Founding of the United States, with a Celebration of Vespers
as it would have been experienced in 1776 in a Catholic Chapel of the Thirteen Colonies.
It will take place at Saint Augustine Church, within walking distance of Independence Hall, on the Feast of Saint James, this Saturday, 25 July 2026, at 6 p.m.
Vespers will be preceded by a Choral prelude about ten minutes before, and music outside the Church by the New Jersey Fifes and Drums for a full hour beforehand.
The event will conclude with the singing of the Te Deum, as was experienced by members of the Continental Congress, together with the French Minister and his Chaplain and attendants, when they attended the first celebration of Independence Day in a Catholic Church, on 4 July 1779,
at Old Saint Mary’s, Philadelphia.
A Reception will follow in the Parish Hall next door;
Please note: There are several alternate spellings of the name Magdalen, e.g., Madalene, Madeleine, etc.
“Three Saints”, said Our Lord to Saint Brigid of Sweden [Editor: Revelationes S. Birgittæ, lib. iv. cap. 108], “have been more pleasing to me than all others: Mary, my mother; John the Baptist; and Mary Magdalen”.
The Fathers tell us that Magdalen is a type of the
Gentile Church, called from the depth of sin to perfect
holiness; and, indeed, better than any other, she personifies both the wanderings and the love of the human race, espoused by The Word of God.
Like the most illustrious characters of The Law of Grace, she has her anti-type in past ages. Let us follow the history of this great Penitent as traced by unaminous Tradition: Magdalen’s glory will not be thereby diminished.
When, before all ages, God decreed to manifest His glory, He willed to reign over a World drawn from nothing; and, as His goodness was equal to His power, He would have the triumph of supreme love to be the law of that kingdom, which the Gospel likens “unto a king who made a marriage for his son”. [Editor: Saint Matthew xxii. 2.]
Passing over the pure intelligences whose Nine Choirs
are filled with Divine Light, the immortal Son of The King of Ages looked down to the extreme limits of creation; there he beheld human nature, made, indeed, to know God, but acquiring that knowledge laboriously; its weakness would better show His Divine condescension: With it, then, He chose to contract His alliance.
Man is flesh and blood; So, The Son of God would be made flesh; He would not have Angels, but men for his brothers. He that in Heaven is the Splendour of His Father, and on Earth the most beautiful of the sons of men, would draw the human race “with the cords of Adam”. [Editor: Osee xi. 4.]
In the very act of creation, He sealed His espousals by
raising man to the supernatural state of grace, and placing him in the paradise of expectation.
Alas, the human race knew not how to await her
Bridegroom even in the shades of Eden. Cast out of the garden of delights, she prostituted to vain idols in their groves what was left her of her glory.
For she had much beauty still, the gift of her Spouse,
though she had profaned it: “Thou wast perfect through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith The Lord God”. [Ezechiel xvi. 14.]
God would not suffer His love to be defeated. Leaving humanity at large to walk in the ways of folly, He chose out a single people, sprung from a holy stock, to be the guardian of His promises. Coming forth from Egypt and from the midst of a barbarous nation, this people was consecrated to God and became His inheritance.
In the person of Balaam, the former Bride saw Israel pass through the desert, and filled with admiration at the glory of The Lord dwelling with Him in His tent, her heart for a moment beat with bridal love. “I shall see Him”, she cried in her transport, “but not now: I shall behold Him, but not near”. [Editor: Numbers xxiv. 17.[
From those wild heights, whence the Spouse would
one day call her, she hailed the Star that was to rise out of Jacob, and predicted the ruin of the Hebrew people who had supplanted her for a time.
“Holy Women at Christ’s Tomb”.
Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” encounter
an Angel at the tomb, who tells them Christ has risen.
Too soon was this sublime ecstacy followed by still more culpable wanderings ! “How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter ? Know thou, and see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left The Lord thy God”. [Editor: Jeremiah xxxi. 212, and ii.19.]
But the ages are passing, the night will soon be over, and the day-star will arise, the sign of the Bridegroom gathering the nations. Let Him lead thee into the wilderness and there He will speak to thy heart. Thy rival knows not how to be a queen; the alliance of Sinai has produced but a slave. The Bridegroom still waits for His Bride.
At length, the hour came: Bending the heavens, He was “made sin” [Editor: 2 Corinthians v. 21.] for sinful men; and hidden under the servile garb of mortals, He sat down to table in the house of the proud Pharisee. The haughty Synagogue, who would neither Fast with John nor rejoice with Christ, was now to see God justifying the delays of His merciful love.
