Thoughts from our Chaplain - Feast of Saint Jude

It is now a week since the Feast of Saint Jude, and at the Shrine we are more or less back to normal. This was my first Feast weekend since I came here in August, and I was very nervous about the whole thing.  What would happen if there was chaos and everything that could go wrong went wrong? However, I should not have worried, as I was to experience something quite special during the Feast.

At about 8.30 on Saturday morning, we gathered and made the final preparations for the day, which included lighting all the 700+ candles that had been pre-ordered to be burnt over the feast days. Hardly had we finished this, and the first pilgrim groups started to arrive. A few cars; followed by a mini bus; followed by coaches, and soon the Shrine, church and ground were full of pilgrims coming to pay their respects to Saint Jude, asking for intercessions through their petitions.

Threading my way through the Carmel Hall and talking to people as I went, I was suddenly made aware of the importance of Saint Jude in people's lives. It is very easy to think and talk about the devotion people have for a particular saint and to dismiss it as meeting a particular psychological need or some sort of lack of theological maturity. Spend time at a pilgrimage site such as the National Shrine of Saint Jude during such celebrations, and you will see the fallacy of such an attitude. Bringing our needs to Saint Jude is an expression of one of the oldest traditions in the Church; that of intercession to God. It has nothing to do with 'worshipping' the particular saint, but a recognition of the intercession of that saint.

Saint Jude travelled with Jesus and the rest of the disciples, and heard first-hand the teachings of our Lord. He heard Jesus insist that the law was part of the compassionate love of God, which was expressed so deeply in His covenant with His people. This teaching of Good News Saint Jude made his life's work and passed it on to those he met. Confident in this we turn to Jude and ask him to intercede for us out of and through this intimate relationship he has to his kinsman Jesus.

Over this weekend I saw countless examples of this confidence in Saint Jude, and listened to the stories of prayers. This is what I take with me as I reflect on the Feast weekend.

May Saint Jude continue to intercede for all of us with our living God.

In Carmel, 

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Photo of the month - November 2014

God the Father - a stained glass window in the Shrine.

The stained glass windows were installed about 1957 and were also executed by Richard Joseph King. This series of windows can be compared to similar windows made for the Church of Swinford in Mayo in the 1950s. The artist also did a picture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the Carmelite Church in Aberystwyth.

The hand of God raised in blessing with the sceptre across his left shoulder. He is surrounded by rays. God is presented as a King, but also with a cloud or halo in the shape of a triangle, traditional symbols of God the Father and of the Trinity. Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end are seen on the left. The Father created the earth and water, moon and stars, Adam and Eve. Moses and the Ten Commandments. The serpent and the cross may be a reference to the bronze serpent on the staff of the time of Moses, and to the Garden of Eden as shown by Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge. It also refers to Christ overcoming evil. Water is seen coming from the rock, again a reference to Moses. There are links between the Old and the New Testament. The artist has used reds and pinks especially in the garments of God.

Feast of Saint Jude celebrations - 2014 - Thank you

Thank you to all those who visited us during the Feast celebrations - it was great to see you all.

Hundreds of pilgrims attended each of the three Saint Jude Celebration days. Pilgrims lit candles, took part in Masses, were anointed with St. Jude's Oil, and venerated a relic of the Apostle.

© Johan Bergström-Allen / www.carmelite.org

More photos of the weekend can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gbcarmelite/sets/72157648949763836

Congratulations, Father Paul

Fr Paul con-celebrating his first Mass with Fr Tony Lester (Prior Provincial) and Archbishop Peter Smith (Southwark)

At the weekend, our brother Paul Jenkins was ordained priest by Archbishop Peter Smith at Aylesford Priory. Please keep him in your prayers. The photo below shows Fr Paul at his first concelebrated Mass at his ordination. 

THANK YOU to all the supporters of the National Shrine of Saint Jude who have made Paul's training possible. It is YOUR support, through your donations and prayers, which enable the Carmelites to minister in Britain and beyond. GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY. If you would like to help us further, please visit our online shop (http://tinyurl.com/perbzlo) where you can purchase gifts from the Shrine, or you can make a donation. THANK YOU.

