Beautiful Mass from Our Lady and St Michael's Benedictine Priory church in Abergavenny, commemorating the lives of the martyred priests and in thanksgiving, The Priory Church was packed for the occasion and Father Tom Regan OSB celebrated the Mass while Abbot Paul Stoneham of Belmont the Mother House read the prayers for the priests at the end.

The holy evening of Epiphany and Mary talks about Old Christmas Day and Epiphany Customs, and especially the Twelfth Night Celebrations disapproved of by the Victorians and the games which were once commonplace and enjoyable social and family interactions.

Mary takes us to a carol service at Gloucester Cathedral where her son sings bass in the chapel Choir of the King's School .The service begins with the Kyrie de Angelis and then we hear the choir singing Three Kings by Peter Cornelius over the chorale 'How Brightly shines the Morning Star' . This is followed by the beautiful words of Pope Leo in 440 giving us the same message as today, drawing the link between Egypt , the passover, the sacrificed Lamb, and the Eucharist and the sacrificed Lamb of God. Finally we are treated to some of the power of Gloucester Cathedral organ.

Future plans are to file podcasts which should have gone up last year from holidays and so forth as I went to some super places!

Happy New Year to you all and God bless you always,

Capturing the excitement of the relics of St Therese arriving in Cardiff and the Welsh greeting she is given as thousands flock to the Metropolital Cathedral from all over Wales.

This is obviously 'live' and so there are many intrusive noises, but it does give an idea of the beauty of the singing of the Cathedral Choir (Choirmaster Dominic Neville)and magnificent organ playing of David Neville, so powerful at times , combined with the incense, flowers, thousands of candles, it made the senses reel!

We resume the podcast with BENEDICTION and the wonderful singing of the O Salutaris , prayers and Tantum ergo. Then rosary and the Litany of the Saints, the wonderful entrance of the reliquary(you can hear the people clapping outside) and address of Archbishop Peter and Bishops Tom and Edwin and then the wonderful Mass of Evangelisation  (the choir singing Os Justi by Bruckner and Agnus Dei from Schubert Mass in G) Confession was going on most of the time as well. As Archbishop Peter said, Wales has never seen the like before as people from all over Wales came to see the relics of a little saint who never left her Carmel (convent) but prayed unceasingly for the world and for Priests and the Conversion of Wales. St David Looked down on that huge congregation too, his words 'Always remember the little things' echoing exactly the teaching of the little doctor iof the church, who had 'thrown herself into the arms of Jesus'.

This is a treasure of a podcast. If you like it, download and put onto a CD to keep. Most of all, it shows that the faith is alive and well in Wales!

Amazing scenes as thousands visit Cardiff. This podcast features the major devotions of the day up to Rosary and Benediiction.Wonderful day of historic scenes.

We begin at Midday with the Angelus and follow the Mass for priests and vocations . All three Welsh Bishops attended and Archbishop Peter presided at the Evangelisation Mass, which I will download tomorrow!

Pictures and  contact at:

http://www.maryinmonmouth.blogspot.com

This is a recording of various devotions and masses at the recent visit of the relics of St Therese at Cardiff in Wales. This was a historic visit and occasioned the arrival of thousands of Faithful in Cardiff from all over Wales to visit the relics of the saint.

The day began with

Angelus

Mass for Vocations and Priests (according to St Therese's own prayers

Request for the Prayers of St Therese for Priests and love.

St Therese offers a new way of understanding vocation.

Benediction

Rosary

Arrival of the Relics of St Therese

I will upload the great Mass of Evangelisation in Part 2. Archbishop Peter officiating.

During the Middle Ages in Gwent, as all over Britain, the wounds of Christ were a subject of intense devotion. By the time of the 6th Century and St David, when the Saint at Llandewi Brefi bravely refuted thhe heresies of Pelagius, reports tell us that he preached before five large candles, representative of all the wounds of Christ.

