Maunday Thursday

Dear Friends in Christ,

Christian greetings to you all on this Maundy Thursday , when Priests and people celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper - the commoration of His Last Supper here on earth. Jesus left to us the Blessed Eucharist as a token of His love for us.

Over the years, in the role of Subdeacon, I had the privilege to take part in the Liturgical observance of Maundy Thursday and for instance assisted the Celebrant of the Mass with the feet washing ceremony. You recall how Jesus washed the feet of His Disciples and this is reinacted in the Mass.

What stands out clearly , is the theme of this ceremony, see Saint John 13:34 ' I have a new commandment to give you, that you are to love one another: that your love for one another is to be like the love I have borne you, says the Lord.

and rising from supper , after the Lord Jesus washed the feet of His disciples He said to them:' Do you understand what I, your Lord and Master, have done for you? I have set you the exemple that you may do likewise."

Some of the antphons , which are sung during this Ceremony all focus on Charity and Love and I close this evening with one of them :

'Where there is Charity and Love, God is present.

Response: We have been made one by the love of Christ.

Response: Let us be glad and rejoice in Him

Response: Let us reverence and love the living God.

Response: And love each other with pure hearts. "

May you and I in the course of our lives truly follow that direction.

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC New Zealand

Tuesday in Holy Week

click on the midi logo to hear a hymn

Friends in Christ,

When you go into the cities and into the towns of your country, you would not even know that we as Catholic Christians are in almost in the middle of Holy Week, in which we focus our hears and our minds on the Passion of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.

But the world around us seems to be inmune to the message of our salvation, but how can one afford to neglect it. Listen to this from Galations 6:4 ' But it is for us to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in who is our salvation, life and resurrection, by whom we have been saved and set free.

May God be merciful to us and bless us, may He smile graciously on us, and shew us His Mercy. But it is for us. Can we make every effort to carry out this message of salvation to all those, who are in dire need to hear it.

May God bless you and keep you,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

Monday in Holy Week

Friends in Christ,

play the hymn

Yesterday, Palm Sunday was one of these days in my life when a number of things went badly wrong and where some things that happened were ok. I had some troubles with a personal relationship with a friend and some troubles with a customer, who I deal with in the webdesign business. I felt a bit down, had to pray about it for God to lift me up.

I realize that I fail so many times in the course of my life, I just read the Collect for this day :" Grant, we beseech Thee, O God almighty, that we, who fail in the midst of trials by reason of our weakness, may be assisted thrrough the merits of the Passion of Thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. I think that the Collect was definately written for me. If I think about what Jesus did for me, I have absolutely no reason to feel the way I did yesterday. The suffering of Jesus is very much highlighted in the Epistle for the day, which comes from Isaias 50:5-10. Jesus never turned away, when they reviled Him and spat on Him. Jesus went through the dark places without a glimmer of light. He trusted in the name of God, His Father and He leant upon God.

If you relate to this short reflection, and I am sure that on some days you can, may you find these words uplifting and may God bless you and strenghten you.

With every good wish in Christ,

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC

Saturday evening

Friends in Christ,

The picture above if from the Church of the Holy Advent in Boston, USA. It reminds us that Palm Sunday is not far away, tomorrow in fact. It reminds me of many Palm Sunday celebrations at Church over the years. One of the highlights is meeting in a procession outside the Church building, have the Blessing of the Palms and be a real witness to those, who pass by on the street. And that it what it is all about, we set about to worship our Redeemer, the King, let's share our joy , our enthousiasm and our commitment to serve this Jesus with others.

I wish you, whereever you are a meaningful Palm Sunday and a blessed Holy Week.

' In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins' ( Colossians 1:14)

You remember that great Evangelist Bill Graham? He once said: ' No man ever loved like Jesus, He taught the blind to see and the dumb to speak. He died on the cross to save us. He bore our sins. And now God says, " Because He did, I can forgive you"

Thanks be to God,

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC New Zealand

Blessed John Keble

( picture of John Keble )

Friends in Christ,

Anglican Catholicism
The Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion are confusing institutions. In the case of most Christian denominations, one can know simply by their name what one might expect to encounter in their worship or their preaching. But in the Church of England this is not the case. Here in Oxford, where St Mary Magdalen's is situated, one can find churches which might be mistaken for conservative evangelical churches in the United States, and churches which might be thought to be traditionally Roman Catholic; with plenty of other churches falling somewhere in between these two. All of these churches, in fact, belong to the Church of England.
The term 'Anglo-Catholicism' describes a range of theological views and traditions within Anglicanism which emphasise the continuity of the Church of England - and those churches born out of it - with the teaching and practice of Christianity throughout the ages, rooted in scripture and the teachings of the early church. 'Anglo-Catholics' have always valued the sacramental life of the church, adhering strongly to doctrine such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the continuity of the apostolic orders of Bishop, Priest and Deacon. A significant stress on liturgy and worship - performed in order to maintain the beauty of holiness - makes worship in an Anglo-Catholic church an experience which is intended to appeal to one's whole person - to heart as well as head, to senses as well as to intellect.
John Keble
Oxford has a special significance for Anglo-Catholicism because it was here, in the 1830s, that a group of academic churchmen sought controversially to denounce the increasing secularization of the Church of England, and to recall it to its heritage of apostolic order, and to the catholic doctrines of the early church fathers. In the early 1830s, at Oriel College in Oxford, a growing number of young and extremely able Fellows, informally grouped around the slightly older John Keble, were increasingly outspoken about the needs and shortcomings of the contemporary church. Reform was in the air in England, the 17th century religious settlement was long gone, uniformity of religious practice, if it ever existed, had been replaced by the growth of Protestant churches which did not 'conform' with the established Church of England, and the continued presence of Roman Catholicism had been acknowledged and liberated by the act of Catholic Emancipation. Parliamentary attempts to reform the Church of Ireland provoked the wider questions which men such as John Keble and John Henry Newman sought to ask via conversation, preaching and most importantly, a series of Tracts for the Times.

