NEWMAN FELLOWSHIP BECOMES ORDINARIATE PARISH

Yesterday evening (Sunday, 02 November 2014) The Fellowship of the Blessed John Henry Newman (http://blessedjohnhenrynewmanfellowship.org/) was received as a group into the Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (http://www.usordinariate.org/) established by the Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus,” issued by Pope Benedict xvi, and became an official parish of the Ordinariate, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Wayne, PA (http://www.olastrafford.org/).

David L. Moyer, formerly the rector of the Episcopalian parish, The Church of The Good Shepherd, and pastor to the Fellowship during its period of discernment, presented the parishioners to the Rev. David Ousley, who received the group on behalf of Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, the Ordinary. The formal reception into communion took place during a Solemn High Mass celebrated by Fr. Ousley using the Anglican form of worship approved by the Holy See for use in the Ordinariate. The service was followed by a reception hosted in the Assumption Parish Building by the congregation of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel (http://www.anglicanphiladelphia.org/), for which Fr. Ousley is Pastor.

Approximately forty families left The Church of The Good Shepherd to follow Moyer when the Episcopal Church deposed him as Rector. Thirty of these have now entered communion with the See of St. Peter through the Ordinariate. Some families were already Catholic, and others have entered communion with the See of St. Peter through their local Roman Catholic parishes.

The Ordinariate was established by Pope Benedict xvi to allow groups of Anglicans to enter communion with the Holy See as corporate bodies, while retaining their married clergy and Anglican forms of worship. The Newman Fellowship joins the 35 other parishes of the Ordinariate, for which the Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston (http://walsingham-church.org/) is the mother church and the seat of the Ordinary. Father Ousley, Pastor of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Philadelphia, is interim Pastor for the Newman Fellowship, as well as for the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, the two parishes of the Ordinariate in the Philadelphia area. The Newman Fellowship has its temporary home at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller.

Catholic Church receives former Anglican parish

Omaha, Nebraska
August 16, 2013

Father Robert Scheiblhofer, parochial administrator of St. Barnabas Church in Omaha, said he felt joy as he watched church members being confirmed during a historic July 10 ceremony welcoming the former Episcopalian church into the Catholic faith.

At that time, Father Scheiblhofer had resigned his Anglican orders to become Catholic. He was ordained a priest Aug. 10 by Archbishop George J. Lucas at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha.

Prayer and faith sustained the church of about 50 people during its long journey, which dates back to St. Barnabas' founding in 1869 as part of a movement reestablishing Anglicanism's Catholic roots, said Father Scheiblhofer, 62.

"We've been working and praying for this for many years," he said. "It's literally the answer to that prayer."

Becoming part of the Catholic community was the highlight of the ceremony for Vicki Bohn, 69, a member of St. Barnabas for 12 years with her husband, Mel, 70...

Read the full story about the reception of St. Baranabas on Catholic Voice Online.

Read the related story on St. Baranbas' long history of ecumenism, which begins:

St. Barnabas has long history of ecumenism
By DAVID GOUGER

St. Barnabas Church in Omaha - an Anglican congregation that came into full communion with the Catholic Church during a Rite of Reception ceremony July 10 - has a history of Anglican-Catholic ecumenism dating to its 19th century ties with Father Paul Wattson, whose ministry included Christian unity.

Father Wattson - an Anglican who later converted to Catholicism - assisted at St. Barnabas while part of a group of Episcopalian priests who lived in community in Omaha, said Father Robert Scheiblhofer, parochial administrator for St. Barnabas...

St. Barnabas Church Omaha to be received into Ordinariate on July 10, 2013.

On Wednesday evening, July 10th, at seven o'clock, the Parish of St. Barnabas will enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. 

St. Barnabas Parish began its life in 1869 as an Episcopal parish formed as part of the Oxford Movement. Among the stated goals of the Oxford Movement were the reintroduction of ritual elements into the liturgy, the nurturing of the poor and downtrodden and an eventual reunification with the Holy See. The founding pastor, the Rev. Mr. George Betts, often found himself being called on the carpet by the Episcopal bishop, Robert Clarkson for these views and practices. During the course of its 144 year history the parish continued its often-rocky association with the Episcopal Church, culminating in its disassociation with that body in 2007. With the announcement of "Anglicanorum Coetibus," the parish began in earnest its path to reunification with the Holy See. That path will reach its final destination with the visit of Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson to the Parish to receive congregants as full members of the Roman Catholic Church.

The formation of the Ordinariate (officially known as The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter) was the response of Pope Benedict XVI to the request of Anglican groups seeking a home in the Roman Catholic Church. The goal of the Ordinariate is to allow former Anglicans to retain much of their Anglican Patrimony (liturgy, spirituality, and polity) and to share this patrimony with the wider Catholic Church.

All are cordially welcome to join us on the 10th for this wonderful and long-dreamed-of occasion.

"Ut unum sint" -- "May they all be one."

Msgr. Steenson's Easter Letter

The newest Ordinariate community, St. Timothy of Catonsville, Maryland, shown with Msgr. Steenson, who celebrated the Easter VIgil and received members into full communion.

Easter 2013

Dear People of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, 

A blessed and joyous Easter to you all!

We have just passed through a Lent in so many ways like none other.  We began this Lent trying to absorb the unsettling announcement of the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, who more than anyone else has made our journey to full communion possible.  And we concluded Lent by welcoming Pope Francis, whose beginning days have been so full of surprises.  In many ways, we are in a different place than when we started.

But in a more important sense, we have come full circle.  Ours is a living tradition, and the Pope has the ministry of interpreting that tradition authoritatively so that it might continue to be heard throughout the world today.  The two Popes of Lent 2013 are a study in contrasts, gifted in different ways, but they serve the same Gospel.  It is a wonderful illustration of how the Petrine office is exercised; it is an instrument of the Holy Spirit: to renew the Church’s mission and to configure her in the image of Christ.

I love the way St. Irenaeus of Lyon wrote of how the Tradition is perpetually revivified in the Church.  The Faith that is received and handed will, by the Spirit of God, renew the Church and make it young, “as if some precious deposit in an excellent vessel causes the vessel itself containing it to renew its youth also” (3.28.1).

There is a resurrection theme to be discerned in this.  Earthly communities and societies get old and tired and are replaced by something new and different.  But the Church is renewed and recovers her youthfulness, because she participates in the life of the blessed Trinity.

The people of the Ordinariate should understand this principle because we have experienced it in the renewal of our communities and in our personal faith, as we have journeyed deeper to the source of the Church’s life, to the streams of living water.  In the words of Jeremiah 2:13, we have learned of the futility of digging “broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

May our Risen Lord bless our life together and keep us always faithful to Him and to His Church!

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson

Rome Reports...

on the Ordinariates, the "younger children of the Church".

Ordinariate to Welcome Four Members in Northern Virginia

CONTACT: Fr. Randy Sly
703-433-6770 / frsly@slynet.org


Potomac Falls, VA, January 15, 2013—The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter will receive four new members into full communion with the Catholic Church at a Mass this Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

The St. John Fisher Ordinariate Community (SJFOC) is the Northern Virginia mission of St. Luke’s Catholic Parish, Bladensburg, which is affiliated with the new U.S. Ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI as a home for Episcopalians and other Anglicans who desire to join the Catholic Church but retain elements of their heritage. Stephen Smith, Judith Smith and Anne Marie Whittaker from Alexandria, VA will be received into full communion at the Mass.

Fr. Randolph Sly, who is assigned as an Associate Priest for St. Luke’s, serves Chaplain of the SJFOC. A former Anglican priest archbishop who was ordained a Catholic priest in June of 2012, he celebrates a weekly Anglican Use Mass at 5pm on Sunday at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. He and the St. John Fisher Community are also planning other special monthly events, such as Choral Evensong and seminars, to be held at centralized locations in Northern Virginia. They extend an invitation to Episcopalians, Anglicans and other non-Catholic Christians who are interested in Catholic faith and Anglican liturgy to attend and or all of these services.

Fr. Sly explained, “With our vision of establishing an Ordinariate parish in Northern Virginia, we are very blessed to welcome three former Episcopalians to the Catholic faith. As a former Anglican myself, I am confident that there are many more Anglicans and non-Catholic Christians on a similar journey.”

Fr. Mark Lewis, the Priest Administrator of St. Luke’s Parish, Bladensburg, MD, who brought 80 of his former Episcopal Church parishioners to the Catholic faith, will also be a concelebrant.

The members of SJFOC will host a gala reception after the Mass, and all are welcomed.

In addition, Fr. Scott Hurd, who currently serves as the Deputy to the Bishop to aid in the administration of the diocese, will be on hand after the Mass to sign his book, Forgiveness: A Catholic Approach; copies will be available for sale for $9.95.

Where: Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church
46639 Algonkian Parkway
Potomac Falls, VA 20165
Tele: 703-433-6770
Web: ourladyofhope.net
When: Sunday, January 20, 2013, 5:00 PM
Contact: Fr. Randolph Sly, Chaplain
Saint John Fisher Ordinariate Community
Tele: 703-433-6770
Email: frsly@slynet.com
Web: www.stjohnfisherva.org

###

The formation of the new Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter on January 1, 2012, has accelerated interest in Pope Benedict’s Anglicanorum coetibus, which allows Anglicans and Episcopalians to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining key elements of their liturgy, music and fellowship. The “first wave” of ordinations to the Catholic priesthood began in the spring of 2012 and the second class of prospective Ordinariate priests is currently in formation.

Bishop Kicanas writes about receiving Holy Nativity, Payson

At left, the newly welcomed members of the Holy Nativity Church with Father Andrews and Msgr. Steenson, Ordinary of the Anglican Ordinariate, standing in the back row.

At left, the newly welcomed members of the Holy Nativity Church with Father Andrews and Msgr. Steenson, Ordinary of the Anglican Ordinariate, standing in the back row.

Yesterday I was pleased to ordain into the Roman Catholic priesthood, Father Lowell Andrews. As part of the celebration Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary of the Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, received the congregation of the Church of the Holy Nativity into full communion in the Catholic Church.

He spoke to each person expressing the joy of the Church in welcoming them. After that it was my privilege to confirm many of them.

I was pleased that Father Bill Gyure, pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Payson, his two deacons, Ed Burgin and Tom Fox, along with many of his parishioners attended the Mass of ordination and helped with the ceremony.

Msgr. Steenson expressed gratitude for the wonderful gesture of the Holy Father extending his hand to welcome Anglican/Episcopal communities into the Catholic Church. He called for unity and a working together as Catholics in the Payson area to realize the new evangelization. He reminded us that joy is characteristic of a follower of Christ and that joy is contagious.

I am sure Father Lowell and his wife, Marilyn, and their community were thrilled by the joy present in the congregation.

There are several Anglican priests seeking ordination in our Diocese and one other congregation that is considering the possibility of entering the Catholic Church.

I am grateful to Father Miguel Mariano, Director of Liturgy, Sister Lois Paha, O.P., Director of Pastoral Services, and Steff Koeneman, Director of Communications, for accompanying me to Payson for this celebration. Their help was much appreciated.

From the Monday Memo of Bishop Gerald Kicanas

Upper New York state fellowship to be received into full Communion on October 21st

From the website of the Fellowship of St. Alban in Rochester, NY.

Following on the heels of the announcement of our local church home, we now have a date of reception for the rest of our group. On this date at 3pm, Fr. Scott Hurd, Vicar General of the Ordinariate, will celebrate mass for the Fellowship of St. Alban, according to the Anglican Use, as well as confirm and receive the remaining founding members into the Catholic Church.

The date is significant for several reasons. First, it is the feast day of St. Ursula, the British princess, virgin and martyr who, as sacred legend tells, was martyred on her return journey from Rome. Second, it is three years and a day since the Vatican press conference announced the coming existence of Personal Ordinariates. Third, Blessed Marianne Cope will be declared a saint on this day in St. Peter's Square. The saint-to-be is the patron of the parish hosting our Fellowship. She also grew up in upstate New York and started her religious life in the area.

