 + We offer this votive Mass of the Coronation of a Pope this morning—a liturgical privilege granted to emphasise its importance, which exceptionally permits the fourth Sunday of Easter to be commemorated—at exactly the same time as Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, is celebrating the solemn Mass of the Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry in Rome. One might be tempted to be in front of a screen to watch the event live, but in fact we could be in no better place—here, before the Altar of God, offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for Pope Leo, in communion with him and with the whole of the Catholic Church.
For, on an historic occasion such as this our first duty is one of prayer. Whatever of the personal merits and however impressive the curriculum vitae of Cardinal Prevost may have been—and there seems to be little reason for concern here; indeed quite the opposite—in being called to become the servants of the servants of God who holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven on earth, any man needs first and foremost the particular grace of the high office to which he has been called in which the whole Church must support him through their prayers and intercession. It is a fact that there has been much that has been ‘troubling’, as it were, about the exercise of the Papal Office in recent years and it is a sad but nevertheless utterly true reality that in the Church’s history there have been very bad popes and very foolish ones. As we know only too well, even those in high office in the Church are subject to and sometimes fall prey to the wiles of the devil and give in to the seductions of worldly power, ideological idolatry or base carnal pleasure that he proffers. It is not for any one of us to judge a particular Pope—that prerogative is God’s alone, and as Catholics we beg God’s mercy for all the faithful departed, especially those who have held high office. But we cannot ignore the facts of history: popes are men, and men can fall. Which is why our prayer for the Holy Father is so important. Indeed, it is vital. For in the economy of grace no prayer, no sacrifice, no act of charity offered for an intention, howsoever small, is wasted. Everything counts. What each one of us offers to God on behalf of the Pope makes a difference. And if the task facing Pope Leo is immense and utterly daunting—as indeed it is—then our prayers for him need to be all the more generous. We are not bound to admire popes’ characters or even to believe their personal opinions, but we are obliged to support them with our prayers and to obey them in the legitimate exercise of their high office. That they may have the grace so to do correctly is, at least in part, up to us. For we cannot complain if we do not do our part. Indeed, there is a tendency, partially understandable given recent history, to wash our hands and stand aloof complaining about this or that aspect of the Holy Father’s previous ministry, dismissing him out of hand because of his imperfections. Complaint and criticism become an occupation for some who forget that this is a crucial moment of grace in which prayer, not posturing, is that which is necessary. For beginning with St Peter himself, popes have had pasts that have been far from perfect! In the mercy and Providence of Almighty God, ultimately that does not matter: it may even assist a pope humbly to rely upon God’s grace. What matters is that he responds with faith and generosity to the particular call to service that he has received (as must we all). This call, this responsibility, this power is quite specific, and it is in no way equivalent to that given to those who hold political office, whatever of their particular merits or otherwise. “The power that Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors,” as one Successor of Peter explained twenty years ago this month: “is, in an absolute sense, a mandate to serve. The power of teaching in the Church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God's Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.” (Benedict XVI, 7 May 2005) This is the vocation of Pope Leo XIV, just as it was the vocation of all his predecessors (the relics of twelve of whom, including St Peter and St Leo the Great, are on the altar this morning). So too it shall be the vocation of all of his successors until the end of time. That he may ever remain faithful to this call, in his teaching, in his acts of governance, in his prudential decisions and in his example, we must fervently pray. As we go to the Altar of God let us ask St Augustine, the Doctor of Grace, of whom Pope Leo is a son (and whose relics are also on the altar), to obtain for him, and for the Church, the wisdom and strength our Holy Father needs so that he might be another great pope—a true “lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev. 5:5) with and in whom we may rejoice in the triumph of all that is true, beautiful and good, indeed, of all that is truly of God. Omnes sancti pontifices: orate pro eo! Sancte Augustine: ora pro eo! +
We are pleased to make available details of the contents of the appendix to Volume II which has now been typeset by the monastery so as to provide the texts that people who use older versions of the monastic office would wish to use.
