The Saint Barnabas’ Blog

Today S. Barnabas unashamedly celebrated the glorious feast of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. We see here her main image housed in the front of our church. The first thing to note in regards to Our Lady’s death is that it is an event shrouded in mystery. We have no real knowledge of the day, year, and manner of her passing and, though the dates assigned to this sacred occasion vary between three and fifteen years after Christ’s Ascension, both Jerusalem and Ephesus claim to be the place where she died!

Yet despite these minor uncertainties we do know, due to ancient tradition, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles. Furthermore when her tomb was opened after her burial, it was found to be empty. This discovery led the 12 apostles to conclude that her body must have been taken up (assumed) into heaven. This belief, handed down by the apostles, was universally believed for over a thousand years.

But in more recent time some have attempted to pour scorn on this wideheld doctrine. It is a sad fact that since the reformation, and especially in this country, Mary has become a figure who causes deep suspicion in the minds of protestant Christians and many such people have tragically been raised to treat her with utter contempt and derision. I have never understood this sinister doubt concerning Mary’s role in salvation- how can anybody find fault in a life of such simple obedience, faith and generosity? Why do people hate the very mother whom Jesus held dear? Why do they deride the incredible woman who stood at the foot of his cross and wept? Why turn on she who only ever points to Jesus? So let us look afresh at the Assumption, with eyes of faith and not suspicion. For though it is true that the Bible contains no mention of this event, it nevertheless backed by Christian tradition and has much to teach sincere followers of Jesus.

Where the Ascension is active (Jesus rightfully goes, under his own steam, to claim his place in heaven) the assumption is passive (Mary is taken up, by grace to be with God in heaven). See then how Mary’s route to heaven and not Jesus’ is more closely linked to ours. The assumption tells those who await the final day of judgement that we may do so with tremendous confidence, for one who is fully human is already there! Creation has been made anew; where old Adam, led astray by Eve, sent humanity to its death- new Adam (Jesus) has raised it back to life and has taken the new Eve to be with him in paradise.

Furthermore the Assumption reminds us that what God inhabits is always beyond death. How could that sacred womb, which formed the divine child, possibly rot in the ground? Mary, throuhg grace and obedience, became a living tabernacle. She housed the very Son of God and in her Assumption we are reminded of the wonder of this incarnation.

So then, as ever, Mary points the way to go, leading us deeper into the mystery of Christ’s incarnation and the promise of his glorious resurrection. And, what is more, if we strive to be like her then we too may enter the kingdom of Heaven.

With both Fr. Ivan and Fr. Mark on leave, I had the pleasure of offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass at S. John’s Sevenoaks this morning. The Mass was, of course, centred on today’s feast, the glorious mystery of Christ’s Transfiguration when Jesus appeared, if for just a moment, in all his glory.

As we pondered this occasion and thought about the times that Jesus has been very close and real for us, we also considered that the great miracle was not that Christ’s true nature burst forth from him, but rather that he managed to keep this divine nature so hidden during the rest of his earthly life. It is the transfigured Jesus who is, in reality, the norm and not the exception.

Tonight Mass will be offered at S. Barnabas, followed by benediction and we shall reflect on this feast some more. May Christ transfigure your life, that his love may shine forth from you and touch the people that you meet.

This week sees the start of the Youth Pilgrimage at Walsingham. I have never actually been myself but I do know that it has proved a fomartive time for a great many young Christians. I also understand that an awful lot of hard work goes into the planning of this mission activity and that a great number of priests and people are involved in its running. Perhaps next year we can take our own youth group along and discover the joys of this festival for ourselves?

Yet even though I am not bodily present there is, nevertheless, a role for me to play. It is also a role which you can join with as well. For the Youth Pilgrimage needs prayer to fuel its heart and from the distance of our individual homes and churches we can unite with all those present. So let us pray for the Youth Pilgrimage and for all activities which seek to ground young people in the faith of the Apostles. Let us pray for +Lindsay and all those who will be working all hours to ensure it is a meaningful, safe and enjoyable time for everyone. And let us, above all else, seek the prayers of the blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, for the countless pilgrims attending her shrine this week.

Pictured above is Fr. Jeffrey standing before the High Altar in his beautiful church. I must say I was really very impressed with all that has been done to re-order the church at Hockley. Before it was nigh on impossible for 50% of people to see due to the slightly strange design of the building. Now, placed in the round, everyone is fully engaged and up with the ceremonial. What I witnessed last night was without doubt the very best ‘Vat II’ style worship; conducted with dignity, awe and mystery, yet also fresh and simple. Well done for all your hard work Father Jeffrey and the people of Hockley. Below are some other shots taken during the celebration. I especially enjoyed the unfurling of the papal flag- what could be more suitable on the feast of S. Peter?! I am standing at the back in my new spectacles, next to Fr. Bob my old training incumbent.

Today is the glorious feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, the two great apostles of God through whom Christ founded his Church on earth. We shall honour them both this morning at Solemn Mass, so let us hope it is a packed house to do these legends justice!

This evening I shall celebrate the feast once again but in different company, for I am to be the guest preacher at Ss. Peter and Paul in Hockley. This beautiful little church, nestled in the Essex countryside, has long maintained a proud tradition of teaching the Catholic faith as comes to us from the Apostles. The parish website is here.

It will be a pleasure to attend Mass at Hockley for a variety of reasons. Firstly because the Parish Priest there, Fr. Jeffrey Woolnaugh SSC, was made deacon at the same time as me, and we built up a strong camaraderie suffering curate’s potty training together. What the course lacked in academic rigour, orthodox teaching and a sense of holiness, it made up for by providing moments of true hilarity…where else could one pluck a grape for Jesus whilst sharing a story of woundedness? Or pray to both Our Father and Mother, without any reference to Mary?!!?? Here he is looking suitably fierce as he ignites the paschal candle:

Secondly this evening will be a great pleasure because I am bound to meet many of the priests who form the Chelmsford Diocesan branch of the SSC. Having been a curate in that diocese I know most of them and it will be great to catch up with them again. In particular I look forward to meeting the new assistant priest at Hockley who is especially well known to me. For it is none other than Father Bob White, recently retired, who was my training incumbent in Brentwood. Here he is pictured with his wife Rosemary, Fr. Jeff and Julie- Fr. Jeff’s wife.

Finally the church itself is well known to me as I offered Mass there a few times during the interregnum. Therefore I remember a few of the people who worship there regularly and it will be good to be reunited with them. So all in all a nostalgic evening awaits and one which I hope will bring reverence to God and joy to his people. Let us pray for all churches dedicated to Ss. Peter and Paul on this their glorious feast.

During our 9am Mass, which was in Latin this being the fourth Saturday of the month, we celebrated the life of S. Cyril of Alexandria whose feast day falls this day. S. Cyril was a great defender of the faith and stood up to wrongful (heretical) teaching in his day. Here is a short exposition of his life:

Cyril was born into a wealthy family in 376 at Alexandria, Egypt. As nephew of Theophilus, patriarch of that city, he received a fine classical and theological education before being ordained at his uncle’s hand. He then accompanied Theophilus to Constantinople in 403 and was present at the ‘Synod of the Oak’ that deposed John Chrysostom, whom he believed guilty of the charges against him. Click here for more information about that!

Cryil eventually succeeded his uncle as patriarch in 412, but only after a riot between Cyril’s supporters and the followers of his rival Timotheus! Cyril at once began a series of attacks against the Novatians, whose churches he closed; the Jews, whom he drove from the city; and the governor Orestes, with whom he disagreed. As you can see – he was a feisty soul and did not shrink from conflict! But sometimes God needs principled ‘toughies’ to resist heresy and uphold his teaching, as we shall come to see.

In 430 Cyril became embroiled with Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, who was preaching many heretical things including the notion that Mary was not the Mother of God. Cryil was enraged and soon persuaded Pope Celestine I to hold a synod at Rome, which condemned Nestorius, and then did the same at his own synod in Alexandria.

Following the Synods Pope Celestine directed Cyril to depose Nestorius, and in 431, Cyril presided over the third General Council at Ephesus, attended by some two hundred bishops, which condemned all the teaching of Nestorius and his followers. But the matter did not end here. Nestorius’ supporters hit back and held a council of their own and deposed Cyril! A political ‘ding dong’ ensued with much heartfelt and bitter arguing between the two factions (how like the church of our own day!)

Eventually Emperor Theodosius II decided to sort things out and arrested both Cyril and Nestorius. Fortunately for Cyril two Papal Legates arrived who confirmed the council’s actions against Nestorius and declared Cyril innocent of all charges, this led to his release. With the Pope’s backing Cyril triumphed and Nestorius was forced into exile.

All of this fighting led Cyril to see how dangerous false and watered down teaching can be to living faith. He thus devoted the rest of his life to theological writing which clarified the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation and helped prevent Nestorianism and Pelagianism from taking root in the Christian community. Indeed most agree that he was the most brilliant theologian of the Alexandrian tradition. His writings are characterized by accurate thinking, precise exposition, and great reasoning skills. Among his writings are commentaries on John, Luke, and the Pentateuch, treatises on dogmatic theology, and Apologia against Julian the Apostate, and letters and sermons. He was declared a doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882.

Lord, raise up more men and women like Saint Cyril, to defend and teach the faith which comes to us from the apostles. Help us to resist, in our own day, the wrongful teaching of those who would change the message of faith, to appease the opinions of our sorry society. May we stand up for Jesus in our love of orthodoxy and remain steadfast in our love of all things holy. Help us to be faithful to your holy Word and Sacraments. Amen.

…Only the Heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father’s love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way —-From the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.

Today is the feast of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is no co-incidence that it falls on a Friday each year, for it points to the mystery of Christ’s Passion when his blood was shed on the cross. And for that reason, at S. Barnabas, our shrine to the Sacred Heart is to be found beneath the Station of the Cross where Christ’s death is recalled.

From the time of S. Paul there has been in the Church something akin to devotion to the incredible love of God. However during the first ten centuries no specific worship was offered to the wounded Heart of Jesus. This changed by the 11th century when the tradition can be found- springing from the sacred atmosphere of Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries.

From the 13th to 16th centuries, the devotion grew widespread and is evident in many different religious congregations, such as the Franciscan, Dominican and Carthusian orders where it remained a private, individual devotion of the mystical order.
In the sixteenth century, the devotion was established formerly with prescribed prayers and special practices. The image of the Sacred Heart was everywhere in evidence, largely due to Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and the habit of Jesuits who placed the image on their books and the walls of their churches.

The most significant source for the form of devotion used today comes from S. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), who claimed to have received visions from Jesus. The revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are especially remarkable:

On December 27th 1673, the feast of S. John, Margaret Mary reported that Jesus permitted her, as He had once allowed S. Gertrude in a vision, to rest her head upon His Heart. He then disclosed the wonders of His love, telling her that He desired to make his love known to all mankind, and that He had chosen her for this work.

In June or July, 1674, Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of His Heart of flesh, also claiming that, when He appeared radiant with love, He asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of communion, especially on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour.

During the octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, the vision known as the “great apparition” took place. In it Jesus said, “Behold the Heart that has so loved men … instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude …”. Christ then asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation on the Friday after Corpus Christi, bidding her consult Father de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray. The feast was taken up by the Society of Jesus and still exists today.

In 2006 Pope Benedict sent a letter to Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. In his letter, Pope Benedict reaffirmed the importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has always been close to the heart of Catholic Christians throughout the world, in the Roman and Anglican Church. Why not meditate upon the Sacred Heart in your prayers and thank God for his love freely given?

From the depth of my nothingness, I prostrate myself before Thee, O Most Sacred, Divine and Adorable Heart of Jesus, to pay Thee all the homage of love, praise and adoration in my power.
A prayer of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The photograph above was not taken last night but it does portray what happened (albeit with different people)! For last night 50 or so people gathered in S. Barnabas’ Church for High Mass, Procession and Benediction on the most glorious feast of Corpus Christi. Our guest preacher for the evening was Fr. John Gayford SSC who is assistant priest at S. Mary the Virgin, East Grinstead. By complete co-incidence he was joined by his own Vicar- Fr. Paul Seaman – who had not known Fr. Gayford was joining us but popped in to worship himself, as he had a rare evening free! The Parish Website of S. Mary the Virgin, East Grinstead can be found here.

