Pope's Pentecost

I have been waiting for the Holy Father's homily, it doesn't seem to be up anywhere yet.

Asia News has a report, part of which says:

In the "federalist" view of the Church, Catholics are called "Roman" in order to limit the universality of this Church. Benedict XVI explains that the Rome cited in the Acts of the Apostles "was the symbol of the pagan world in general", and that in the vision of Luke "the power of the Holy Spirit would guide the steps of the witnesses 'to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8), all the way to Rome". The "Roman" character of the Church is therefore another sign of catholicity and universality: "the journey of the word of God, begun in Jerusalem, reaches its destination, because Rome represents the entire world and thus embodies the Lucan idea of catholicity. The universal Church is realised, the Catholic Church".
Interesting!

The Baroque style vestments are by what is becoming everyones favourite supplier Tridentinum

Veni Creator Spiritus

This is by Niccolo Jommelli, obviously with a neo-Gothic Church we won't have something quite so baroque, but it would be good occassionally.

However nothing quite evokes this feast like this.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit: the liberation of the Cosmos

This is the traditional Byzantine representation of Pentecost.

To western Catholics it is strange not to see a representation of the Blessed Virgin, but her absence is of great significance, for she is already full of grace, she has already been filled with the Holy Spirit, she is Theotokos, the God Bearer. Here the Apostles too are transformed into God Bearers, bearers of the Word which they hold now in their hands.

Interestly, St Paul is represented here, as are the four Evangelists, thus the icon is not just about the day of Pentecost but rather the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostolic Church.

Coming, looming, out of the dark is the mysterious crowned figure of the Cosmos holding a sheet in which he bears but does not touch twelve scrolls. This figure seems to be referring to the "Word" being present in the world, though the world "knew him not", it speaks of the eternal plan for the Church and its inseperability from the Kosmos, for with the the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the Cosmos emerges from its darkness, because the Church is called to liberate the Cosmos from darkness. Though the Cosmos has been in, and is surrounded in darkness, crown symbolises the annointing the created order received when the spirit of God hovered over the waters of chaos.

East with the young

Fr Dwight has a nice little piece on a discussion with some boys after celebrating ad orientem.

I've had similar conversations with slightly older young men and women.

New Stations of the Cross?

There is a Church that is closing in the diocese they need to get rid of their stations. Ours are painted plaster, they have lost their original frames and have been repainted, I think in the 1970s.

The carved ones are about the same period as the Church, at least stylistically.

They are the same width as the plaster one but most are not as tall.

What do you think?

The Latin version of the Holy See website

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's lecture

The Cardinal was speaking, in a wide-ranging and personal lecture, at a packed Westminster Cathedral in the final week of his Faith and Life in Britain lecture series.
"I wanted this Cathedral to be a place for people to listen to matters pertaining to religion in the secular society in which we live here in Britain," he said.
"I wanted religion to be, and to be seen to be, open to the questions of those who do not believe detect among many people a sense of loss, of not being in touch with living sources that can nourish them. They want to live by shared values that can sustain our society but do not know where to find them. They want to find a context that can give their lives a deep meaning, but, again, are unable to find it. There are unspoken aspirations in people's lives that modern culture does not permit them to express."
Expanding on the idea of spiritual homelessness amid material and technological wealth, the Cardinal said religion had a particular and important role to play in society.
"My hope and prayer is that we will all continue to foster the witness of faith in Britain today. In this way we help to create a culture in which God is honoured and worshipped and all women and men cherished, valued and supported from the beginning of their lives to their end".
The Cardinal concluded his lecture with a reminder not to lose hope. The central message of the Gospels is God's unlimited love for us all, learned through families, friends and the communion of all believers.
The lecture will be available as a video download at www.rcdow.org.uk/lectures