The liturgical vision of Vatican II

It is reported that the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, has written a forward to a book based upon the diaries and notes of Cardinal Fernando Antonelli, O.F.M. (1896-1993). In the forward, Archbishop Ranjith is quoted as saying:

"Some practices which Sacrosanctum Concilium had never even contemplated were allowed into the Liturgy, like Mass versus populum, Holy Communion in the hand, altogether giving up on the Latin and Gregorian Chant in favor of the vernacular and songs and hymns without much space for God, and extension beyond any reasonable limits of the faculty to concelebrate at Holy Mass. There was also the gross misinterpretation of the principle of 'active participation'."

"Basic concepts and themes like Sacrifice and Redemption, Mission, Proclamation and Conversion, Adoration as an integral element of Communion, and the need of the Church for salvation--all were sidelined, while Dialogue, Inculturation, Ecumenism, Eucharist-as-Banquet, Evangelization-as-Witness, etc., became more important. Absolute values were disdained."

"An exaggerated sense of antiquarianism, anthopologism, confusion of roles between the ordained and the non-ordained, a limitless provision of space for experimentation-- and indeed, the tendency to look down upon some aspects of the development of the Liturgy in the second millennium-- were increasingly visible among certain liturgical schools."

The book, in its English edition, is entitled True Development of the Liturgy and is written by Msgr. Nicola Giampietro, O.F.M. Cap. who is on the staff of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Msgr. Giampietro has previously published Il Card. Ferdinando Antonelli a gli sviluppi della riforma liturgica dal 1948 al 1970 in Italian.

[The full text is now available on the blog New Liturgical Movement. 9th March, 2009]

Golden with Hope

As already noted, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be celebrated according to the Missal of Blessed John XXIII in St. Coca's Parish Church, Kilcock, at 11 a.m., on Saturday, 21st March, 2009, to honour the Holy Year of Saint Paul.

The Parish of Kilcock was, for many years, under the Pastorate of the saintly Fr. John McWey, from whose notebooks a collection of reflections, thoughts and prayers was published last year under the title Golden with Hope.

St. Farnan of Downings

Most Rev. Dr. Comerford, in his entry for the Parish of Caragh and Downings in his historical work on the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, gives us the following information on St. Farnan of Downings:

"Here are the ruins of an old Church, measuring, according to Father O’ Hanlon (Lives I.S.S. 2, p. 564.) 42 ½ feet by 16. Tradition states that this Church occupies the site of the cell of St. Farnan, whose feast occurs in the Irish Calendar on the 15th of February. This Saint flourished in the sixth century, and was descended from King Niall of the Nine Hostages. Beside the ancient cemetery is the Well of St. Farnan; and it possesses - so the local story goes - the valuable property, imparted to it by the blessing of the Saint, that those who drank of it never afterwards have any relish for intoxicating drinks. The Dun from which this place probably takes its name (Dooneens, “the little fort,”) may still be seen a short distance from the village of Prosperous, on the left of the road to Caragh. The only doubt about its being so arises from the fact that, instead of being small, it, on the contrary, is one of considerable dimensions."

St. Farnan of Downings, pray for us!

Fifth Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

After last month's visit by the Bishop, February's monthly Mass would always struggle to exceed its immediate predecessor. The presence of a new celebrant, Fr. Simon Leworthy, FSSP, might have created a flutter of interest. The switching on of the main lights and the flood of sunlight at the beginning of Mass certainly created a different atmosphere in the Church.

A view from the pews at the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

A sprinkling of snow earlier in the morning may well account for the smaller congregation. Besides Celebrant and server, 13 people were present for the Mass, not quite half the size of last month's congregation, although that number could be increased to 15, if the Parish's Sacristy Staff were to be counted. On the positive side, the local people attending were in a clear majority (as were the members of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association, if that is noteworthy).

Fr. Leworthy celebrated the Mass of Septuagesima and, in his sermon, said that these are two-and-an-half weeks to prepare to receive the ashes of repentence.

Fr. Leworthy reads the Epistle at the Ambo

Happily, the use of the Maniple has been restored, although, unfortunately, at the loss of the Chalice Veil. However, a complete and most welcome innovation was the use of an Altar Crucifix, which had been absent for the first four months.

The Sanctuary flooded with light at the Offertory

The Hallowing of Time

The Catholic Church, both in its wisdom and in its understanding of humanity, has many means of sanctifying time. Today, set between Candlemas, which brought Christmastide to a close, and Septuagesima, which opens the long period of preparation for Easter, is an excellent moment to consider the lesser cycles that sanctify time which are blessed by the Church.

Liturgically, we have Ember Days, seasonal periods of prayer and fasting, or Rogations, the twice-yearly occasions for rogating or imploring the mercy and goodness of God.

We also have the dedication of days and months to particular devotions. One traditional method, for example, dedicates Monday to the Holy Ghost, Tuesday to the Holy Angels, Wednesday to St. Joseph, Thursday to the Blessed Sacrament, Friday to the Sacred Passion, Saturday to Our Lady and Sunday to the Most Holy Trinity. The cycle of Votive Masses in the Missal varies from this formula slightly, dedicating Monday to the Most Holy Trinity and including the Holy Ghost on Thursday, while including the Holy Apostles in the dedication of Wednesday.

Of the days dedicated, the most familiar and the most commonly practised, even in our own day, is the dedication of Saturday to Our Lady. The visions of Simon Stock and the children of Fatima would seem to be confirmation from Heaven of this venerable tradition. However, the origin of the dedication of Saturday seems to originate in the Court of Charles the Great (742-814) with the monk Alcuin of York, who composed two Masses in honour of Our Lady for Saturdays. By the 11th Century, the devotion was well established in the Universal Church when St. Peter Damien famously promoted the devotion and Pope Urban II prescribed prayers to Our Lady on Saturdays for the success of the first Crusade.

The dedication of months is also very traditional and frequently enriched with Indulgences. One traditional method devotes January to the Holy Name of Jesus, March to St. Joseph, May to Our Lady, June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, July to His Precious Blood, September to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, October to the Holy Rosary, November to the Holy Souls, and December to the Holy Infancy. Most of these are derived from liturgical feasts ocurring during the month.

The tradition of special devotions to Our Lady during the month of May can certainly be traced to the High Middle Ages, the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X of Castille being frequently cited. The dedication of the entire month to Our Lady may have taken until the 17th Century to be widespread. However, to Pope Clement VIII we owe the custom of the Crowning of Images of Our Lady, now strongly associated with May.

The origin of the dedication of June to the Sacred Heart is less clouded in the mists of history. We owe it to Angéle de Saint Croix, a Parisienne schoolgirl of the 1830s, who was inspired to propose it to the Superioress, not because the feast of the Sacred Heart falls in June, since it is a movable feast dependent upon the timing of Easter, but because Angéle felt that, if Our Lady had a whole month of May, the Sacred Heart should have a whole month of June.

The Superioress recommended her to make the suggestion to the Archbishop when he visited the school the following week. This she did and the Archbishop responded immediately, dedicating the month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the Archdiocese for the joint intentions of the conversion of sinners and the return of France to the practice of the faith. The devotion soon spread and became universal throughout the Church.

In such ways, the Church recommends to the Faithful to dedicate each moment of time to God and to His Angels and Saints, to sanctify time and, by doing so, to sanctify ourselves.

Let us pray for our Pope!

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto!

Dominus conservet eum,

et vivificet eum,

et beatum faciat eum in terra,

et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. (Ps. xl:3)

The Purification of Our Lady

Today is the feast of the Purification of Our Lady and the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple or Candlemas. It marks the fortieth day after the Birth of Our Lord and the end of the Season of Christmastide.

Risë Stevens, seen here singing with Bing Crosby in Going My Way, was one of the great voices of the New York Metropolitan Opera. This clip captures a sense of that time when popular culture deferred to Catholic Culture, a time when Catholics deferred to Catholic Culture, a time when men were men and Popes were Pius.

