Papal Masses in the UK
will use some new English texts
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY, August 19 (CNS) -- People attending Pope Benedict XVI's Masses in Scotland and England in September will get a chance to hear and sing a few of the newly translated Mass texts, according to the pope's chief liturgist.
Center photo: Mons. Marini on his site visit to the UK in June to check out arrangements for the Pope's liturgies during the state visit. He is holding a copy of Peter Jennings's book, Benedict XVI and Cardinal Newman.
Msgr. Guido Marini, papal master of liturgical ceremonies, told Catholic News Service Aug. 19 that the prayers sung in English at the papal Masses in Great Britain will use the translations from the new Order of the Mass approved by the Vatican in 2008.
"The songs from the Order of the Mass -- for example the Gloria -- will be from the new translation, which was approved a while ago," he said.
The words for the rest of the Mass prayers "will be from the text currently in use," he said, because when the papal Masses were being planned, the Vatican had not yet granted final approval to the bishops of Scotland, England and Wales for the complete English translation of the Roman Missal.
Although the new translation of the Order of the Mass, which contains the main prayers used at Mass, was approved by the Vatican two years ago, bishops' conferences in English-speaking countries decided to wait to introduce the prayers until the entire Roman Missal was translated and approved.
The new translation of the Mass was designed to follow more closely the text in the original Latin.
In the Gloria, which Msgr. Marini said would be sung during the papal trip, the new English text begins: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father."
The text currently in use begins: "Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory."
Pope to say private prayers
at Newman shrine in Birmingham
by Andy Richards
August 19, 2010
THE Pope will say private prayers at a shrine for Cardinal Newman in Edgbaston, when he makes an historic visit to Birmingham.
Leaders of the Catholic Church from across Britain will also gather in Sutton Coldfield alongside the Pope, as part of a packed itinerary.
The Vatican has published full details of Pope Benedict XVI’s timetable when he comes to the city on Sunday, September 19.
Around 70,000 people are expected to join him in celebrating Mass with the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Cofton Park, near the old MG Rover car plant in Birmingham.
The Pope is set to arrive in Birmingham at 9.30am, after travelling by helicopter from Wimbledon Park in London.
The Mass will take place in Cofton Park, close to the cemetery at Rednal where Cardinal Newman was buried, starting at 10am.
The Pope will then make a private visit to Oratory House in Edgbaston, where Cardinal Newman lived from 1852 until his death in 1890.
Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, the Vatican’s Papal Visit Co-ordinator, said: “Having celebrated the Mass of Beatification in Cofton Park, Pope Benedict will travel to the Birmingham Oratory in order to be the first person to pray at the new shrine for, as he will be then, ‘Blessed’ John Henry Newman.
“The shrine is adjacent to the Oratory church. He will then go into the Oratory residence to the rooms of Cardinal Newman, and he will be able to spend some personal time in a place resonant with the history of the Cardinal.
“His books are there, his desk is there, his personal chapel is there, and it will be a really special moment for the Holy Father to be there having literally just celebrated the beatification of Cardinal Newman.”
At 1.45pm the Pope will have lunch with the Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales and the Papal Entourage at St. Mary’s College, Oscott, in Sutton Coldfield.
The college is the seminary, where priests are trained, of the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, which covers the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire.
Looking at the published program for teh Pope's visit, The Guardian presents a plausible scenario the other newspapers failed to consider.
Pope Benedict 'likely'
to meet abuse victims
by Tom Kington in Rome
Thursday 19 August 2010
Pope Benedict is likely to meet some of the people abused by priests when he visits Britain in September, according to a Catholic church source.
Involved in drawing up the itinerary for the 16-19 September visit, the source said he would be "surprised if it didn't happen" given the gaps left in Benedict's schedule, announced on Wednesday.
At 5pm on 18 September the Pope will visit the St Peter's Residence retirement home in Lambeth, south London, to give a speech that the source said "will focus on end-of-life issues" – suggesting he will stress his opposition to euthanasia.
His previous commitment before visiting the home is Mass at Westminster Cathedral at 10am – leaving him time that day for a possible meeting with victims of abuse by priests.
The Pope met eight abuse victims during a visit to Malta in April, and he was reportedly reduced to tears. The meeting was part of the Vatican's response to the wave of abuse scandals that have damaged the Church.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has previously said "careful consideration" was being given to organising meetings with victims during the Pope's visit to Britain.
A British government source involved in the trip denied that the gaps in the Pope's schedule were put there to give him plenty of resting time between appearances because of his age. "The Pope may be 83, but this is a gruelling schedule by any standards," he said.
The 83-year-old Pontiff is due to deliver 10 speeches and hold four Masses during his visits to Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham, as well as meeting the Queen, David Cameron (for 20 minutes), and Nick Clegg (who will get 10).
