ST PAUL’S POST St Paul’s Province Weekly Newsletter: 224 17 May 2021 Our birthday Mary Kirby 21 May girls this Marie McNeice 21 May week are: MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS Relatives/friends of Sisters:- Marguerita’s brother, Pat; Sheila McNally’s brother, John McNally; Eily May’s brother, Tade, Brigid Murphy’s brother-in-law, Michael and her sister, Mary Philomena White; Clyne; Kay Doran’s niece-in-law, Kerry; Carmel Comerford’s sister, Clare; Rita McStay’s niece-in-law, Michelle Reid; Margaret Travers’ sister, Mary McLean; Keighley Associate, Elaine Plunkett; Lorraine’s Mum, Mary. Please continue to pray for: Sr Brigid Mary, who is still in rehab; Srs Una Vaughan & Lydwina Farrell, who are still receiving physio; and Srs Anne Hammersley & Miriam Cooney, who are undergoing treatment. Thank you! Prayers are requested for Claire McCartan, Sr Francis’ niece, who died very suddenly on the evening of 14 May. May she rest in peace. Remember also in your prayers Claire’s family and friends, who will need your support and encouragement at this difficult time. May they know God’s comfort and peace. Fr Kevin Alban O’Carm, Provincial Superior, died recently and his funeral Mass will be celebrated in Aylesford tomorrow, Tuesday 18 May at 11.30 am. May he rest in peace. This mass will be live-streamed on YouTube. THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST PAUL OF THE CROSS, Founder of the Passionist Congregation While we happily celebrate that our Foundress, Mother Mary Joseph (Elizabeth Prout) and her friend and spiritual director, Father Ignatius Spencer, now carry the title ‘Venerable’ and we recall that there had been a close spiritual relationship between her and that other great Passionist, Blessed Dominic Barberi, we should never forget that St Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Passionist Congregation, had an extraordinary love for “England and its neighbouring kingdoms”. Paul Francis Danei was born in 1694, the year that the usurper King William of Orange founded the Bank of England and thus consolidated English opposition to the return of a Catholic Stuart king, as illustrated in the failures of the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745. Paul died in 1775, when England was embroiled in the War of American Independence. During his lifetime, therefore, there was no possibility of a Passionist foundation in England. Nevertheless, Paul had created a Passionist movement for the conversion of England, by which he meant, not a territorial conquest, but the restoration of the Catholic Faith in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, even at the cost of martyrdom, a price that, since the reign of Henry VIII, so many Catholics had already paid in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. As Paul made his foundational Retreat in 1720, he wrote in his diary for 26 December, the feast of St Stephen, martyr: I experienced a special uplifting of soul especially at Holy Communion. I wanted to go to die a martyr’s death in a place there the adorable mystery of the Blessed Sacrament is denied. …I desired the conversion of heretics, especially of England with the neighbouring kingdoms … and on 29 December, the feast of the English martyr, St Thomas of Canterbury, whose hallowed tomb Henry VIII had destroyed, Paul wrote: I had a particular impulse to pray for the conversion of England, especially because I want the standard of the holy Faith to be erected so that there will be an increase of devotion and reverence, of homage and love, with frequent acts of adoration for the Blessed Sacrament. In a sense, therefore, Paul was mourning for the tragedy of the Reformation. He already knew that God wanted him to found a new religious order, because, as he had walked home from Mass one day in Castellazzo, he had had a sudden deeply spiritual experience: At that moment I saw myself clothed in a long black garment with a white cross on my breast and below the cross the holy name of Jesus was written in white letters. … Shortly afterwards I saw in spirit the tunic presented to me with the holy name of Jesus and the cross all in white, but the tunic was black. …. After these visions of the tunic and the sign, God gave me a stronger compelling desire to gather companions and with the approval of holy Mother Church to found a Congregation. In his Preface to the Rule, Paul indicated that the religious dress of the Congregation was to be indicative of its devotion to the Passion, for he wrote: Dearly beloved, you must know that the main object in wearing black (according to the inspiration that God gave me) is to be clothed