Portsmouth Ordo, FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
Sunday, November 28: First Sunday of Advent (Year C)
Monday, November 29: Advent weekday
Tuesday, November 30: Andrew, apostle
Wednesday, December 1: Advent weekday
Thursday, December 2: Advent weekday
Friday, December 3: Francis Xavier, religious and priest
Saturday, December 4: Advent weekday (Mass: John Damascene)
The Liturgical Year begins anew this week, and we begin our period of anticipation of the arrival of Our Lord at Christmas. An aura of preparation takes over our lives, both sacred and secular. While it is a well-recited trope that our secular version accentuates consumption and acquisition, and the sacred penance and simplicity, the difference is again worth recounting. Our saints certainly lead us along the latter path. Andrew, the elder statesman of the apostles, dedicates himself entirely to the Lord and draws others to Him. Francis Xavier, the great 16th-century Jesuit missionary, followed his Ignatian call from his birthplace in Navarre to his death, struggling in isolation on the island of Shangchuan in China. John, a 7th-8th-century Christian Arab of Damascus, became a monk and priest in Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. His dedication to Christ led him to a life of intense study and prayer, rendering him a polymath and an effective defender of the faith. May these models help guide us in such fruitful, single-minded devotion, for this upcoming season and for the year that lies ahead.
Portsmouth Ordo, 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Sunday, November 21: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Monday, November 22: Cecilia, virgin and martyr
Tuesday, November 23: Feria (Mass: Clement I, pope and martyr)
Wednesday, November 24: Andrew Dung-Lac and companions, martyrs
Thursday, November 25: Feria (U.S. Thanksgiving Day)
Friday, November 26: Feria
Saturday, November 27: Feria (Mass: The Blessed Virgin Mary)
As we approach the end of this month of November, and continue our prayers for the souls of the deceased, it is appropriate that our saintly commemorations turn to a series of martyrs. What we can learn of Cecilia, patroness of music, is largely derived from legend testifying centuries after the time she is said to have lived in Rome. We learn that her saintly patronage of music began from her singing in her heart to the Lord at her wedding, a situation arranged even while, due to the message of an angel, she was pledged to virginity. Her witness, and her promise to her husband, Valerian, that he would see the angel, is said to have converted him. They both suffered martyrdom, as did Valerian’s brother. Also of Rome is Clement I, considered the first Apostolic Father of the church, and to whom early pastoral letters were attributed, who was the fourth pope (reign: 88-97 AD). Legend tells of his martyrdom, being cast into the Black Sea, though we also have little historical information to confirm the events surrounding his death. Andrew Dung-Lac is a more recent saint, canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1988, along with 117 Vietnamese martyrs. This large number is but a tiny representation of the hundreds of thousands martyred in Vietnam through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, witnessing to their Christian faith.
Portsmouth Ordo, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
Sunday, November 14: Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday, November 15: All Souls, Portsmouth Abbey
Tuesday, November 16: Gertrude the Great, virgin
Wednesday, November 17: Margaret of Scotland, queen
Thursday, November 18: Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin
Friday, November 19: Feria
Saturday, November 20: Feria (Mass: Edmund, king and martyr)
The week points us to a series of women significant to the church, spanning centuries and continents. Rose Philippine Duchesne (November 18) was born into a prominent family in Grenoble, France in the 18th century, and came to the United States in 1818 as a missionary in Missouri with the Society of the Sacred Heart, working in particular among Native Americans. Margaret of Scotland (November 17) was an 11th century queen, known for her charitable works and her piety, the mother of eight children, and was influential in linking Christian practice in then remote Scotland to more standard Anglo-Norman practice. The 13th century offered to the church Gertrude the Great (November 16) German Benedictine,dedicating herself to Scripture, the Fathers, and liturgical life, leading to rich mystical experience and teaching. Of Edmund, 9th century English king and martyr, little historical information is available, though he has long been venerated as a defender of Christian rule. One of his patronages, notably, is of pandemics. On Monday, we add to our prayers for all souls, in this commemorative month of November, those souls associated with Portsmouth Abbey.
Portsmouth Ordo, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Sunday, November 7: Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday, November 8: Feria
Tuesday, November 9: Dedication of the Lateran
Wednesday, November 10: Leo the Great, pope and doctor
Thursday, November 11: Martin of Tours, bishop
Friday, November 12: Feria
Saturday, November 13: All Saints of the Order of Saint Benedict
The week culminates with an echo of the Solemnity of All Saints, as we commemorate saints arising from the ranks of the Benedictines. The list is long. Among them, our Holy Father Benedict himself, our patron Gregory the Great, others so well-known and revered: Anselm, Bede, Bernard, Scholastica, Gertrude, Hildegard. We consider also oblates: Henry II, Frances of Rome. The middle of the week provides also Martin of Tours, substantially shaped by and shaping monastic life in 4th century France and throughout Europe. The heart of the Benedictine tradition of faith meets this week with the heart of the greater ecclesiam, in the commemoration of the cathedral church of Rome and the oldest of its four basilicas: Saint John Lateran. Also central in the ecclesial history of Rome is Leo the Great, whom Pope Benedict XVI spoke of as “truly one of the greatest pontiffs to have honored the Roman See and made a very important contribution to strengthening its authority and prestige” (2008). Surely all hearty fare from heaven to guide us into the month.