Leo XIII’s long version of the prayer
to St Michael the Archangel speaks to our time
By Rev. Nick Donnelly, Deacon
August 19th, 2010
I’ve been reading the long version of Pope Leo XIII’s Prayer to St Michael the Archangel and have been struck by how relevant it is to this time leading up to the Holy Father’s visit. I find these excerpts in particular very descriptive of the time we are living through:
Behold this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the Name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay, and cast into eternal perdition, souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.’
That wicked dragon pours out as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.
These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on Her most sacred possessions.
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck the sheep may be scattered.
Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. Amen.
Illustrations above of the Archangel Michael: Left, by Guido Reni, 1636, Chiesa della Concezione, Rome; right, by Iosif Churikov, 1898, Moscow State Restoration Society.
I find this video of St Michael’s Prayer on Youtube very uplifting and encouraging after spending a month dealing with all the vileness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLg2YauMuiY&feature=related
NB: Before he became Pope, when he was Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium in the 1850s, Leo XIII visited England for several weeks with Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman to study the situation of the Catholic Church in mid-19th century England. And it was, of course, Leo XIII who made John Henry Newman a cardinal. And Benedict XVI will be making a pastoral visit to Leo XIII's birthplace of Carpineto Romano not far from Rome on Sunday, Sept. 5, as a highlight of the bicentennial observance of his birth.
Weekly audio update
on the Papal Visit
by Mons. Andrew Summersgill
Coordinator of the papal visit for
the Catholic Bishops of England Wales
Transcript from
August 18, 2010
Why have we waited until just a month before the Visit to get this full line by line breakdown?
Normally the Holy See would produce a line by line itinerary for a Papal Visit before this - usually two months beforehand. However with the summer break and also following discussions between the Government here, the security services, the Holy See and ourselves, it was decided that it would be more appropriate to wait until about a month before the Visit. So this morning the itinerary is being published in this country and in the Vatican.
We’ve had outline versions of the itinerary online for many months now, but there are a few additions - I'm thinking of St Peter’s in Vauxhall. Tell us a little bit about that.
St Peter’s home for the elderly is in Vauxhall, it's run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, and on the Saturday afternoon of Pope Benedict's visit he will go to St Peter’s to visit the community there and to visit the elderly residents and their families.
The importance of the this visit is that within all the great gatherings and events of the Papal Visit there's a real opportunity for the Holy Father to go as a pastor to those who cannot go to him - to those who are housebound, to those who are elderly. And it's a great opportunity to celebrate the pastoral care that is given, day in day out, by so many people in the Church.
I also think it's a chance to underline the importance the Church places, and particularly Pope Benedict places, in his own teaching and ministry, in the value of life - the value of life from its beginning to its natural end.
To visit a home where those who are coming towards the end of their life are cared for both spiritually and physically, is a real value and sign to our community and our society. It's a great thing for the Holy Father to do while he's here.
You hinted at it there, but would you class this as an affirmation of other religious orders and other charisms and vocations?
Absolutely, and it's not just for religious orders either. It’s the great deal of work that is done and the care that is given by people across the Church, if you just think for example of the number of ministers of the Eucharist who every week take Holy Communion to people who are sick, housebound or elderly. There’s a great mission there and this is one way of celebrating that.
Pope Benedict will also do this whilst people are gathering in Hyde Park to celebrate the different parts of the life of the Church in this country. And that Vigil, of course, reaches its climax with his presence, his words, and the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. So the two do run together quite deliberately and offer a real sign of the life of the Church.
And a group that don't always get a shout, but deserve one - the deacons. They have an important part to play throughout the Papal Visit don't they?
They do, yes. Deacons will be present at all the celebrations. There will be deacons present at Hyde Park, and of course at the Mass of beatification in Cofton Park. Deacon Jack Sullivan, who was cured through the intercession of Cardinal Newman - he will be present as a deacon at that celebration.
The other line item that’s raised its head now is the Holy Father's visit to a key venue when we’re talking about the beatification - the Birmingham Oratory...
Yes, that's right. Having celebrated the Mass of Beatification in Cofton Park, Pope Benedict will travel to the Birmingham Oratory in order to be the first person to pray at the new shrine for, as he will be then, "Blessed" John Henry Newman. The shrine is adjacent to the Oratory church.
He will then go into the Oratory residence to the rooms of Cardinal Newman, and he will be able to spend some personal time in a place resonant with the history of the Cardinal. His books are there, his desk is there, his personal chapel is there, and it will be a really special moment for the Holy Father to be there, having literally just celebrated the beatification of Cardinal Newman.
Finally, Father Andrew, a quick word on Popemobile routes...
With the publication of the itinerary we are now able gladly to confirm that there will be times, during the four days that the Holy Father is here, when he will be travelling in the Popemobile. This means that he will be much more visible and will be moving more slowly. This will present a real chance for people to gather and to greet and welcome the Pope. This is planned to happen in Edinburgh on the day that Pope Benedict arrives, in London on the second day, the Friday, and in London again on Saturday.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/08/2010 02:00]