Lent 2019: The Way of the Cross

Friday, 8 March 2019

The Way of the Cross for Priests
€6.00

The Way of the Cross for Priests is now available from Silverstream Priory’s own Cenacle Press. This Way of the Cross may be prayed by anyone. It is suitable for layfolk and religious as well as for priests. It is an expression of intercession for priests and, in particular, for those priests whose journey is marked by sufferings of mind, and soul, and body. The beautifully designed 22-page booklet is suitable for the Stations of the Cross prayed privately or publicly. The foreword and prayers of each station were written by Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, Prior of Silverstream. The book bears an imprimatur from the Bishop of Meath. The cost of shipping is included in the price. Bulk pricing, over 10 copies, is available (please enquire with the monks). Order online here.

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366 Years of Adoration

Monday, 25 March 2019

Carlow_Cathedral_St_Alphonsus_kneeling_before_the_Most_Holy_Sacrament_2009_09_03.jpgNavigating the Avenues of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
March 25, 2019 marks the 366th anniversary of the establishment of the Benedictines of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar by Catherine Mectilde de Bar. New monasteries come to birth, and develop, and thrive within the Body of Christ, the Church, and under the care of her bishops. At the time of Mother Mectilde de Bar, the avenues of ecclesiastical jurisdiction were exceedingly complex. Given that Mother Mectilde and her little community were living in the territory of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, she needed, first of all, to secure the permission of the (secular) abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the natural son of Henri IV, who was the Duke of Verneuil, and the holder of the bishopric of Metz.

The Request Refused
The Abbot-Duke was utterly opposed to the foundation of new monasteries. Paris, he argued, was already cluttered with too many cloisters vying for economic support. He had promised the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, that he would forbid the foundation of new monasteries in his territory. Already, for lack of resources, six

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Deep lies my soul in the dust (XLIV)

Sunday, 24 March 2019

CHAPTER XLIV.
Of those who are excommunicated, how they are to make satisfaction
24 Mar. 24 July. 23 Nov.
Let him, who for graver offences is excommunicated from the Oratory and the table, prostrate himself at the door of the Oratory, saying nothing, at the hour when the Work of God is being performed: lying prone, with his face upon the ground, at the feet of all who go out from the Oratory. Let him continue to do this until the Abbot judge that he hath made satisfaction: and then, coming at the Abbot’s bidding, let him cast himself at his feet and at the feet of all, that they may pray for him. After this, if the Abbot so order, let him be received back into the choir, in such a place as he shalt appoint: yet so, that he presume not to intone Psalm or lesson, or anything else, in the Oratory, unless the Abbot again command him. And at all the Hours, when the Work of God is ended, let him cast himself on the ground, in the

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Sumebant cibum cum exsultatione (XLIII:2)

Saturday, 23 March 2019

CHAPTER XLIII. Of those who come late to the Work of God, or to table
23 Mar. 23 July. 22 Nov.
If any one, through his own negligence and fault, come not to table before the Verse, so that all may say this and the prayer together, and together sit down to table, let him be once or twice corrected. If after this he do not amend, let him not be admitted to share in the common table, but be separated from the companionship of all, and eat alone, his portion of wine being taken from him, until he hath made satisfaction and amends. Let him be punished in like manner, who is not present also at the Verse which is said after meals. And let no one presume to take food or drink before or after the appointed hour: but should a brother be offered anything by the Superior, and refuse to take it, if he afterwards desire either what he before refused, or anything else, he shall receive nothing whatever, until he hath made proper satisfaction.

The liturgy of

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Omni tempore silentium debent studere monachi (XLIII)

Thursday, 21 March 2019

CHAPTER XLII. That no one may speak after Compline
21 Mar. 21 July. 20 Nov.
Monks should love silence at all times, but especially during the hours of the night. Therefore, on all days, whether of fasting or otherwise, let them sit down all together as soon as they have risen from supper (if it be not a fast-day) and let one of them read the Conferences [of Cassian], or the lives of the Fathers, or some thing else which may edify the hearers. Not, however, Heptateuch, nor the Books of Kings for it will not profit those of weak understanding to hear those parts of Scripture at that hour: they may, however, be read at other times. If it be a fast-day, then a short time after Vespers let them assemble for the reading of the Conferences, as we have said; four or five pages being read, or as much as time alloweth, so that during the reading all may gather together, even those who may have been occupied in some work enjoined them. Everyone, then, being assembled, let them

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Why I love Saint Joseph

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

adoracion+pastores.jpgSaint Joseph, Model of Monks
Saint Joseph, espoused to the Virgin Mother of God and charged with the guardianship of the living Bread come down from heaven, is the model of monks, and of all who aspire to the monastic life. He is the living image of what it means to live by the three vows of the Benedictine profession: obedience, conversatio morum (conversion of the way one goes about living), and stability.

Obedience
First, with regard to obedience: Was there ever a man who so listened to the will of God and so allowed it to shape his life and destiny? “Joseph, Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Mt 21:20); and again, “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee” (Mt 2:13); and a third time, “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child”

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Support the monks of Silverstream Priory:

Situated amidst pasture land and forest in the eastern reaches of County Meath, Silverstream Priory was founded in 2012 at the invitation of the Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, and canonically erected as an autonomous monastery of diocesan right on 25 February 2017. The property belonged, from the early 15th century, to the Preston family, premier Viscounts of Ireland and Lords of Gormanston. In 1843 Thomas Preston (1817-1903), son of Jenico Preston, the 12th Viscount (1775-1860), built what today is Silverstream Priory.

Silverstream Priory is a providential realisation of the cherished project of Abbot Celestino Maria Colombo, O.S.B. (1874–1935), who, following the impetus given by Catherine–Mectilde de Bar in the 17th century, sought to establish a house of Benedictine monks committed to ceaseless prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of reparation. The community of Silverstream Priory holding to the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant, celebrate the Divine Office in its traditional Benedictine form and Holy Mass in the “Usus Antiquior” of the Roman Rite. Praying and working in the enclosure of the monastery, the monks of Silverstream keep at heart the sanctification of priests labouring in the vineyard of the Lord. They undertake various works compatible with their monastic vocation, notably the development of the land and gardens, hospitality to the clergy in need of a spiritual respite, scholarly work, and publishing.

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