Confession in Heidelberg

Last night I went to Confession for the first time here in Germany. I had been really frustrated, however, because there seems to be only one hour of confession time a week offered here in the whole of Heidelberg. It was at St Anna's, where they were also holding Eucharistic adoration. Offering Confession at the same time as adoration is a very good idea, as when we are confronted with God, He helps us in our preparation before confession and then after Confession, we can say our thanksgiving before Him Who has just forgiven us.
This same Church also offers the Extraordinary Form of the Mass on Sunday evenings, which doesn't surprise me. Generally, if a Church offers Adoration time, they're more likely to offer the EF too (and this Church also seems to be the only one offering Confession regularly as well).
St Anna's is part of the Heiliggeistgemeinde, or Holy Spirit Parish, which also includes the famous Jesuitenkirche. The Jesuitenkirche played a fair role during the reformation, and although it is now the main church in Heiliggeistgemeinde, the Heiliggeistkirche used to be part of this Gemeinde too, before it was captured, recaptured, split in two (by a partition wall, not structurally!) and then finally given over to the Protestants (the church is evangelisch, which would be better translated as protestant rather than evangelical, as the latter is evangelikal. Furthermore, the Evangelical Church of Germany is a mixed bag of Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed churches, so I would need to go to a service to find out which exact denomination it is, or do a little more research). More to come, such as photos!

Heidelberger Aufenthalt

Having not posted throughout the whole of February, I felt I ought to give an update. I am now in Heidelberg, which was greatly involved in the Reformation, as Luther gave a speech defending his theses, and Johannes Eck, a leading opponent of his, was an alumnus of the university. The town is very beautiful, and I have had the fortune to see it in both lovely sunny weather and covered in a pretty blanket of snow.
Photos coming soon.

More photos of the two priests

Here are some more photos of the two FSSP priests, Messieurs les abbés Jouachim and Roseau.

In this one, Jouachim is priest and Roseau is deacon.

 

Here one of Abbé Roseau's self-made hosts is being consecrated.

De pænultima die

I've just come back from my last EF Mass here in Nantes, that of the feast of St Polycarp, so the priest, the fantastic Abbé Roseau, was wearing beautiful red vestments.
Being the shy soul that I am, I had never really introduced myself to the priests or indeed anyone at the parish. It was only last week that someone approached me whom I'd met before. They had no idea I attended the EF on such a regular basis (my attendance has been pretty much daily over the past two weeks). However, I leave Nantes on Thursday so the man and the woman whom I knew invited me to lunch after Mass on Sunday. What a delightful Sunday it was. It was so peaceful that it really pained me to think that I'd only have one such Sunday, and that this won't happen again.

I am so grateful to the priests at the parish and I thank God for them, Abbé Roseau and Abbé Jouachim. I could not leave without expressing this gratitude and so I bought a card, bearing the name St Clément (the name of the church) and wrote a sentence or two (in French of course) expressing my thanks to them for these my first experiences at the EF of the Mass. My original intention was to just leave it lying there on one of the tables at the back of the Church under the noticeboard but then I decided I would hand it to M. l'abbé Roseau personally for several reasons. Firstly, the card could lie there for weeks without anyone noticing. Secondly, it could be picked up by someone else. Thirdly, even if they did get the card, they would probably have no idea who I am, and would probably just seem rather strange. And finally, I don't think it would truly express my gratitude if I just left it lying for them, rather than actually having a conversation with them. So I waited until the priest heard a few Confessions and finished his prayers, and then approached him. I think he did recognise me, and if he didn't immediately, he will have recognised the same voice who stumbles through confessions in awkward French, often not making much sense. I gave him the card and he inquired as to what it was, and then I told him that I was leaving Nantes. He asked a few more questions and then just as I was going out of those thick double doors one finds in churches to keep the heat in, he said he would like to give me a blessing for my travels. It was totally unexpected but I really felt like this is what it must be like to live in a country which still has some dregs of a Catholic culture. In Scotland, I often feel as though we are just meant to be grateful that the Church is allowed to operate in such a presbyterian country, and so never mind all these traditions such as blessings, churching of women, house blessings and the like. So finally, I'd like to thank God for the thousands of opportunities He has given me while here in Nantes, and I am ever so grateful to Him.

