The Season of ADVENT

By | Christmas, News

Advent marks a time of spiritual preparation before Christmas

It begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (Nov. 30) and spans four Sundays or four weeks unless Christmas falls early.

The historical origins of Advent are hard to determine with great precision. From its earliest form in the 4th century, Advent has always been similar to Lent, with an emphasis on prayer and fasting.

The Gelasian Sacramentary, traditionally attributed to Pope St. Gelasius I (d. 496), was the first to provide Advent liturgies for five Sundays. Later, Pope St. Gregory I (d. 604) enhanced these liturgies composing prayers, antiphons, readings, and responses. Pope St. Gregory VII (d. 1095) later reduced the number of Sundays in Advent to four. Finally, about the ninth century, the Church designated the first Sunday of Advent as the beginning of the Church’s Liturgical Year.

The Catechism stresses the two-fold meaning of this coming : When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming (No. 524).

The importance of this season is therefore to focus on the coming of our Lord. Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning coming:

  • We REFLECT BACK and are encouraged to celebrate the anniversary of the Lords first coming into this world. We are invited to ponder more deeply into the great mystery of the incarnation when our Lord humbled Himself, taking on our humanity, and entered our time and space to free us from sin.

 

  • We LOOK FORWARD as we recall in the Creed that our Lord will come again to judge the living and the dead and that we must be ready to meet Him.

 

Our use of the Advent wreathe was inspired by the German Lutherans in the early 1500’s. The wreathe is a circle, which has no beginning or end: In this way, we call to mind how our lives, here and now, participate in the eternity of Gods plan of salvation and how we hope to share eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. The wreathe is made of fresh plant material, because Christ came to give us new life through His passion, death, and resurrection. Three candles are purple (the same colour as the Priest’s vestments in Advent), symbolizing penance, preparation, and sacrifice; the pink candle symbolizes the same but highlights the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, when we rejoice because our preparation is now half-way finished.

The light represents Christ, who entered this world to scatter the darkness of evil and show us the way of righteousness. The progression of lighting candles shows our increasing readiness to meet our Lord. Each family ought to have an Advent wreathe, light it at dinner time, and say the special prayers. This tradition will help each family keep its focus on the true meaning of Christmas. In all, during Advent we strive to fulfil the opening prayer for the Mass of the First Sunday of Advent:

 

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Daily Holy Mass in the Diocese in the Extraordinary Form of the Rite

By | Liturgy, News

Mass in the Extraordinary Form (1962 Missal, Latin)
Daily at 17.00 in the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned.

Priest: Canon Pablo Piaggio Kokot, ICKSP

 

Please note that as booklets or print outs cannot currently be provided, you might already have the Mass on your mobile. Using the ‘ipieta’ app, choose Trad+ on the calendar, otherwise access www.divinumofficium.com and click on Missale on the top menu.

 

What is the Extraordinary Form?

It is the Roman Rite Mass in Latin as it grew organically for many centuries and was consolidated and codified at the Council of Trent, therefore, sometimes referred to as the Tridentine Mass. After the start of Mass being offered in the vernacular, in 1970, the traditional Latin Mass continued, with permission, in a few places. St. Pope John Paul II issued his Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei in 1988, encouraging generous provision for celebration of the traditional Latin Mass. Then in 2007, after many requests from the faithful, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the world’s Bishops to offer wider use of this form of the Roman Rite with his 2007 Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontifium.

In the accompanying letter to the document Pope Benedict told the world’s bishops “there is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” He used the term, the ‘Extraordinary Form’ of the Roman Rite to speak of the old Mass, whilst stating that the new Mass is the ‘Ordinary Form’ of the Roman Rite. Today both Forms of the Mass are offered in numerous Parishes worldwide.

 

Why in Gibraltar?

In 2018 Bishop Zammit very kindly agreed to the request of a group of faithful who asked him if it would be possible to make provision for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum in Gibraltar. The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest were very happy to assist the Bishop in providing priests to come over, from their apostolates in U.K. and Spain, at first every three months, then monthly, until the March 2020 lockdown. In October 2020 they provided a priest to stay here so that the Latin Mass may be offered daily.

 

Who are the ICKSP?

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right whose goal is the honour of God and the sanctification of priests in the service of the Church and souls. Its specific aim is missionary: to spread the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in all spheres of human life. Learn more at: www.icksp.org.uk

November: All Souls

By | News

NOVEMBER is traditionally the month when Catholics everywhere remember those who have gone to God.

