Hapus Dydd Gwyl Dewi. Happy Saint David's Day. Feast Day 1 March.

The Welsh National Anthem.

Available on YouTube at

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The Welsh Dragon.

Flag of Wales.

Illustration: DINO

Paragraph from: DAFFODIL CAPITAL OF WALES - PRIFDDINAS CENNIN PEDR CYMRU

In Wales, the Daffodil is a symbol of the Patron Saint, David (Welsh: Dewi Sant), and

of rebirth and faithfulness, because they bloom every year, even after the harshest Winters.

Illustration: PINTEREST

The Welsh National Anthem,

just before Wales beat England 30-3,

Saturday, 16 March 2013.

Available on YouTube at

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"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is The Welsh National Anthem.

The tune and words were the work of the father and son team of

Evan James (1809 - 1878) and James James (1833 - 1902).

Cymraeg:

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri

Ei gwrol ryfelwr, gwlad garwyr tra mad

Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

Gwlad Gwlad,

Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad,

Tra mor yn fur i'r bur hoff bau

O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

English:

Land of my Fathers, O Land of The Free,

A land of poets and minstrels, famed men.

Her brave Warriors, Patriots much Blessed,

It was for freedom that they lost their blood.

Wales ! Wales !,

I am devoted to my Country.

So long as the sea is a wall to this fair beautiful land,

May the ancient language remain.

The Welsh National Anthem.

Available on YouTube at

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Cymraeg (Welsh): Baner Dewi Sant.

English: Flag of Saint David.

Image: August 2006.

Source: Altered from Image:Flag of Cornwall.svg.

Author: User:Stemonitis

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint David's Day.

Available on YouTube at

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Saint David's Day is on 1 March.

He brought Christianity to Wales in the 6th-Century A.D.

Saint David (Dewi Sant) is The Patron Saint of Wales

and 1 March is The Welsh National Day.

This is an edited version of 'Songs of Praise' 24/02/2013.

The final song is sung by Rhys Meirion, in Welsh,

accompanied by a Traditional Welsh Harp.

The Welsh name for the City of Saint David is Tyddewi.

Cymraeg (Welsh): Darlun o Ddewi Sant ar ffenestr lliw yng

Nghapel 

Coleg 

yr Iesu, Rhydychen. 19eg ganrif hwyr.

English: Late-19th-Century Stained-Glass Window

Jesus College Chapel, Oxford, England,

depicting Saint David.

Photo: June 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Casper Gutman.

(Wikimedia Commons)

HAPUS DYDD GWYL DEWI.

HAPPY SAINT DAVID'S DAY.

The Welsh Flag.

Illustration: WALES ONLINE

The Treorchy Male Voice Choir

singing "Sanctus",

Saint David's Day, 1989.

Available on YouTube at

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And, as a Saint David's Day Bonus to all Welshmen,

watch "The Greatest Rugby Try Ever Scored"

(The Barbarians versus The All Blacks).

Scored, naturally, by a Welshman.

Watch, below.

"The Greatest Rugby Try Ever Scored".

Available on YouTube at

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Ash Wednesday. Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Sabina.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Artist: Rene de Cramer.

"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".

Used with Permission.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Ash Wednesday.

Station at Saint Sabina.

Indulgence of 15 years and 15 Quarantines.

Privileged Feria.

Violet Vestments.

English: Santa Sabina, Rome.

Česky: Interiér baziliky Santa Sabina, Řím.

Photo: February 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Rumburak

(Wikimedia Commons)

Today's Station at Rome is at Saint Sabina, on The Aventine, in a Sanctuary built on the former site of the Holy Martyr's house. Having been converted by her maid-servant, she was beheaded for The Faith and secretly buried. It is to this Church that, in former times, the Pope used to go barefoot "to begin, with Holy Fasts, the exercises of Christian warfare, that as we do battle with The Spirits of Evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial" [The Prayer at The Blessing of The Ashes]. In the 5th-Century A.D., this Church was one of the twenty-five Parishes of Rome.

Following the example of The Ninivites, who did Penance in sackcloth and ashes, The Church today, to humble our pride and remind us of the sentence of death, which, as a consequence of our sins we are bound to undergo, sprinkles ashes on our heads with the words: "Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return". [Ashes are a symbol of Penance and, having become a Sacramental by The Church's Blessing, help to develop within us the spirit of humility and sacrifice.] We come from dust and unto dust we shall return ! Here, indeed, is a thought that should humble our pride.

In this custom, we have the remains of an ancient ceremony referred to in The Roman Pontifical. Those Christians who were guilty of grave faults had to undergo public Penance. Accordingly, on Ash Wednesday, the Bishop used to Bless the sackcloth, which was to be worn by the penitents during The Holy Forty Days, and place upon their heads ashes made from palms used the previous year in The Palm Sunday Procession. Then, while The Faithful were singing The Seven Penitential Psalms, "the penitents were expelled from The Holy Place on account of their sins, just as Adam was driven out of Paradise because of his disobedience". [Roman Pontifical.] They were not allowed to put off their penitential garb or to re-enter the Church before Holy Thursday, after they had gained their reconciliation by toil and Penance, and by Sacramental Confession and Absolution.