The Wesleyan hymn ;Lo he comes with Clouds Descending, mentions the scars which have captured the imagination of many Christians.

Every Eye shall now behold him

Robed in dreadful majesty

Thouse who set at naught and sold hi,

pierced and nailed him to a tree....

Those dear tokens of his Passion

Still his dazzling body bears

cause of endless exultation

To his ransomed worshippers

with what rapture

Gaze we on those glorious scars!!

I hope you find this beautiful devotion uplifting for the season of Lent. It loosely uses the prayers from the St Anthony Prayerbook, but I have adapted them slightly.

1066 and William the Conqueror has taken England and laid waste to Northumbria. He places powerful Lords on the border with Wales as he wants no trouble with them at the moment. These Lords are also a danger to him and fighting the Welsh will keep them busy. In Gwent the petty kings, Aeddan, Griffith, Meredith, all fight against each other and the Normans are able to take the area quite easily. They build castles at Monmouth, Abergavenny, Usk, Chepstow, Llangua,Goldcliff, Skenfrith and Grosmont and with them come the first wave of the building of Priories to administer these castle, providing for the spiritual needs of the Normans and their new people, and a Civil Service for the Norman Lords and Barons, writing their legal documents , collecting tithes etc, but also providing social services for the local people. Of course some were better than others. Chepstow (featuring on http://maryinmonmouth.blogspot.com this week ) or Striguil was one of the first Benedictine Priories in Gwent .

The Burning Babe  by St Robert Southwell

I have been taking the choir around to Newport and Cwmbran. you heart the Cwmbran podcast before and here you hear some of the sounds from Tredegar House in Newport Christmas Celebration, where the choir sang so beautifully in the Great Hall.

The new CD PAX HOMNINIBUS BONAE VOLUNTATIS-Peace on Earth Goodwill to men. The most beautiful carols of Europe ALL sung in Latin. You may think this is odd,yet Latin is easier than Czech or Polish and I discovered 'Infant Holy was Polish!' This is beautiful sung by Convivium Musicorum and their intstrumental Group. (Get from Amazon and type in Latin Hymns)

The Christmas Story and Welsh Christmas songs

Pope Leo's short Christmas Sermon of 440AD-even before Saint David!

I sing 'Our Father'

Excerpt from 'Carol Singing' from Laurie Lee-Cider with Rosie.(and not singing properly because I have a cold)

Cwmbran Salvation Army Band play Adeste Fideles(O Come all ye Faithful)

Merry Christmas Everyone

http://maryinmonmouth.blogspot.com

We near the end of the Millenium. The Gwent Kings fight amongst each other, and their main enemies are from North Wales, They spend so much time fighting they make alliances with the Saxons to attack other princes and then the Normans sneak in....and build castles everywhere.

A busy week getting prepared. A Mediaeval Englysshe Song from an Irish Latin One -Angelus ad Virginem.

O Nata Lux de Lumine by King's School Chamber Choir, Gloucester Cathedral under their Director Derek Harries. Recorded in the Choir Upper Room of Gloucester Cathedral last week.

Finally the 'O Antiphons' from a Carmelite MOnastery in America as we reach the final stages of waiting.....

A special present for Northumbria and East Anglia, the stories of three Saxons important in the Christian Story. Caedmon, the cattleherd who became an accomplished singer at Whitby Abbey by a miracle, King (now Saint) Oswald's heroic defence of the Christians in Northumbria and his battle with the pagan king Penda and the story of St Edmund of East Anglia, whose relics lay in the great Abbey of St Edmundsbury as he was martyred by the Vikings who attacked those lands in a cruel way.

I give you the Mediaeval minced pies recipes and also a treat from the Chapel Choir of the King's School, Gloucester Cathedral with a (secular)Victorian Christmas Medley called 'What shall we sing at Christmas?'conducted by the excellent Derek Harries. What a Choir! And my son is in it!