Tonight we went to the Oratory with Maddy for the first evening of the
Triduo before Candlemas devotions. Candlemas will be celebrated on Friday, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, with a High Mass at 8pm. It is a special Feast in particular for the Oratory because it is the anniversary of its foundation by the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman in 1848. So these few days leading up to that are an important time for prayers and Benediction to ask Our Lady's intercession for our community.
A very special evening for little Madeleine! Not only did she have all the Oratory mothers swooning over her, but the opportunity to be blessed (including by the monstrance and blessed sacrament, of course) and held in consecrated hands! All the Oratory Fathers were very taken with her; Fr. Phillip Cleevely gave her a blessing during communion (
above left). He also held her afterwards
(right) during a birthday party for Fr. Paul Chavasse (who was beaming with delight at the new addition to his congregation); Fr. Guy Nichols
(top) held and admired her; Fr. Dermot Fenlon gave her his blessing. I hope you like the lovely pics!
Tonight we went to the Oratory with Maddy for the first evening of the Triduo before Candlemas devotions. Candlemas will be celebrated on Friday, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, with a High Mass at 8pm. It is a special Feast in particular for the Oratory because it is the anniversary of its foundation by the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman in 1848. So these few days leading up to that are an important time for prayers and Benediction to ask Our Lady's intercession for our community.
A very special evening for little Madeleine! Not only did she have all the Oratory mothers swooning over her, but the opportunity to be blessed (including by the monstrance and blessed sacrament, of course) and held in consecrated hands! All the Oratory Fathers were very taken with her; Fr. Phillip Cleevely gave her a blessing during communion (above left). He also held her afterwards (right) during a birthday party for Fr. Paul Chavasse (who was beaming with delight at the new addition to his congregation); Fr. Guy Nichols (top) held and admired her; Fr. Dermot Fenlon gave her his blessing. I hope you like the lovely pics! 
Great pics Matt. Maddy is truly blessed =)
ReplyDeleteWhen is the baptism scheduled?
Wonderful pictures.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations once again
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteMy wife loves your blog more than mine!
Another thought, seeing her in the arms of a priest:
ReplyDeleteWith our youngest child, we had her baptized the day she was born. This was a tremendous grace for her, and was providential, since she was seriously ill by the time she was 2 weeks old(urosepsis). We had her confirmed at that time.
I would strongly recommend baptizing her earlier; this is something which we have gradually come to realize over the course of the years. After Noisykid #4 was baptized at 4 weeks by my brother the priest, he told us to not wait so long. We took this advice to heart and we could never turn back.
Just my unsolicited two cents.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe my eyes when i looked up & this little baby was right in front of me! I'm one of the swooning moms!
The pictures are as ever wonderful...i hope you got my little boy Andrew. he had already served the evening sung Mass, & dissolved into tears when we told him we wern't planning to come back for Benediction & The Triduo.
So we made a big effort. His spirituality is amazing. Nice to remeber this about the boys on this Feast of St John Bosco.
Wendy hope you can make the Book Club on the 13th.
NK father...how many do you have?
We had our last baptised at 10 days old, but the others at 4 weeks...
God bless,
Jackie Parkes
Maddy will be baptised on Saturday February 10th. You're very welcome to come along, just get in touch and I'll let you know the details. I, too, do not believe in waiting long. Maddy was desperate when she met Fr. Phillip to be baptised immediately but unfortunately we have fixed a date to take into account being overdue etc. and so friends and family can book it in advance.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, once again. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear arrangements for Baptism were made before birth - in our parish there are various procedures to go through for preparation and if this is arranged at birth a few months can go by before Baptism. I was born on a Tuesday and Baptised the following Sunday but that was some time ago......
Beautiful, Matt! Beautiful!
ReplyDeletedadwithnoisykids:
I'm not trying to be argumentative, but does confirmation prior to the age of reason do anything? Do you know what I mean?
Mark, confirmation is a sacrament and intrinsically bestows a certain amount of grace regardless. Catholicism is orientated solely towards God and his grace working in our lives, with the sacraments a culmination of this. In the early Church the sacraments of initiation were all combined and it was only later that confirmation became seperate. But I agree, that it is a sacrament more appropriate for the age of reason when the child or young adult is being annointed as a soldier of Christ to spread His Word.
ReplyDeleteMrs. P:
ReplyDeleteWe are blessed with 12 living children and are diligently praying for more children.
Mark:
I am putting a note about confirmation on my blog. Thank you for your question about confirmation. It made me get up and read the Catechism! i did not spend much time on your blog, but we will remember you in our prayers. I have an uncle and cousin who are policemen in Philadelphia, and have a good friend on the Dallas Police Department.
God Bless
Hi,
ReplyDeleteDad with noisy kids! It was my ambition to have a dozen kids, but my health deteriorated dramatically after Jacinta, our 10th was born. We did however have 2 miscarried babies, so i guess i had my dozen after all!
Matt & Wendy..how's the feeding going? If Madeline is anything like mine, she will feed all night & sleep all day
God bless,
Jackie
She's absolutely beautiful. Congratulations to you both, and to you, Matt, for passing your exams. I do enjoy your interesting blog and wish I was able to read it more often.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt, those are great pictures! Congratulations again and be assured of my own prayers from a distance.
ReplyDelete