Members of St. Edmund of Canterbury in Fredericksburg, VA received into full communion

Fr. Scott Hurd reports about yesterday's reception on Facebook:

Five wonderful people from the former Saint Edmund of Canterbury Anglican mission in Fredericksburg, VA, were confirmed or received into the Ordinariate at St. Luke's, Bladensburg.

The St. Edmund's web site is not working this morning, perhaps in the middle of an update. I'll share any information I receive on this as it comes in.

Reporting on Recent Events on Patheos

Kathy Schiffer reports on some Ordinariate events of the past week at her blog on Patheos.

A few days ago, I announced the wonderful story of Orlando’s Cathedral of the Incarnation. On Sunday, September 16, the entire congregation of 140—including a bishop, clergy and laypeople—were received into the Catholic Church.

And in the same week, it was announced that St. Mary the Virgin Parish in Arlington, Texas—currently part of the Diocese of Fort Worth—will join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. (Here in the United States, the Pope has established the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter to serve the needs of Anglicans who seek reunion with Rome, but who want to retain some elements of their Anglican worship.)

On Monday I spoke by phone about these events with Fr. James Bradley, a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, in England and Wales, who was visiting here in the U.S. and who attended the Mass of Reception at Incarnation Parish...

Read the rest at Seasons of Grace.

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller.

Reception of Jürgen Liias into Full Communion

Fr. David Barnes, pastor of St. Mary's and administrator of St. Margaret parishes in Beverly, Massachusetts, posted this week about the reception of former Episcopal/Anglican priest Jürgen Liias into full communion.

There's a pretty good chance that I am the most blessed(not bless-ed) priest in the world. I am given the privilege of being part of some extraordinary things.

This evening, at one of my two parishes (St. Margaret in Beverly Farms), I had the privilege of concelebrating Mass on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the context of that Mass--offered by Fr. Scott Hurd, Vicar General of the Anglican Ordinariate in the United States and a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC--my friend and brother in the Faith, Jurgen Liias was received into the Catholic Church and Confirmed. The Mass was attended by Anglicans who have been the beneficiaries of Jurgen's Anglican ministry and by Catholics from all over who packed the church in joyful celebration of Jurgen's reception into the Catholic Church...

Please do read the entire post, an uplifting and encouraging message.

Hat tip to Fr. Stephen Smuts for reposting this.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this Mass on Mary-Day with several other members of the Anglican Use congregation of St. Athanasius in Brookline, and recorded the Mass. You are welcome to view the video on YouTube. This was an Ordinary Form Mass, as it was the Holy Day Mass for the parish, but the music was thoroughly Anglican.

Southern California Ordinariate Day

By Father Bartus / 30 June 2012 

I ask your prayers for Tuesday, July 3, as thirty-six members composing the entirety of the new Ordinariate community of St. Augustine of Canterbury in Oceanside, California, and twelve members (with two more intending to be confirmed as soon as possible later on), a part of Bl. John's, Orange County, will be received into full communion and confirmed Catholics! Please pray for these fifty people and their families as they become the first members of the Ordinariate here in California!

 (Fr. George Ortiz-Guzman during a Maundy Thursday service.)

Please also pray for George Ortiz-Guzman, who is the administrator of St. Augustine's, and for William Ledbetter, who are in the ordination process, and being received on the third also.

At this same service, I will also be ordained a priest, Deo volente, to serve the new community of Bl. John's. To say that building a parish from scratch in Orange County, and rebuilding a parish in San Diego County, are monumental understakings, is just hardly accurately describing this scenario! But we are composed of very dedicated and faithful people who are putting their all into seeing this happen. And everyone knows that the purpose of this endeavor is the salvation of souls, and the unique way in which the Ordinariate can help faciliate this.

If you live in California and can schedule some time away from work on Tuesday at 11:00am, please join us at the Mission Basilica.

Bishop Brown of Orange, Bishop Flores of San Diego, and Msgr. Steenson of the Ordinariate will be present for this momentous occasion.