English:
Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene sees the risen Jesus and He says: “Don’t touch me; I have not yet ascended to my Father.”
“Let us not, like Pharisees,” says Saint Ambrose, “despise the counsels of God. The sons of Wisdom are singing: Listen to their voices, attend to their dances; it is the hour of the nuptials. Thus sang the Prophet when he said: Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus.”
“And, behold, a woman that was in the City, a sinner, when she knew that He sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment”. [Editor: Saint Luke vii. 37, 38.
“Christ with Martha and Mary”.
Showing the conflated “composite Magdalene” sitting at Jesus’s feet, while her sister, Martha, does the chores.
When He gave the Holy Ghost to the Apostles, Jesus had told them to remit sins, as He had done, and, today, the Liturgy recalls the ever-memorable example of the Saviour’s Mercy towards repentant sinners.
Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, was of Magdala, in Galilee, whence her name of Magdalen. She was a sinner.
Touched by Grace, she threw herself at the feet of the Saviour. Simon the Pharisee, scandalised, would have repelled her, like the haughty men mentioned by the Prophet Isaias who say: “Away from me, approach me not, for I am pure [Eighth Lesson at Matins].”
Jesus, on the contrary, “defends her against the calumnies of the Proud” (Communion). Admiring the work of Divine Grace in this Soul, “henceforth attentive to His Commandments, whilst sinful men would still have her fall into sin” (Introit), He mercifully “accepts the offer of her Service” (Secret), and secures to her for ever a place of honour in His Royal Court (Offertory).
Repentance has transformed her love. “Because she had loved much, many sins are forgiven her” (Gospel).
Indeed, it was at her Prayer that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Collect). And when, after the Crucifixion of Jesus, at which she was present in greatest sorrow and weariness, she seeks, like the spouse in the Canticle (Epistle), where they have laid her Divine Lord, Christ calls her by name and commands her to announce His Resurrection to the Disciples. Wherefore, the Creed is recited on this day as in the Masses of the Apostles.
Following the example of Magdalen, which, according to the Fathers, represents the service of The Church towards Jesus, let us, in a spirit of love and repentance, pour out the treasure of our praises to Jesus, present in the Holy Eucharist (Secret); let us surround Him on the Altar, in a spirit of Faith, which does not fear the Pharisaic scandal, with all the splendour which becomes the House of God.
Mass: Me exspectavérunt. Creed: Is said.
**************
Zephyrinus warmly commends the following Article, on the Feast Day of Saint Mary Magdalen, Apostle to the Apostles, to all Readers. It can be found at CRISIS MAGAZINE “Saint Mary Magdalene” by Ben Aker “How beautiful […] are the feet of Him who brings the Gospel.” Isaiah 52:7.
Feasts in some Religious Congregations and some places.
White Vestments.
Mass: Cantémus Dómino.
Joan, bride of Christ, Patron and Guardian of France (Magnificat) was raised up in a wonderful manner by God to defend The Faith and her Country (Collect).
Taught by Heavenly voices, and filled with the Light of Cross (Hymn), she was able, by her wisdom, to command the admiration of Princes and the great ones of this Earth, defeat foreign nations, and leave to posterity an eternal remembrance (Epistle).
Therefore, the Liturgy proclaims her “the honour of our people”. “Clothed with the armour of justice and her loins girt with truth” (Antiphon at Vespers), the “Maid” leaves, in obedience, her father and mother and becomes a soldier for Christ.
She rides fearlessly wherever the Archangel Michæl directs her (Hymn). In the midst of mortal dangers, she fears not, for the Lord Jesus is with her (Communion), and “fills her with His strength” (Alleluia), “nourishes her with his His Heavenly Bread, and grants her victory” (Postcommunion).
Surrounded by flames, she invokes the Holy Name of Jesus, and, embracing The Cross, she flies to Him like an innocent Dove (Hymn). She died in 1431.
Let us ask The Holy Ghost, Who makes Souls holy and courageous, to give us to drink in, as Saint Joan did in Holy Communion, that strength of Soul, of which she has given such bright examples.
Castle Howard is a Stately Home in North Yorkshire, England, fifteen miles (twenty-four km) North of York. It is a private residence, the home of the Howard Family for more than 300 years.
Castle Howard is not a true Castle, but this term is also used for English Country Houses erected on the site of a former Military Castle.
