Young Catholic Adult 2014 Weekend at Douai Consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary                                               Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world. Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully. We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen. --Venerable Pope Pius XII

The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been in existence for approximately 700 years. It is said that , Saint Simon Stock, General of the Carmelite Order in the thirteenth century, saw Our Lady in a vision in 1251 and presented him with the well-known brown scapular, a garment, reaching from the shoulders to the knees. It was given as a guarantee, for all who died wearing it, of Her heavenly protection from eternal damnation.

Devotion to the Scapular spread post haste throughout the Christendom. Pope after successive Pope enriched it with various indulgences, and there were many miracles associated with it .

In 1858 at Lourdes, Bernadette said that the Virgin appeared on July 16th, the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (which was the very day the Church commemorates Her appearance to Saint Simon Stock). On October 13, 1917, at Fatima the three Shepard children – Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco stated that Mary appeared to them as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In a general sense, wearing the Scapular is a sign of someone’s commitment and devotion to Our Lady.

Individuals can be enrolled in the Scapular after the YCA High Mass and Marian Procession on Saturday 20th September 2014 in the Parish Church at Douai Abbey. 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel – pray for us.

Timetable for Young Catholic Adults/Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge Douai Weekend 19-21 Sept 2014

 

 

 

Timetable for Young Catholic Adults/Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge
 Douai Weekend 19-21 Sept 2014

 

Theme of the Weekend

True conversion of the Soul :-“We undertake to convert our hearts to the horizons of grace,” - Pope Benedict XVI.

Friday - Feast of St. Januarius 3^rd  Class - Red

5-6pm Arrival
6:55pm Supper
8pm-8.30pm Rosary or Chant Workshop -
8:40 Sung Dominican Compline after Workshop
9pm: Social

Saturday – Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday 4^th Class - White

8-9am Breakfast
9-9:40am - Chant workshop followed by practice
9:45am 1^st Talk John Pridmore –“ Gangland to the Promised Land” hear John’s conversion story.
11am: High Mass in the Parish Church ( EF Roman Rite Gregorian Chant )
12.00pm: Marian Procession in honour of Our Lady of Fatima around the extensive grounds  of Douai Abbey, followed by enrolment into the Brown Scapular and a sung Litiya
1-2pm: Lunch
2-3pm: 2nd Talk – Fr. Matthew Goddard– “Striving for Holiness”
3-4pm: Chant workshop
[4-4.30pm: Chant rehearsal for Schola Gregoriana]
4.30-5.30 pm: 3^rd Talk – Fr. Gregory Pearson OP – “Initial conversion”
5:30-6pm Free time
6-6.30pm: Vespers in Dominican Rite
6:55pm Supper
7.30-8:30pm: Rosary Adoration, Bedediction and Confessions
8.30pm: Social

Sunday 15th Sunday after Pentecost - Green

8-9am Breakfast
9am-9:45am: Schola Gregoriana rehearsal
10:30am: Sung/High Mass ( EF Dominican Rite, Gregorian Chant)
11:45am-12:40pm: 4th Talk – Fr. Gregory Pearson – “Ongoing Conversion”
12:45-1pm Rosary
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Finish

 

 

Benedict XVI has posed for what is thought to be his first selfie.

 

Benedict XVI has posed for what is thought to be his first selfie. It's great to see him still going strong!

Young Catholic Adults Weekend 2014 Latest -There have been a COUPLE of cancellations so booking has recommenced temporarily

(There have been a COUPLE of cancellations so booking has recommenced temporarily).

Cottages (student style dormitory accommodation) ARE NOW FULLY BOOKED.

Guest House (mostly single rooms - hotel style accommodation) £60 per person per night (incl. food). It's possible to stay just for the Saturday night.

Day Guests. For those wishing to come for the day on Saturday or Sunday - please bring a packed lunch. It will not be possible to provide food in the Guest Refectory for people coming for the day.

Please go to https://v1.bookwhen.com/yca-douai-2014 to book!

Beautiful song to Our Lady on her feast day

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

 

For something truly angelic to celebrate this beautiful feast of Our Lady, please take the time to listen to this Russian/Armenian 11 year old, Viktoria (Vika) Oganisyan, sing Ave Maria by Giulio Caccini (1551-1618).

 

Click here

 

May Our Blessed Mother bless you this day and always!

Just a Few Places Left for YCA Douai Weekend 2014!

Book now!



 

 

 Just a few Guest House places left - see below for photo's of the rooms!

Booking Deadline For YCA Weekend 2014 now FRIDAY 5TH SEPT go to https://v1.bookwhen.com/yca-douai-2014.

 

Young Catholic Adults Retreat at Douai Abbey 2014 and the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

 Photo: Credit http://www.scholagregoriana.org/  

                                         

The Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge will be assisting in the 2014 Young Catholic Adults weekend in Douai Abbey. They will be providing Gregorian Chant Workshops among other things. Christopher Hodgkinson will be leading the Schola at this event.