Nous avons le plaisir de vous présenter le contenu de l'annexe du tome II, désormais mise en page par le monastère afin de proposer les textes que les personnes utilisant d'anciennes versions de l'office monastique souhaiteraient utiliser. • The customary prayers before and after the Office. • The proper conclusions of hymns for different seasons. • The ferial chapter and Preces for Prime. • The integral text of Psalm 13 for Thursday Prime. • The additional blessing for a commemorated Gospel at Matins. • The integral text of the ferial canticle for Saturday Lauds. • The Preces for Compline. • The common texts for the Vigils of Apostles • The proper texts for most feasts omitted from the 1963 edition or most of the extra texts for matins that it does not contain where a feast has been reduced in rank. • Les prières habituelles avant et après l'Office. • Les conclusions des hymnes des différents temps. • Le chapitre férial et les Prières de Prime. • Le texte intégral du Psaume 13 pour Prime du jeudi. • La bénédiction additionnelle pour un Évangile commémoré à Matines. • Le texte intégral du cantique férial pour les Laudes du samedi. • Les Prières de Complies. • Les textes communs pour la Vigile d’un Apôtre. • La majorité des textes propres aux fêtes omissent dans l'édition de 1963 et la plupart des textes supplémentaires pour les matines qui ne figurent pas dans l'édition de 1963, lorsque le rang d'une fête a été réduit. Be sure to order your copy before publication so as to benefit from the 50 euro discount. Further details here. N'oubliez pas de commander votre exemplaire avant la publication afin de bénéficier de la réduction de 50 euros. Plus d'informations ici.  Those who would like to light a 9 day candle in the monastery church for the intentions of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, on the occasion of the solemn inauguration of his Petrine ministry may do so using the QR code below or by following this link. À l'occasion de l'inauguration solennelle du ministère Pétrinien de notre nouveau Saint Père, le Pape Léon XIV, les personnes désirant faire b6ruler un cierge aux intentions du Pape dans l'église du Monastère, peuvent le faire en utilisant le QRcode ci dessous. ou par ce lien. Ad multos annos Beatissime Pater Leone!   + It has been a momentous week. Habemus papam! After a period of concerted prayer and fasting and—to be perfectly honest—not a little concern or even fear given the exercise of the papacy over the last twelve years, the Church of God now rejoices in the election of Pope Leo XIV. I say “rejoices” not because I have the privilege to know the man personally or have been able to study his curriculum vitae and past writings and discourses and form a personal judgement on their orthodoxy or prudence, nor because I am aware of his interior dispositions in respect of acts of governance he has carried out on behalf of others—the replacement and removal of the bishop of our own diocese included. Indeed, it is quite possible, even probable that Father, Bishop and Cardinal Prevost made mistakes of judgment in the past, or that he has even been wrong in his understanding of some matters. He may even have found himself in positions where he has had to sign-off acts that he would not himself have initiated. And, of course, these are not any cause for rejoicing. Far from it. No, I say that we rejoice in the election of Pope Leo XIV because we are Catholics and because we hope and we pray that in His Providence, Almighty God has given His Church the new Supreme Pontiff He wills for our time and that we need. And in this fact alone, as Catholics, our natural response (our default position as it were) should be to rejoice. But it is, of course, a reality that the abuse of the papal office to push forward personal and political agendas in any age detracts from its integrity and erodes the filial loyalty Catholics should naturally accord it. This does very great harm. And it is a sad reality that today, for this very reason, the new pope is being evaluated and examined as might any new political official. What will he do? What kind of Church does he want? Will he allow the ordination of women? Will he attempt to totally ban the older liturgical rites? Will he accept divorce, same-sex marriages, etc.? The list goes on and on whilst Catholics who seek to be faithful withhold their consent, as it were, to his election. We need to be clear. No pope can legitimately do such things. His authority and power is not a positivisitic one as might be that of a president or a prime minister. He cannot do what he wants. The Pope cannot sign a shower of ‘executive orders’ (called a Motu Proprio in the Church) and change things immediately according to his personal wishes. No: the Pope is a steward, a custodian, a guardian of the Deposit of Faith, one whose primary purpose is to protect all that Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed and taught as the Truth necessary for the eternal salvation of every man and woman in human history, that the Church has herself faithfully taught throughout the ages in her unbroken Tradition. The issue is, therefore, not what Robert Prevost thinks about divorce or the Latin Mass or women’s ordination or whatever—or even what he has said or thought about them in the past. Rather, the fact is that Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, has been given the duty to ensure that when the Church is confronted by these or any other questions that may arise, we—that is, he himself as Pope and the entire Catholic Church, its hierarchy and all others—remain utterly faithful to the teaching of Christ and to all that has been handed on in the Church’s Tradition, knowing all the while that, as St Benedict teaches so