Castle Howard Railway Station was a minor Railway Station serving the Village of Welburn and the Stately Home at Castle Howard, in North Yorkshire, England.
It closed to passenger traffic on 22 September 1930, but continued to be staffed, until the 1950s, for small volumes of freight and parcels.
The Station was often used by the aristocracy, notably Queen Victoria when she visited Castle Howard with Prince Albert, as a guest of the Earl of Carlisle in August 1850. A road was built from the Station to the Stately Home. Parts of this road (and the associated columns) can still be seen to the North side of Whitwell-on-the-Hill. The Station is now a private residence.
Castle Howard
from across the Great Lake.
Photo: 30 July 2007.
Source: From geograph.org.uk
Author: John Nicholson.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Castle Howard was built between 1699 and 1712, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh, for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. The site was that of the ruined Henderskelfe Castle, which had come into the Howard family in 1566 through the marriage to Lord Dacre’s widow of Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
In 1952, the House was opened to the public by then owner, George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe. It is currently owned by his son, the Honourable Simon Howard, who grew up at the Castle.
In 2003, the grounds were excavated over three days by Channel 4’s “Time Team”, searching for evidence of a local village, lost to allow for the landscaping of the estate.
The 3rd Earl of Carlisle first spoke to William Talman, a leading architect, but commissioned Vanbrugh, a fellow member of the Kit-Cat Club, to design the building. Castle Howard was that Gentleman-Dilettante’s first foray into architecture, but he was assisted by Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Vanbrugh’s design evolved into a Baroque structure with two symmetrical wings projecting to either side of a North-South axis. The crowning Central Dome was added to the design at a late stage, after building had begun.
Construction began at the East End, with the East Wing constructed from 1701–1703, the East End of the Garden Front from 1701–1706, the Central Block (including Dome) from 1703–1706, and the West End of the Garden Front from 1707–1709.
All are exuberantly decorated in Baroque Style, with coronets, cherubs, urns and cyphers, with Roman Doricpilasters on the North Front and Corinthian on the South Front. Many Interiors were decorated by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini.
The Earl then turned his energies to the surrounding garden and grounds. Although the complete design is shown in the third volume of Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus, published in 1725, the West Wing was not started when Vanbrugh died in 1726, despite his remonstration with the Earl.
The house remained incomplete on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1738, but construction finally started at the direction of the 4th Earl. However, Vanbrugh’s design was not completed: The West Wing was built in a contrasting Palladian Style to a design by the 3rd Earl’s son-in-law, Sir Thomas Robinson.
The new Wing remained incomplete, with no first floor or roof, at the death of the 4th Earl in 1758; although a roof had been added, the Interior remained undecorated by the death of Robinson in 1777. Rooms were completed, stage by stage, over the following decades, but the whole was not complete until 1811.
A part of the house was destroyed by a fire on 9 November 1940. The Dome, the Central Hall, the Dining Room, and the State Rooms on the East Side, were entirely destroyed.
Paintings depicting the Fall of Phaeton by Antonio Pellegrini were also damaged. In total, twenty pictures (including two Tintorettos and several valuable mirrors) were lost. The fire took the Malton and York Fire Brigades eight hours to bring under control.
Some of the devastated rooms have been restored over the following decades. In 1960–1961, the Dome was rebuilt and, in the following couple of years, Pellegrini’s Fall of Phæton was recreated on the underside of the Dome.
Some were superficially restored for the 2008 filming, and now house an exhibition. The East Wing remains a shell, although it has been restored externally. Castle Howard is one of the largest Country Houses in England, with a total of 145 rooms.
According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, nearly 220,000 people visited Castle Howard in 2010.
Castle Howard has extensive and diverse gardens. There is a large formal garden immediately behind the house. The house is prominently situated on a ridge and this was exploited to create an English landscape park, which opens out from the formal garden and merges with the park.
Two major garden buildings are set into this landscape: the Temple of the Four Winds at the end of the garden, and the Mausoleum in the park. There is also a lake on either side of the house. There is an arboretum, called Ray Wood, and the walled garden contains decorative rose and flower gardens.
Further buildings, outside the preserved gardens, include the ruined Pyramid, currently undergoing restoration, an Obelisk and several Follies and Eye-Catchers, in the form of fortifications. A John Vanbrugh ornamental Pillar, known as the Quatre Faces (marked as “Four Faces” on Ordnance Survey Maps), stands in nearby Pretty Wood.