From the Anglican Patrimony blog

Anglican parish in Towson switches to Catholicism

Christ the King is the largest Anglican church in the U.S. to make the switch

By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun

Msgr Steenson anointing one of the members of Christ the King parish


The Rev. Edward Meeks and his flock attended to a "million and one details" last week in the run-up to a momentous day for their church. People to talk to. Flowers to arrange. Food to cook. And, of course, the new sign.

On Sunday, Christ the King Church — Anglican — became Christ the King Catholic Church.

The Towson congregation of about 140 is one of the first groups in the United States to join a new "ordinariate" established for those who want to be Catholic but hold on to Anglican traditions. The largest Anglican church in the country to do so, it follows in the footsteps of Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore and St. Luke's Parish in Bladensburg...

Read the rest of the story in The Baltimore Sun.

Hat tip to the Personal Ordinariate's Facebook page

ARCHBISHOP PRENDERGAST WILL RECEIVE MEMBERS OF THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF CANADA INTO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Rehearsal for Anglican Use Liturgy in St. Patrick’s Basilica
The Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa will receive some 40 members of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada’s Ottawa Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Roman Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 3:00 pm at St. Patrick’s Basilica – 281 Nepean Street, Ottawa. Archbishop Prendergast will celebrate the Anglican Use Mass, approved for use in the Catholic Church. The parish-in-waiting will eventually join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter under Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, as part of a Canadian Deanery of St. John the Baptist. All are welcome.

“April 15, 2012 is a date for us to remember for posterity, the day of our individual and collective reception into the Catholic Church,” said the Right Reverend Carl Reid, Auxiliary Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham. “And not only us from the Annunciation, but also from several other parishes and fellowships across the country,” he added. “Initially, we shall be a ‘sodality,’ which would best be described as a ‘parish in waiting.’”

“I am honoured to receive members of the Anglican Catholic Church into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast...

Read the rest at Deborah Gyapong's blog Foolishness to the World.

A Spiritual Autobiography

by the Rev. Jurgen Liias

This has been written as part of an Application Process seeking Ordination in the Catholic Church through the Anglican Ordinariate..

This last year I gathered together at 8a.m. on Saturday morning- (the time was intended to find only motivated folk) -a group of parishioners of CTR to explore the meaning of the invitation of Pope Benedict in Anglicanorum Coetibus.  We began our study under the brilliant tutelage of Dr. Thomas Howard addressing the question for ten weeks: “What does the Catholic church really teach?” A convert from Fundamentalism and Anglicanism, Dr. Howard was able to instruct us both biblically and cogently about those subjects most troublesome to evangelical protestants: Marian dogma and devotion, the primacy of Peter, the infallibility of the Pope, the veneration and intercession of Saints, the doctrine of purgatory, prayer for the dead etc.   A second ten week study program was focused on Anglican- Catholic Ecumenical Conversations and initiatives: ARCIC, the Pastoral provision, Anglican-use Catholic churches, and finally the idea  of an Anglican Ordinariate proposed by the Pope’s decree.    I concluded that series with an invitation: If twelve individuals feel called personally to respond to the Pope’s invitation to Anglicans to come into full communion with the See of Rome through the Ordinariate, I would lead them forward.  I initially received nine commitments; a tenth joined us in November; on December 31 I received 11 and 12! On January 1, the US Ordinariate was established. God could not have been clearer.

I am as well convinced that this was the Kairos for me precisely because of the Ordinariate. Though I might have journeyed earlier to Rome in my own personal history, this was a collective historic moment  for the beginning of the fulfillment of the vision of the reunion of Rome and Canterbury. That was the dream of our tractarian fathers, that was the explicit goal of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Ramsey at the launching of the ARCIC dialogues, this was an implicit hope in the bold ecumenical theology of Pope John Paul II in Ut Unum Sint and his revisioning of a Papacy for the whole church. I am humbled to be invited by God to be a small part of this historic work.

Read the whole of Fr. Liias' spiritual autobiography at his eponymous blog.

