Chartres
British Pilgrims entering the Cathedral at Chartres
Sunday, 31 May 2020
Sermon of Pentecost
Pilgrimage is this year dedicated to the holy angels. On this Pentecost Sunday, we will meditate on how the holy angels prepare us to obediently receive the motion of the Holy Spirit who makes us live the beatitudes.
According to a very ancient tradition, which goes back to Denys the Areopagite, interpreting the list of angelic choirs given by Saint Paul, the good angels, these pure spirits created by God before the corporeal world, are divided into nine choirs . These choirs are grouped, three by three, in three hierarchies . Each hierarchy is assigned a specific function in the government of the world and of men. The first hierarchy purifies men, the second enlightens them , and the third unites them to God.
We can relate each of these three hierarchies to each of the three groups of beatitudes. The purifying angels of the first hierarchy help us to live the first three beatitudes, those of the flight from sin: blessed the poor, the meek and the afflicted. The illuminating angels of the second hierarchy guide us in the implementation of the beatitudes of action: blessed the hungry for justice and the merciful. The angels of union with God in the third hierarchy support us in the practice of contemplation: blessed are pure and peaceful hearts.
The angels purify us by announcing to us the joy of the spirit
Man's first experience with happiness is that he desires it and cannot achieve it. His heart is never satisfied by the goods of this world. The world is too small to feed its thirst for bliss. The human soul is a fragile flame, vacillating between two infinite abysses: the mystery of God and the enigma of its own spirit. God, "He who is" (Ex 3:14), dwells, at the top of the holy mountain, the Burning Bush which burns without being consumed. Man scrutinizes the deep abyss of his soul united to the corporeal world, his soul distressed by infinite desires ... and he never finds the bottom
Angels show us the existence of the pure spiritual world. They remind us that we are spirits like them, but embodied spirits, that sin has hurt and that the jealous demon. The good angels, on the other hand, are spotless mirrors of the Joy of God. Their light comes to make a breakthrough on our darkness… upwards! They purify us by detaching us from the illusory kingdom of our insatiable Self, and by announcing to us the fundamental joy: the Savior wants to inscribe our names in Heaven, he wants to write our Name of eternity (cf. Rev 2:17) in the Glowing hearth of God!
Yes, the angels purify us, by erasing from our forehead the stigmata of deadly sins, as Dante saw in the Songs of Purgatory. At each level of the purifying climb, an angel erases one of the seven "P" that the poet wears on his forehead and which translates the defilements of his soul, while singing the beatitude opposite to the vice which is purified! (1)
The angelic light is that of finite spirits, it filters into our injured soul. It intrigues us, tames us to good, and attracts us to the infinite Joy of eternal Light. “Rejoice, you can leave the deadly and boring trilogy of money, violence and sex. Rejoice, the poor, the meek, the afflicted! Under the guidance of Christ, the true Light who comes into this world (cf. Jn 1: 9), you come out of the Kingdom of shadows, you already have in you the invisible Kingdom, more real still than matter ”.
Warning ! The angels are our friends, our helpers, our "deacons" (2) . But they are to lead us to Christ who is their King and our only Savior. It is always around the mystery of Christ that the purifying angels fly: at the Annunciation made to Mary and that made to Saint Joseph, to the shepherds near the Nativity in Bethlehem, to the saving announcement of the flight to Egypt.
The angels light up the steps of our walk towards this joy
Not content with helping us to live the beatitudes of the flight from sin, by revealing to us the joy for which we are made like them, the angels accompany us in our walk towards this joy, by helping us to practice the beatitudes of action . Blessed are those who are hungry for justice, blessed are the merciful! What do angels do? In the First Covenant, Jacob saw in a dream a mysterious ladder: "Behold, a ladder was placed on the earth and its top touched the sky. And […] upon it angels of God went up and down, and above stood Yahweh ”(Gen 28:12). Jesus revealed to us that he was himself this ladder that leads to the bliss of heaven: Son of man ”(Jn 1, 51).