The grounds of Castle Howard are also used as part of at least two charity running races during the year. There is also a separate 127 acre (514,000 m²) arboretum, called Kew at Castle Howard, which is close to the house and garden, but has separate entrance arrangements. Planting began in 1975, with the intention of creating one of the most important collections of specimen trees in the United Kingdom.
The landscape is more open than that of Ray Wood, and the planting remains immature. It is now a joint venture between Castle Howard and Kew Gardens and is managed by a charity called the Castle Howard Arboretum Trust, which was established in 1997. It was opened to the public for the first time in 1999. A new visitor centre opened in 2006.
In addition to its most famous appearance in film, as Brideshead, in both the 1981 television serial and 2008 film adaptations of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited, Castle Howard has been used as a backdrop for a number of other cinematic and television settings.
The Feast of Saint Pius I, on 11 July, recalled to our mind Saint Pudentiana and her sister, Saint Praxedes, who placed their house at the disposal of this Holy Pontiff.
Saint Pudentiana’s Feast Day appears in the Cycle on 19 May, under the Reign of The Risen Lord, and Saint Praxedes’s Feast Day is today, under the Reign of The Holy Ghost.
On Tuesday of the Third Week in Lent, the Lenten Station is held at Rome in the Titular Church of Saint Pudentiana and on the Monday in Holy Week at the Titular Church of Saint Praxedes.
Saint Praxedes, a daughter of the Roman Senator, Pudens, Consecrated her Virginity to God (Epistle), and renounced her great wealth in favour of the Poor and of The Church. She thereby acquired the Treasure and precious Pearl of The Heavenly Kingdom (Gospel, Communion).
The Religious Ceremonies, which took place in her mansion, attracted the attention of the pagans. Many Christians were arrested there and led away to death.
She died during Emperor Antonius's reign in the 2nd-Century A.D., after having besought God to deliver her from the sight of such woeful scenes. Her body was laid by that of her father and sister in the Cemetery of her grand-mother, Priscilla.
Let us Celebrate joyfully the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Praxedes, in order to obtain thereby feelings of loving devotion (Collect).
The Boys’ Choir and the Girls’ Choir (each sixteen strong) sing alternate daily Evensong and Sunday Matins and Eucharist Services throughout the school year.
There are also many additional Services during the Christian year, particularly during Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter.
The Advent “From Darkness to Light” Services are the best known. Choristers come from across the Country and some are boarders.
Six Lay Vicars (adult men) comprise the rest of the Choir, singing tenor, alto and bass parts.
In 1993, the Cathedral was the venue for the first broadcast of Choral Evensong (the long-running BBC Radio 3 programme) to be sung by a girls’ Cathedral Choir.[45]
Reredos at Salisbury Cathedral.
Ostensibly the work of C.E. Buckeridge.
Adoration of the Magi, formerly in the Lady Chapel.
The Cathedral previously employed five Cathedral Constables (known as “Close Constables”), whose duties mainly concerned the maintenance of law and order in the Cathedral Close.
They were made redundant in 2010 as part of cost-cutting measures and replaced with “Traffic Managers”.[46]
The Constables were first appointed when the Cathedral became a “Liberty” in 1611 and survived until the introduction of Municipal Police Forces in 1835 with the Municipal Corporations Act.[47]
In 1800, they were given the power, along with the City Constables, to execute any Justices’ or Court Orders requiring the conveyance of prisoners to or from the County Jail (at Fisherton Anger, then outside the City of Salisbury) as if it were the City Jail (and, in so doing, they were made immune from any legal action for acting outside their respective jurisdictions).[48]
The right of the Cathedral, as a “Liberty”, to maintain a separate Police Force was conclusively terminated by the Local Government Act 1888.[49][50]
Between 1864 and 1953, there were records of Peregrine Falcons being present at the Cathedral. More Falcons arrived in 2013, and have been hatching every year since, with their nests on the Cathedral’s Tower.[51]
World War One Cross. This Cross was placed on the grave
of a Soldier Killed-in-Action on The Western Front in 1917.
It is now mounted on the wall by the Visitors Entrance at Salisbury Cathedral. The Plaque reads: “This Cross was
placed over the grave of Colonel Frank A. Symons CMG DSO, Army Medical Service, who was Killed-in-Action at Athies, France, 30 April 1917. He was buried in Saint Nicholas Cemetery, Arras, France, 1 May 1917.
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