NOVEMBER is traditionally the month when Catholics everywhere remember those who have gone to God.

Our Faith teaches that through their lifetime journey, every person has a moral freedom to choose, with three possible ultimate outcomes:

we attain beatitude, which expresses the joy and peace of being eternally with God in Heaven;

that journey had not completely resulted, at the time of their departure from this life, in the total conversion and renewal of the person and so, by an act of sheer Divine compassion, they are held in God’s love and ‘purified’ of their defects, so as to enter eventually into Heaven, where no imperfection can coexist;

  • or, they freely and willingly, as witnessed by their moral actions on earth, reject God and are therefore destined for Hell. God accepts that this is their sovereign decision and so, Hell is where those who wish to have no relationship, nothing to do with God, will go. For the damned, there is no possible alternative afterwards. It is an eternal state.

 

We all choose one of these outcome through our way of life. You can read more in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, particularly paragraphs 1020-1060.

 

Holy Souls in Purgatory

The Church has always taught us to pray for those who have gone to eternity. Even in the late Old Testament book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 12:38-46), prayers and alms were offered for the souls of the dead by those who thought “well and religiously concerning the resurrection.” It was believed that “they who had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid up for them” and that “it is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” We know that a defiled soul cannot enter into Heaven. We are all in need of grace to come into the perfection of charity. We cannot enter Heaven if we have not been completely cleansed of sin and all punishment due to sin, c.f. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1031 and 1472.

 

Purgatory is not eternal. Its duration depends upon the particular judgment each have received from Christ. By Divine Mercy, they have not merited hell, because in their lives, they honoured God and developed their relationship with him, despite any limitations and failures. It is difficult to speak in terms of earthly time, since Purgatory is a temporary state, not a place as such. It is therefore not bound by space and time in the same way we are, but it is connected; and certainly it is connected with the definitive Second Coming of the Son of Man at the end of time, when Purgatory will also cease to exist.

 

 

The Church has always taught that we can pray for the dead and assist them in their purification. We can shorten therefore their time in Purgatory, because our prayers of love supplicate for them before the Mercy of God. The most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is THE WAY to help the dead in Purgatory, because it is the Altar of hope and consolation for us all. That is why it is a most honourable act of charity to have a Priest offer a Mass for the Dead, or as an intention for a given Mass offered for a dearly departed person. Please be aware that sometimes people confuse offering a Mass themselves in person, as in going specially to one for someone or having in mind some intention of our own, and the actual application of the Mass by the Priest for the specific intention requested as he does so in persona Christi.

The ancient practice of Indulgences is also to be recommended for the Faithful Departed. You can read more on this in the Catechism, paragraphs 1471 to 1479.

 

 

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and

let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Covid-19 measures in our churches in Gibraltar

By | Churches, News

COVID update:

 

FOLLOWING THE LATEST UPDATE ON COVID-19 REGULATIONS

EVERYONE (UNLESS EXEMPTED BY THE REGULATIONS)

ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR A FACE MASK WHILE INSIDE COVERED PUBLIC SPACES

WHICH INCLUDES CHURCHES

Thank you for your kind understanding and cooperation for the good of all in our community as we try to keep everyone safe.

HOLY MASSES during final phases of lockdown

By | News, Vatican

CATHEDRAL:

Monday to Saturday: 9:15, 12:25, 19:15

Sunday: 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 19:15

 

SACRED HEART:

Saturday: 20:00

Sunday: 10:00

 

St. PAUL:

Monday (except Bank Holiday) to Friday: 9:15

Saturday: 20:00

Sunday: 10:00 and 12:00

 

St. JOSEPH:

Monday to Saturday: 19:00

Sunday: 10:00 and 12:00

 

St. THERESA:

Monday to Saturday: 18:00

Sunday: 11:00

 

St. Bernard:

Monday (except Bank Holiday) to Friday: 9:30

Saturday: 19:00

Sunday: 10:00

PLEA FOR SUPPORT FOR CHRISTIANS IN THE HOLY LAND

By | News, Vatican

From the Secretary of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Gibraltar:

Covid-19 has severely affected many people around the world. Among those seriously affected people are our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Holy Land. It is urgent to support Christian families who have lost their employment due to the collapse of pilgrimages and tourism and the impossibility to daily commute into Israel for work.

