The English Martyrs Chapel on the Feast of Simon and Jude

The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Cardinal Nichols, preached at the blessing of the newly decorated chapel dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales (Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs) last Friday:

Within the chapel, our eyes are drawn to the lettering on the end wall of the chapel. They remind us powerfully that, two miles from here and four hundred or so years ago, the truths enshrined in the Catholic faith and the expectations of the state clashed in the most violent of ways. The setting if these words, within the recollected space of Westminster Cathedral, cannot mask the horror to which they refer. They challenge us to see that the time we give to God in worship is not, or should not be, offered so that we may feel good in ourselves, but so that God may work more effectively through us. Prayer grants us a deeper awareness of our role as missionary disciples, strengthening us to take his mercy and compassion, his truth and his love into every part of our lives. And only God knows where that role may ultimately lead us.

In today’s Gospel, the first disciples are mentioned individually, by name. Most of them would have had little social standing in the society of their day; none of them could have had much of an idea what being an apostle would entail. But they offered themselves as they were. For the most part, and despite any number of setbacks along the way, they remained faithful. Their fidelity has brought such a light into our world!

In St George’s Chapel, there are more than twelve flames in its dark mosaic sky. Each of the flames is inscribed with the name of a martyr. Unlike the first apostles, many of them had a considerable status in the world. But their courage and faithfulness, expressed in quite different stories, speak to us of an integrity and a courage rarely seen. They light up more than the ceiling of the chapel. They offer us a witness that challenges us to assess afresh our own commitment to the faith and our practice of it.

You may find pictures of the chapel here. An article in The Catholic Herald describes the chapel:

A new decorative scheme commemorating forty English Catholic martyrs has recently been completed in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs in Westminster Cathedral. . . .

The chapel contains the cathedral’s war memorial and its completion marks the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

The new design by Tom Phillips CBE RA links this event with another chapter in the nation’s suffering, that of the English martyrs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The names of the forty Catholic martyrs are emblazoned in mosaic across a dark sky in the chapel vault and their suffering is recalled by a depiction of the Tyburn gallows in marble on the west wall.

Tomorrow on the Son Rise Morning Show

Just so you know ahead of time, I'll be on the Son Rise Morning Show tomorrow (Monday) in my usual end of the EWTN show time slot (after the 7:45 a.m. Eastern/6:45 a.m. Central news headline break with Annie Mitchell) to discuss the petition for Richard III's reburial to be with a Catholic Mass! The Catholic Herald posted this on-line story:

Three thousand people have signed a petition calling for Richard III to be given a Catholic burial.

The petition, addressed to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, is being organised by the historians whose efforts led to the king’s remains being found under a car park in Leicester.

Under present plans Richard III, who died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before the Reformation, will be buried at the Anglican cathedral in Leicester on March 26.

But Philippa Langley, leader of the Looking for Richard project, said the burial should take into account Richard III’s Catholic faith.

She said: “It seems this former king and head of state is to be treated as a scientific specimen right up to and including the point at which he is laid in his coffin.”

Dr John Ashdown-Hill, a historian who worked to identify the bones, has also called for a Catholic burial, saying: “There is a lot of evidence that Richard III had a very serious personal faith. If Richard III had not have died, maybe the Anglican church would never have existed.”

You may listen live on your local affiliate of course, but here's on-line link to the EWTN radio network. I'll post a digest of past posts on the topic tomorrow morning.

What do you think? Should Richard III be re-buried with a Catholic Mass and/or interment-site prayers or with an ecumenical service as planned (with the Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and senior clergy from both dioceses, and other Christian denominations alongside representatives of the World Faiths)? Should his re-burial be according to his times or ours?

The Ordinariate Restart, Part II

In addition to the "Called to be One" effort at evangelization and growth of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham this September, there will be an "Ordinariate Festival". The New Liturgical Movement blog posts the details:

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is to hold its first "Ordinariate Festival" in September this year. The guest of honour will be Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, who will deliver an address on the how the Ordinariate fits in to the life and mission of the wider Catholic Church in the United Kingdom. The festival, which will run over the weekend of Friday 19 September to Sunday 21 September, is expected to be the biggest gathering of clergy and faithful from the more than forty Ordinariate groups across the country, since the Ordinariate was established in the UK in January 2011.

The proceedings will begin on the evening of Friday 19 September with a reception at the home of the Ordinary, the Rt Revd Mgr Keith Newton and his wife, Gill, in Golden Square, Soho, which adjoins the Ordinariate's central church, Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street. The main events will be on Saturday, 20 September, organised around Mass in Westminster Cathedral at 12.30. Before the Mass, Ordinariate groups will give presentations on aspects of their mission. In the afternoon Cardinal Nichols and the Ordinary will speak. The Ordinariate clergy and faithful will be encouraged to stay on in London so that they can attend the 103.30 Sung Mass on Sunday 21 September at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory.