John Henry Newman
These questions concern the doctrinal character of the Church of England - from where does it learn? What does it teach? What are the authorities which govern its preaching and its practice? John Henry Newman dated the beginning of the Oxford Movement to Keble's Assize Sermon of 14 July 1833, on National Apostasy, but it was really the Tracts, launched shortly afterwards by Newman, Vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Richard Hurrell Froude, a junior fellow of Oriel, William Palmer, and Keble himself, which began "the Oxford Movement". During the following eight years, ninety such Tracts were published. Did Baptism bestow an indelible character on the soul? What does "consecration" of the eucharistic elements signify? Was the Reformation and Elizabethan Settlement a release from papal bondage, a disaster imposed by a heretical state, or a sophisticated via media between these two extremes? How were the "golden ages" of the early Church Fathers and seventeenth century Anglican theology to be recovered?

Edward Bouverie Pusey
The Tractarians (so-called after their publications) were political controversialists. They were sharp, usually young men who drew upon a remarkable depth of learning and a facility with written arguments. One of them, called Edward Bouverie Pusey, continued to engage in fiercely intellectual theological controversy on behalf of a Catholic interpretation of the Church of England, until his death in 1882. Newman, on the other hand, felt that his only course involved reception into the Roman Catholic Church, a move he made in 1845. Many 'Tractarians' followed him, but despite the opposition of voices both Catholic and Protestant, the 'Anglo-Catholic' presence in the Church of England persisted and grew stronger.
Encouraged by Tractarian theology there was a great revival of interest in liturgy and church architecture, stemming not least from the Cambridge Camden Society, which had been formed in 1839. Among its leaders was John Mason Neale, for whom the society was not simply artistic and antiquarian, but very much theological. Its journal, the Ecclesiologist, which first appeared in 1841, argued for the importance of symbol and decoration in the mysteries of worship and championed the ideas of a young Roman Catholic architect, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, who saw Gothic as the only proper style of Church architecture, reflecting as it did the continual religious priorities of striving for heaven through prayer, sacrament and the Christian virtues.
The progress made by the "Puseyites", as they were often called, continued to go hand in hand with controversy. Newman's conversion was as notorious as any of his tracts. With the Gorham Judgement (which saw a Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overturn a bishop's decision not to institute to a parish a priest who held an unorthodox doctrine of baptism), many left the Church of England, convinced that it was bound by an Erastian state, among them Archdeacon Henry, later Cardinal, Manning. In the 1850s Archdeacon Dennison, of Taunton, was unsuccessfully prosecuted for teaching the catholic doctrine of the real presence. At the same time there were increasing vocations to the religious life. On Trinity Sunday 1841, Pusey heard the first profession of a nun in the Church of England for three centuries, Mother Marian Hughes. Pusey, along with Neale and such other great names as Richard Meux Benson, Priscilla Lydia Sellon and Thomas Thelluson Carter, was a driving force behind this revival. The strong doctrinal theology preached by the Tractarians had by now found its expression in contexts very far removed from the Universities. From the very first, the call to holiness - individual and corporate - had been at the heart of the Tractarians' teaching.
It was inevitable that their attentions would turn to the social and evangelistic problems of the industrial working class. Young Oxford men who had listened to people such as Pusey found themselves called to work in new and demanding slum parishes. The ritual innovations of which they were accused were often rooted in the desperate pastoral needs they encountered. Miss Sellons's Devonport Sisters of Mercy worked with the clergy of St Peter's Plymouth in the cholera epidemics of the late 1840s, and petitioned the parish priest, Fr George Rundle Prynne, for a celebration of the Eucharist each morning to strengthen them for their work. So began the first daily celebration of the Eucharist in the Church of England since the Reformation. Similarly the clergy of St Saviour's, Leeds (a parish Pusey had endowed), laid what medicines they had on the altar at each morning's communion, before carrying them out to the many dozens of their parishioners who would die of cholera that very day. One cannot underestimate the extraordinary transformation in Anglican practice which began with these early 'ritualists'. In the nineteenth century, vestments and candles were horrific to most, and yet in places such as the mission church of St George's in the East, thuribles were swung, genuflecting was encouraged, the sign of the cross was made frequently, devotion to the blessed sacrament was taken for granted. Confessions were heard, holy anointing was practised.
At the heart of such physical activity lay the Tractarian interpretation of the Christian doctrine of the incarnation. God, in Christ, lives among us as a physical reality. The poor must be brought the ministry of Christ in the celebration of the sacraments and the preaching of the gospel. Beauty and holiness were to go into the midst of squalor and depression, as a witness to the catholic faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, present and active in his world. During such times of crisis as the East London cholera epidemic of 1866, the sick and dying were to receive this sacramental presence as far as was possible. Deathbed confessions, the oil of unction, even, occasionally, communion from the reserved sacrament began to be administered. At the time such things were unknown in the Church of England. Now they are officially sanctioned and encouraged by its liturgical texts and regulations. The ritualists gave rise to a long and bitter battle, in which priests were imprisoned, many more dismissed, parish riots took place, rent-a-mob crowds were brought in, and bishops issued edicts from palaces to areas into which they would not dare set foot. Priests were prosecuted and, in five cases, imprisoned for practices which are now not just acceptable but actually the norm in the Church of England - having lighted altar candles, for example, or using wafer bread at the Eucharist.
The overwhelming success of the early Anglo-Catholics is seen not so much in those parishes which, like St Mary Magdalen's, rejoice in proclaiming their part in such a tradition. It is the rest of the church which has been the theatre of transformation over the last five or six decades. The rediscovered emphases on apostolic succession and the catholicity of the church, on priesthood, on sacrament and sacrifice, on prayer, holiness and the beauty of worship, are the Tractarians' gifts to their successors. A glance round the contemporary Church of England, still vastly divergent but nevertheless teeming with colourful decorations, revised liturgies, ancient hymns, and thousands of processions, aumbries, altars, oratories and retreat houses, reminds us just how dramatically the life of the English Church was and is renewed by the movement which began in Oxford and spread, through the Anglican Communion, across the entire world.
The above images of Keble, Newman and Pusey are reproduced with the kind permission of the Warden and Fellows of Keble College, Oxford

Source Saint Mary Magdalene Oxford

Yours in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Saint John of Damascus

Friends in Christ,

Let us turn to Blessed Saint Paul's letter to the Romans 8:34 ' Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God.

Upon a life I have not lived,

Upon a death I have not died -

Another's life, Another's death,

I stake my whole eternity.