Simple Profession of Brother James

Last month, the British Province came together to attend the Simple Profession of Brother James Hinchcliffe at Aylesford. James has recently completed a year in Salamanca, Spain. James has recently completed a year in Salamanca, Spain. 

It was a really joyful occasion, celebrated by Fr Antony Lester, O.Carm - the Prior Provincial, and was one of hope and thanksgiving. At the National Shrine of Saint Jude, we are keeping James in our prayers for his ministry to the church, and for the next few years of his training.

THANK YOU to all the supporters of the National Shrine of Saint Jude who have made James' training possible. It is YOUR support, through your donations and prayers, which enable the Carmelites to minister in Britain and beyond. GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY. If you would like to help us further, please visit our online shop where you can purchase gifts from the Shrine, or you can make a donation. THANK YOU.

St Edward the Confessor

As the National Shrine of Saint Jude, we often remember British saints at our daily Mass. Today is the Feast Day of St Edward the Confessor, who was King of England.

St Edward the Confessor was born in 1003, and was the son of Ethelred the Unready and his Norman wife Emma. He was educated at Ely and then whilst in exile in Normandy,  while two Scandinavian kings claimed the English throne in succession.

He became king of England in 1042, the last of the old Anglo-Saxon line; his death precipitated the Norman invasion of 1066. Commonly known as the 'Confessor', he was regarded as a saint during his lifetime, renowned for his generosity to the Church and to the poor, and because of the readiness with which he listened to his subject's grievances. His relics were translated on this day in 1163 to a new shrine in Westminster Abbey, which foundation he had richly endowed and expanded.

St Edward once made a vow to go on pilgrimage to Rome, but it became difficult for him to keep this promise. Therefore, the Pope released him from his obligation, under the condition that he would restore and or build an Abbey dedicated to St Peter. An ancient abbey in Westminster was already dedicated to St Peter and in need of restoration, so to fulfil his promise to the Pope, St Edward rebuilt what is now known as Westminster Abbey.

On 28 December 1065, Edward's new abbey church was consecrated at Westminster. One week later he was dead.  Nothing remains of the original building, as it was demolished in the thirteenth century. Edward the Confessor's tomb remains well preserved - one of the few mediaeval shrines to survive the Reformation. If you are ever in London, it is well worth a visit.

At least 17 churches are dedicated to him in the UK, and he is depicted in numerous stained glass windows and church carvings - notably at Westminster Abbey, Trinity College Cambridge, York Minster, and at the local Anglican church in Faversham. 

St Edward the Confessor, pray for us. 

We have a number of saints prayer cards that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.

Tomb of St Edward the Confessor

Thoughts from our Chaplain - Compassion

This Sunday is the churches day for prisoners, a time when we especially remember prisoners and their families and friends.  This day of prayer is aimed at those who are actually confined in prison for whatever reason but this of course is not the only sort of imprisonment.

Countless people are imprisoned or trapped by their family situation, their financial state; trapped in work which is not fulfilling but is essential to support them.  Others feel imprisoned in health circumstances or a multitude of mental illnesses which unfortunately also bring with them prejudices of various sorts.

Our Lord, in his journey through Palestine would have come across many people who would fit into these categories and as we read so often in the gospels he ‘felt compassion’ for them.  Often this word compassion is understood as sympathy which in some degree is correct.  But the meaning is actually a lot more powerful than just sympathy, important as this may be.  It needs to be looked at as two parts: ‘com’, from the Latin prefix cum or with and secondly ‘passion’ from the Latin passus which is related to the English word ‘Patient’ or the one who suffers from patiens. 

So we can see that the compassion which Jesus felt for those in need was not just sympathy but of being with those who suffer.  One way to look at this is to remember when we use the word Passion.  It is the suffering of Jesus as he goes to the cross to die for us.  This can give us some idea of the intensity of the term compassion when we read it in the gospels.  Paul, in the second letter to the Corinthians, describes God as the ‘Father of compassion and the God of all comfort’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). 

Experiencing compassion and giving comfort this is what Christ calls us to as Christian people.  Let us remember this as we celebrate our Mass this weekend.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.