Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Juventutem '06 - Now Official!

Following upon the post below, I have just received this wonderful e-mail, sent to the English speaking pilgrims:

Dear Fathers, dear Juventutem pilgrims, dear Juventutem supporters,

It is now official: Juventutem will be participating in a gathering for young (traditional) Catholics this summer.

When: From Monday 31 July 2006 (Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola) until Sunday 6 August 2006(Transfiguration of Our Lord).

Venue: Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre : a beautiful shrine in the Vendée (western France), the cradle of the various orders founded by Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, whose inspiring "Treatises" on the Holy Virgin Mary you may have read. Pope John Paul II went on pilgrimage to St Laurent sur Sèvre in September 1996 to pray on the tomb of Fr. de Montfort, the great apostle of western France in the late XVIth century, whose zeal had strengthened the faith of the Vendée, Brittany and Anjou, giving the people courage to stand up against the anti-Catholic French revolution a century later. Please visit :
http://www.montfort.org/English/index.htm.

Access: Nantes-Atlantique international airport is 66 km north from St Laurent sur Sèvre (Ryanair flies to Nantes from Shannon, Dublin, East Midland and London stansted: www.ryanair.com). There are direct trains from Paris to Cholet, 12 km north from St Laurent.

Price: (at the moment provisional): Accomodation with full board (in-door bedrooms with bathroom) at the St Gabriel boarding school will cost an average 160 EUR / person; plus about 30 EUR / person for organisational expenses. Out-door (i.e.cheaper) acommodation should be possible (about 130 EUR).

Organizer: The principal organiser is a French group called "R.J.C" (i.e."Rassemblement des Jeunes Catholiques"), who have organised similar summer gatherings in recent years. Most of them were involved in Juventutem last summer. Juventutem's role will be to co-ordinate the participation of the non-Francophone youth this summer.

Fr. Rupert McHardy of the London Oratory will also make himself available to ensure there is at least one English-speaking confessor and preacher available full time. Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, also intends to be there, and this time with virtually no logistical responsibilities, but with deeper pastoral involvement instead.

Programme: Similar to the week in Wigratzbad last summer, with less coming and going. The local bishop has allowed us to use the large chapel (up to 300 seats) of St Gabriel for our traditional liturgies (High Masses, Vespers, Compline, Adoration). There will be doctrinal lectures, and at least one excursion in some place of interest in the surrounding area. Also, festive evenings, walks in the lovely coutryside, etc.

It is very important that we seize that unique opportunity to know each other among traditional Catholic youth. Our bonds of mutual friendship are absolutely vital to foster our love for the Church's doctrinal and liturgical traditions for the benefit of all the Church. Don't hesitate to bring your friends along, even those who may not know much about the faith, provided they are willing to meet us.

With best wishes in Our Lord,

Gregory Flash

Juventutem Meet-up '06

Animici, do we know anything more about the proposed Juventutem meet-up in July or August? I know some people who are keen to come - myself included, of course! Perhaps we can plan something? It's all so exciting! :)

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

You know you must be in union with the Holy See...

But of course! To continue the line of thought - you know you must be in union with the Holy See when it's 2:15am, and you are awake, about to sit down to read the Holy Father's first Encyclical!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Je ne parle pas Français!

I hope the title of this post is correct - it just proves the whole point of my needing help!

Dear friends, how would I translate the following into French, I am not sure of the protocol:

His Eminence, George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
His Grace, Archbishop Denis J. Hart, of Melbourne

Merci! :)

Monday, January 23, 2006

In case anyone doesn't get Zenit e-mails -

- there is a very interesting interview today with Monsignor Petrus Yousif, professor of Syro-Chaldean patrology and Chaldean liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Catholic Institute of Paris, about the Chaldean rite, which has recently undergone some reforms. This is particularly interesting:

The text is clearer and more compact and it has, as a principle, the priest turning to the people when the people are being addressed, and when speaking to God, the cross is again gazed upon because it is Jesus who has the Father's face.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

'The Bohemian Palestrina'

Radio 3 had a very interesting programme about the Slovenian 16th-century composer Jacobus Handl. I'd never heard of him before (not that I know a lot about Renaissance music). Worth listening to, especially the last few motets, which have some very unusual passages (IMHO...). Google produces more information from a choir's website.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

A Hot Sunday

It is predicted that tomorrow will be 42C. That is about 108F, I believe? Our poor clergy, and the servers, too. I do hope that they will manage! It gets to the point where it is too hot to join one's hands together in prayer - but you do anyway, of course. It reminds me of some lovely black and white photo with the well-dressed laity obviously uncomfortable, the vested priests, laden with sweat. Just goes to prove that the heat is no excuse for immodesty, and there is good use for the maniple! :)

Update: Father T in his sermon today (paraphrased): "Today would be an opportune time to teach about Hell, but I can only afford a passing reference!"

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

I wonder...

I wonder if we could give our little blog a chalk blessing? I think it would be rather sweet :) Speaking of things sweet, the little orthodox church across the way is ringing its bell. We must have a bell by 2008...!

Melkite liturgical chant

Via The New Liturgical Movement, here is a library of chants in MP3 format proper to the Melkite Catholic Church. (Site is in Arabic.)

Monday, January 16, 2006

But Father...

On Sunday afternoon, we attempted to enter a church to include in our French presentation. Alas, we found its gates to be chained and bolted. I was left to lament, "We're young people - and we're trying to get in!"

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Survey for 2008

Dear Friends,

In preparation for World Youth Day in Sydney, Juventutem-Australia has been established to plan and co-ordinate the participation of the international Juventutem chapter for 2008.

It is important that at this preliminary stage we begin to obtain demographic information for Juventutem 2008 to ensure that our spiritual, catechetical and liturgical programme is as well planned as possible. We need to gather an estimate of the number of people we can expect, something of their background, and their expectations.

In order to gather this information, we have prepared a survey which is now available online at:

http://www.juventutem-australia.com/survey.htm

The survey will be available in other languages soon.

The information gathered from this survey will be indispensable to our preparations for 2008.

We would be most grateful if you could bring this survey to the attention of young people aged between 16 and 30 in your parishes and apostolates. Your kind assistance will help us to prepare for an event that will lift the hearts and minds of young Catholics from around the world towards the Lord, as they discover their spiritual heritage which is the Classical Roman rite.


In Christo,

Tara Peters
Juventutem-Australia

Monday, January 02, 2006

Divine Providence? :)

This morning as I entered into the church for Mass, I noticed something quite strange when passing by the crib. The Christ Child was holding a silver 20c coin in His little hand!

In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur, caelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum: et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris. Domine Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!

Information re Juventutem 2008

I hope nobody will mind if I post here regarding JUVENTUTEM 2008.

In short, JUVENTUTEM 2008 here in Sydney is already in the works. Although there is nothing as yet on our website, our address is www.juventutem-australia.com. We hope to have preliminary information out soon, but please feel free to spread the word.

Although Australia is a long way away, we hope that many will come to our shores and bear witness to the Catholic Faith through our devotion to the traditional liturgical practices of the Roman Rite.

The proposed dates for WYD2008 are 15-20 July, which of course will mean a very wintry summer for all of you from the northern hemisphere. The proposed Juventutem programme at the moment is a week in Melbourne and a week in Sydney for the actual 15-20 July WYD events.

So start putting some coins into your respective piggy banks and block out July 7 - 20 in 2008 at least, and maybe a few weeks more after that to see the rest of Australia! (after all, you can't come all the way here and not stay a little longer.)

Although there is not much more information re Juventutem than what is in this post, questions can be sent to the following address:

info@juventutem-australia.com

God bless

Tom Kwok
Sydney, Australia.

P.S. Please spread the word!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

found a blog you might like to read:

Click here.