Yours on this Lenten journey,

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC New Zealand

The Feast of the Annunciation

Dear Friends in Christ,

I found the following information on the Catholic New Advent website and like to share it with you:

Readings and Collect:Collect:God our Father, Your word became man and was born of the Virgin Mary.May we become more like Jesus Christ,whom we acknowledge as our redeemer, God and man.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.orAlmighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,You have revealed the beauty of Your powerby exalting the lowly virgin of Nazarethand making her the mother of our Savior.May the prayers of this womanbring Jesus to the waiting worldand fill the void of incompletionwith the presence of her Child,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, "Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test." And Isaiah said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanu-el. Take counsel together, but it will come to nought; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. Second Reading: Hebrews 10:4-10For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices and offerings Thou hast not desired, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings Thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God', as it is written of Me in the roll of the book." When He said above, "Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then He added, "Lo, I have come to do Thy will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Gospel Reading: Luke 1:26-38In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
The AnnunciationThe Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, is one of the most important in the Church calendar. It celebrates the actual Incarnation of Our Savior the Word made flesh in the womb of His mother, Mary.
The biblical account of the Annunciation is in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke, 26-56. Saint Luke describes the annunciation given by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she was to become the mother of the Incarnation of God.
Here is recorded the "angelic salutation" of Gabriel to Mary, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" (Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum - Lk 1:28), and Mary's response to God's will, "Let it be done to me according to thy word" (fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum) (v. 38)
This "angelic salutation" is the origin of the "Hail Mary" prayer of the Rosary and the Angelus (the second part of the prayer comes from the words of salutation of Elizabeth to Mary at the Visitation).
The Angelus, a devotion that daily commemmorates the Annunciation, consists of three Hail Marys separated by short versicles. It is said three times a day -- morning, noon and evening -- traditionally at the sound of a bell. The Angelus derives its name from the first word of the versicles, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae (The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary).
Mary's exultant hymn, the Magnificat, found in Luke 1:46-55, has been part of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours, at Vespers (evening prayer), and has been repeated nightly in churches, convents and monasteries for more than a thousand years.
The Church's celebration of the Annunciation is believed to date to the early 5th century, possibly originating at about the time of the Council of Ephesus (c 431). Earlier names for the Feast were Festum Incarnationis, and Conceptio Christi, and in the Eastern Churches, the Annunciation is a feast of Christ, but in the Latin Church it is a feast of Mary. The Annunciation has always been celebrated on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas Day.
Two other feasts honoring Our Lord's mother, the Assumption (August 15), and the Immaculate Conception (December 8), are celebrated as Holy Days of Obligation in the United States and many other countries. New Year's Day, January 1, is observed as a Solemnity of Mary. The Annunciation was a Holy Day throughout the Universal Church until the early 20th century. Many Catholics who are deeply concerned with the defense of the life of unborn children believe it would be fitting if the Feast of the Annunciation were restored to this status. Although it seems unlikely that it will be added to the Church calendar as a Holy Day of Obligation, we can certainly take on the "obligation" ourselves to attend Mass. In any case, it is most appropriate that we encourage special celebrations in the "Domestic Church".
One sign of the significance this Christian feast had throughout Western culture is that New Year's Day was for centuries celebrated on March 25. It was believed by some ancient Christian writers that God created the world on March 25, and that the fall of Adam and the Crucifixion also took place March 25. The secular calendar was changed to begin the year on January 1 (in 1752 in England and colonies, somewhat earlier on the continent).
Another remnant of the historic universality of Christianity in the West is the use of BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini The Year of Our Lord) to denote periods of time in history. There has been an attempt in some circles to change BC to BCE (before the common era), and AD to CE (common era) -- and although it is true that the religious significance of our system of dating has been effectively obliterated -- nevertheless, Christians and non-Christians alike consent to the birth of Christ as the "fulcrum" of the dating the events of human history.
Family observance of the Annunciation
In families with young children, this feast would be a good time to begin teaching youngsters important lessons about the inestimable value God places on human life.
First, that He loved us so much that He chose to become one of us to take on our humanity so completely that He "became flesh", as utterly weak and dependent as any human infant is. Second, God became "like us in all things except sin" at the moment of His conception in Mary's womb, not at some later time. The Feast of the Annunciation is a celebration of the actual Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Children may, quite naturally, think that the birth of Jesus is the time when Our Savior first "became Man", especially since Christmas has become the Christian holiday in our culture. We understand best what we can see, what is visible. The invisible, the hidden, is no less real for our lack of seeing it. (We think of the baby in its mother's womb, known and felt, though unseen, only to her.)
Even very young children can know the truth about the growth of a baby inside its mother's body, especially if the mother of the family (or an aunt, perhaps) happens to be pregnant on the holiday. The nine months' wait from March 25 to December 25 for the Baby to be born would be interesting to most children. (God made no special rules for His own bodily development!) What better way than the reading first chapter of Luke to gently begin teaching children about the beginning of each new human life?
Children should be told how important it is to every person that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1), and parents can find this feast a valuable teaching moment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Article 3 of the Creed: "He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary" (§436-511), should be read by parents. This will not only give adults a timely review of Catholic doctrine, but it can be a great help to us in transmitting important truths of the faith to our children. The summary at the end can help formulate points we want to emphasize. Excerpts from the Catechism could be read aloud to older children. Some other lessons that can be drawn from this important feast on the Church's Calendar are:
Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Angels as God's messengers
The importance of humility, submission and obedience to God's will
The value of hiddenness, silence, quiet (baby in womb, Mary at home, &c.)
Family Prayers and Readings
Saint Luke 1:26-53 ; Magnificat (Luke 1:46-53); Psalm. 139; John 1.
Creed (See also Catechism of the Catholic Church, Creed, Article 3.)
The Angelus
Rosary (Five Joyful Mysteries: Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation of Jesus, Finding of Jesus in the Temple)
Catechism: section on Angels (§328336)
Activities with children
Have children draw an Annunciation scene, with the Trinity present Father, Son and Holy Spirit as well as Mary and the Angel Gabriel. Another idea would be to make the figures from clay or play-dough, and make a "tableau" using a shallow box to represent Mary's house.
Mention that Christianity is unique in recognizing the Incarnation of the God as Jesus Christ, the Son. God's taking on a human body, while being truly and fully divine, is the reason why artistic representations of Jesus, Mary, etc., are not "idols" or "graven images" prohibited by the First Commandment. (See Catechism § 476, 466). Catholics who properly reverence images of sacred figures are actually reverencing the Person whom the image represents, not the physical object painting or sculpture or medal or whatever.
Make a flower centerpiece for the dinner table using red carnations (symbolize "incarnation"), baby's breath (innocence, spirit) and ivy (eternal fidelity). Explain how the symbolism of the flowers reminds us of the Annunciation, and the appropriateness of the gift of real flowers for the occasion. Sprinkle the flowers with Holy Water (little children love to do this!), and explain that this consecrates, or sets apart, our gift to the worship of God.
Make a special Annunciation Candle. Use a fat pillar candle of white or blue. Carve a niche in the wax large enough to fit inside it a tiny image (or picture cut from a Christmas card) of the Infant Jesus. Fasten a "curtain", made from a small piece of white cloth, over the opening with pins pushed into the wax. The candle wax represents the purity of the Virgin. The Baby is "hidden" within the body of the candle. Light the candle when the Angelus or Rosary is said on this Feast. The same candle can be saved from year to year. It can also be used on other feast days and solemnities of the Blessed Virgin (Assumption, Immaculate Conception); as well as on Pro-life observances (e.g., January 22, in the US). On Christmas the little curtain would be removed from the niche so the Holy Infant can be seen.
Substitute the regular bedtime story with looking at and talking about pictures of the Annunciation in books. There are many beautifully printed art books containing masterworks of Catholic art that can be borrowed from any public library -- or you may have some in your home library. There you may find reproduced paintings of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico, Roger van der Weyden, and others.
Make a household shrine. A statue or picture of Mary could be placed on a small table in a special place in the house. Or a picture or sculpture of Mary could be hung on the wall over a shelf or cabinet containing the Bible, prayer books and other devotional books, rosaries, &c.
On Marian feasts, especially the Feast of the Annunciation, decorate the "shrine" to "highly favored" Mary with real flowers, if possible. Carnations, roses or lilies in bud would be ideal.
If real flowers are impossible, children could make flowers symbolizing attributes of Mary from tissue or colored paper, etc. (See section on "Mary's flowers" below.) These flowers could be made into a wreath to be hung on the door or placed on a table with a statue or picture of Mary, or to surround the Annunciation Candle.
Plant seeds of marigold (named in honor of Mary) in little pots on a window sill; wait to see them sprout and grow. While you and the children are planting these, talk about the importance of "hidden" work. As a baby grows unseen within the mother's womb, and as the sprouting seed invisibly grows under the soil, so is much essential and vital work that people do -- not visible to most people, and perhaps never known except to God.
Transplant the seedlings to the flower bed outside when the weather permits. There's also a lesson here in the need to grow strong in the faith before we can "flower" as God intends us to do; also the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:2-20; Matt 13:3-23; Luke 8:4-15).
Bake a special cake to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation (perhaps a traditional seed cake?), or make waffles (a Swedish tradition). An angelfood cake would also be appropriate. It could be iced in pale blue, the traditional color of Mary's mantle.