Where is this Son of Man for us on this earth? Jesus taught it to us: they are our brothers. "Whatever you do to one of these little ones, you will do it to me ..." (Mt 25, 40. What a wonderful perspective: each time we do a good work for the next, especially by justice and mercy, it is to the Son of man our Savior that we do it! By the comings and goings of justice and mercy, we are in full supernatural action in grace, we go up and let us descend "upon the Son of man".
The illuminating angels of the second hierarchy make us dance this ballet of Christian life, with love steps, advancing towards the Joy of God, which is supported at the top of the ladder. They throw the light of Christ's face on our neighbor, so that we may recognize him. If we "know" others, if we see them and if we serve them as images of Christ, we will be "known" to Christ! To help us exercise the force of justice, the angels serve us as they served Jesus after the temptation in the desert. To help us go to the end of mercy, they console us, as they comforted Jesus in the garden of agony.
Angels unite us to God by making us sing this joy.
What is Heaven? It is seeing God and being “one” with him in Christ who opened the doors of praise. It is to be happy that God is happy and that we stand with his Son before him, singing his glory and his mercy. In worship here, we anticipate Heaven. It is by worshiping that we are at the highest point, says Saint Thomas, in the luminous image of God (3).
The angels of union with God, those of the highest hierarchy, remind us of this. They sing for us the beatitudes of contemplation: "Rejoice, pure hearts, and you who spread peace ... Not only will you see God and you will be called his sons in glory, but already you will see God and are truly his son in praise of grace ”. It is the angels who invite us to sing and we respond to their invitation (cf. Rev 5: 11-13). "The being of man, transcended by a higher order of nature, that of the angels, awakens to his own praise only through the praise of the spirit world". (4)
The angels associate us with the song of the Sanctus, or Trisaghion : "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the Almighty God, who was, who is and who comes!" »(Rev 4: 8) and they teach us to sing before the throne of God the New Song (cf. Rev 14: 3). It is especially in the liturgy of the Mass that we are carried by the song of the angels. "We who mystically represent the Cherubim and who, in honor of the invigorating Trinity, sing the three times holy hymn, deposit all solicitude of this world in order to receive with dignity the King of the universe who comes invisibly escorted by the angelic armies " (5)
The role of the angels is important in the contemplation of the Trinitarian mystery, in the prayer which unites us to Christ through the redemptive mystery, and also in the expectation and the consoling hope of the new heavens and the new earth. The angels were present during the resurrection of Christ, they surrounded him during his Ascension, they will be present in the Parousia around the victorious Christ to inaugurate the Kingdom.
Conclusion
In a famous painting, Fra Angelico represented a graceful "round of the elect". What is striking is that the angels and the men alternate fraternally. The round goes towards a mysterious door of light, which symbolizes Paradise. Pure spirits lead us, we spirits united to the material world. Certainly, they are of a nature superior to ours, but it is in our nature that the Word was incarnated.
Under the gaze of his Mother, the Immaculate, it is for him that the angels purify us, it is to him that they guide us, it is to him that they unite us. The Intangibles consider it an honor to serve us as the brothers of their King. There is reason to be confused with gratitude and love for these beings of light ... and for God who gave them to us as ministers of our salvation.
Fr. Louis-Marie de Blignières
Prior of the Fraternité Saint-Vincent-Ferrier
Mass and Rosary Procession from Warrington
Dear Pilgrims,
We hope you are enjoying a fruitful pilgrimage! The series of meditations was not quite as advertised yesterday, but we were able to put most of the meditations directly on our website including the entertaining "Vielle" from Riaumont (still available to view if you were not able to yesterday). As we speak, Fr. De Malleray in Warrington is celebrating Holy Mass of Pentecost in St. Mary's Church, Warrington. It is available on www.livemass.net. Following Mass, as it is the end of May and the Feast of the Queenship of Our Lady (as well as the Feast of Pentecost) there will be a Rosary Procession and Crowning of the Statue of Our Lady. Do tune in!
