THE NEW SEED, AUGUST 2022.
In August we honour Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, St Clare of Assisi, companion of Saint Francis and St Mary McKillop, the first Australian saint. This Newsletter will provide some light on St Clare and St Mary MacKillop. Prayers Saint Clare of Assisi 11 August Lord God, in the holiness of blessed Clare you have given us a clear light to shine in his world. Give us grace to follow in her footsteps, that we may at last rejoice with her in the clear light of your eternal glory: through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, now and forever, Amen. . St Mary MacKillop 12 August God of the pilgrim, St Mary MacKillop trusted your guidance in her journey of life and deepened her confidence in your will, May we renew our trust in your providence to lead us in hope. May we relish the sacred in the ordinariness of our lives. May we grow into the fullness of your love and the depth of your mystery. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life. Amen. The Assumption of Our Lady 14 August O Lord Christ, who for her wondrous humility and purity hast exalted the holy Lady Mary among the hosts of heaven; grant that we, Thy people, may so follow her most noble example, that we may at the latter end be found worthy to serve Thee even as do Thy holy Angels; Thou who livest and reignest in glory for evermore. Amen Roses One day Francis and Clare were on a journey together from Spoleto to Assisi, and on the way they stopped and knocked at a house for a little bread and water. The family invited them in but proceeded to give them suspicious looks and make snide remarks about Francis and Clare being alone together on the road. The two saints then continued on their way through the snow-felted countryside, for it was winter. And as evening came on, Francis suddenly said, “Lady Clare, did you understand what the people back there were hinting at?” But Clare was too distressed to answer for fear the words would catch in her throat. So Francis continued, “It is time for us to part. You will reach San Damiano by nightfall, and I shall go on alone, wherever God leads me.” Then Clare fell to her knees in the middle of the road, prayed awhile in silence and walked away without turning around. She walked until she entered a deep wood where she stopped, unable to continue without some word of consolation or farewell. So she waited there for Francis; and when he finally entered the wood, she said, “Father, when shall we two meet again?” and Francis replied, “When summer returns and the roses are again in bloom.” Then a miracle occurred: All the surrounding juniper bushes and frosted hedges were covered with roses. And Clare, recovering from her amazement, walked to the bushes, picked a bunch of roses and gave them to Francis. And so, says the legend, from then on Francis and Clare were never really separated again. From Murray Bodo OFM, THE WAY OF ST. FRANCIS St Clare’s Blessing of her Sisters In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He show His face to you and be merciful to you. May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace. I, Clare, a handmaid of Christ, flower of our holy father Francis, a sister and a mother to you and all the other Poor Sisters, although unworthy, ask our Lord Jesus Christ through His mercy and through the intercession of Hus most holy Mother Mary, of blessed Michael the Archangel and all the holy angels of God, and of His men and women saints, that the heavenly Father give you and confirm for you this most holy blessing in heaven and on earth. On earth, may He increase His grace and virtues among His servants and handmaids of His Church Militant. In heaven, may He exalt and glorify you in His Church Triumphant among all His men and women saints. I bless you in my life and after my death as much as I can and more than I can, with all the blessings with which the Father of miracles has and will have blessed His sons and daughters in heaven and on earth. Amen. Always be lovers of God and your souls and the souls of your Sisters, and always be eager to keep what you have promised to the Lord. May the Lord be with you always and, wherever you are, may you be with Him always. Amen. St Mary MacKillop by Osmund Thorpe Mary Helen MacKillop (1842-1909), known in religious life as Mother Mary of the Cross, was born on 15 January 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, the eldest of eight children of Alexander McKillop and his wife Flora. Her parents had migrated from the Lochaber area in Inverness-shire and married soon after they reached Melbourne. After a prosperous start the family became impoverished. Mary was educated at private schools but chiefly by her father who had studied for the priesthood at Rome. To help her family Mary became in turn a shop-girl, a governess, and at Portland a teacher in the Catholic Denominational School and proprietress of a small boarding school for girls. As she grew to womanhood Mary was probably influenced by an early friend of the family, Father Patrick Geoghegan, and began to yearn for a strictly penitential form of religious life. Concluding she would have to go to Europe to execute her plan, she placed herself under the direction of Father Julian Tenison-Woods who, as parish priest of Penola in South Australia sometimes visiting Melbourne and Portland, wanted to found a religious society, 'The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart'; they were to live in poverty and dedicate themselves to educating poor children. With Mary its first member and Superior the society was founded at Penola on 19 March 1866 with the approval of Bishop Laurence Sheil. By then she was spelling her surname MacKillop. The Sisterhood spread to Adelaide and other parts of South Australia, and increased rapidly in membership but ran into difficulties. Tenison-Woods had become director of Catholic schools and conflicted with some of the clergy over educational matters. One priest with influence over the bishop declared publicly he would ruin the director through the Sisterhood. The result was that Mary was excommunicated by Bishop Sheil on 22 September 1871 for alleged insubordination; most of the schools were closed and the Sisterhood almost disbanded. The excommunication was removed on 21 February 1872 by order of the bishop nine days before he died. In 1873 at Rome Mary obtained papal approval of the Sisterhood but the Rule of Life laid down by Tenison-Woods and sanctioned by the bishop on 17 December 1868 was discarded and another drawn up. Tenison-Woods blamed her for not doing enough to have his Rule accepted and this caused a permanent breach between them. She travelled widely in Europe visiting schools and observing methods of teaching, and returned to Adelaide on 4 January 1875. In March she was elected Superior-General of the Sisterhood. In journeys throughout Australasia she established schools, convents and charitable institutions but came into conflict with those bishops who preferred diocesan control of the Sisterhood rather than central control from Adelaide. In 1883 Bishop Christopher Reynolds, misunderstanding the extent of his jurisdiction over the Sisterhood, told her to leave his diocese. She then transferred the headquarters of the Sisterhood to Sydney. On 11 May 1901 she suffered a stroke at Rotorua, New Zealand. Although retaining her mental faculties, she was an invalid until she died in Sydney on 8 August 1909. Mary's finest feature was her large blue eyes. Affectionate but determined, her virtues were multitudinous with charity towards her neighbour outshining all.. Mary was canonised as Saint Mary of the Cross at a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter's Square in the Vatican on 17 October 2010. This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, (MUP), 1974 The Inclusive Sacramental Church of Christ Presiding Bishop: Most Rev Harry Aveling. Vicar General: Rt Rev David Jones. St Francis and St Clare, Melbourne: Pastor: Bishop Harry Aveling. Priest: Marion Gilchrist. Deaconess: Roberta Howard. Servers: Peter Howard, (Reader); Noel Wyndom. Singers: Robyn James; Marian Quartly. Community of St Raphael the Healer, Brisbane: Rev Vicki Jones (Priest); Bp David Jones (Pastor). The Upper Room Adelaide: Rev John Coles; Rev Raymee Chau (Subdeacons). Western Australia: Rev Fr Neil Blay (Priest). TISCC, Auckland: Rev Dr Jerry Sullivan (Deacon). Lumen Ecclesia Christi, Malaysia: Mr Felix Cheah (Graduate Seminarian). https://tiscc.weebly.com/church-news https://tiscc.weebly.com/
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