Yours in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Postulan TAC New Zealand

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Passion Sunday

Dear Friends in Christ,

My sincere apologies for the silence on this blog spot for just a little while. I changed service providers with the usual hassles.

I had the wonderful opportunity to serve at Mass this morning , as an Traditional Anglican at the local Roman Catholic Church. What a wonderful ecumanical occassion.

Let us have a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:10, where we read ' Who dies for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should lie together with Him.'

We are no saved by theories, but by fact, and what is the fact ? For whom did Christ die?Christ died for sinners. Well then, He died for me.

Can I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Blessed week, leading towards Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

Yours on this Lenten Journey,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Friends in Christ,

Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. (See Matthew 1:24)When I discovered that today's holy Gospel reading was about Joseph and his "yes" to becoming the foster father of Jesus, I began to hunt for my grade school St. Joseph Missal. What a treasure! Happy memories returned when I began to read the prayers and devotions to the Patron of the Universal Church – the most pure spouse of Mary. When I was a child, I loved looking at the color pictures of St. Joseph at the back of my Prayer Book , and when Father would have us recite the prayers under each, the words stayed with me. Now as I read them again years later, the words have a deeper meaning and I realize what a wonderful intercessor St. Joseph is for so many of us, for so many reasons."Joseph, by your fatherly love for Jesus, protect all children.""Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, protect all Christian homes.""Joseph, model father, chaste spouse, help all men to imitate you.”"Joseph, chaste spouse of the virgin Mother, preserve in all hearts a love of purity.""Joseph, provider for the needs of Jesus and Mary, help the needy of the whole world.""Joseph, honest workman, teach us to labor for Jesus."

With every good wish in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

The week in New Zealand

Friends in Christ,

I am writing a note on the fourth Sunday in Lent, which is also called Mothering Sunday, for one time during Lent there are some flowers in Church, they are the customs of posies for the mothers, and a piece of simnel cake as sustenance. God wants us to be refreshed during this intense time of penance, fasting and meditation. I have written a word for this sunday on my website, http://www.crossspot.net/ststephenstac and if you have the time, please visit.

I would like you to pray for a friend of mine Fr.Vincent, who is having eye surgery on the 22nd of March. He is a Prior of an Anglican Catholic Monastry in Canada. The Monastry survives on donations, and it is finding it hard to make ends meet. In your charity , can you manage a donation to the Monastry? Please to to their website http://www.crossspot.net/augustinian for further details.

Let's pray for this community of Oxford in rural New Zealand where I live, that the Light of Christ may shine there, that more may be called to love Him and to serve Him. Praying especially for the young people.

Have a really blessed Sunday, wherever you may be on God's earth.

With every good wish in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

Lenten Feria

Friends in Christ,

May we turn today to Blessed Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 3, verse 20 'For our conversation is in Heaven; when also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look backward - see Christ dying for you.

Look upward - see Christ pleading for you.

Look inward - see Christ living in you.

Look forward - see Christ coming for you.

Four sentences, short, but so powerful.