Portsmouth Ordo, 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Sunday, October 31: Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday, November 1: Solemnity of All Saints
Tuesday, November 2: Commemoration of All Souls
Wednesday, November 3: Martin de Porres, religious
Thursday, November 4: Charles Borromeo, bishop
Friday, November 5: Commemoration of Deceased
Relatives and Benefactors of the EBC
Saturday, November 6: Blessed Virgin Mary (Mass only)
There is no greater week in heaven, if it is indeed the case that, “The Lord takes delight in His people.” And our faith and our Scriptures tell us that this is indeed the case. As the liturgical year reaches its end, and our Mass readings turn to the eschaton, our prayer turns to the end of earthly life and the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven. On November 1, we celebrate sanctity itself, in the gift of our heavenly brethren, the saints. We pray for All Souls on Tuesday, November 2, and on Friday, November 5 we add a particular commemoration for the deceased relatives and benefactors of those of the English Benedictine Congregation. Also celebrated this week are Martin de Porres (1579-1639), who dedicated his life to the church and to the service of the poor in Colombia as a lay Dominican, and Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), Cardinal and Bishop of Milan and important figure of the 16th-century's pivotal Council of Trent.
Feast Day: November 1
"It is good for us to let ourselves be provoked by the saints, who never had half measures here on earth and who from there above ‘cheer’ us, so that we choose God, humility, meekness, mercy and purity, because we are impassioned about heaven rather than earth… It is not a question of doing extraordinary things, but of following this path every day that takes us to heaven, to our families, to our homes.” (Pope Francis, Angelus of 11/1/18)
Feast Day: November 2
In keeping with this widespread custom of remembering the dead in November, the monks especially remember individual deceased family members, friends, and benefactors in their prayers and in the Masses on All Souls' Day. In addition, during the entire month of November, beginning on All Souls' Day, the Monastery keeps a silver box on the high altar containing the names those faithful departed mentioned to the Monastery for prayer remembrance, and Masses are offered during the month for these souls. If you would like the names of your loved ones added to those remembered in prayer by the monks, please place their names in the silver box on the altar.
The photo to the right is of a cross in a choir stall in the Abbey church. Following a practice of St. Louis Abbey, a cross is left at the place of a recently deceased monk for thirty days. This image was of the cross in the stall of Brother Francis Crowley.
Feast Day: November 3
Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579, the son of a Spanish nobleman and an Afircan-Native freed slave. Demied full religious orders because of his race, de Porres nevertheless dedicated his life to the church and to the service of the poor, eventually allowed taking the habit of a lay Dominican. He gained a reputation for great humility and service to the most indigent. A well-known story exemplifying his character relates that, upon being reprimanded for offering his bed to a beggar covered in ulcers, he replied: “Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create."
Feast Day: November 4
“My beloved parents gave me the name Karol (Charles), which was also my father's name. … How often I have knelt before his relics in Milan Cathedral; how often I have thought about his life, contemplating in my mind the gigantic figure of this man of God and servant of the Church, Charles Borromeo, Cardinal, Bishop of Milan, and a man of the Council. He is one of the great protagonists of the deep reform of the 16th century church, carried out by the Council of Trent, which will always remain linked with his name. Moreover, he was a servant of souls, who never let himself be intimidated; a servant of the suffering, of the sick, of those condemned to death. My Patron Saint!” (Pope Saint John Paul II, November 4, 1978)
Illustration by Jose Soares
Feast Day: November 5
We join our confreres across the EBC in prayer for relatives and benefactors who have died. Benedict XVI notes: “St Augustine says something which is a great thought and a great comfort here. He interprets the passage from the Psalms (105.4) ‘Seek his face always’ as saying: this applies ‘forever’; to all eternity. God is so great that we never finish our searching. He is always new. With God there is perpetual unending encounter, with new discoveries and new joy” (Last Testament).
Feast Day: November 9
This Basilica, called “mother and head of all churches of the City and the World,” first constructed after the Edict of Milan granted Christians freedom to practice faith, is the cathedral church of Rome and seat of the Roman pontiff. “Honoring the Basilica (expresses) love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch affirms, ‘presides over the charity’ of the entire Catholic communion.” (Pope Benedict, Nov 9, 2008)
Feast Day: November 10
Pope Benedict XVI says of this saint, named a Doctor of the Church in 1754: "As the nickname soon attributed to him by tradition suggests, he was truly one of the greatest Pontiffs to have honoured the Roman See and made a very important contribution to strengthening its authority and prestige. He was the first Bishop of Rome to have been called Leo, a name used subsequently by another 12 Supreme Pontiffs, and was also the first Pope whose preaching to the people who gathered round him during celebrations has come down to us." (March 5, 2008)
Feast Day: November 11
The story of Martin – fourth century soldier, hermit, monk, and bishop – sharing half of his cloak with a beggar is well known, and is associated with the origins of the words “chaplain” and “chapel,” which are said to derive from the “cappalenu,” the reliquary used to carry his cloak, which by the 8th century had become a cherished relic. Many French people saw Martin’s intercession at work in the Armistice of 1918.
