people with little or not contact with the Church, one of which is Fr Loiseau (the other ones belonging to the Servi Jesu et Mariæ, another community which celebrates the Extraordinary Form, and the Community of St. John). While some of you may find some aspects of the apostolic activities shown here surprising or even questionable, at least the activities of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy are I think irreproachable, and indeed, in my opinion, edifying and even moving. You can watch the documentary (in French) at this link:

http://www.ktotv.com/videos-chretiennes/emissions/documentaire-pretres-de-choc/00044896