often in his Rule about the abbot’s exercise of authority, the Pope shall have to answer to Almighty God for all of his deeds on the day of Judgement. This is a terrible responsibility for any man and whilst we rejoice that this yoke has been taken up anew, our rejoicing must be realistic: the faithful exercise of the papacy requires that its holder is open to and receives the grace of the office to which he has been called. Here, we have a vital part to play through our prayer and sacrifices offered for Pope Leo. There is a reason that the Pope is prayed for the Canon of the Mass: he needs our prayers, and out of filial loyalty we are obliged to offer them generously and in good faith. Whatever of the exercise of the papacy in recent years, those times are now past. As Catholics we must pray fervently that Pope Leo shall receive an abundance of grace so as to be a strong and faithful steward of the Church’s treasury of grace and Truth in our age. Indeed, we may well pray that in the face of the powerful currents of politics and of positivism in the Church and of the cancers of relativism and syncretism in the world he has the strength to embrace the wisdom contained in an expression cited by one of his predecessors when first elected pope: In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. (John XXIII, Ad Petri Cathedram, 1959) In essentials, unity; in what is not essential, liberty; in all things, charity. Let us pray earnestly, then, this morning in this Holy Mass and throughout this pontificate, that through Pope Leo’s humble and faithful exercise of the Petrine Office, the sadness and distress that we have known for a little while now (and which lingers in the mouths of many) may indeed be turned into a true experience of that paschal joy of which this morning’s Gospel speaks, which nobody can take from us. Amen. + 
 Ayant reçu la nouvelle de l'élection de Léon XIV au trône de Pierre, la communauté a chanté un Te Deum d'action de grâce ainsi que les prières pour le Pape. Having received the news of the election of Leo XIV as the successor of St Peter, the community has sung a Te Deum in thanksgiving as well as the traditional prayers for the Pope. Nous vous invitons tous à prier pour qu'il soit, comme le veut son nom, un véritable lion et que le Seigneur lui accorde les grâces nécessaires à sa très haute charge. We invite all to pray that he shall be, as his name implies, a true lion and that the Lord shall grant him all the graces necessary for his high office. Oremus pro pontifice nostro Leone! + The feast of St Athanasius which fell on May 2nd last week, offers an opportunity to examine the importance of his example in the life of the Church today.
As bishop of Alexandria, he played an unparalleled role in holding true to the truth of the Divinity of Christ against all that could be thrown against him by heretical powers both temporal and ecclesiastical. He was sent out of his See five times into exile, supporting the faithful of the locality of his exile and taking time among the monks of the Egyptian desert to refocus his attention on the one thing necessary: Christ. With the change of political leaders, he was recalled and restored to his See where he unfailingly taught his flock who Christ is, and that this an objective reality, a truth that is in no sense dependent of what anybody’s personal opinion is. He knew exactly what it was that Christ meant by saying that “I know my sheep and my sheep know me,” for anybody who is truly of God will recognise His voice despite all the surrounding noise, and would follow Christ in spite of all attempts to eliminate the teaching of the truth. This is precisely why St Athanasius was driven from Alexandria so often: he was not afraid to preach Christ Crucified and he accepted the personal challenges and consequences that this meant in those times for anyone who would follow Christ faithfully. Can it not be claimed, however, that St Athanasius fled, abandoning his flock whilst accepting exile from his See? In his discussion of such a question, St Augustine recognises that there are times when the Gospel and Apostolic teaching is clear that Christ’s minister must flee, whereas on other occasions he should stay and accept the martyrdom promised by the potentates of this world. In observing this this St Augustine lays down the practical guidelines for when to flee, and when to stay, teaching that if the persecution is directed at the individual, the individual may flee and leave the care of the flock to others, whereas if fleeing would harm the flock in his care, the shepherd must remain regardless of the consequences. On this second Sunday after Easter 2025 the Church is united in prayer that Almighty God will, through the deliberation of the College of Cardinals, grant to her a strong and faithful shepherd who shall not fear the wolves of our times—be they dressed as persons, policies or ideologies—and turn out to be a mere hireling who, like so many of us at times, lacks that true humility which acknowledges that we are all subject to the Truth revealed by Christ and shall be judged accordingly. Rather, we pray for a Chief Shepherd of the Church who stands firmly in the light of the Resurrected Christ, proclaiming Him to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, the unique Saviour for all human persons of every race and time in history. For it is all too easy, even for successors of the Apostles, to flee from the demands of the Truth of Christ in the face of a world rent by relativism, syncretism and individualism. My brothers and sisters, the College of Cardinals and Rome may seem a very long way away and we may feel powerless in respect of their deliberations and of the outcome of the coming Conclave. However, in God’s grace our prayers and sacrifices in the coming days for this most important moment in the life of the Church shall not be wasted. Even were the worst possible candidate to be elected and a formal schism in the Church ensue—which God forbid!—our spiritual and ascetical offerings for the Conclave will fortify us and bring the graces necessary to persevere even in truly historically extraordinary times—with Saint Athanasius as our patron and guide. But God is merciful, and we may always hope and pray for a furher outpouring of his mercy—and that is our task in the coming days. Be that by assisting at Holy Mass or the Divine Office, or through prayer and fasting individually according to our particular circumstances, we must make an extra effort. The good of our souls, of the souls of others, and of the Church and her salvific mission in the world depends on it. On Wednesday 7 May the Conventual Mass at 09h00 will be sung Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice in the monastery church. And beginning on the same day and continuing each day of the Conclave, at 12h00 the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed before the singing of the Office of Sext which will be followed by a period of adoration, concluding with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 13h00. You are warmly invited to join us if possible. So too, these days shall also be days of fasting for the monastic community. As we offer ourselves anew this morning in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, let us be confident that if we are faithful, as was Saint Athanasius even in adversity that lasted several decades, the Lord will support and console us and use our sufferings for His Providential purposes. For one who is deeply rooted in the Truth of Christ, even if his shepherd proves to be a hireling and flees the wolves, cannot be lost. +  On Wednesday 7 May the Conventual Mass at 09h00 will be sung Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice in the monastery church. Le mercredi 7 mai, à 09h00, la messe conventuelle Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice sera chantée dans l'église du monastère. Beginning on 7 May and continuing each day of the Conclave, at 12h00 the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed before the singing of the Office of Sext which will be followed by a period of adoration, concluding with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 13h00. These days shall be days of fasting for the monastic community. Mercredi 7 mai et tous les jours du Conclave, le Saint Sacrement sera exposé à 12h00, avant le chant de l'Office de Sexte et sera suivi d'une période d'adoration avant le Salut du Saint Sacrement à 13h00. Ces jours seront également des jours de jeûne pour la communauté monastique. We invite you to join us in these observances, begging Almighty God to give to His Church a strong, wise and holy new Successor of Saint Peter. Nous vous invitons tous à vous joindre à nous dans ces exercices afin de demander à Dieu de donner à Son Église un successeur de saint Pierre qui soit fort, sage et saint. Those who wish to light a candle in the monastery church for the intentions of the coming conclave may do so using the QR code below. Ceux qui souhaitent allumer une bougie dans l'église du monastère aux intentions du prochain conclave peuvent le faire en utilisant le code QR ci-dessous.  
We are pleased to make available details of the contents of the appendix to Volume I which has now been typeset by the monastery so as to give the texts that people who use older versions of the monastic office would wish to use. The Appendix for Volume II is in production and details will be released when it is finalised. We have increased the number of pages for each volume to accommodate a more comprehensive appendix in each.
Nous avons le plaisir de vous présenter le contenu de l'annexe du tome I, désormais mise en page par le monastère afin de proposer les textes que les personnes utilisant d'anciennes versions de l'office monastique souhaiteraient utiliser. L'annexe du tome II est en cours de production et les détails seront publiés dès sa finalisation. Nous avons augmenté le nombre de pages de chaque volume afin d'y inclure une annexe plus complète. • The customary prayers before the Office. • The proper conclusions of hymns for different seasons. • The ferial chapter and Preces for Prime. • The integral text of Psalm 13 for Thursday Prime. • The additional blessing for a commemorated Gospel at Matins. • The integral text of the ferial canticle for Saturday Lauds. • The Preces for Compline. • The texts for the Octaves of the Epiphany and Ascension • The proper texts for feast omitted from the 1963 edition or the extra texts for matins that it does not contain where a feast has been reduced in rank. • Les prières habituelles avant l'Office. • Les conclusions des hymnes des différents temps. • Le chapitre fériel et les preces de Prime. • Le texte intégral du Psaume 13 pour Prime du jeudi. • La bénédiction additionnelle pour un Évangile commémoré à Matines. • Le texte intégral du cantique fériel pour les Laudes du samedi. • Les preces de Complies. • Les textes des octaves de l'Épiphanie et de l'Ascension. • Les textes propres aux fêtes omis dans l'édition de 1963 ou les textes supplémentaires pour les matines qui ne figurent pas dans l'édition de 1963, lorsque le rang d'une fête a été réduit. Be sure to order your copy before publication so as to benefit from the 50 euro discount. For further details click here. N'oubliez pas de commander votre exemplaire avant la publication afin de bénéficier de la réduction de 50 euros. Plus d'informations ici. 
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