The Jeanne Jugan Associates and Sr Mary Agnes were happy to visit Westminster Cathedral in London to obtain the Jubilee indulgence.
The Archdiocese of Westminster was officially established by Blessed Pius IX on 29 September 1850. Although revolutions had rocked Europe, Catholicism was experiencing an international revival and English Catholics, released from the legal restrictions of former times, were newly confident in taking their place within society. The erection of dioceses with ordinary bishops in England and Wales had long been discussed and the new Archbishop of Westminster, Nicholas Wiseman, could be forgiven for his exuberance in hastily issuing a Pastoral Letter. ‘We govern and shall continue to govern’, he wrote, ‘the counties of Middlesex, Hertford, Essex, as ordinary thereof…’. Queen Victoria was purported to have asked, ‘Am I Queen of England, or am I not?’ There was an initial outcry over this seeming ‘papal aggression’ and the fact that the new diocese was called ‘Westminster’, the heart of the Protestant establishment and site of royal coronations, added fuel to the fire. Wiseman quickly issued a widely-circulated Appeal to the Reason and Good Feeling of the English People, arguing that Catholics had the right to proper church government, which would actually enable them to make a full contribution to public life.
After a time of greetings, we entered the Cathedral to prepare for Mass. It was the feast of St Therese de Lisieux.
The Mass was celebrated at 12:30pm. During the homily Father highlighted the virtues of St Therese: simplicity, love, holiness, humility and a deep faith.
After Mass we went as a group to the cafeteria in the Cathedral for lunch. It was a time of sharing and relaxation. At 2pm we prayed in a beautiful side chapel, a time of silence was appreciated by everyone, a passage of scripture was read ‘Letter to the Romans 5, 1-5’.
After the time of prayer together, each one spent time in adoration Chapel or the Cathedral reciting the rosary and meditating.
It was a wonderful event uniting us closer and giving us new strength for the future, so that we walk in hope following St Jeanne Jugan and St Therese de Lisieux.
The Jubilee prayer was recited before we returned home.
LEADER:
May the God of Hope,
Who in the Word made Flesh
Fill us with every joy and peace in our faith,
Through the power of the Holy spirit,
Be among us.
ALL ANSWER:
Blessed be the Lord, our hope.
SCRIPTURE READING:
A reading from the letter to the romans 5, 1-5
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
LEADER:
Let us set out in the name of Christ:
The way who leads to the Father,
The truth who makes us free,
The life who renews The World.
“Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope is not naïve optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life… At the foot of the cross, she witnessed the passion and death of Jesus, her innocent son. Overwhelmed with grief, she nonetheless renewed her “fiat”, never abandoning her hope and trust in God… In the travail of that sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother, the Mother of Hope… amid the tempests of this life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us and encourages us to persevere in hope and trust.” (Spes non confundit, 24)