Going My Way starred Bing Crosby as Fr. O'Mally and Barry Fitzgerald as Fr. Fitzgibbon. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Original Song, Best Original Story and Best Screenplay and three further nominations in 1945. It was followed by The Bells of St. Mary's, starring Bing Crosby again as Fr. O'Mally and Ingrid Bergman as St. M. Benedict. The Bells of St. Mary's won one Oscar and seven nominations in 1946. Going My Way was reprised as a television series in 1962-3 starring Gene Kelly in the Crosby role and Leo G. Carroll in Fitzgerald's.

Leo McCarey, the writer and director on both films, was one of the outstanding Catholics of the so-called 'golden age' of Hollywood, amassing 3 Oscars and a further 10 nominations.

Pilgrimage to Kildare

Pilgrimage to honour St. Brigid of Kildare on Saturday 14th February 2009 commencing with a procession to St. Brigid's Well departing from St. Brigid's Parish Church Kildare Town at 12.30 pm.

Holy Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite in St. Brigid's Parish Church Kildare Town at 2.30 pm followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Catholic Heritage in Popular Culture

A staple of modern popular culture is the television game show. This video shows an early example of the genre, What's My Line. The original show What's My Line ran from 1950 to 1967. The premise was that the panel attempts to guess the avocation of the guests through a series of questions - or in the final round, attempts to guess the mystery celebrity guest while blind-folded, as in this clip.

The mystery guest in this clip is Bishop, as he then was, Fulton Sheen, a staple of popular American Catholic Culture for decades. Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for canonisation began in 2002, was best known for television shows that essentially took the form of illustrated sermons. He presented The Catholic Hour on radio from 1930 to 1950, and, on television, Life is Worth Living from 1951 to 1955 and later The Fulton Sheen Program from 1961 to 1968.

From a Catholic heritage point-of-view, the most interesting element of this clip from What's My Line is not the presence of Bishop Sheen, however illustrative, but the reaction of the panel as he leaves.

Those familiar with the show will also notice that, uniquely, both the ladies, Arlene Francis and Dorothy Kilgallen, stand to take leave of this guest, but the real 'gravy moment' is the gesture of panelist and journalist (and Catholic) Dorothy Kilgallen towards 'uncle Fultie.' Take a look and you'll see how Catholic culture inhabited the public sphere in the days when men were men and Popes were Pius.

Excommunications remitted

CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS

By a decree of the Congregation of Bishops dated 21st January, and effective from that date, the Holy See has remitted the excommunications of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta, members of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius the Tenth, who were consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the late Bishop Antonio Castro de Mayer. An unofficial translation is also available.

Cardinal Re, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, wrote in Italian: 'It is hoped that this step is followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of St. Pius X, thereby demonstrating true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and the authority of the Pope by the proof of visible unity.'

The statement of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce can be found here.

Pilgrimage to Dublin

The series of pilgrimages for the Holy Year of Saint Paul resumed this morning with Mass and devotions in the Saint Paul's @ Smithfield. While tomorrow is a feast of Saint Paul, today being the feast of his disciple, St. Timothy, wasn't an inappropriate day to celebrate either.

Fr. Flanagan preaches at Saint Paul's

Fr. Desmond Flanagan, O.Carm., celebrated Mass for a congregation of 49 members and friends of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Group. In his sermon, Fr. Flanagan emphasised the missionary faith of Saint Paul, urging those present not to be ashamed to stand up for their faith in today's world.

The Sanctuary of Saint Paul's during the Mass

Of particular note is the fresco of the conversion of

Saint Paul on the Sanctuary wall

Following Mass, some of the pilgrims made their way to Queen St., the nearby birthplace of Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B., who was baptised in Saint Paul's Church.

St. Blath of Kildare

Among the several daughters of St. Brigid renowned for sanctity stands St. Blath (orse St. Flora) of Kildare. St. Blath is commemorated, if she is remembered at all, on 29th January. She was a lay-sister in the Convent of Kildare founded by St. Brigid.

As cook of the Convent, she earned a reputation not only for her heroic sanctity and her personal devotion to her foundress but also for her cooking. It is said that, under the care of St. Blath, the bread and bacon at St. Brigid's table were better than a banquet elsewhere.

She is recorded as having been born to heaven in the year 523, about two years before the death of the great St. Brigid.

At the risk of a pun or an anachronism, it might be said that St. Blath was the Little Flower of Kildare.

St. Blath of Kildare, pray for us!

Feast days and name days - St. Agnes

St. Agnes died about the year 300 AD, at the tender age of thirteen. Like many other Christians during the first centuries in Rome, she was killed for her beliefs. She protects maidens and children, gardeners, engaged couples, chastity and rape victims. She is often, as in the pictures here to the left, depicted with a lamb, an agnus, signifying innocence and purity. The name Agnes, however, has nothing to do with agnus, but is derived from the greek word agnós, meaning chaste.

Today is the feast of Saint Agnes on the Church's Calendar. In the Swedish Calendar, it's also Agnes's Name Day. For each day, in the Swedish calendar, one or two names are being celebrated, these names usually correspond with the feast days of the Saints e.g. Stefan (Swedish version of Stephen) on Dec 26th, Michael on Sept 29th and Tomas (Thomas) on Dec 21st. On their day people named after these saints are usually congratulated and name days are celebrated like birthdays, though on a smaller scale. Some days, like New Years Day and June 24th, the day of John the Baptist, have no names attached to them, and some names, like Tor (October 19th) or Ragnar (October 1st) have name days, but have, of course, no connection to the Catholic Church whatsoever, being rather pagan in nature.

Agnes was a very popular name, in both Sweden and the English speaking world, at the start of the 20th century, and has now, in recent years, again become popular. Among the Agneses of the world we find, apart from the author of this blog-post, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Blessed Mother Teresa.

The Name Day Calendar of the Royal Swedish Academy is another link, probably an unconscious one, with Sweden's Catholic past. It is an example of some of the ways that Sweden, although technically a Lutheran Country, has many expressions of Catholicism. In many cases, Swedish National life retains many more of the outward signs of Catholic Civilization than many nominally Catholic Countries.

Fourth Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

Gains and Losses

The fourth monthly Latin Mass run by the Fraternity of Saint Peter in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin took place this afternoon at 1 p.m.

The congregation gained slightly in numbers this month, reversing the trend of the first three months. However, this was the result of a slight increase in the number of people from outside the Diocese attending and meant the loss of last month's majority of local people in attendance.

The presence in the Sanctuary of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Bishop Moriarty, was a very significant gain. Great praise and thanks is due to His Lordship for his generous provision of this monthly Latin Mass and his fatherly solicitude, demonstrated by his attendance twice in the space of four months. However, we have once again lost the use of a maniple by the celebrant.

St. Aedh of Kildare

The life of King Aedh Dubh (Hugh the Black) of Leinster is to be found both in the Annals of the Four Masters and the Annals of Ulster. His name, under the latinized form of Aidus, is to be found in several martyrologies.

His hair colour, rather than any misdeeds, is the source of his designation 'the black'. This distinguishes him from King Aedh Finn of Ossory, Hugh the Fair, on account of his hair colouring - although his deeds were high and holy too.

The great ecclesiastical historian Colgan recounts King Aedh's abdication about the year 591, whereupon he entered the monastery of Kildare for the remaining forty-eight years of his life.

He went on to become Abbot of Kildare and, from 630 to his death in 638 or 639, he was Bishop of Kildare. c.f. Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga, and the Secunda Vita S. Brigidae, cap. xxxv, ps. 523-4. This is a point of singular interest. Some writers ascribe to St. Conleth, and to the Bishops of Kildare after him, a joint role as Bishop-Abbot. However, St. Aedh is the first of the Bishops of Kildare who is recorded as having held both posts.

O'Donovan, in his Annals of the Four Masters vol. i, pps 256-7 gives the year of St. Aedh's death as 638. Colgan gives his feast day as 4th January and prefers the latter year for his birth to Heaven.

St. Aedh of Kildare, pray for us!

Celebrating the feast of St. Sylvester in Sweden

Today is the feast of Saint Sylvester I, who was Pope from 314 to 335, for 22 years, making him the eighth longest reigning Pope. He was the first Pope to use the title Pope meaning father. His reign coincided with the reign of the Emperor Constantinus so the Latern Basilica and Old Saint Peter's Basilica (the Constantinian Basilica) were built during his reign.

December 31st is the day of the burial of St. Sylvester in the Catacomb of Priscilla. Since it is also the last night of the secular year, the night of St. Sylvester (Sylvesternacht in German) is also celebrated in Catholic Countries.

In Lutheran Sweden, today is celebrated, among other things, as the birthday of cats. This seems like mockery or silliness but, in fact, like many Swedish celebrations, it has its roots firmly planted in Sweden's Catholic past. In Latin the term for a cat is Felis Sylvestris so the obvious day to celebrate the birthday of cats is the feast of their Saint, Sylvester. In a funny way, the Swedish celebration of the birthday of cats keeps alive in our National culture the feast of this holy Pope.

Remember The Holy Innocents!

"Herod the King, in his raging, charged he hath this day,
His men of might, in his own sight, all young children to slay."

Let us pray to the Martyrs of Christmas for the Holy Innocents of our own day!

St. Evin of Monasterevin

St. Abban is said to have preceded St. Evin in this locality, and to have established a church, if not also a monastic house in it. St. Evin-sometimes styled Emin-an, i.e., "Little Evin," and sometimes Beccan, which means "Little"-of the royal blood of Munster, brother to St. Cormac and two other saints, (1) - if he did not himself found the monastery, at least he colonized it by bringing thither a large number of monks from his native province. Hence the place, the previous name of which was Ros-glas ("the green wood"), came to be called Ros-glas-na-Moimneach, or "Ros-glas of the Munstermen."

Colgan thus writes of this saint:-"St Emin, who is also corruptly called Evinus, betook himself to Leinster, and at the bank of the river Barrow, . . . he raised a noble monastery, called in that age, Rosglas, and which, from the number of monks who followed the man of God from his own country of Munster, who were most holily governed by him there, began to be called Rosglas na-miamhneach, i.e., of the Momonians, and in process of time grew up into a large and formerly flourishing town. There the holy man was famous for many and great miracles, and that monastery, on account of the reverence paid to its first founder, stood in so great a veneration with posterity, that it was held a most safe sanctuary, and nobody presumed to offer violence or injury to the holy place who did not soon suffer the severity of the Divine vengeance. For the holy man is said to have obtained from God that none of the Lagenians, who should, with violent audacity, taste meat or drink in his sanctuary, or offer any other violence, would live beyond the ninth day afterwards. It was also said that after his death there was a bell belonging to this saint, which was called Bearnan Emhin, and was held in so great veneration that posterity, especially those sprung from the seed of Eugenius, his father, were accustomed to swear on it as a kind of inviolable oath, and conclude controversies by the virtue of the oath. It was in defence of this town that the famous battle of Bealach-Mughna (Ballymoon), in the plain of the country of Hy-drona, commonly called Maghailbhe, was fought, in which the Momonian invaders suffered great disaster, their King, Cormac-mac-Culenan, being slain."

In the Life of St. Clonfert Molua we read of that Saint visiting the Abbot St. Evin in his monastery, not far from the Barrow, which the most holy old man, Abban, had founded:-"S. Molua visitavit S. Evinum abbatem non longe a flumine Berbha in monasterio quod sanctissimus senex Abbanus fundavit, habitantem." The following passage from the Book of Ballymote, 270, a, (kindly translated from the Irish, by Mr. W.M. Hennessy) refers to this monastery:-

Emin-an, son of Eoghan, son of Murchadh, son of Muiredach, son of Diarmait, son of Eoghan, son of Ailill Flann-beg. Ros-glaise, moreover, was his foundation-place. On the brink of the Barrow the church is. And it was he that left [word] with the Lagenians, that he would not preserve for a moment alive the laic who would taste meat or butter or cold milk in his church-i.e. in Ros-glaise of the Munstermen.