Have a blessed day,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

Lenten feria

My Friends in Christ,

I am a keen collector of old Missals and Prayerbooks. Why? Because they contain so many words of wisdom, which our modern liturgies do not provide us with anymore. I turn to the old St.John's Missal frequently for words of wisdom and am very happy to share these with you this evening.

The Tuesday after the Third Sunday of Lent is devoted to the Protection of God. The Introit of the Mass comes from Psalm 16, the verses 6 and 8 " Hide me under the shelter of Thy Wings."And if we turn to the Book of Kings 4 , the verses 1-7 you will read the story of the miraculous multiplication of the oil by Eliseus, which symbolizes the abundant mercy of God.

We all like to feel secure in this life, on this journey through this barren land, we like to have a spouse, who loves us and who protects us. Yes.. that feeling of being protected. As committed Catholic Christians we know that the security in this life is not generated by worldly power and posessions and that Christ alone is our Rock and we do know that relationships often fail and this feeling of being protected, well it does seem to exist anymore. Security and protection can only be ours, if we make a commitment to love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ, to put His Holy Words into real action and to walk in His Holy Ways. Live your lives this way and expect many miracles. Always remember that God protects those who love Him as a man, who protects the apple of his eye. Again read that Psalm, which I quoted at the beginning of this short meditation.

During this most Holy Season of Lent, there is definately one thing that comes to the surface, i.e. us miserable sinners and then this abundant mercy of God. His Mercy was so abundant, that He gave us His only Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our Sins. It is mercy , in abundance, freely given, it is yours and it is mine, all we have to do is to accept it with a humble and contrite heart.

May God bless us, as we continue our Lenten journey.

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC New Zealand

The Third Sunday in Lent

Friends in Christ,

Read Exodus 3:1

Many of us have to get up early in the morning , well certainly on a week day. When we hear the alarm going off, we are tempted to stop the bell with the ' snooze' button. When the bell rings yet again, then we give the matter of rising our immediately attention.

For some people, Ash Wednesday is just enough to rouse the Lenten spirit of prayer and penance. Many need another warning that we must get serious about Prayer, Discipline and Almsgiving. Lent does involve so many different types of responses.

We have to ask ourselves, " What is God calling me to do with my life? What is my 'call'? You recall the story of the burning bush, when God appeared to Moses? Moses must have wanted to run far away when God appeared to him then. The Lord overruled all his objections and commanded him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. What a wake up call!! Frightened and unarmed, he began what seemed to be an impossible task. He had one advantage, of course, ( besides the help of his brother Aaron.) God had revealed to Moses what had been kept secret up until then - and that is His Name. The great I AM . God's Name helps us to establish our own identity.

If God is pure existent Being, then my own life is dependent on His will. My own identity is that of creature and servant. Everything I am and have hangs by a thread from God's own mysterious and awesome Life. Am I a true lover and servant? Lent is a time for me to check out my own name.In the parable of the barren fig tree, the Lord emphasizes the importance of repentance and change of heart. And even though His Father is patient with sinners, there is a time limit. There will come a day when the time of mercy is past, and Christ will judge us on our performance as faithful, obedient, and loving followers. A whole life of fidelity can seem overwhelming, but it's all so possible when we live it day by day with whatever prayer form fits our schedule, hopefully attendance at Mass, some kind of prayer, study, reaching out to those in need, devotions like a Holy Hour or Stations of the Cross.I have four weeks left to journey with Jesus to Calvary---and Easter Rising.

Have a truly blessed week.

Ed Bakker

Saint John of God

Friends in Christ,

Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh.(see Jeremiah 17:5) Tremendous inequality exists in our world. We know that poverty is global in scope, and that people all over the world suffer extensive and debilitating deprivation without many of the things we so often take for granted?like enough food, clean water, proper shelter, adequate sanitation, basic healthcare, access to education, personal safety, freedom from fear or a reliable source of income.The late Pope John Paul II said, "Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortune of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good: that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all." (Concern for the Social Order, 1987)It is by Christ?s example that followers are called to love with compassion. Starting where we are, we are called to place all of our trust in God and live our day-to-day lives in loving unity with all of God's people. Lent gives us the opportunity to examine our attitudes concerning the reasons people are economically poor. What are our assumptions and prejudices about why some people in this world simply struggle to survive? Today's readings remind us that the Lenten season is grounded in the paradox that those who lose their lives will gain them, and that those who cling to the things they have, without thought for others will eventually lose everything. But if we place our trust in God and spend our lives helping others, we will be richly rewarded?with eternal life!

( the source Catholic Advent )

With every good wish in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Saint Perpetua & Saint Felicity

Dear Friends in Christ,

Could I share with you :

Also known as: Vivia Perpetua Profile Born to a noble pagan family. Convert. Lay-woman. Wife. Mother. Martyred with her maid, friend, and fellow convert Saint Felicitas. In centuries past, their story was so popular that Saint Augustine had to warn against giving it the weight of Scripture.
Died: martyred 7 March 203 at Carthage; beheaded after being mauled by wild beasts. Patronage: cattle, death of children, martyrs Representation: cow; maiden with a wild cow or ox in an amphitheater Reading The day of the martyrs' victory dawned. They marched from their cells into the amphitheater, as if into heaven, with cheerful looks and graceful bearing. If they trembled it was for joy and not for fear. Perpetua was the first to be thrown down, and she fell prostrate. She got up and, seeing that Felicity was prostrate, went over and reached out her hand to her and lifted her up. Both stood up together. Rousing herself as if from sleep (so deeply had she been in spiritual ecstasy), she began to look around. To everyone's amazement she said, "When are we going to be led to the beasts?" When she heard that it had already happened she did not at first believe it until she saw the marks of violence on her body and her clothing. The people, however, had demanded that the martyrs be led to the middle of the amphitheater. They wanted to see the sword thrust into the bodies of the victims, so that their eyes might share in the slaughter. Without being asked they went where the people wanted them to go; but first they kissed one another, to complete their witness with the customary kiss of peace. Bravest and happiest martyrs! You were called and chosen for the glory and our Lord Jesus Christ. from a story of the death of the martyrs at Carthage

How far are we prepared to go when we confess Christ Crucified and the world persecutes us ?