English: Interior of Santa Sabina, Aventine, Rome.

Français: Interieur de l'église de Santa Sabina, Aventin, Rome.

Photo: 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ursus

(Wikimedia Commons)

At The Council of Beneventum (1091), Pope Urban VI commanded that the ashes should be received by all The Faithful, indiscriminately. Let us receive them in a spirit of humility and Penance, that, by this powerful Sacramental, we may obtain from Almighty God the Blessings which The Church implores in the act of Blessing them.

For, truly, "God overlooks the sins of men for the sake of repentance" (Introit). He is "rich in mercy" to those who are "converted to Him with all their heart in Fasting and in weeping and in mourning" (Epistle). We must not, indeed, like the Pharisees, rend our garments as a sign of grief, but, rather, our hearts" (ibid.), for it is not men who are to testify to our Fasting, but Our Father, Who sees our innermost Souls and will repay us (Gospel), as Our Lord, Himself, tells us in The Sermon on The Mount. [According to Tradition, this Mount is Kurn Hattin.] Let us, then, draw from The Eucharist the help which we need (Postcommunion), so that, celebrating today the institution of this Sacred Fast (Secret), we may "perform it with a devotion which nothing can disturb" (Collect).

THE BLESSING OF THE ASHES.

Before Mass, Ashes are Blessed. These Ashes are made from the Palms which were Blessed in the previous year's Palm Sunday Procession. The formula used in the Blessing dates from about the 8th-Century A.D.

After The Office of None, the Priest, Vested in Alb and Violet Stole, with or without a Violet Cope, with Deacon and Sub-Deacon in Vestments of the same colour, goes up to The Altar and The Choir begins singing.

After the appropriate Prayers have been said by the Priest, he sprinkles Holy Water on The Ashes and then Incenses them, three times. The Faithful then receive The Ashes on their foreheads.

Mass then commences.

Mass: Miseréris omnium.

Collect: Praesta Domine.

Other Collects, until Passion Sunday: A cunctis and Omnipotens.

Preface: For Lent.

The Dismissal: Benedicamus Domino, likee at any Mass without The Gloria.

Latin Mass Society Pilgrimage To Our Lady Of Caversham, Reading, On Ember Saturday Of Lent. Saturday, 11 March 2017, 1130 hrs.

Illustration: LMS CHAIRMAN

The Parish Of Blessed Titus Brandsma Gets Its Own Minor Basilica.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, IN CAELO ET IN TERRA

The Church of Saint Francis-in-Bolsward,

Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Soon to become a Minor Basilica.

Illustration: IN CAELO ET IN TERRA

It may still not have a Bishop, but, as of today, the Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden does have a Minor Basilica. Well, at least when The Proclamation is officially made on an as-yet-unspecified date.

The Church of Saint Francis-in-Bolsward is elevated to the Dignity of a Minor Basilica per a Papal Bull, dated on 26 November 2016. Signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, it is nonetheless a decision from the Pope.

There are several reasons for the elevation of this particular Church, which was built in 1932. It is a pilgrimage site to Our Lady of Sevenwouden, a statue of whom was the focal point of a Procession, the first in four Centuries, through the heart of Bolsward in 2015; it is also the centre of a Devotion to Blessed Titus Brandsma, the Martyr to the Nazis, who was born in Bolsward.

Bishop Gerard de Korte, at that time still Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden, made the official request to Rome in 2015, supported by the rest of the Bishops’ Conference. The Congregation for Divine Worship then conducted an investigation, looking at the quality of the Liturgy, Catechesis and Charity. The elevation of the Church is therefore not just a honour for the building, but also for the Faith Community it houses.

As a sign of it being a Basilica, the Church will be allowed to use the Papal Insignia of The Two Keys, and it will house a Conopeum and a Tintinnabulum, a Canopy and Bell to signify the close bond with the Pope. The local community will also be Celebrating a number of extra Feasts, including the Anniversary of The Election of the Pope, and it will be obliged to maintain the vitality and meaning of its activities and life.

The future Basilica of Saint Francis is the first for Groningen-Leeuwarden, the twenty-seventh for The Netherlands and the most Northern. Like the vast majority of Basilicas in the World, it is a Minor Basilica. There are only four Major Basilicas, all in Rome [Editor: They are; Saint Peter's; Saint Mary Major; Saint John Lateran; Saint Paul-without-the-Walls]. The Basilica is located in Bolsward, in West Friesland, and is one Church location in the Parish of Blessed Titus Brandsma. Parish Priest is Fr. Arjen Bultsma, Episcopal Vicar for Friesland and The Noordoostpolder. under Bishop de Korte.

The Church Of Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino. Possibly, The SSPX's New Headquarters In Rome ?

English: The 

Church of Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino,

Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Chiesa di Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino, a Roma,

nel rione Esquilino, in via Emanuele Filiberto.