in mourning for the Passion and Death of Jesus. For this purpose let us never forget to have always with us a constant and sorrowful remembrance of Him. By 1741, when Paul received papal approbation of his Rule, he had realised that the distinctive Passionist vocation within the Church was to preserve the Memory of the Passion. The Sign that he then gave to his followers bore the white Cross with the inscription within a white heart: JESU XPI PASSIO (THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST) in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, above three nails. Paul’s commitment to England and its neighbouring kingdoms was such an essential part of his life and his Passionist spirituality that, after a lifetime of close union with God in prayer, he claimed that for fifty years he had never been able to A painting of St Paul of the Cross pray without praying for England. in his cell in his monastery at His life’s work culminated in his mystical vision, shortly Monte Argentario before he died in 1775, of his children in England. As the future Father Ignatius Spencer expressed it in 1840; the Passionists from the commencement of their existence as a body have been sighing to shed their blood for England; and as Blessed Dominic Barberi, the first Passionist to set foot in England, wrote to the Passionist Superior General in 1844; England is our portion, our vineyard, more than any other place in the world. That thought was always dear beyond words and deep-rooted in the mind of our Holy Founder. This was the heritage that Venerable Mother Mary Joseph Jesus, Elizabeth Prout, received from Blessed Dominic Barberi, Venerable Ignatius Spencer and other Passionists and passed on to her Sisters of the Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. May they pray for England and its neighbouring kingdoms now. Sister Dominic Savio CP, Lytham, 16 May 2021 Busy at THE BRIERY! The Briery Retreat Centre is opening tomorrow, 17 May, and our first large group comes in on Tuesday for an overnight stay. Last week our staff were in, ensuring that the house shines from top to bottom, and it looks beautiful. During lockdown, we’ve been busy making a few changes and renovating our three bedroomed cottage, thanks to a number of benefactors including Susan’s sister Lesley and her husband Kevin, who sold their holiday cottage in North Yorkshire and gave us two beautiful pine beds plus matching accessories eg lamps, TVs and beautiful matching bedding. Our ground floor room now has a double bed and is practically ensuite as it is next door to the toilet, shower and bath. Another benefactor bought us a beautiful corner sofa and paid for new flooring; laminate flooring in the kitchen and vinyls in the bathroom. Our trusted Site Manager, Lindsay, renovated the kitchen and decorated the whole cottage with the help of his son, James. We’ve already had three guests stay for a week since we were allowed to open for self-catering. Our flat at the front door now has a 3/4 bed thanks to Lesley and Kevin, and Lindsay has made a lovely oak shelf, so the Flat bedroom bed fits in perfectly. The beautiful master bedroom 26 has had a new carpet and a beautiful comfortable double bed. So we’re all ready to start work again and thankfully, as our staff were all furloughed, they are well-trained in coping with all the Covid regulations, as we had excellent reviews when we opened last August and the regs were tighter! Anne Hammersley More News from THE BRIERY When Pat, Susan and Anne of the Briery Community met to decide their annual budget they discussed what they could do to be more carbon neutral, and the idea came that they could reduce the number of cars they have. To go down to one car, from three, wasn’t practical as it would leave the house without a car if someone was away or at a meeting. It was decided, therefore, to sell one car and Susan offered to sell her car. She would share the Golf with Anne. It was decided to keep the car Pat drives as it has an automatic gearbox, which she is used to driving. Susie doesn’t let the grass grow and on Friday she said goodbye to her lovely car, which she called ‘Queenie’. She drove home in the Golf, which now has been named ‘Georgie’! Thankfully, she got a good price for her car and is going to donate the proceeds to the renovation of our gazebo, which will have glass doors, electricity and comfy seating! It’ll be a beautiful addition to the Retreat Centre and will be done by Lindsay Sutherland. This has come very timely as one of the pillars is cracked and would need structural renovation soon. Laudato Si week 2021 begins May 16 and runs until May 25.