Advent Wreath Blessing & Lighting of First Candle

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Blessing of an Advent Wreath at Home & Lighting of the First Candle

The First Sunday of Advent is December 2nd.

Click here to print (pdf). 

All make the Sign of the Cross as the leader begins: 

℣ +Our help is in the name of the Lord.

℟ Who hath made heaven and earth. 

 Let us pray.

O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from Thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord. ℟ Amen.

The following Scriptures are read:

Ps 50.2-5

Out of Sion hath God appeared * in perfect beauty.

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; * there shall go before him a consuming fire, and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him.

He shall call the heaven from above, * and the earth, that he may judge his people.

Gather my saints together unto me; * those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice.

 

John 1.1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

 

Light one purple candle. With hands joined, the leader prays:

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead; we may rise to the life immortal; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. ℟ Amen.

The devotion may conclude with a verse from "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel": 

O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind;
bid ev'ry sad division cease
and be thyself our Prince of peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Click here to print (pdf).

Advent Ember Days 2018

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Advent Ember Days in 2018
Wednesday, 5 December
Friday, 7 December


Ember Days are brief periods of prayer and abstinence during each of the four seasons of the year. Ember Friday in Advent is to be kept as an obligatory day of abstinence from meat by members of the Ordinariate. Saturday, 8 December is not an Ember Day this year because of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Learn all about the Advent Ember Days.

RSVP for Wednesday School: 28 Nov 2018

Joining us for Wednesday School this week? Please RSVP using the form below so that we may adequately prepare. Thanks!

Letter from Fr. Allen - November 22, 2018

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+JMJ+

Dear Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! By the time this newsletter sloshes into your inbox, I hope you are viewing the world reading this through a tryptophan-induced somnolent haze! Today we give thanks especially for the bounty of this beautiful land and fruitful land. And as we give thanks, let us pray also for those who do not share in its bounty, and then let us resolve and act so that they may. I encourage you to think now of the concrete ways you may help the poor during this holiday season, remembering always that we are the unworthy recipients God's grace to us in Jesus Christ. And so, as we (sometimes!) hear prior to the Offertory at Mass: I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And to  remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

Speaking of giving, next Sunday is the Ordinariate's annual second collection for the Retirement Fund for Priests. Please keep me and my confreres in bait and tackle in our senescent decrepitude! More information is below, and you may give electronically here.

Below you will also again see information for the purchase of the "People's Edition" of our Missal. This is a book you will use! It includes the order of Mass and all of the readings and prayers for every Sunday and solemnity of the year. See below to reserve your copy today.

God bless you,
Fr Allen

Letter from Fr. Allen - November 15, 2018

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+JMJ+

Dear Friends,

I'm very pleased to tell you that the Catholic Truth Society, the publishing house that produced our Divine Worship Missal and Book of Occasional Services - our official liturgical books - will next month publish The Divine Worship Sunday Missal (People's Edition). This book is meant, as the subtitle indicates, to aid the prayer and devotion and foster the "active participation" of the people attending Mass. It will include all of the prayers and biblical readings (in our translation) for every Sunday and Solemnity of the year, as well as all parts of the Mass in our Ordinariate form. These books are beautifully and solidly produced, and so not inexpensive. But to encourage purchase and use of this book by our people, Corpus Christi will place a bulk order, which will allow a substantial savings (approximately $13.00 for an individual copy) on shipping. The cost is $40.00, and we will be taking orders for only a limited time - until December 4th. Just in time for Christmas! To reserve your copy, click here! You'll see more information at the link.

I should also say that we hope soon to see the publication of another book for the Ordinariate - the St Gregory Prayer Book. This is will be more of a personal manual of devotion, including the order of Mass (but not the proper prayers and lessons), and various prayers and devotions such as Stations of the Cross, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, forms for daily prayer, Marian devotions, and so on. We also still await the Holy See's approval of our Daily Office (you might pray for that happy day!).

God bless you,
Fr Allen

Video: interview of three Ordinaries

In this 49-minute video from EWTN Great Britain, James McCullough speaks to Bishop Steven Joseph Lopes, Msgr Keith Newton, and Msgr Harry Entwistle in Walsingham, England, the three ordinaries of the three Ordinariates.

James McCullough speaks to Bishop Steven Joseph Lopes, Mgr Keith Newton and Mgr Harry Entwistle in Walsingham, England. Pope Benedict XVI established The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in 2011 to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church whilst retaining much of their heritage and traditions.

Ordinariate Missal: People's Edition

Update 15 November 2018: We are now accepting orders here. $40.00 (USD)

Original post:

CTS Books is publishing a People's Edition of the Sunday Missal which includes the Ordinariate form of the Mass and the Revised Standard Version (2nd Catholic Edition) of the Lectionary. The currently anticipated release date is 14 December. 

Priced at £29.95, each book normally has an additional cost of £10 for shipping from the UK. Corpus Christi is working with the publisher on a significant discount for shipping costs for a bulk order. 

If you plan on purchasing a copy of this book for yourself, please consider ordering through Corpus Christi so we can benefit from a reduced shipping cost. We'll publish purchasing information by Thanksgiving or so - watch this space!