Tuesday 27 January 2009

new Gregorian Chant Schola in Edinburgh

Plans have been made for a schola to sing and promote Gregorian chant within the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh. This will be a male choir which will meet on a Thursday evening in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, for sung Latin Vespers and rehearsal with half a dozen chanted Masses spread among the deaneries each year.

Anyone who is interested in joining the schola or supporting this increasingly popular music of the Church should visit edinburghschola.blogspot.com or telephone 07786 146 456 for more details.

Monday 26 January 2009

upcoming events - February

Monday 2 February
Mass for Candlemass [EF]
6.00pm, FSSP Oratory, 6 Belford Park, Edinburgh

Thursday 5 February
First Rehearsal of St Andrews & Edinburgh Schola
meet at 6.00pm in porch, St Mary's RC Cathedral, Edinburgh

Thursday 12 February
Second Rehearsal of St Andrews & Edinburgh Schola
meet at 6.00pm in porch, St Mary's RC Cathedral, Edinburgh

Saturday 14 February
Pro-Life Rosary Vigil
11am - 12.00 noon, outside Glasgow Royal Infirmary

Saturday 21 - Sunday 22 February
2nd International Gathering of Juventutem Delegates
Bern, Switzerland
(more)

Wednesday 25 February
Mass (forma extraordinaria) and Imposition of Ashes
6.15pm, FSSP Oratory, 6 Belford Park, Edinburgh

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Please comment with details of further events.

Sunday 18 January 2009

2nd International Student Pro-Life Conference

2nd International Student Pro-Life Conference
6th-8th March 2009
Carberry Tower, Edinburgh
www.spucconference.org.uk

Due to the phenomenal success of our first international conference, SPUC Scotland will be hosting the 2nd International Student Pro-Life Conference in 2009. This conference is an excellent opportunity for those aged between 17 and 35 years to network and socialise with fellow pro-lifers from around the world.

This year our theme is ‘I Am Here’ and we will be putting a face to the common pro-abortion arguments by hearing from those behind the ‘hard cases’.

Our keynote speaker will be international pro-life speaker, Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived after her mother was raped. Rebecca will share her personal story and explain to us why she believes, ‘’Your value is not based on the circumstances of your conception.’’

Delegates will be given the opportunity to network with established pro-life organisations such as SPUC, Youth Defence (Ireland), Stand True (USA) amongst others. In addition we will also hear from professionals in the fields of International Law, Bioethics and Post Abortion Counselling.

This weekend will be a unique, inspiring experience filled with educational opportunities, activities, socialising and most importantly lots of fun!

Registration

If you would like to attend this conference, please book in advance to avoid disappointment. You can register via our website www.spucconference.org.uk or by contacting :

SPUC Scotland
75 Bothwell Street
Glasgow G2 6TS
0141 221 2094

Friday 9 January 2009

More information about Chartres

(reproduced from "Young Catholic Adults", the Juventutem Chapter in England)

Paris-Chartres Pentecost Pilgrimage in France (30 May-1st June 2009):

Juventutem Chapter

The Youth of Britain marched last year under the banner of Juventutem. Fr Withoos, Madeleine Readings and Gregory Flash inspired the enthusiastic youngsters on the muddy road to Chartres. Banners and flags flying, singing hymns and songs with gusto, the miles flew by. It was reassuring to witness their laughter and perseverance as they waded through inches of mud and water. To build on this success and to cater separately for the broad age range of young people, another chapter is planned this year for those aged 13-18 to be led by Agostino di Falco and Anthony Readings in addition to the main Juventutem chapter for 18 to 30 year olds. This is now a very important part of our apostolate and we ask for both your prayers and financial support.

For more information please contact:-

Francis & Julie Carey

Tel: 01494 729 223 e-mail - Chartres@duc-in-altum.co.uk

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Gregory Flash -International Juventutem Chairman writes about the Juventutem chapter:-


Celebrate Pentecost with a pilgrimage!

I would like invite you to join me and several thousand other young people on a pilgrimage in France at Pentecost this year.

What is the pilgrimage?

The pilgrimage involves walking from Paris to Chartres, along part of one of the ancient routes to Compostella. This particular pilgrimage, the largest of the annual pilgrimages that takes this route, is now in its 26th year, so it is a well-oiled and efficient machine. By the end of the pilgrimage, some six thousand people come together in and outside the glorious cathedral in Chartres for a solemn Mass. The average age of the pilgrims is somewhere in the low twenties, as the vast majority of the pilgrims are young, though people of all ages are welcome.

Who will be going?

I invite you to walk with the British young adults' chapter, dedicated to St Alban, which will be made up of 18-35 year olds. All the pilgrims in this chapter will be English speaking, with the majority coming from the UK, though there we hope to welcome pilgrims from other countries too. We will have English speaking priests looking after us, giving talks, hearing confessions and leading the prayers. There will also be lots of opportunities to get to know pilgrims of other ages and other nationalities.

