Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension

24th May 2020

This day of the liturgical year is known as “Sunday after the Ascension.”  Holy Mother Church saw fit to commemorate on this day the grand mystery of our Faith whereby Our Lord ascended gloriously into Heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father forever. May we always remember that the glory of the triumphal entry into Heaven awaits all those who do the will of God.

I hope you enjoyed Canon O’Connor’s sermon during last Friday’s Mass 7 pm Mass. I hope I will be able to invite remotely additional homilists on Fridays, until public Masses are resumed. Stay tuned!

On Saturday at the 7 pm Adoration, we began the Novena to the Holy Ghost in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost, which falls on Sunday 31st May this year. Now only as seven days remain until this great feast commemorating the sending forth of the Holy Spirit, Who delights to dwell in our souls. This is why the Holy Ghost has always been called “the Soul of the Church”. The hymn which we will chant daily during this novena is the “Veni Creator,” a real treasure of Gregorian Chant. Please be sure to assist at this novena via the live stream, or if this isn’t possible for you, to at least recite the “Veni Creator” at a convenient moment during your day.

What good Catholic doesn’t like pilgrimages? As many of you are undoubtedly aware, every year on the weekend of Pentecost Sunday the Chartres Pilgrimage takes place in France, with pilgrims marching from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to the Cathedral of Chartres, over sixty miles away. This annual event is the standard-bearer of traditional Catholic pilgrimages. Last year fourteen-thousand pilgrims came from all over the world to take part. This year of course, because of the epidemic the pilgrimage unfortunately had to be cancelled. However, the Holy Spirit is sending traditional Catholics a creative alternative – a virtual pilgrimage. From Saturday 30th – Sunday 31st May, you can virtually take part in this pilgrimage and join all the Irish pilgrims in prayer. I will send you by email on Friday the daily schedule. You will then be able to attend the ceremonies on our Youtube Channel and to be informed of additional acts of the pilgrimage such as a visit to our own church…

We will post video conferences according to the theme of the year: “Holy Angels, defend us in battle”, in the style customarily observed at the pilgrimage. Please make sure to avail yourselves of this resource and thus grow in your knowledge of the Catholic Religion. In addition, these video conferences will unite all the virtual pilgrims throughout the world.  

As always, please remember to keep our resident deacon, Abbé Edouard Strodijk, in your prayers. You know by now that he has been called for ordination to the Priesthood this year. Now more than ever, he must prepare for this most sublime moment by his prayers, work and studies. An essential element of that preparation is learning how to say Mass. Abbé Strodijk is now practicing Mass every day, as every priest must offer the Holy Sacrifice daily. The rubrics of the Holy Mass must become for him, as they say, like second nature!

On the note of priestly ordination, it now seems possible that the Institute’s annual Ordination Week, including the ordinations to the Priesthood, may actually take place close to the dates originally scheduled. This is due to the decline of the Coronavirus in Italy and the reopening of many businesses and churches, thanks be to God. Nothing is certain yet, but we will be sure to keep you updated as the information becomes available. Please continue praying the Prayers in Times of an Epidemic with us via the live stream – they appear to be working quite well!

This coming Monday, 25th May, will be the second anniversary of the lifting of the 8th amendment that allowed abortion in Ireland. A Mass will again be offered in reparation at 7 pm, during which I will be delivering the homily. I highly recommend you follow this ceremony through our website and recite with particular devotion that day the Holy Rosary.

Again a special thank you to all who brought some flowers to honour Our Lady, whose statue has been venerated since the beginning of the month. Have you seen the current front cover of the Catholic Voice Newspaper (below as well)? Sacred Heart Church has become famous!

Wishing you a blessed week!

Canon Lebocq, Prior of Sacred Heart Church