On the Feast of St. Cecilia, 22 November 2008, the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, the Most Reverend Mark Coleridge, ordained Rev. Mr. Dominic Popplewell FSSP and the Rev. Mr. Marko Rehak FSSP, to the Sacred Priesthood, using the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
Here are some photos. They all uploaded in reverse order, so start from the bottom and read up!
Fr Rehak blesses friends of his family.
Fr Popplewell blesses his parents.
The Archbishop receives first blessings from the new priests.
Special thanks to Archbishop Coleridge, sometime confessor to Pope John Paul II, polyglot, academic and pastor. His Latin pronunciation was impeccable. Of course, he is fluent in Italian. After the ordination, he even spoke some Maltese and French to various members of the faithful, including a francophone Hong Konger. My request for His Grace to repeat what he had said in Cantonese was declined with good humour.
Blessing of the ministers and servers after the ordination.
The chasubles are unfolded
After receiving communion, the priests drink plain wine as an ablution.
The priests read the Canon along with the Bishop, who reads it out loud.
A rare shot: the prests wash their hands of the Sacred Oil using lemon, bread and water.
There was collective weeping from all mothers in the congegation who saw the touching moment when the new priests gave their hand bindings to their mothers. Their mothers will be buried with the bindings in their hands, ready to present them to God at Judgement to show Him that they gave to Him a priest.
Frs. Popplewell and Rehak in their hand bindings.
Apparently in the Middle Ages it was the common belief that the power of the priesthood was conferred at this point (above) when the priest touced the chalice and paten.
Anointing of hands.
Nice to see some folded Gothic chasubles! It's gothic all around down under (more or less)!
In case you didn't notice...The Laying on of Hands.
The Litany of the Saints.
The Deacons prostrate themselves for the Litany of the Saints.
Before the laying on of hands.
The Archbishop was framed that day.
"Adsum" - "Present" the deacons say, as they are called forth from their places.
The scope of the Wide Angle Lens always amazes me. The wide aperture possible on such a lens also avoids the need to use flash during the liturgy, which is extremely annoying.
I have never seen the Cathedral lookng like this. Well done Archbishop Coleridge once again on putting the marble down. The wall was not painted red before, as shown above. Good choice of colour, as it went well with the vestments!
Rev. Mr. Popplewell, as he then was, processes from the sacristy.
Fr. Berg and the Archbishop get ready to process from the sacristy.
Here, we see one of the Familiarii, the four coped servers who hold the Crozier (bishop's staff), mitre, book and bugia (hand candle). They are all laymen, although the Familiarii have to wear copes. Of course, they take the copes and other vestments off as soon as possible after serving a liturgical function, since such vestments are not proper to their state in life. Chris in the cope there looks a bit like the Infant of Prague!
There was a priest of the Ukrainian Rite present, and I believe that this tunic and cross were supplied by him.
Deacon Rehak puts on the maniple: Merear, Domine, portare manipulum fletus et doloris; ut cum exsultatione recipiam mercedem laboris. - Grant, O Lord, that I may so bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow, that I may receive the reward for my labors with rejoicing.
Of course here, Deacon Rehak appears to be smiling, rather than weeping in sorrow!
Fr Gregory Jordan S.J
Having donned the amice, Deacon Rehak (as he then was), gets ready to put on the alb, saying: Dealba me, Domine, et munda cor meum; ut, in sanguine Agni dealbatus, gaudiis perfruare sempiternis. Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that, being made white in the Blood of the Lamb, I may come to eternal joy.
A photo of His Grace donning the amice. At least one Cathedral in Australia seems not to allow photos to be taken of prelates vesting. What this is based on, I am not sure, but I have seen such photos on the web before and don't think it is a general rule. The reason why I like photographs of priests and prelates vesting is that they remind the faithful of the various vestments which clerics need to wear to perform the liturgy, and the special prayers that go on with them. I sometimes think of vesting as akin to a "battle prep" scene in a guns'n'ammo movie, where the protagonist selects his choice of arsenal for the battle. As he dons the amice, the priest prays: Impone Domine capite meo galeam salutis, ad expugnandos diabolicos incursus: Place upon me, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, that I may overcome the assaults of the devil.
Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the FSSP, talks to Fr. William Define, Regional Superior of the FSSP in the Southern Cross Region.
Some detractors of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, so dear to Pope Benedict XVI (the Rite, that is, not the detractors!) say that the E.F. is for some kind of bourgeois elite not interested in the poor etc. To this can be said two things: firstly, many adherents to the E.F. are the poor, especially the priests; secondly, the Fraternity of Saint Peter is currently active in a missionary apostolate in Nigeria. Above and on the left is Deacon Antony Sumich, a member of the Fraternity of Saint Peter who is stationed in Nigeria. They have no electricity or air conditioning, and only basic plumbing. The missionaries eat what the locals eat, and drink what the locals drink. Local devotions include the "2000 Hail Mary" devotion on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Deacon Sumich recounts that once, a bunch of men turned up for a novena. They stayed at the shrine for nine days and prayed 30,000 rosaries. I struggle to get through one a day. Above, Deacon Sumich talks to Fr Gregory Jordan S.J., a fine example of a Jesuit.
The Sanctuary was very well set up. Previously, the entire floor of the Cathedral of St. Christopher was covered in green carpet, which deadened the sound of the choir and organ and gave it the general feel and atmosphere of the Canberra Workers Club's gaming room (I believe that establishment has since closed down). Thanks to Archbishop Coleridge, there is a wonderful marble floor with a cross motif in white marble. Not only does the marble give itself to good acoustics, but its highly reflective nature really gives the Cathedral a feeling of space, and reflects the traditional stained glass windows of various Saints. Well done Your Grace!
Gospel being sung by Rev. Mr. Andrew Benton from Sydney.
The then Rev. Br. Mannes on the left, and the now Rev. Br. Vincent Magat who was ordained to the diaconate on the same day.
'Adsum!' (but in English of course).
Litany of the Saints. A bunch of Dominican saints were thrown in I believe.
The "Wizard of Oz" photo.
Anointing of the hands.
The 'traditio'...just pretend your hands are bound and you're right.
And of course our beautiful choir.