And it is contending for this place the battle of Ballaghmoon, in Moy-ailbhe in Idrone, was given [fought]; and in it was slain Cormac MacCuilennan. Of which Cormac said:-

"About Ros-glaisne we shall give
The battle, since we cannot help it.
By Fiach (2) shall fall a King, on account of the ‘Ros.’
'Twill be sad, be true, be manifest."

The "swearing relic" of the Race of Eoghan is the Bernan Emin; and it is a miraculous breo, ("flame".)

The year of St. Evin’s death has not been recorded; Colgan, in Trias Thaum., states that it took place during the reign of Brandubh, King of Leinster, who was killed in the battle of Slaibhre, in A.D. 601 (or 604, according to the Annals of Ulster), after a reign of 30 years. O’ Curry and other reliable authorities, however, assign reasons for believing that our saint flourished at an earlier period, that he was a contemporary of St. Patrick, though only as a youth, and that his death occurred very early in the sixth century. We may justly conclude that he died on the 22nd of December, as our calendars mark his feast on that day. The Martyrology of Tallaght at that date has the entry: "Emini Rois glaissi," i.e., Emhin, or Evin of Rosglas; and the Mart. Donegal, at same date, has "Emin, Bishop of Rosglas, in Leinster, to the west of Cill-dara, on the brink of the Bearbha. Jamhnat, daughter of Sinell, was his mother. Eimhin was the son of Eoghan, etc. He was the brother of Cormac, son of Eoghan, as stated in the Life of the same Cormac." St. Evin was the author of the Life of St. Patrick called the Tripartite, published by Colgan, from which Joceline, who wrote a Life of our Apostle early in the twelfth century, acknowledges that he derived much help. This work is written partly in Latin and partly in Irish. Of this Life, Dr. Lanigan says that it contains a much greater variety of details concerning the Saint’s proceedings during his mission in Ireland than any other of his Lives. St. Evin also wrote the Life of St. Congall, the famous Abbot and Founder of the Monastery of Bangor, out of which Colgan cites some particular passages. (Harris’s Ware.)

Toimdenach, brother of St. Abban, was Abbot of Rosglas (Leabhar Breac), and Dubhan, another brother is said to have been a member of the same community; the feast of the former was celebrated on the 12th of June, and that of the latter on the11th of November.

Itharnaise is another saint whom we find connected with St. Evin and his monastery, and whose memory was celebrated on the same day, the 22nd of December. The Feilire of Aengus, at that day, has the invocation:- "May (Ultan) the Silent’s prayer protect us! Itharnaisc who spoke not, who was with pure Emine from the brink of the dumb Barrow." These two saints, Ultan and Itharnaisc, were chiefly identified with Clane, County of Kildare; they were brothers of St. Maighend, Abbot of Kilmainham, and sons of Aed, son of Colcan, King of Oirghallia. Aed himself became a monk, and died in 606.

A St. Cronan, whose feast is calendared at the 10th of Feb., is also identified with this monastery. The Feilire of Aengus thus refers to him:-"Fair star, offspring of victory, glowing mass-gold, bright pillar, Cronan holy, without reproach, white sun of Glais-Mar!" To which the scholiast in the Leabhar Breac adds:- "Cronan the chaste, without reproach, i.e., in Ros Glaise," etc.

A manuscript volume in the Irish language, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, - MSS. 23, P.3,-contains a most interesting prose tract entitled the Cain Emine (Emine’s Tribute or Rule), and also a poem, which may be called The Lay of the Bell of St. Emine. O’ Curry, in his descriptive catalogue, states his opinion that the prose tract is certainly as old as the year 800; but that the poem was not written till long after.

From the entry on the Parish of Monasterevin in Most Rev. Dr. Comerford's History of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (1883).

St. Evin of Monasterevin, pray for us that we may be granted all the graces of Christmas and Christmastide!

Third Monthly Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

The third monthly Latin Mass in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin took place this afternoon at 1 p.m. with Fr. Brendan Gerard, F.S.S.P., as celebrant.


While the attendance was not as large as on the two previous occasions, the congregation of almost two dozen witnessed three innovations. First, the addition of a maniple was most welcome. Second, a collection was taken up from the congregation for the first time. Third, the number of local people, while it may not be growing in real terms, has grown in percentage terms and today constituted a majority of those present.


Indeed, since nine members of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association were present, we almost constituted a majority by ourselves. Once again, apologies for the quality of the pictures. The lighting in the Church is almost entirely non-natural and does not favour photography from a respectful distance.

The Swedish celebration of St. Lucy

St. Lucy (283-304 AD) from Syracuse, is the patroness of the blind, having plucked her own eyes out. She also protects prostitutes regretting their unfortunate choice of career, this because she herself was condemned to work in a brothel.

Her name is derived from the word lux or lucis meaning light. She was an early Christian martyr. She consecrated her virginity to God, and would not marry the man her parents had promised her to. She did, however, send him her own eyes, after having removed them herself, which is why she is often depicted with a pair of eyes on a plate. Our Lady then gave her a new pair of eyes, even more beautiful than the ones she'd had before.

It is said that before her death she was attacked in the most horrifying of ways; she was drenched in burning oil, but was not hurt; she had a sword thrust through her neck, but survived just until recieving the Last Rites.

St. Lucy is one of the few saints celebrated in lutheran Sweden. The night of her feast day, the 13th of December - roughly half way through advent - was, during the middle ages, according to the Julian calendar, the winter solstice - the longest night of the year. This changed, however, with the conversion to the Gregorian calendar in 1753.

On the evening of the 12th, a popular custom is to have a Lussevaka - Lucy wake - staying up all night and preparing for the feast of St. Lucy. At dawn on the 13th, groups of young people, dressed in white and carrying candles, used to go from door to door singing, and, for this, getting treats or money. Nowadays, this tradition is kept alive in schools and universities by early morning choir performances, and by children singing to their parents, and bringing them breakfast. This is what goes on in the picture here to the left, painted by Carl Larsson, Sweden's most famous painter.


Treats may include lussekatter - Lucy cats - a kind of saffron bun made especially for St. Lucy's day, but often enjoyed throughout Advent, along with ginger bread and coffee or mulled wine. The bun comes in many different shapes, the one to the right here being the most popular. A more luxurious kind is stuffed with marzipan.

The celebration of St. Lucy in Sweden is very much a part of the preparation for Christmas and many of the songs sung during the celebrations are, indeed, Christmas carols. Often, little children will dress up as little house gnomes or ginger bread men while taking part in the celebrations.

In the video below is a girls' choir, dressed up in the customary St. Lucy dresses, and singing the St. Lucy song. There are several versions of the lyrics to this song, but they all describe how St. Lucy brings light into the dark and prepares us for Christmas.

The girl with the candles in her hair is the one representing St. Lucy. Being chosen for this is an honour and there are usually elections and preparations months in advance to get the perfect Lucy.

Another Saint often mentioned during the St. Lucy celebrations is St. Stephen, who even has his own song sung during the St. Lucy festivities. He is rarely mentioned here in Sweden, though, on his proper feast day - the 26th of December.

St. Stephen is sometimes referred to as the protomartyr, since he was the first Christian to be martyred. He was stoned to death in 35 AD. In Swedish tradition he is very closely connected with horses, like a stable boy, and this is also the theme of the St. Stephen's song; "Staffan var en stalledräng, vattnade sina fålar fem, för den ljusa stjärna" - "Stephen was a stable boy, he watered his five horses, for the bright shining star."



Why the tradition of celebrating St. Lucy's day has survived for so long in lutheran Sweden, where so many other Saints and religious practices are now, by most, forgotten, is not easy to say. Some will explain it as the longing for light during the dark season in a dark country. Others say that the St. Lucy celebrations are a Christian excuse to celebrate the winter solstice, a somewhat more pagan tradition.