Benedictus Jesus Christus, verus Deus et verus homo. Benedictum Cor ejus sacratissimum!

(Abbé Roseau also has a blog describing his journey on making his own hosts for Mass. You can find it here. I've also already posted a link to the Nantes FSSP website where you can see the two priests in action.)

Domine, non sum dignus...

...ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur anima mea.

Today I went to my last Sunday EF Mass for probably a very long time. And so I'm quite sad. The older liturgy has really enriched my view of Catholicism, and made me feel connected to the very same Mass that so many saints of old attended while here on earth. Today, the Gospel concerned the curing of a leper and the faith of the centurion when Jesus cured his servant. It is from this passage that we get the (soon to be) "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed". It is in this confession (in the EF it is said threefold while beating the breast) that we acknowledge how we are always unworthy to receive the Lord, yet He still invites us to come to Him, for He is "meek and humble of heart" and in Him we "find rest for [our] souls". Yet again we can marvel at the depths of the love of our Saviour, that He suffers our sinfulness even in our reception of Him (sadly, given the large difference in the Communion lines with the Confession lines, many people receive truly unworthily with mortal sin on their souls). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Lord calls us and moves our hearts to approach the fountain of mercy which pours from His own, and then gives His Body and Blood for us, that we may become like Him, and love to a greater capacity, and love more truly, with the love of God. Lord, we truly are not worthy of such favour. And that is why it is called grace - gratia - because it is gratis.

In paradisum deducant te angeli...

In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres
et perducant te 
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
æternam habeas requiem.

May the angels lead you into paradise,
and the martyrs receive you
in your coming,
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus, once poor,
may you have eternal rest.

Recently I have been indulging in thoughts of my death, and more specifically, my funeral. I've always thought that I'd like to plan my funeral in advance, just to make sure it strengthens and encourages others, and doesn't turn into a sentimental swamp. Therefore, I wrote a list of instructions as to what it should and shouldn't have: the readings, the Gospel, no eulogy, vetoed songs and song suggestions. To say the least, I had a lot of chant in there, or classical stuff like the one linked above (though I know that they'd never manage to get it! I can dream, though...). I've also vetoed stuff like Amazing Grace and The Lord's My Shepherd (Scottish Psalter version) because they are overplayed (and I'm still not too sure about the former, anyway). Other things like On Eagle's Wings are OUT! Anyway, I'll print out this list and show it to my younger brother. He's one of the few people that doesn't really mind talking about stuff like this. But always be prepared!

The Angelus

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ
Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto
Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum:
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.

When praying the Angelus at midday and at 6pm (I'm never able to say the 6am one; I start it but fall asleep again after the first Hail Mary), I always end up matching each part to a part of the Hail Mary. For this first part, we hear of the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary (Ave gratia plena - from where we can learn of Mary's immaculate conception, and her importance in salvation history by the angel's honorific Ave), and then immediately of the result of that greeting, the conception of the God-man, Jesus Christ (Dominus tecum - though the Lord was with her before His conception of course - indeed, He was with her since her immaculate conception - but after Mary's encounter with Gabriel, the Lord was physically with her in her womb).

Ecce ancilla Domini
Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum:
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.

Here we see why Mary is so blessed in mulieribus, notwithstanding her conception. Here she displays Christian perfection; she accepts God's will and fully cooperates in His plan for the redemption of the human race, including her own preemptive redemption.

Et Verbum caro factum est
Et habitavit in nobis

Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum:
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.

And in this final section we encounter in plain words the entire message of the Angelus, and indeed the message of the Gospels - God became man; Jesus walked among us, taught us, and died for us, and remains with us in the tabernacles around the world, and still teaches us through the Scriptures, and helps us to die to the world so that we can live with Him. There has never been a more fruitful womb than the womb of Mary.