Triduum in Toledo, Spain

From the Fraternity of Christ the Priest and Saint Mary the Queen in their church of the Saviour.

Holy Thursday:





Good Friday:






Easter Vigil:





Easter Sunday:



Pictures reprinted with permission.

New Foundations in Spain and Brazil

The Spanish Fraternity of Christ the Priest announces that its male religious branch has been canonically erected as the Public Clerical Association of the Brothers of the Fraternity of Christ the Priest and St. Mary the Queen (Hermanos de la Fraternidad de Cristo Sacerdote y Santa María Reina) some months ago within the Archdiocese of Toledo by the then Primate Archbishop and now Prefect of the CDWDS, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares.

The brothers will help in the parish of Santo Tomé and in the church of the Saviour where Mass in the usus antiquior will be celebrated daily, as well as the canonical Hours and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Yesterday morning, in the church of the Saviour, Mgr. Juan Miguel Ferrer, new Second Undersecretary of the CDWDS and apparently still acting Vicar General of Toledo, presided over the Taking of the Habit and Profession of the Founder of the Fraternity, D. Manuel Folgar, who thus became part of the new Public Clerical Association of the Brothers of the Fraternity. Here are some pictures (more here):

---

From the Spanish language blog Divinas Vocaciones Religiosas comes more welcome news: In the Brazilian diocese of Braganca Paulista (province of Sao Paulo), a new Benedictine monastery of diocesan right has been founded in 2008. The Benedictines of the Crucified celebrate both forms - ordinary and extraordinary - of the Roman Rite.

Children's Feast of St. Jean Baptist de la Salle and Rogation Day Procession

The Spanish Fraternity of Christ the Priest celebrated the recent Feast of St. Jean Baptist de la Salle (15 May), one of its Patron Saints, very fittingly, given that the Saint is the Patron of teachers, with a day especially directed towards children. Here are some images of this nice occasion; more can be found on the Fraternity's blog:

Activities during the day:



Holy Mass (EF):



In the background, 1st class relics of St. Jean Baptist de la Salle:



Speaking of the Fraternity, they also have put up some images of their rogation day observances; here is a sample:

Parish Visitation in Santiago de Compostela

His Grace the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Msgr. Julián Barrio Barrio, last 19 March made a canonical visitation to the parish of St. Christopher in Briallos, entrusted to priests of the Fraternity of Christ the Priest and St. Mary Queen. The Archbishop celebrated Pontifical Mass in the Ordinary Form, wearing the pontifical dalmatic and a chasuble in the traditional Spanish cut. The altar was arranged in what we have come to call the "Benedictine Arrangement", including the seventh candle for the celebrating ordinary. and covered with a nice Roman frontal. While this may not seem much to some, keep in mind that much of the restoration of the sacred which the Holy Father is inspiring has not yet been taken up in many places and especially by many bishops, so it is always welcome and a reason to give thanks when we see another place where this is happening.

Here are some images, unfortunately a bit shaky, but giving a good impression nevertheless:

EF Workshop in Toledo, Spain

From 15 to 19 September, a course to learn the usus antiquior of the Roman Rite was held in Toledo, Spain's Primatial See. The workshop was jointly organized by the Archdiocese of Toledo and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest; the vicar general of Card. Cañizares gave some of the talks. All participants learned to say Low Mass and the basics of the missa cantata. There also were classes about Gregorian chant, the Breviary, the Rituale and the liturgical year. Una Voce La Coruña brings us these pictures of a solemn Mass celebrated during the workshop (click to enlarge):






Speaking of workshops for the Extraordinary Form in Spain, another such workshop will be held from 24 to 28 November in Pontevedra, organized by the Fraternity of Christ the Priest and St. Mary Queen in cooperation with the Institute of the Good Shepherd. It will include above all practical formation in the celebration of Low, Sung and Solemn Mass, as well as the rites for the faithful departed. Gregorian chant and the traditional Breviary will also be part of the classes. For more information see here.

Solemn Mass in Santiago de Compostela

The Fraternity of Christ the Priest and Holy Mary Queen yesterday had a conference and Solemn Mass in Santiago de Compostela.

Here are some pictures from the Mass in the Santiago church of the Discalced Carmelite nuns (note the collarines on the dalmatic and tunicle):

The founder of the Fraternity, Fr Manuel Folgar:

Appareled Amices, Dalmatic Collars and Argentinian News from the Fraternitas Christi Sacerdotis et Beatae Mariae Reginae

In the comments on Shawn's post on the ritus Lugdunensis the question of the collar of the Dalmatic (Spanish collarín, French colletin) came up.

Since this topic has come up before, and is connected to the appareled amice, which also has come up frequently, I thought it might be worthwile to translate the relevant paragraph by Fr. Braun:

"In the 12th century a peculiar, collar-like ornamentation of the amice came into use, which must have pleased enormously, since it quickly became common everywhere. It was applied at one of the two long sides, namely that one on which the bands to tie it were. It consisted either of a strip immediately embroidered onto the humeral or - and that was more common - of an initially only narrow, but later on broader galloon ca. 40 to 50 cm long, often decorated with embroidery, pearls and little metal plates. While vesting, the amice was put upon the head in such a way that the decoration stretched from temple to temple. Then the bands were tied around the breast, alb, stole, chasuble resp. tunicle or dalmatic were put on, and now the amice lowered by the back of the head in such a manner that the decorative strip resp. the galloon surrounded the neck like a collar:

"In the inventories this decoration is called, especially if it occurs in the form of a galloon: parura, collare, plaga, plagula, plica, gemma, prætexta, truncus, aurifrisium (auriphrygium, firsium), but also, probably because it lay upon the shoulders, or because it was a decoration of the humeral: humerale. [left out: German names]

"The described manner of ornamentation had its origin apparently in France, from where it spread throughout the entire Occident, not excluding Italy. Its heyday falls into the 13th and 14th century. With the beginning of the 16th century it gradually falls again into disuse, earliest in Rome, in Germany around 1600. In France it remained in rare instances, e.g. in Paris, until the end of the 17th, or even until the 18th century. It never became entirely extinct. For even now the parura of the amice is in use in the Ambrosian rite, at Lyon and in Spain, albeit not any longer attached to the amice, but as a loose collar, which however it seems to have already been here and there at the end of the middle ages.

The above picture shows a 17th century Spanish amice collar (collarín) embroidered with thread-of-gold, from the arts and crafts museum of Berlin.

A contemporary example we can see in the following pictures of a missa sollemnis celebrated by the Fraternitas Christi Sacerdotis et Beatae Mariae Reginae in Galicia, Spain.

Speaking of this Spanish Ecclesia Dei Fraternity, - attention Argentinian readers - a member of its priestly branch, the Hijos Esclavos de Santa María Reina, has gone to Argentina and will stay there for a month. He will visit, together with a consecrated sister of solitary life of the Fraternity who resides in Argentina, various dioceses and groups of "Marian servitude" of the country to foster their dedication to the Blessed Virgin. They will also present and make known the spirituality of the Fraternity to various priests and laypeople. The Fraternity invites everyone who is interested in getting to know more closely the Fraternity to take advantage of the stay of Br Carlos María and meet with him. They point out that this could be an excellent opportunity for all those young people who feel a vocation to religious life - both male and female - according to the spirituality of the Fraternity of Christ the Priest and Holy Mary Queen. Contacts can be made through the email of the Fraternity.