News of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

I was delighted to see on the New Liturgical Movement a post by Fr Lawrence Lew OP about his recent stay with the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem in the US.

I met the canons at the two conferences almost a decade or so ago on the Traditional liturgy which were held at Merton College here in Oxford. I was most impressed by Dom Daniel Augustine and the young men he had recruited into his community and I continue to esteem them and keep them in my prayers.

Fr Lawrence's account can be seen at Visit to the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

 

Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

I see from a recent post on the New Liturgical Movement that the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem will have a special Mass today at their hose in West Virginia to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of their foundation, with Gregorian chant and the Palestrina Mass for six voices Viri Galilaei. Further information is in the poster reproduced below.

 Image: New Liturgical Movement

I met the Canons Regular at the two Merton conferences here in Oxford on the traditional liturgy organised by CIEL and the LMS, and I was impressed by their vision, and found them to be also a very friendly and positive community. This is then an opportunity for me to send my congratulations to them and assure them of my continuing prayers.

Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

I was delighted to read on the website of the New Liturgical Movement for last Monday that my friends the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem have secured themselves a new home. I have copied their statement from the NLM site:

The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem are deeply grateful to God and Bishop Michael Bransfield of the Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston (West Virginia) for permission granted on Friday, January 28, 2011, to establish ourselves in that diocese for an initial period of two years. We can have no doubt that this permission, the fruit of mature deliberation on the part of Bishop Bransfield and his collaborators over the past two years, has come to us through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the long prayer, fasting, and sacrifices made on our behalf by hundreds of friends and benefactors around the world. The CRNJ publicily expresses a particular gratitude to all who have prayed and worked so diligently for this important development. We wish to assure each of you of our continuing prayers for you in all your needs. May Our Lady of Walsingham continue to guide our humble work, ever using us to draw souls closer to the Heart of Jesus, the beginning and end of our life in religion and priestly service to His Church.

I mert the Canons at two Oxford conferences on the Usus Antiquior at Merton in 2006 and 2007, and have maintained contact with them. They are an impressive group of men, who combine a serious commitment to liturgical excellence with a humane pastoral style that impresses and offers a model for others. I very much hope and pray that with a secure base they can grow as a community and serve the wider Church.

Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem Eighth Anniversary

My good friends the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem have sent me details of their eighth anniversary celebrations next weekend. Unfortunately I cannot attend - I have a previous arrangement and California is a bit far for day trip from Oxford (with or without Icelandic ash clouds and BA cabin crew strikes).

However if any readers are within reach I would urge you to go along to the Mass

of Thanksgiving in the Extraordinary Form at the Norbertine Abbey of St Michael at Silverado in California. The Mass is at 10, and followed by a reception.

I met Dom Daniel Augustine and his Canons at the CIEL Conference at Merton here in Oxford in 2006 and again at the first of the Latin Mass Society's training conferences there the following year. I was very impressed by their vision and commitment, and by their great friendliness. They are a community I keep in my prayers and wish well. I am very happy to introduce others to them either in person or through their website, or by publicising this anniversary celebration. Their vision of what can be done within the Church is both truthful and attractive.

If, like me, you cannot attend, please keep CRNJ in your prayers both on Saturday and on a regular basis.

Here, courtesy of the New Liturgical Movement, are some pictures from last year's Anniversary Mass at St Michael's Abbey:




Exquisite Gothic Revival Vestments made by Dom Daniel Augustine Oppenheimer



For those who would like another view of the vestments, which are simply superb, here is one which shows the subdeacon in tunicle with humeral veil: