Having spent my whole life as a Catholic discussing things, chattering, especially the Vatican Council, I think it should be time to act, fine to talk about the Church and the world but let's start to think about bringing Christ into the world. I like this video about a street artist, I would love the employ him for a week or two, to paint shrines around Brighton,
but there are other things we can do.
- One things I must do is to put a crucifix or a statue in a window.
I really have an aversion to the Blessed Sacrament flash mob thing, it seems demeaning to take the Lord out of a suitcase but there are proper Corpus Christi Processions. However I have no problem with
- Marian flash mobs,
- Crucifix flash mobs,
- Gregorian chant flash mobs,
Our religion is rich in signs a symbols we should use them
- Does anyone know where I can get some cheap Rosaries and Rosary cards? In the Year of Faith it would be great distribute a few thousand.
- The same with miraculous medals, does anyone have a source? I love the idea of blessing tons of them and getting people to pass them on.
- I remember in Athens seeing a huge bowl of sweets outside of a church with a sign saying something like "Today is the feast of St Xxxx, share in her sweetness". We could put up statue of Our Lady and do the same thing.
- Then there are mass distributions of prayer cards
Getting people to pray together is a bit difficult,
- I must get a supply of little bottles for Lourdes water and encourage people to pray with the sick.
- We have the November blessing of graves here in Brighton, I'll try and get more people go
- We must also get people to pray there at Easter especially with lapsed friends and encourage people to take Paschal Water and Easter candles for the graves.
We can't keep our church open all the time, things get stolen, drug addicts use it to shoot up in and leave syringes around
- We could get people to open up the church and advertise the times the previous week
- I would like to celebrate the Office, preferably sing it but the books are so expensive, does anyone know of any online resources?
One of the things we will start doing is go and say the Rosary outside the local abortion clinic, I do it myself occasionally but during the Year of Faith it would be good to get others to come with me.
If anyone has anymore ideas for Acts of Faith leave them in the Combox.
16 comments:
and small things like instead of saying,
“sorry, I won’t be able to make it on Sunday morning”,
what about,
“I shall be at Mass on Sunday morning”
My son was given a plastic rosary at school a couple of years back. He was told how special it was and he was planning to treasure it, but the crucifix had snapped in half before he even got it home, so my suggestion is to spend a little more and give out a few less.
I don't know if you have a local school, but giving out prayer card that have been made by the children is much more personal than bulk buying. Another option is to buy picture cards and ask parishioners to write their favourite prayer on the back and then hand them back in.
I love your idea about the sweets.
Ebay is a good source of cheap rosaries Father. £2.95 post and packing free.
The Liturgia horarum in chant for Sundays can be found online at http://www.transitofvenus.nl/LiturgiaHorarum/
Hello Father,
Love your idea of praying the office with the faithful. I am an Anglican convert (1987) just after I left high school. I learnt to pray the office in the Anglican Church and have done so to this day. I have always been surprised at how few Catholic laity know about the Divine Office. I have tried to get Vespers said on Sunday evening because we have no Mass on Sunday evenings. I keep trying.
Anyway to get to your question about online sources for the Divine Office. The books are expensive. I have had my three volume set since 1987 and was horrified at the current cost per book.
The solution I suggested to my priest, who initially presented the cost of the books as an excuse to pray in common, was to download the Divine Office from the Universalis website. I have and paid for the electronic version. Think it was about 30 pounds for the electronic version. I am then able to copy the entire office for a particular day (psalms, readings and prayers) into Word and print off as many as we need for Vespers, or whichever office is being said.
Doing it this way also resolves the next challenge that was presented to me for not praying in common - Its too complicated for the laity to learn how to use the books.
Here is the link to the website to download the electronic version. They give a one month trial period. http://www.universalis.com/n-download.htm
Lanherne Convent in Newquay have a supply of Miraculous Medals.
Dominie
I leave holy cards (with a picture of the Sacred Heart on one side) at cash machines but I'm not sure that those I have access to are really suitable for people who have no exposure to Christianity. It would be great if someone would design a card for just leaving anywhere with possibly a suitable website address for enquirers. (When I have gone back to check, the cards have always been taken which is pleasing.)
The Second Vatican Council opened the doors to the Church and people left; Catholicism also.
If you want the Faithful to come back to our Divine Master and His Bride, you must return to Holy Mother Church that which was abandoned.
The Faith.
Starting with the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Prayers of the Divine Office by the Priests.
Then a proper Catechism.
A complete return to Tradition.
Currently Rome is developing a hybrid Mass it thinks will defeat Christ by offering error mixed into Truth.
It is still poison to souls, so the complete return to tradition is necessary.
We need to ask the Holy Mother as the Dispenser of Divine Graces to help us.
We need to have religious processions like this one to help sanctify our neighborhoods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWBSXso2_9E
We need to do much more, my suggestions are just a start.
I entrust this whole matter in the hands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, “Mother of the Priest par excellence, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him, of all priests in whom she forms her Son”.
*
Don't forget blessed chalk for the New Year.
The Breviarum Romanum is on the internet in its entirety, free, and comes with an English translation. Couldn't hurt to use it for reciting the Office with the faithful!
http://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl#
Also, how about keeping handy a few 55-gallon drums of holy water, blessed according to the old Rituale Romanum? (And maybe also distributing blessed salt?)
I give my Pastoral Associate holy cards I purchase for the people she visits who can't get to Mass. The holy card is: "Send Your Angel to Holy Mass". The card is theologically sound and beautifully poetic. I also give her leaflets I purchase from the Catholic Truth Society to put in the vestibule, with the PP's permission. The leaflets would be quite reasonably for you in the UK. These things don't cost much averaged out over the year and this is the way I evengelise now that I am disabled.
I post this not to toot my own horn but to show that we can all do something.
www.autom.com sends bulk rosaries and cards. Frequent sales allow large cheap purchases. I love silent evangelism!
This act of faith had to stand outside the cathedral in Argentina on Saturday:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/video-catholics-assaulted-spat-upon-and-spray-painted-as-they-defend-cathed
Bacchanlian.
Have you a church bell , Father? Why not ring the Angelus at the appropriate times every day? Not only Catholics but some Anglicans might pause in their daily lives in order to pray. I believe that in North Oxford the local mosque calls Muslims to prayer. Their example might be followed.
Chant booklets for Sunday Lauds and Vespers, and for Compline are available at http://www.transitofvenus.nl/LiturgiaHorarum/ thanks to Steven van Roode.
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