The majority of the pilgrims are French, but there are chapters from the USA, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Lithuania and other countries besides. The three Masses of the pilgrimage are celebrated in Latin (booklets are provided to help you follow the prayers), which enables this wonderfully diverse group of nationalities to pray and sing with one voice. We walk in chapters of about thirty pilgrims, singing and praying (in English mostly though there will be plenty of opportunity to learn and sing in other languages over the two and half days), listening to talks to from priests and chapter leaders, and getting to know one another. There is plenty of laughter and joy as well as prayer and hard work.

How exactly does the pilgrimage work?

On Saturday 10 May, we all meet at 6am at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The pilgrims enter the great Cathedral, where prayers are said and the pilgrims are blessed by the clergy. We then begin walking our way out of Paris, walking with the rest of our chapter. Half way through the morning, we have a short pause for water and some fruit, before making our way to one of the forests that surrounds Paris for Mass of the vigil of Pentecost in the open air. A picnic lunch follows, and we resume our walk until the evening (with a few pauses on the way), until we reach a camp site outside a beautiful village. We spend the night under tents (for details of sleeping arrangements see below). Early the next morning, we set off again. Mass of Pentecost Sunday is said again the open air, before another early picnic lunch. We walk until the evening (again with pauses), spending the second night in a campsite not far from Chartres. An hour before reaching the campsite we should catch our first distant glimpse of the spires of Chartres cathedral towering above the fields that surround the city.

The following morning we set off for Chartres. We have our final picnic lunch before arriving in Chartres in the early afternoon. At half past three the final solemn Mass of the pilgrimage begins, said in the presence of the bishop of Chartres. I don't yet have details of the celebrant for this year, but over the past twenty five years, bishops and Cardinals have celebrated this closing Mass.

What do I need to bring?

You need the following:

  • Good walking shoes
  • Sleeping bag
  • Optional tent - as non-French pilgrims you can sleep in communal tents that are provided for the international pilgrims, though you are free to bring your own tent (this is the option I take, and which is arguably preferable to the communal option).
  • Food for lunch on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. You should also bring food to supplement the evening soup.
  • Clothing suitable for two and a half days of walking in the open air - you will need a good set of waterproofs. Last year we had a lot of rain, but the previous year we had unmitigated sunshine. Pentecost is early this year, so you should also bring a couple of jumpers/warm clothes.
  • Two rucksacks - one large, which will hold your sleeping bag, tent if you take one, and any bulkier items, and a smaller one. The larger bag will be transported from Paris to the campsites and then to Chartres. The smaller bag will contain what you need to walk during the day, i.e. your lunch, raincoat, jumpers etc.

How fit do I need to be?

The pilgrimage involves a heavy amount of walking. You therefore need to be reasonably physically fit in order to cope with walking 100km in two and half days. It is gruelling and hard work, but it is not a death march!

Gregory Flash FIJ Chairman.

How do I book?

Francis and Julie Carey run a very successful and reasonably priced package (highly recommended!) for the pilgrimage with coaches, hotels and ferries all included, to book please email Chartres@duc-in-altum.co.uk for further details, or ring 01494 729 223.

Please contact Gregory Flash at flash@gregory-f.com for this option.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Caring for youth

Fr de Malleray of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter will give a retreat for young people linked with Juventutem (any other youth interested are welcome) at Douai Abbey from 18th to 20th September 2009. For more information, contact Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, Reading RG2 0DH, Berks – Tel.: 0118 987 5819 – E-mail: malleray[at]fssp.org. Website: www.fssp.org.uk

A more festive and longer event will take place in France this summer from 18th to 23rd August 2009, when Juventutem will organize an international youth gathering in the medieval Marian shrine of Le Puy-en-Velay (between Saint-Etienne and Clermont-Ferrand). Like Wigratzbad in August 2005, there will be lectures in English, beautiful solemn liturgies and cultural excursions in the breathtaking landscapes of the Massif Central.

There will also be a Juventutem English chapter (accompanied by Fr de Malleray) on the annual pilgrimage to Chartres. This 70-mile traditional pilgrimage from Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris to Notre-Dame cathedral in Chartres is the largest all-walking pilgrimage in the Catholic world. If you haven't done it yet, you may like to consider attending this time and see the 8,000 young people walking and singing canticles, preceded by superb banners and processional crosses, while dozens of clergy from all the "Ecclesia Dei" communities hear confessions, gives spiritual advice and preach. A shorter and smoother itinerary is designed for families, even with pushchairs! The Order of Malta is in charge of the pilgrims' good health, with teams of doctors and nurses (specialized in blisters) posted every 4 miles! Whatever your age if you like walking, we hope to see you amongst British pilgrims: starting on Whitsun Eve (Saturday 30th May 2009), ending on Whit Monday (June 1st, 2009). Please comment here, or contact the FSSP for more information.

(excerpted/adapted from "Dowry", the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter's newsletter for England)

upcoming events - January

Thursday 1 January
Mass for New Year's Day
12.00 noon, FSSP Oratory, 6 Belford Park, Edinburgh

Tuesday 6 January
Missa Cantata for the Epiphany
6.15pm, St Andrew's Church, Belford Road, Edinburgh

Saturday 10 January
Pro-Life Rosary Vigil
11am - 12.00 noon, outside Glasgow Royal Infirmary

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Please comment with details of further events.