The Schola website states that:- it was "founded in 1975 by Dr Mary Berry, a Cambridge musician and musicologist, in order to ensure that the chant should continue to be taught, and that all those who wished to sing and study this profoundly spiritual and ancient music should be able to do so. It became a registered charity in 1984.The Schola aims to promote the teaching and singing of Gregorian chant and, whenever possible, to foster its study and research."

For more details about the Schola  please see http://www.scholagregoriana.org/ 

 

The absolute Booking Deadline For YCA Weekend 2014 now FRIDAY 5TH SEPT 2014.

(The Abbey have allowed us to book a few extra rooms) - the absolute deadline is now  FRIDAY 5TH SEPT 2014.

Thank-you Douai!!!!

John Pridmore at YCA Weekend at Douai Abbey

Come and hear the conversion story John Pridmore and listen to him describe his early chaotic life of  despair. A life changing calamity made John decide that  he needed to change direction and re-convert back to the Catholic faith of his childhood.

 His talk starts at 9:45am on Saturday 20^th September 2014 , this will be followed by Sung/High Mass and then a Marian procession through the grounds of the Abbey.

If you are in  the 18-35 AGE RANGE:-  come and meet like minded individuals at the Young Catholic Adults Weekend (19^th-21^st September 2014) .

 To book please go to:- https://v1.bookwhen.com/yca-douai-2014. For more details please see:- http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/events.htm.

BOOK NOW FOR YOUNG CATHOLIC ADULTS NATIONAL EVENT 2014

BOOK NOW FOR YOUNG CATHOLIC ADULTS NATIONAL EVENT 2014

BOOK NOW FOR YOUNG CATHOLIC ADULTS NATIONAL EVENT 2014

Guest Speakers - John Pridmore, Fr. Gregory Pearson OP, Fr. Matthew Goddard FSSP

There will be:-

Sung/High Masses
Talks
Rosaries
Confessions
Marian Procession
Socials

Cottages (student style dormitory accommodation) £18 per person per night (incl. food).

Guest House (mostly single rooms - hotel style accommodation) £60 per person per night (incl. food).

Day Guests. For those wishing to come for the day on Saturday or Sunday - please bring a packed lunch. It will not be possible to provide food in the Guest Refectory for people coming for the day.

-Please note to guarantee your place this year Douai Abbey have requested that everyone books in 3 weeks before the start of the weekend i.e. 29th August 2014.

How to book

For more details, please see:- http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/events.htm

Or use the online booking system at: https://bookwhen.com/yca-douai-2014. 

Marian Saturdays and the First Five Saturdays Devotion

 

Today is the First Saturday of the month of  July, so perhaps it is time to think about the First Five Saturdays Devotion . As http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com eloquently states:-

“I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

It may come as some surprise that this devotion of the first five Saturdays, requested by Heaven through Sister Lucia of Fatima in 1925 at her convent in Pontevedra, was not new; in fact it is an ancient custom in the Church! It fits precisely into the long tradition of Catholic piety that, having devoted Fridays to the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ and to honouring His Sacred Heart, found it very natural to devote Saturdays to His Most Holy Mother.

It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. On 29th May, 1930 Our Blessed Lord explained to Sr. Lucia in another apparition to her that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonouring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.

“My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6)
It is also an age-old tradition that Jesus appeared to Mary on the Saturday, the day after His death, whilst the world lay in hushed waiting for the Resurrection. The great theologians of the 12th and 13th centuries, Sts. Bernard, Thomas and Bonaventure, explained the dedication of Saturdays to Mary by pointing to the time of Christ’s rest in the grave. Everyone else had abandoned Christ; only Mary continued to believe, demonstrating her deep faith by never doubting for a moment her Son’s promise of Resurrection. This was her day!

St Peter Damian, one of those who most aided the spread of Mariology in the eleventh century, expresses the same thought in the following manner: “Sabbath signifies rest, for one reads that God himself rested on that day. Is it not then fitting that the same day should be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in whom the divine Wisdom chose its abode, and rested as on a couch of holiness?”
The liturgical books of the ninth and tenth centuries containing Masses in honour of Mary on Saturday were largely the work of Alcuin (735-804), the Benedictine monk who was “Minister of Education” at the court of Charlemagne and who contributed in a decisive manner to the Carolingian liturgical reform. Alcuin composed six formularies for Votive (i.e. devotional) Masses – one for each day of the week. And he assigned two formularies to Saturday in honour of Our Lady. The practice was quickly and joyously embraced by both clergy and laity.

There were several theological reasons for dedicating this day to Mary. A 15th century missal gives
several of those reasons in a hymn: Saturday is the day when creation was completed, therefore it is also celebrated as the day of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation, which found its realisation through Mary. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, so it seemed appropriate to observe the preceding day as Mary’s day. In addition, as Genesis describes, God rested on the seventh day, Saturday. The seventh day, and the Jewish Sabbath, is Saturday; we rest on Sunday, because we celebrate the Resurrection as our Sabbath Day. In parallel, Jesus rested in the womb and then in the loving arms of Mary from birth until she held His lifeless body at the foot of the Cross; thus the God-head rested in Mary.
St. John of Damascus (d. 754) writings testify to the celebration of Saturdays dedicated to Mary in the Church of the East.

 

Down through the centuries the Marian Saturdays were expressed in several local devotions. This was the day the faithful selected to go on pilgrimages. Sodalities held their meetings on Saturdays and called them Fraternity Saturdays or Sodality Saturdays. The seven colours or sorrows of Mary were in some places commemorated on seven consecutive Saturdays. The 15 Saturdays before the liturgy in honour of Mary as Queen of the Rosary, 7^th October, recalled the fifteen decades of the rosary; in some areas this was the day that the crops and harvests were blessed and celebrated. An Irish version of the Saturday devotions to Mary is known as the Fifteen Saturdays of the Rosary. The devotion consists in receiving Holy Communion and saying at least five decades of the Rosary sometime during the day or evening on fifteen consecutive Saturdays or to meditate in some other way on its mysteries.

The devotion in honour of the Immaculate Conception by the Franciscan Order has also contributed to furthering this pious custom of “the Marian Saturdays”.

H/t to http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com.

Please note to guarantee your place this year Douai Abbey please book in before 29th August 2014.

Please note to guarantee your place this year Douai Abbey have requested that everyone books in 3 weeks before the start of the weekend i.e. 29th August 2014.

How to book

For more details, please see:- http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/events.htm

Or use the online booking system at: https://bookwhen.com/yca-douai-2014. 

I AM MARGARET - Launch Party 27th June 2014 at St. Gregory's Church, Cheltenham

• You are invited to celebrate the launch of Corinna Turner's debut novel, I AM MARGARET
  
  on 27th June, 7:00 - 9:30pm (Official Launch 7:30pm)
  
  at The Old Priory, Clarence Street, Cheltenham, GL50 3JL
  

I

IN MARGO’S WORLD, IF YOU DON’T PASS YOUR SORTING AT 18 YOU ARE RECYCLED.

LITERALLY.

“Look, if you don’t pass...” said Bane, “I’ll have to see what I can do about it. Because... well… I’ve been counting on marrying you for a very long time, now, and I’ve no intention of letting anything stop me!”

Margaret Verrall dreams of marrying the boy she loves and spending her life with him. But she’s part of the underground network of Believers – and that carries the death penalty.

And there’s just one other problem.

She’s going to fail her Sorting.

But a chance to take on the system ups the stakes beyond mere survival.

Now she has to break out of the Facility - or face the worst punishment of all.

Conscious Dismantlement.

I AM MARGARET is out 27th June. Read the first chapter now at: www.IAmMargaret.co.uk

Praise for:

“Great style – very good characters and pace. Definitely a book worth reading, like The Hunger Games.”

EOIN COLFER , author of Artemis Fowl

“An intelligent, well-written and enjoyable debut from a young writer with a bright future.”

STEWART ROSS, author of The Soterion Mission

“This book invaded my dreams.”

Sr Mary Catherine Bloom OP

There is also this bit that goes into more detail about the target audience:

I AM MARGARET’s Target Audience:

·       Teenagers (14+) who are ‘churched’ but who are almost exclusively reading mainstream fiction.

I AM MARGARET has exactly the same tone, pace and style as a mainstream novel (NO preaching!) but features Catholic characters whose faith and morals are integral to the plot.

It will also appeal to:

·       Any Christian aged 14 to 100+, especially Catholics.

·       Any secular young person or adult open to reading a book that contains faith.

George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for Economy Will Celebrate High Mass for International Juventutem Federation

News from the International Juventutem Federation:-

The International Juventutem Federation is pleased to announce that His Eminence George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for Economy, has kindly accepted our invitation to be the Celebrant at a Pontifical Solemn High Mass according to the Missal of St John XXIII on Friday 24 October 2014, 6:30pm, at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, Parish Church of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Rome, Italy. The Holy Sacrifice will be offered in thanksgiving for the tenth anniversary of Juventutem, the worldwide youth movement fostering the sanctification of the young through the Roman traditions of Holy Mother Church. We are grateful to His Eminence who generously presided at Solemn Pontifical Vespers organised by Juventutem during World Youth Days in the past, first in Düsseldorf on 17 August 2005, and again in Sydney on 16 July 2008.

After Vespers in Düsseldorf, Cardinal Pell gave the following encouragements to the young WYD pilgrims of Juventutem: "I am happy to be here because the old Latin rite is one of the most beautiful things in the entire Western civilization. And I am very glad that this ancient rite has its place in the Church today. I am happy because this rite helps you to love God and to love one another. In this ancient rite we always see that our prayer is an act of worship. It is impossible to see a celebration like these Vespers as something horizontal. We have one Church only, whose Head is the Successor of Peter, with the Bishops as successors of the Apostles, and this unity is very important for the life of the Church” (translated from the original French).

Members and supporters of Juventutem are cordially invited to make arrangements to be in Rome and attend the Mass, which will be preceded by other Juventutem activities (full schedule to be advertised soon). All pilgrims in Rome are naturally invited as well, regardless of their involvement with Juventutem. The event will be part of the Populus Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage 2014. The following day, on Saturday 25 October, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical High Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in Saint Peter’s Basilica, at 12:00 noon.

Signed: International Juventutem Federation, on 27 May 2014.