In XC,

Ed Bakker

The Second Sunday in Lent

Dear Fathers, Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

I just finished an assignment on the Hebrews and listened to course notes on cd " The House of the Rising Son" by Dr.Scott Hahn.

My final exclamation on this paper:

I Ed Bakker, thank God for my Catholic Faith, I pray that I am grow in Grace, I pray that I may walk in Holiness of life. In this life I shall have trouble, but the best is yet to come.

May God bless you,

Ed Bakker

Saint Chad. B

Friends in Christ,

You might be expecting a meditation on Saint Chad, but I just want to say the following: I am currently in the middle of writing up an assignment and it has been a little bit difficult to do a daily blog. But... they will be continued.

If You, O Lord, laid bare our guilt, Lord, who could survive? But with You is found forgiveness, for this we revere You. (Psalm 130:1-2)

Guilt and forgiveness are words which are characteristic themes of this liturgical season. One theme speaks about the normal condition of sinful man, the other of the nature and essence of our loving God.There is a strange twist however, in that man is no longer acting "normal" having been desensitized to sin. He feels no guilt, no longer needs forgiveness, is in no need, or so he thinks, of a Savior.By acts of prayer, penance and almsgiving this Lent, let us grieve and repent not only for our own sins, but for the sins of our anesthetized, but mortally wounded, world.

"I do not wish the sinner to die, says the Lord, but to turn to me and live." (Ezekiel 33:11)

Thanks be to God.

Wishing you a blessed weekend,

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC New Zealand

Blessed George Herbert P 1632

Friends in Christ,

Isaiah 55:10-11Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19Matthew 6:7-15

Our Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Isaiah's prophetic words should deeply move our hearts, fill them with joyful hope; for in them God promises to provide perfectly for His children's physical needs; and, through His holy Word being sent to them, He will renew their human spirits and offer them salvation. God's Word, Christ, came to us as a humble child; then as a man He put our sin to death in His own human flesh. But through His resurrection He conquered death and now offers us a new life in Him. Isaiah conveys our Father's promise that His Son will not return to Him void but will draw many souls with Him. We play an essential part in the fruition of God's plan.Jesus tells us our Father-God will fulfill our heart's deepest desires if we will ask Him. There is one qualifying word in this promise; we are to ask for something "good." We earthbound creatures often define "good" to be health, riches, beauty, fame, talents, intelligence, esteem and power. However, God sees as our greatest "good" to be the forgiveness of sin and the renewal of our minds and hearts in His love and truth. If we first ask for and accept this gift, we will then ask "rightly," for our desires will be centered on our love for God rather than our love for self and this world's "goods." God's omniscience sees the "larger picture" and answers prayers in ways assuring the greatest good to all.Savior God, turn our eyes to follow Your light, that we may see our need to be reborn and then grow to maturity in our new life, daily drawing ever closer to You.

Amen.

A blessed Tuesday,

Ed

Feria

( the image represents the sanctuary of Saint Stephens Anglican Catholic Church, Athens Texas, USA )

Friends in Christ,

Mark 9:30-37

Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me. As Catholics, we are taught that our churches are holy ground. That’s because the Blessed Sacrament, the body of Christ, is placed inside the tabernacle on our altars. It’s for this reason that we genuflect before sitting down or leaving our seats. It’s an outward sign that we acknowledge Jesus as our King, that we worship and adore him, and that we are willing to receive him into our hearts and submit to his will.
But what about when we leave the church? Jesus is present out there in all the people we meet as well. Everyone, not just those we are close to and comfortable with, is made in the image and likeness of God, and when we see them, we’re really seeing a reflection of his glory. So how do you treat them? Do you show them the honor and respect they deserve? As Jesus tells us, whenever we receive even a little child in his name, we are receiving him.
If we can really grasp this truth, we can understand how it is possible to become “the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). It’s not a matter of just “doing”; it has to start on the inside. When we start to worship God for his greatness and majesty, we begin to see that majesty in his creation as well, and to love this world as he loves it. When we let the Holy Spirit dwell in us, we come to see others’ needs as God sees them, and we want to reach out to them with his compassion.
During this most Holy Season of Lent, let us ask the Lord to help us appreciate the people in our lives. Let’s ask that we would see him more clearly in those we love, and in those we find it hard to love: those who are argumentative and hostile, those who are cold and indifferent, or those who are demanding. This is one way we can deny ourselves—by finding the goodness we can find in such “difficult” people. Who knows? Instead of dreading them, we may end up loving them—and they, in turn, will draw us closer to Jesus!
“Lord, may this Lent be a time when I see the riches you have placed in those around me. Help me to see the blessing that they are. Give me your Spirit to bless them in return!”

God bless you,

Ed

Saint Peter's Chair at Antioch

Friends in Christ,

SAINT PETER’S CHAIR AT ANTIOCH(ca. 36-43)
That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Clement, Pope. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was then the capital of the East, and where the faith so early took such deep roots as to give birth there to the name of Christians. There his voice could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity — the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. Saint Chrysostom says that Saint Peter was there for a long period; Saint Gregory the Great, that he was seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.
If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Saviour’s Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed Saint Steven’s martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.
In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption. That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four sermons of Saint Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the people after their bishops’ decease, out of respect for their memory. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times. Saint Leo says we should celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, by the former he was installed Head of the Church on earth.
Reflection: On this festival we are especially bound to adore and thank the divine Goodness for the establishment and propagation of His Church, and to pray earnestly that in His mercy He will preserve it and extend its dominion, so that His name may be glorified by all nations and all hearts even to the boundaries of the earth.
Sources: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral)

Have a blessed day,
Ed..

Ashwednesday ( the Beginning of Lent )

Lent

Lord, bless to me this Lent

Lord, let me fast most truly and profitably,
By feeding in prayer on the Holy Spirit.
Reveal to my myself
In the light of Thy Holiness.


Suffer me never to think
that I have knowledge enough to need no teaching,
widsom enough to need no correction,
talents enough to need no grace,
goodness enough to need no progress,
humility enough to need no repentance,
devotion enough to need no quickening,
streght sufficient without Thy Spirit,
lest standing still, I fall back for evermore.

Show me the desires that should be disciplines,
And sloths to be slain,

Show me the omissions to be made up

And habits to be mended.