Canadian Anglicans to unite with Rome

April 9, 2012
DEBORAH GYAPONG
CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS
OTTAWA – On Divine Mercy Sunday April 15, two bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) – Bishop Peter Wilkinson in Victoria, and Bishop Carl Reid in Ottawa - will lead their clergy and people into the Catholic Church.

Other congregations and fellowships across the country, part of the ACCC's temporary Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham, will follow on April 22 or dates soon to be announced to become ordinariate parishes-in-waiting in their respective Roman Catholic dioceses. There are groups in Edmonton, Oshawa, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Montreal and possibly Vancouver.

Victoria Bishop Richard Gagnon and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast will receive the groups at special Masses and afterwards provide spiritual oversight and priests for the new Catholics until their priests are ordained and the parishes can join the American ordinariate.

Until the ACCC priests are ordained, Catholic bishops will supply priests to celebrate the Anglican Use liturgy for the new ordinariate parishes-in-waiting.

These parishes will join two already received into the Catholic Church to eventually form the Canadian deanery of St. John the Baptist of the American Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter that was established on Jan. 1, 2012 with Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, a former Episcopalian bishop and married Catholic priest, as ordinary.

FIRST FRUITS
Prendergast described the move as "among the first fruits" of the response to Anglicanorum coetibus, Pope Benedict's apostolic constitution that offered a way for Anglicans to become Catholic while bringing in approved aspects of their tradition, including their liturgy.

"While the apostolic constitution left open the possibility of an ordinariate in Canada this linking Anglicans in Canada to the United States ordinariate as a deanery attached to it is a good step for now," said Prendergast.

from The Western Catholic Reporter.

Hat tip to Fr. Bartus at Anglican Patrimony.

Message from the Ordinary in England & Wales

LENT BEGINS On Ash Wednesday 9th March this year and for those who are going to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church before Easter, through the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, it will be a particularly significant one. Many of you reading this letter will be leaving the Church of England in order to prepare through the Lenten season, with you pastor, for reception during Holy Week. It is a time of uncertainty and perhaps even anxiety as you leave behind a church building and perhaps a community with which you familiar and comfortable to move forward into something quite new and unfamiliar. This really is about moving forward in faith, not seeing the future as clearly as we would like but simply learning to trust in the Lord. Our clergy in particular need your support and encouragement as they make this step of faith. We need to take to heart the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews:
‘Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’
The season of Lent is not a conscious recalling of our Lord’s 40 days in the wilderness but a period of preparation of candidates for baptism. Although those of you being enrolled for catechesis and preparing to be received into full communion are not catechumens, Lent is nevertheless an ideal time to prepare for such a momentous event in your spiritual lives. One particular aspect of your preparation is the fact that you will be unable to receive Holy Communion from Ash Wednesday until Holy Week. I know some of you will find it difficult to sit quietly in your seat as others go the altar to receive the sacrament. This is something that Fr Burnham, Father Broadhurst and I did during the Advent season last year and we can vouch that it was an important part of our spiritual preparation for 1st January when we were received. It engendered a longing for the sacrament and a desire for the moment we would be in ecclesial as well as Eucharistic communion with the Catholic Church. We need to regain the practice, which many have lost, of making a spiritual communion in our heart when we are unable to receive the sacrament for a particular reason. Remember the obligation is to be present at Mass not to receive Holy Communion on every occasion.

WALSINGHAM’S 950th ANNIVERSARY
This year Walsingham celebrates the 950th Anniversary of the vision of the Lady Richeldis and the founding of the Shrine in 1061. The Archbishop of Westminster will preside at Mass in Westminster Cathedral to mark the beginning of six months of celebrations ending on the Feast of our Lady of Walsingham on Saturday 24th September. Members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham are warmly invited to take part in these festivities and particularly to be in Westminster for the opening Mass on Saturday 26th March at 2.00 pm. The image from the Slipper Chapel will be carried into the Cathedral at the beginning of Mass followed by our three ‘Walsingham Sisters’ and the Guardians of the Anglican Shrine. This will be an excellent example of Anglicans and Catholics honouring Our Lady together and I hope that those of you who can make it will be there.
With my prayers as you begin this important Lenten journey,

Father Keith Newton

From the Portal Magazine.