Read the rest here.

The Ordinary of the Ordinariate, Monsignor Keith Newton, has made his own comments on the role of his special "diocese" in re-evangelizing England (which even the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has admitted is not a Christian country--in spite of an establishment church!) in the Friends of the Ordinariate Newsletter:

The Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham Monsignor Keith Newton, has said the Ordinariate has a unique part to play in the New Evangelisation because of the way it "brings into modern Catholicism an ancient British expression of Christian life".

Writing in the Friends of the Ordinariate's Eastertide Newsletter, Mgr Newton quotes the words of Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, in which the Holy Father says that it is through the diversity of the countless people who have received and passed on the grace of faith "in the language of their own culture" that the Church expresses her genuine catholicity and shows forth the "beauty of her varied face".

Mgr Newton writes: "For centuries, a particularly English and ancient culture of Catholic truth has been treasured and guarded within the Church of England, while Anglicanism itself is interwoven into the culture of British society". The Ordinariate, Mgr Newton goes on, is a tool of profound importance in the New Evangelisation because it provides a bridge between the Catholic Church and deeply rooted elements of British religious culture.

Read the rest of his comments here in the newsletter.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols at Westminster Cathedral

The continuity with the past that Cardinal Nichols is expressing with objects from three Reformation and post-Reformation English Cardinals is impressive. When he celebrates his Mass of Thanksgiving at Westminster Cathedral today he will remember the great St. John Fisher, Cardinal Reginald Pole, and Cardinal William Allen:

Cardinal Vincent will process through the West Doors from Cathedral Piazza along with individual possessions of three English Cardinals from the Reformation. These artefacts symbolize the Catholic Church’s connection to the Reformation Cardinals: The signet ring of Cardinal St John Fisher (c.1469-1535), the pectoral cross of Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500-1558) and the crozier of Cardinal William Allen (1532-1594). Cardinal Vincent has a particular devotion to John Fisher and following further studies, has written a book about the saint who inspires him.

The book Cardinal Vincent wrote about St. John Fisher seems to be out of print: St. John Fisher: Bishop and Theologian in Reformation and Controversy, published by Alive Publishing. EWTN has the introduction in their online library:

As a man of his time, who carried many of the strengths and weaknesses of his age, John Fisher might appear distant from us today. Yet that need not be so. There are many themes of his thought and writing which carry strong echoes for us in this age.

Throughout his life, John Fisher had a deep concern for the well-being and ministry of the clergy. He realised that the health of the Church depended largely on the health of the parish and, in turn, this depended on the work and presence of the clergy. Many of his initiatives, especially during his years of academic life, were aimed at the support and improvement of the priests of his day. . . .

Fisher's main effort in support of the clergy was in the area of education. He wanted a clergy that was better educated, thereby better able to inform and form itself for its important ministry. And in that ministry the task of teaching the faith was uppermost in his mind. He wanted his priests to be able and ready to study. He wanted them to bring the fruits of that study into their preaching. He wanted a laity that understood their faith and not be led astray by erroneous opinions and error. Thus was behind his initiatives at Cambridge. . . .

What would be Fisher's view of similar matters today? He would be dismayed at the public failings of even one priest. He would be adamant about the need for personal renewal and discipline of life. He would look to us bishops and priests in particular to give a clear and helpful account of the truths of faith in a manner which spoke to people of today. I think he would be delighted at the richness of resource available to us, embracing with enthusiasm some of the potential of contemporary means of communication while always on guard for the way in which these same means can be used to circulate misleading or corrosive views. In short, he would recognise a similar pattern of strengths and weaknesses and would offer to us today the same example of steadfast study, disciplined self-application, courage of expression and faithful observance of duty, not least the duty of personal prayer and devotion.

As a reformer, then. Fisher's stance was clear. Reform was not a matter of radical change of structure or teaching of the Church, but rather an issue of personal lives being reformed to the age-old wisdom of the Church in each contemporary setting. I cannot believe that his stance would be any different today.

Here is a review of then Archbishop Nichols' book about St. John Fisher. I heard then Archbishop Vincent Nichols speak of his admiration of St. John Fisher on the great documentary--which is forthcoming from Ignatius Press--Faith of Our Fathers: In Search of the English Martyrs. I received a review copy from Saint Anthony Communications, and thoroughly enjoyed it! More about it this Sunday!