A Video from the Irish Chapter has been posted on the "Gift of Fortitude" and following the Rosary Procession, we will post a video on "Spiritual Combat". At 2 PM, the video on "Angels in the Liturgy" will be available; at 3 pm, we will have a meditation from Father Faustinus on "Deliver us from Evil", at 4pm, a meditation on "Christendom" and at 5 PM, a talk on the important Consecration to Our Lady. At 7:30 pm, there will be Adoration of Our Lord and the actual Consecration to Our Lady for those who are prepared.
Bon Pelerinage!
Saturday, 30 May 2020
Friday, 29 May 2020
The Pilgrimage Begins!
Our Pilgrimage this year is, we hope, unique! As we cannot travel to France and the usual walking Pilgrimage will not, in any case, take place; we bring you the Pilgrimage (in Spirit and in Truth) via various electronic means. The Pilgrimage will start, as last year, with Mass in St. Sulpice, Paris. As Churches are now open in France, pilgrims will attend and we therefore look forward to a fine send off. John Daulton, an Englishman trapped in France, will represent us. The Mass will be live streamed at 9 am (BST) on the NDC website.
Following the Mass, at 10:45 am, there will be a general presentation of the theme of this year's Pilgrimage: "Holy Angels, Defend us in Battle." This will be available on the website of the Irish Chapter of St. Patrick. At 11 am, we will post the first meditation from Canon Montjean of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest on "Who are the Angels?" The good Father Gerard Byrne has also done a talk on his Parish website. Following this, there will be a video of Fr Serafino Lanzetta, Superior of the Marian Friars of Gosport speaking about the Importance of the holy Rosary. At 1 pm, Canon Monjean will provide a talk on today's patron, St. Michael Archangel and a talk on the Traditional Mass, the Heart of our Pilgrimage will be available on the Irish website. At 3 PM, we will post a sermon given by Fr George Roth (Marian Friars of Gosport) on "The Joy of a Good Confession". At 4 pm, a talk on "Conversion, the First Step of Returning to God" will be available on the Irish website; and at 5 pm a talk on Tradition will be available on the same website. The Regina Caeli will be posted here at 6 pm.
At 7:30 pm, the Scouts of Riaumont will organise what is called a "Vielle" which involves a bonfire and an historical play (lots of drums). Usually, the English pilgrims to Chartres miss this as they are soundly asleep in their tents, so this is a great opportunity to see what we have been missing! This is available on the NDC website.
It's just like the real Pilgrimage -- no opportunity to draw breath! Obviously, with multiple websites and priests who are not very used to the technology (not to mention my interference!), there could be a few technical blips! Please have patience (an excellent virtue)!
We wish you Bon Pelerinage!
Monday, 25 May 2020
Moving Mountains!
We have received the following message from Notre Dame de Chrétienté:
"On the occasion of the launch of the 38th Pentecostal pilgrimage under the theme "Holy angels, protect us in battle", Notre-Dame de Chrétienté is happy to invite you to the Mass of Departure which will be celebrated by the Abbé Fournier, military chaplain, next Saturday, May 30, 2020 at 10 a.m. in the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris.
To respect the number fixed by the parish according to the rules of social distancing applicable to date in churches, we are obliged to ask you to register online as soon as possible; as soon as there are no more places, registration will no longer be possible.
You will have to appear in front of the church at 9.15 am, wearing a mask. After 9.45 am it will no longer be possible to enter the church.
Please share this link (http://www.nd-chretiente.com/stsulpice) with your pilgrims if you do not organize local actions at the same time.
Ad superna semper intenti,
The direction of the pilgrims"
Unfortunately, we are not able to travel to be with our french friends, but it is wonderful that they have prised open the church doors so that pilgrims are able to attend in person. Deo Gratias!
Sunday, 10 May 2020
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