The Latin Patriarchate looks after 38 schools with over 15,000 students and 1,300 teachers. Moreso, over 10,000 families, are struggling to pay bills. It is because of this that Cardinal Filoni (Grandmaster of the KHS), is asking Catholics, to please support his efforts in raising funds for the Christians in Palestine and Jordan [You can read his message by clicking here: LETTER]

Please consider donating towards the worthy cause of helping Christians in need. If you can please, send your donation to:

 

Bank: Gibraltar International Bank

Account Name:      RCC/KHS

Account No.:          00812023

Sort Code:              60-83-14

 

For payment by cheque: 

Cheque made out  to:           RCC/KHS

Address:                                 Mario M Hook

                                                   25 Witham’s Road

                                                   Gibraltar GX11 1AA

 

Furthermore, if you could consider a monthly donation, for the next three to five months, it would greatly be appreciated. 

Thank you, and God love you for your kindness.

 

Christopher Joseph Cortés KHS
Secretary – Gibraltar Lieutenancy 

BISHOP’S MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN THIS TIME OF LOCKDOWN

By | Bishop Carmel, News

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As all are aware, we are at present living and experiencing an unprecedented and extraordinary existential situation, something that nobody ever dreamt we would experience. Due to the lockdown, churches have been closed and the liturgical services that used to bring us together to celebrate and nourish our faith has been also somewhat suspended or very limited in the number of those who could take part in them. The elderly and those who are medically more at risk and vulnerable have been isolating themselves, thus somehow depriving themselves of the presence of their closeness to family members. Social distancing also has to be kept in order to avoid being infected by the coronavirus.

I would like to take this opportunity first of all to express a word of encouragement, especially to the elderly and those who are medically more at risk and vulnerable, who, for their own well-being, are obliged to stay at home. We should do our best not to forget them and to keep in touch with them. Fortunately, the means of communication that are at our disposal make it possible and quite easy to keep in touch with out dear ones. I would also like to show my appreciation for their generosity and sense of sacrifice in following the advice of the Health Authorities. It is our duty not to forget them and to keep in touch with them regularly.

The Health Authorities are informing us daily on how the situation is developing, and thank God we are getting encouraging news, although we are warned not to relax in our observance of the directives issued by them. We have to cooperate with the Authorities if we are to promote the health of others and safeguard our own.

I would like also to ask the Catholic faithful, who have been deprived of meeting together in our Churches or religious places of worship, to pray that it will not be long before the time arrives when we will be able to meet together as a community of believers. What makes the Church alive and really present in our lives is the ability to listen to the Word of God, to celebrate the Eucharist, and to receive the Sacraments. Let us also pray that we may soon be able to hold funerals in the traditional manner so dear to us, when we take our beloved departed to Church to give them there a dignified last farewell in the way that we are accustomed to do. It is a situation that saddens me to think that when we are celebrating a funeral, we have to do so with the bare essentials, with a very limited number of people attending and away from a church either at the Cemetery or Crematorium. It is so sad that we are deprived of showing our appreciation to our departed friends and family members.

May I also show my sincere appreciation towards those who, at great personal sacrifice, are helping those who are in need. They are the heroes and heroines of the situation in which we are living, and they deserve all our gratitude and respect.

We all are aware that life after this period of lockdown will not be the same as it was before. Many uncertainties and financial difficulties will have to be faced. We will need to adjust to a new and very different kind of life from the one we are used to. This tempest we are facing is teaching us to give more attention to what is really important and essential in life; and to learn to do without what is peripheral.

As soon as the civil authorities start relaxing the conditions of the lockdown, in accordance with their regulations and respecting social distancing, it is my hope that we will start celebrating again the Eucharist in public, even if in limited numbers and that the churches may open again for private prayer. When the right conditions permit, the Chrism Mass, which was not celebrated in Holy Week as usual, will be also celebrated, to thank God for being our rock and our help in our time of need.

We will shortly be starting the month of May, a month dedicated in a special way to Our Lady. Pope Francis in a letter to all the faithful has urged us to pray the rosary every day during May. The Rosary is a powerful prayer especially in times of necessity and danger. For the last five hundred years the Rosary has always been the special prayer to honour Our Lady and to seek her intercession. Praying the rosary as a family is recommended, but if this is not possible individual recitation of the Rosary is encouraged.

May Our Lady of Europe, who by her intercession is our protection in times of need, continue to look after us and support us. May St. Bernard, Patron of Gibraltar intercede for us too.

With an assurance of my prayers,

+Carmel Zammit
Bishop of Gibraltar