Feast Day: November 13
The number of Benedictine saints is large: “At the beginning of the fourteenth century the order is estimated to have comprised the enormous number of 37,000 monasteries. It had up to that time given to the Church no less than 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 7,000 archbishops, 15,000 bishops, and over 1,500 canonized saints.” (Catholic Encyclopedia) Seven more centuries have only added to this sanctified group. You can find them listed at archive.osb.org, from Abbo to Zosimus, all gathered under one faith and one Rule.
Feast Day: November 14 (November 19, 2020)
We pray particularly for the departed of this monastic community.
Feast Day: November 16
This Benedictine nun of the thirteenth century is the only female saint to receive the title “Great,” awarded that title by Benedict XIV in the 18th century. Benedict XVI said of her: “…She was an exceptional woman, endowed with special natural talents and extraordinary gifts of grace, the most profound humility and ardent zeal for her neighbor’s salvation. She was in close communion with God both in contemplation and in her readiness to go to the help of those in need… Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation… she devoted herself to writing and popularizing the truth of faith with clarity and simplicity, with grace and persuasion, serving the Church faithfully and lovingly so as to be helpful to and appreciated by theologians and devout people.” And she is the patroness of the Manquehue community of women that has served us here at the Abbey over the past few years.
Feast Day: November 16 (November 17 at Portsmouth)
In his speech to Queen Elizabeth at Holyroodhouse (Thursday, September 16th, 2010), Pope Benedict XVI noted: "The monarchs of England and Scotland have been Christians from very early times and include outstanding saints like Edward the Confessor and Margaret of Scotland. As you know, many of them consciously exercised their sovereign duty in the light of the Gospel, and in this way shaped the nation for good at the deepest level. As a result, the Christian message has been an integral part of the language, thought and culture of the peoples of these islands for more than a thousand years." Margaret has passed down just such a legacy, which we honor on her feast.
Feast Day: November 18
The importance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as that of St. Paul outside the Walls, is celebrated in this feast. The feast calls our attention to these pillars of the Christian faith, as well as the sacred spaces we have available to commemorate them, edifices built at the sites of their graves. The Emperor Constantine ordered the construction of the original churches at these sites in the 4th century.
Feast Day: November 20
This pious king of 9th century England is said to have retired for a year to memorize the entire psalter, and died a martyr at the hands of the invading Danes, proclaiming his faith despite the cruel tortures to which he was subjected.
Feast Day: November 21
The apocryphal Protoevangelium of James recounts the story the childless Joachim and Anne, blessed by the Lord with the child Mary, bringing the three-year old child to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. This day reminds us of the holiness of Mary and is an ancient feast, being celebrated at least from the 6th century, universally since the 16th century.
NOTE: November 21 is the "Dies Memorabilis" of the English Benedictine Congregation.
Read Fr. John Hugh Diman's the article.
Last Sunday of Ordinary Time
We complete the liturgical year heralding Christ the King. “It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of ‘King,’ because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign ‘in the hearts of men,’ both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his ‘charity which exceedeth all knowledge,’ and his mercy and kindness, which draw all men to him. For never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as by Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belong to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father ‘power and glory and a kingdom,’ since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.” From Pope Pius XI, “Quas Primas,” the encyclical inserting this feast into the universal calendar. December 11, 1925.
Feast Day: November 22
One of seven women, together with our Lady, who are commemorated in the canon of the Mass, Cecilia is the patroness of musicians. Cecilia was a 2nd century Roman martyr, whose home is said to have been in Trastevere. She is frequently depicted with musical instruments of all varieties, and so has a particular connection to the liturgy. We have little concrete historical information about her, but much devotion. Legend tells us she was a young Christian betrothed against her will to a Roman named Valerian who was converted through her influence, later to be martyred. She distributed her possessions to the poor, and asked that her home become a church. Though struck three times on the neck with a sword, she lived on for three days.
Feast Day: November 23
Clement represents another saint with the special honor of mention in the canon of the Mass. Indeed, he is considered the first “Apostolic Father” of the church, fourth in the 1st century line the proceeds from St. Peter himself, leading the early church from 88-99 AD. Tertullian tells us that he was consecrated by St. Peter. His writings were held in high regard by the early church, nearly gaining canonical status.
Feast Day: November 24
The 19th-century saw in Vietnam the martyrdom of many tens and hundreds of thousands of Catholics, under decades of persecution as the faith tried to establish itself there. The Vatican estimates the number of martyrs then at between 130,000 and 300,000. Andrew Dung-Lac is exemplary of this vast group, working hard as a young convert priest and preacher to spread the gospel, only to be executed in 1839 in his mid-forties.
Feast Day: November 30
Pope Benedict notes that, “the first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored.” Andrew according to John’s gospel previously a disciple of John the Baptist, is the apostle known as the “Protoclete” – the first called – a title still familiar in the Orthodox traditions. Tradition tells us Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross.