Blog Flos Carmeli English Version: Pilgrimage to Rome

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Pilgrimage to Rome

Bishop Fernando Arêas Rifan*

I am currently in Rome, "The Eternal City", joining the Summorum Pontificum International Pilgrimage, from which I received the invitation to celebrate the closing Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, next Sunday, the 27th. Today, wednesday, I will be present at the audience with the Holy Father, Pope Francisco, in St. Peter's Square. Following this I will personally cumpliment the Pope, and will receive from him a special benediction, given to all the beloved ones close to me, as well as my readers.

One of the highlights of this pilgrimage will be the Holy Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, the 26th, hold by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the one who on behalf the Pope, erected our Apostolic Administration and officiated my episcopal ordination.

Further a Pontifical Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, while many other religious acts, such as solemn Vespers, officiated by Monsignor Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, a priestly encounter with Bishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of new Evangelization, a Via Crucis on the Palatine hill and an Eucharistic worshiping in Chiesa Nuova will take place there.

All Masses in this pilgrimage will be celebrated in the ancient form of the Roman Rite, as this pilgrimage is addressed to the priests and lay people supporting this liturgical form, that has been given to the whole Church by Pope Benedict XVI, under the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, hence the name of the Pilgrimage.

The ancient form of the Roman Liturgy, also called Extraordinary Form, is part of the catholic liturgical thesaurus and has been used by many saints over the centuries. It is maintained by many religious congregations, parishes, groups and thousands of catholic faithful in all over the world. There are more than 100 places n Brazil where it this form of Liturgy is used, with the permission of local bishops, as it should always be. As you all know, we also keep this in our Apostolic Administration, a faculty bestowed upon us by the Holy See, knowing the appreciation to this liturgical beauty, clear expression of the Catholic Eucharistic dogmas .Therefore, The Holy See recognizes that our sensibility and adherence to this is perfect and legitimate.

This is what then Cardinal Ratzinger expressed:" While there are many motives that might have led a great number of people to seek a refuge in the traditional , the chief one is that they find the dignity of the sacred preserved there (Conference on Chilean bishops, Santiago, 07.13.1988 ). Our presence in this pilgrimage means our support to these Catholics from around the world and at the same time, aims to show them the correct position to keep the traditional liturgy in perfect communion with the Holy Father, the Pope , and the whole Church. Therefore, with clear understanding, the Mass in the extraordinary form can greatly contributes to the correct "ars celebrandi" and the "liturgical peace" in the Church, as desired by Pope Benedict XVI.

* Bishop of the Personal Apostolic Administration St. John Vianney

Campos dos Goytacazes - RJ - Brazil

1 comment:

Flos Carmeli said...: Lets be united in prayers with Rev. Bishop D. Fernando rifan and all the other priests and religious people joining the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage.; 7:10 PM

Post a Comment

Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel – Be our constant hope. Mary, perfect disciple of the Lord – Make us also faithful to him. Mary, Flower of Carmel – Fill us with your joy. Virgin Mary, Beauty of Carmel – Smile upon your family Sweet Mother of Carmel – Accept me as your child. Holy, Mother beyond compare – Remember your children forever. Holy Virgin, Star of the Sea – Be our beacon of Light. Protecting Veil – Shelter us in the mantle of your love. Mary, conceived without sin – pray for us who have recourse to you.”

Prayer to Saint John Mary Vianney for the Religious Vocations

Almighty and merciful God, who didst make Saint John Marie Vianney admirable in his pastoral zeal and in his constant love of penance, grant us the grace, we implore Thee, to win for Christ, by his example and intercession, the souls of our brethren, and to attain with them everlasting glory—O, Saint John Marie Vianney, incomparable laborer in the field confided to thee, obtain for the Church the realization of Jesus’ desire. The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Master of the harvest to send faithful laborers into His vineyard. O, Saint John Marie Vianney ! Intercede for the clergy. May thy patronage, and thy prayer multiply the real vocations to the priesthood. May the Holy Ghost grant thee emulators; may He give us Saints! Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

SEVERAL TIMES we have suggested that the reader might be surprised at the great emphasis given to a devotion as apparently simple as the Brown Scapular. But one of the most interesting testimonies to the importance of the Scapular devotion today has so far been scarcely mentioned. In the pages of an ancient history of the Carmelite Order (written in mediaeval Latin by a forgotten writer named Ventimiglia) the author of this book found the following account: Three famous men of God met on a street corner in Rome. They were Friar Dominic, busy gathering recruits to a new Religious Order of Preachers; Brother Francis, the friend of birds and beasts and especially dear to the poor; and Angelus, who had been invited to Rome from Mount Carmel, in Palestine, because of his fame as a preacher. At their chance meeting, by the light of the Holy Spirit each of the three men recognized each other and, in the course of their conversation (as recorded by various followers who were present), they made prophecies to each other. Saint Angelus foretold the stigmata of Saint Francis, and Saint Dominic said: "One day, Brother Angelus, to your Order of Carmel the Most Blessed Virgin Mary will give a devotion to be known as the Brown Scapular, and to my Order of Preachers she will give a devotion to be known as the Rosary. AND ONE DAY, THROUGH THE ROSARY AND THE SCAPULAR, SHE WILL SAVE THE WORLD." Since he was gathering material for a book on the Scapular Devotion, the present writer was deeply impressed on finding this story in Ventimiglia's History . . . and he was especially impressed by the prophecy of St. Dominic. Yet that prophecy appears nowhere in the past sixteen chapters which (with the exception of Chapter Fifteen and a few paragraphs referring to Fatima) were for thirteen years the total of this book . . . unchanged through several printings totaling more than 70,000 copies. St. Dominic's "prophecy" was omitted repeatedly, through all those printings and years, despite the fact that the author came later to know that today a Chapel, on that very street comer in Rome, commemorates the meeting of St. Dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Angelus as described by Ventimiglia. Therefore, why the omission? Why were not the words "Through the Rosary and the Scapular She will save the world" (Taken from the Book The Sign of Her Heart by John M. Haffert)