And behind these, weaken, humble and annihilate in me

Self-will, self-righteousness; self satisfaction,

Self-sufficieny, self-assertion, vainglory.

May my whole effort to be to return to Thee;

O make it serious and sincere

Preserving and fruitful in result,

By the help of the Holy Spirit,

And to Thy glory,

My Lord and my God.

(Borrowed from The Anglican Digest, Lent AD 2007 - the author is Eeric Milner-White, 1884-1963)

May I wish you and all those you love and pray for a Holy Lent,

Yours in Christ,

Ed Bakker

Postulant TAC - New Zealand

By clicking on this link you will be able to read a medition for Ashwednesday - by the way see you in Church at Mass this evening.

Ed

Feria

Friends in Christ,

The Traditional Anglican Communion rejoyced last week with the visit of our Bishop David Chislett to Oxford, in the South Island of New Zealand and also to Auckland, which is our biggest city on the North Island of New Zealand. The Oxford visit was Mission and we marked a historical occassion by having a Mass at local level. There is one thing that I am quite sure about and that was the presence of the Holy Spirit. Slowly , but surely we shall build a community of Traditional Anglicans in the South Island of New Zealand. So my friends, if you read this and you are searching for Christ in your life and you want to be part of this community of Orthodox, but Evangelical Christians, please contact me. Details on my website. Bishop David also conducted a confirmation service in our Parish of St.Hilda and St.Sebastian in Auckland. Again the Holy Spirit was present and we received two new members into the flock of Christ. Details of our Auckland Parish are also on the same website, just follow the links.

I recall my own confirmation at St.Paul's Cathedral, Wellington many years ago, the late Bishop Henry Baines, Bishop of Wellington confirmed me. On my confirmation certificate it has written:" He that endureth, shall be saved." Indeed the Christian Pilgrimage is far from easy, but let's join in the wonderful hymn: " O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end."

With every good wish in Christ,

Ed Bakker - Postulant TAC New Zealand

Feria

Friends in Christ,

For the Lord shall comfort Zion... and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. ( Isaiah 51:3)

Let us focus on the word " comfort " for one moment. I do believe that it is very much part of human nature that we have such a desire to have "comfort", which offcourse comes in many different ways, it comes in material possessions, and comes to us also in having a lot of loving relatives and friends around us. You only have to switch on your television set and all of sudden you fave a barrage of commercials telling you that you this deserve this lifestyle, in other words you deserve this comfort. Then comes the contrast, all of sudden the news bulletin comes on and yet we are faced with barrage of misery, crime and sufferings. Well, all this is far removed from our " comfort zone " We are so used to bad news , that we dont flick an eyelid. Or am I really incorrect in making this statement" Do we as Catholic Christians really understand that God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but TO MAKE US COMFORTORS.

Is there a message for you and I in Isaiah, that we should move more often out of our comfort zone and go out into the world and be " comforters"

What do you think?

Have a blessed weekend,

In XC

Ed Bakker

The Martyrs of Japan

Friends in Christ,

The following information comes from the Catholic New Advent website :

There is not in the whole history of the Church a single people who can offer to the admiration of the Christian world annals as glorious, and a martyrology as lengthy, as those of the people of Japan. In January, 1552, St. Francis Xavier had remarked the proselytizing spirit of the early neophytes. "I saw them", he wrote, "rejoicing in our successes, manifesting an ardent zeal to spread the faith and to win over to baptism the pagans they conquered." He foresaw the obstacles that would block the progress of the faith in certain provinces, the absolutism of this or that daimyo, a class at that time very independent of the Mikado and in revolt against his supreme authority. As a matter of fact, in the province of Hirado, where he made a hundred converts, and where six years after him, 600 pagans were baptized in three days, a Christian woman (the proto-martyr) was beheaded for praying before a cross. In 1561 he diamyo forced the Christians to abjure their faith, "but they preferred to abandon all their possessions and live in the Bungo, poor with Christ, rather than rich without Him", wrote a missionary, 11 October, 1562. When, under the Shogunate of Yoshiaki, Ota Nobunaga, supported by Wada Koresama, a Christian, had subdued the greater part of the provinces and had restored monarchical unity, there came to pass what St. Francis Xavier had hoped for. At Miyako (the modern Kiyoto) the faith was recognized and a church built 15 Aug., 1576. Then the faith continued to spread without notable opposition, as the daimyos followed the lead of the Mikado (Ogimachi, 1558-1586) and Ota Nobunaga. The toleration or favor of the central authority brought about everywhere the extension of the Christian religion, and only a few isolated cases of martyrdom are known (Le Catholicisme au Japon, I, 173).
It was not until 1587, when there were 200,000 Christians in Japan, that an edict of persecution, or rather of prescription, was passed to the surprise of everyone, at the instigation of a bigoted bonze, Nichijoshonin, zealous for the religion of his race. Twenty-six residences and 140 churches were destroyed; the missionaries were condemned to exile, but were clever enough to hide or scatter. They never doubted the constancy of their converts; they assisted them in secret and in ten years there were 100,000 other converts in Japan. We read of two martyrdoms, one at Takata, the other at Notsuhara; but very many Christians were dispossessed of their goods and reduced to poverty. The first bloody persecution dates from 1597. It is attributed to two causes: (1) Four years earlier some Castilian religious had come from the Philippines and, in spite of the decisions of the Holy See, had joined themselves to the 130 Jesuits who, on account of the delicate situation created by the edict were acting with great caution. In spite of every charitable advice given them, these men set to work in a very indiscreet manner, and violated the terms of the edict even in the capital itself; (2) a Castilian vessel cast by the storm on the coast of Japan was confiscated under the laws then in vigour. Some artillery was found on board, and Japanese susceptibililties were further excited by the lying tales of the pilot, so that the idea went abroad that the Castilians were thinking of annexing the country. A list of all the Christians in Miyado and Osaka was made out, and on 5 Feb., 1597, 26 Christians, among whom were 6 Fransciscan missionaries, were crucified at Nagasaki. Among the 20 native Christians there was one, a child of 13, and another of 12 years. "The astonishing fruit of the generous sacrifice of our 26 martyrs" (wrote a Jesuit missionary) "is that the Christians, recent converts and those of maturer faith, have been confirmed in the faith and hope of eternal salvation; they have firmly resolved to lay down their lives for the name of Christ. The very pagans who assisted at the martyrdom were struck at seeing the joy of the blessed ones as they suffered on their crosses and the courage with which they met death".
Ten years before this another missionary had foreseen and predicted that "from the courage of the Japanese, aided by the grace of God, it is to be expected that persecution will inaugurate a race for martyrdom". True it is that the national and religious customs of the people predisposed them to lay down their lives with singular fatalism; certain of their established usages, religious suicide, hara-kiri, had developed a contempt for death; but if grace does not destroy nature it exalts it, and their fervent charity and love for Christ led the Japanese neophytes to scourgings that the missionaries had to restrain. When this love for Christ had grown strong in the midst of suffering freely chosen, it became easier for the faithful to give the Saviour that greatest proof of love by laying down their lives in a cruel death for His name's sake. "The fifty crosses, ordered for the holy mountain of Nagasaki, multiplied ten or a hundred fold, would not have sufficed" (wrote one missionary) "for all the faithful who longed for martyrdom". Associations (Kumi) were formed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin with the object of preparing the members by prayer and scourgings even to blood, to be ready to lay down their lives for the faith. After the persecution of 1597, there were isolated cases of martyrdom until 1614, in all about 70. The reigns of Ieyasu, who is better known in Christian annals by the name of Daifu Sama, and of his successors Hidetada and Iemitziu, were the more disastrous. We are not concerned now with the causes of that persecution, which lasted half a century with some brief intervals of peace. According to Mr. Ernest Satow (quoted by Thurston in "The Month", March, 1905, "Japan and Christianity"): "As the Jesuit missionaries conducted themselves with great tact, it is by no means improbable that they might have continued to make converts year by year until the great part of the nation had been brought over to the Catholic religion, had it not been for the rivalry of the missionaries of other orders." These were the Castilian religious; and hence the fear of seeing Spain spread its conquests from the Philippines to Japan. Furthermore the zeal of certain religious Franciscans and Dominicans was wanting in prudence, and led to the persecution.
Year by year after 1614 the number of marytrdoms was 55, 15, 25, 62, 88, 15, 20. The year 1622 was particularly fruitful in Christian heroes. The Japanese martyrology counts 128 with name, Christian name and place of execution. Before this the four religious orders, Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Jesuits, had had their martyrs, but on 10 Sept., 1622, 9 Jesuits, 6 Dominicans, 4 Franciscans, and 6 lay Christians were put to death at the stake after witnessing the beheading of about 30 of the faithful. From December until the end of September, 1624, there were 285 martyrs. The English captain, Richard Cocks (Calendar of State Papers: Colonial East Indies, 1617-1621, p. 357) "saw 55 martyred at Miako at one time. . .and among them little children 5 or 6 years old burned in their mother's arms, crying out: 'Jesus receive our souls'. Many more are in prison who look hourly when they shall die, for very few turn pagans". We cannot go into the details of these horrible slaughters, the skilful tortures of Mount Unaen, the refined cruelty of the trench. After 1627 death grew more and more terrible for the Christians; in 1627, 123 died, during the years that followed, 65, 79, and 198. Persecution went on unceasingly as long as there were missionaries, and the last of whom we learn were 5 Jesuits and 3 seculars, who suffered the torture of the trench from 25 to 31 March, 1643. The list of martyrs we know of (name, Christian name, and place of execution) has 1648 names. If we add to this group the groups we learn of from the missionaries, or later from the Dutch travellers between 1649 and 1660, the total goes to 3125, and this does not include Christians who were banished, whose property was confiscated, or who died in poverty. A Japanese judge, Arai Hakuseki, bore witness about 1710, that at the close of the reign of Iemitzu (1650) "it was ordered that the converts should all lean on their own staff". At that time an immense number, from 200,000 to 300,000 perished. Without counting the members of Third Orders and Congregations, the Jesuits had, according to the martyrology (Delplace, II, 181-195; 263-275), 55 martyrs, the Franciscans 36, the Dominicans 38, the Augustinians 20. Pius IX and Leo XIII declared worthy of public cult 36 Jesuit martyrs, 25 Franciscans, 21 Dominicans, 5 Augustinians and 107 lay victims. After 1632 it ceased to be possible to obtain reliable data or information which would lead to canonical beatification. When in 1854, Commodore Perry forced an entry to Japan, it was learned that the Christian faith, after two centuries of intolerance, was not dead. In 1865, priests of the foreign Missions found 20,000 Christians practising their religion in secret at Kiushu. Religious liberty was not granted them by Japanese law until 1873. Up to that time in 20 provinces, 3404 had suffered for the faith in exile or in prison; 660 of these had died, and 1981 returned to their homes. In 1858, 112 Christians, among whom were two chief-baptizers, were put to death by torture. One missionary calculates that in all 1200 died for the faith.

May the souls of the faithful rest in the mercy of Christ and rise in glory. Amen.

Ed Bakker

Saint Valentine

Friends in Christ,

The information below comes from the " New Advent " website :

At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.
Saint Valentine's Day
The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice. Perhaps the earliest to be found is in the 34th and 35th Ballades of the bilingual poet, John Gower, written in French; but Lydgate and Clauvowe supply other examples. Those who chose each other under these circumstances seem to have been called by each other their Valentines. In the Paston Letters, Dame Elizabeth Brews writes thus about a match she hopes to make for her daughter (we modernize the spelling), addressing the favoured suitor:
And, cousin mine, upon Monday is Saint Valentine's Day and every bird chooses himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion.
Shortly after the young lady herself wrote a letter to the same man addressing it "Unto my rightwell beloved Valentine, John Paston Esquire". The custom of choosing and sending valentines has of late years fallen into comparative desuetude.

Well, is their a Christian message for this day, Saint Valentines Day? I believe there is, the theme for this day is " love " , although we know that it is basically a day for the retailers, perhaps I can say this, If have you love some-one so much and you go out of your way to get him or her a Valentine, that is exercising great care for that person. Could we as Catholic Christians make every day a special day, a " Valentines" day, to show that we care so very much for all those we love and pray for ? And " Love one-another, as Christ has loved us"!!

Well, on that note, enjoy your day with your love ones.

In XC

Ed Bakker