In his homily Fr. Gayford reminded us, amongst other things, that the Mass predates the Gospel and that the Church has always been a Eucharistic community. He then stressed the importance of ensuring that we are not passive, but active worshippers on the feast of Corpus Christi- as we thank God for the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

After Mass we processed around the Church to the stirring hymn ‘Laud O Sion’, the children walking before the sacrament scattering rose petals on the way. The photograph below shows a similar procession at S. Barnabas taken last year. We then returned to the High Altar for Benediction. People were encouraged to gather around the High altar and move up into the choir stalls, moving closer to Jesus just as he desires to move closer to us. After the Benediction itself (the blessing of the people using the sacrament in the monstrance) we all sang ‘All for Jesus, all for Jesus!’ as the sacrament was returned to the tabernacle.

A wonderful evening then and an uplifting occasion. However there was sad news following Mass- in that our Director of Music Emerita is having to stand down due to health reasons. I am sure we all wish Frances well and hope her health improves. This news does mean, of course, that we are in danger of being left with no organist and/or choir leader. If anyone is interested in the post of Director of Music- or knows someone who is- do please get in contact. The salary is negotiable and, with children joining the choir in recent weeks, there is lots of potential for growth and development….less musically talented Christians can still help. Please pray sincerely that we might make an appointment soon, that the worship offered at S. Barnabas may continue apace.

Pictured is Sir Ninian Comper’s statue of S. Barnabas which stands in pride of place within our beloved Church building. It is pictured for the obvious reason that today is the feast day of Saint Barnabas, our Patron. Due to us keeping the holy Feast of Corpus Christi tonight (the Sacrament takes priority over all and any saints) we will be formally celebrating our Patronal Festival this Sunday at 10am. Solemn Mass with procession and Benediction- do try to get there if you can!

S. Barnabas was a Jewish convert who came to faith soon after Pentecost. Though not one of the twelve Apostles, Saint Barnabas is mentioned frequently in the book of Acts and included among the prophets and doctors at Antioch. It was S. Barnabas who had the vision, compassion and mercy to forgive the penitent Saul and encouraged the wider Christian community to accept him too. Good thing that they listened, for Saul became Paul- author of the majority of the New Testament and the most important theologian in those early days of witness.

S. Barnabas then accompanied S. Paul on his travels during which time he was introduced to the Apostles and became one of their number. Like Paul, Barnabas believed passionately in the Church’s mission to Gentiles, and worked with him in Cyrpus and Asia. However the two eventually parted company over a non-theological dispute. Paul was wary of giving a former deserter Mark a second chance, but once again Barnabas was full of compassion. Thus they parted company, S. Mark and S. Barnabas heading for Cyprus, the land of S. Barnabas’ birth, to establish the church in that place.

Like so many before and since, Saint Barnabas met a martyr’s death, being killed whlst clutching a copy of St. Matthew’s Gospel which he had personally copied by hand. Today we seek his prayers, thank God for his life and pray for all churches under his patronage.

Lord God, you filled Saint Barnabas with faith and the Holy Spirit, and set him apart for the conversion of the nations. Grant that the Gospel of Christ which he preached so strenuously, may, in our day, be faithfully proclaimed by word and deed. Through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with the you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.

S. Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with S. Augustine of Hippo) was a Benedictine monk who became the first ever Archbishop of Canterbury in 598. He is therefore considered “Apostle to the English” and founder of the Church in this land.

It all sounds rather glamorous but the reality was probably different. Poor Augustine was ordered from a life of safety to lead a mission to Britain. His job, so much like ours, was to convert a society with little interest in the faith. In doing so his main objective was seen as the conversion of the the pagan King Æthelberht of the Kingdom of Kent.

Kent was chosen because it was close to the Christian kingdoms in Gaul and because Æthelberht had married a Christian princess who was daughter to the King of Paris. It was hoped she might be able to exert some influence over her husband, a safe bet if I know anything about a wife’s ability to get her own way!

King Æthelberht did eventually convert (my money was safe) and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery. Augustine was consecrated bishop and converted thousands. Pope Gregory sent more missionaries in 601, along with encouraging letters and gifts, although attempts to persuade the native Celtic bishops to submit to Augustine’s authority failed. (Unity amongst Christians in Britain was tricky business even then it seems!)

Roman Catholic bishops were established at London and Rochester in 604, and a school founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine also arranged the consecration of his successor, Laurence of Canterbury. He died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint. Tonight I will give thanks for his life and his witness by attending Solemn Mass at S. Augustine’s, Belvedere (pictured below) a service at which I have been asked to preach. Poor them and lucky me, photographs to follow….