Photo: 9 December 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Croberto68.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from FR. Z's BLOG

IL FOGLIO has a story about how Pope Francis was a decisive factor in handing over a neo-Gothic Church in the centre of Rome, Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino, to The SSPX.

It is going to be a Centre for Studies and, perhaps, their HQ. It is a pretty large complex.

The Nave.

Church of Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino,

Rome, Italy.

Illustration: FR. Z's BLOG

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino is one of the Churches of Rome , in the Esquilino district , on Via Emanuele Filiberto.

The Church was built between 1896 and 1914, for The Friars of Charity , and was Consecrated by Cardinal Luigi Traglia on 21 April 1942.

The Church's Architectural Style is Neo-Gothic and has a facade flanked by two low Bell Towers; above the entrance Portal there is a mosaic of The Immaculate, wrapped in a cloak decorated with stars. The Interior has three Naves divided by columns, with windows .

The Congregation of The Grey Fathers broke up in 1973 . Today, the Church is a subsidiary place of worship in the Parish of Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter to the Lateran.

Church of Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino,

and adjoining complex of buildings,

Rome, Italy.

Illustration: FR. Z's BLOG

Quinquagesima Sunday.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Quinquagesima Sunday.

Station at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Semi-Double.

Privilege of The Second Class.

Violet Vestments.

Jesus said to him: "Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole".

In the same way that the first three Prophecies of Holy Saturday, with their accompanying Prayers, are concerned with Adam, Noah and Abraham, so, during The Septuagesima Season, our attention is called in Missal and Breviary to these same Patriarchs, known respectively by The Church as The Father of The Human Race, The Father of Future Generations and The Father of Those Who Believe.

Adam, Noah and Abraham were types of Christ in The Paschal Mystery, a fact which we have already shown to be true in the case of the first two, in our notes on Septuagesima Sunday and Sexagesima Sunday. That it is true of Abraham, also, we shall see today.

In The Ambrosian Liturgy, Passion Sunday was called "Abraham's Sunday" and the "Response of Abraham" was read in The Office for that day; in The Roman Liturgy, also, he is still the subject of the Gospel for Passion Sunday.

The Introit

for Quinquagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

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Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in locum refugii,

ut salvum me facias: quoniam firmamentum meum,

et refugium meum es tu: et propter nomen

tuum dux mihi eris,

et enutries me.

Ps. In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternum:

in iustitia tua libera me, et eripe me.

V. Gloria Patri.

"Abraham, your father", says Our Lord, "rejoiced that he might see My Day, he saw it and was glad

. . . Amen, Amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM". God had indeed promised Abraham that The Messias should descend from him, and he was overwhelmed with great joy, when, by Faith, he contemplated beforehand The Day of The Redeemer's Coming.

Again, when this was fulfilled, he still contemplated it with a fresh joy in Limbo, where he was waiting, with the Just Men of The Old Law, for Jesus to come and deliver them after His Passion. When The Three Weeks of The Septuagesima Season were added to Lent, Quinquagesima became the Sunday on which the Liturgy is devoted to Abraham, so that, in the Lessons and Responses for today, the whole history of the Patriarch is described.

The Offertory

for Quinquagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

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Psalm CXVIII.12-13.

Bendictus es, Domine,

doce me iustificationes tuas:

in labiis meis pronuntiavi 

omnia iudicia oris tui.

With the desire of forming a people, who should be specially His own in the midst of the idolatrous Nations of the World (Gradual and Tract), Almighty God chose Abraham as its Head and gave him his name, which means Father of Many Nations. "And He took him from Ur, in Chaldee, and kept him from harm in all his wanderings" [Prayers taken from The Rituale Romanum for the Recommendation of a Soul, and before a journey].

The Communion

for Quinquagesima Sunday.

Available on YouTube at

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Psalm LXXVII. 29-30.

Manducaverunt, et saturati sunt nimis,

et desiderium eorum attulit eis Dominus:

non sunt fraudati a desidero suo.

A man is not saved by being a son of Abraham, according to the flesh, but by being Abraham's son by means of a Faith like his. So, Saint Paul writes: "In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision (to be a Jew) availeth anything, nor uncircumcision (to be a Gentile), but a new creature". "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness".

If the custom of allowing ourselves a little relaxation of spirit, before undertaking The Lenten Penance which binds us all, is of Liturgical origin, let us not forget that The Church condemns all excess. To atone, therefore, for those sins that are committed, let us make a Solemn Adoration of The Blessed Sacrament, besides saying this Prayer of Reconciliation, known as The Forty Hours' Prayer, which was instituted, either, by Saint Anthony-Mary Zaccaria († 1539), or by the Capuchin Father, Joseph Piantanida da Fermo (about 1636), a Prayer richly Indulgenced by Pope Clement XIII (1765).

The Forty Hours' Devotion originated from The Forty Hours that Jesus passed in the tomb. Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament was included, but at a later date, and regulated by Pope Clement XI, in 1705.

Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Mass: Esto mihi.
Preface: Of The Most Holy Trinity. On weekdays, The Common Preface.

Don't Forget To Prepare For Lent.

Illustration: THE PERSONAL ORDINARIATE OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM