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Saintly CompanionshipVolume 10 Sept 2015

St. Margaret Mary’s Church

Saint Michael the ArchangelFrom the Hebrew name כיִמ אָ Michael means “who is like God?”, which , לֵ

is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Michael is one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven’s armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers. His popularity led to his name being used by nine Byzantine emperors, including Michael VIII Palaeologus who restored the empire in the 13th century. It has been common in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and in England since the 12th century.

He is generally referred to in Christian litanies as “Saint Michael”, as in the Litany of the Saints. In the shortened version of this litany used in the Easter Vigil, he alone of the angels and archangels is mentioned by name, omitting Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael. Saint Michael has four main roles or offices. His first role is the leader of the Army of God and the leader of heaven’s forces in their triumph over the powers of hell. He is viewed as the angelic model for

the virtues of the spiritual warrior, with the conflict against evil at times viewed as the battle within.The second and third roles of Michael deal with death. In his second role, Michael is the angel of death,

carrying the souls of all the deceased to heaven. In this role, at the hour of death, Michael descends and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself before passing, thus consternating the devil and his minions. Prayers often refer to this role of Michael. In his third role, he weighs souls in his perfectly balanced scales (hence Michael is often depicted holding scales). In his fourth role, St Michael, the special patron of the Chosen People in the Old Testament, is also the guardian of the Church; it was thus not unusual for the angel to be revered by the military orders of knights during the Middle Ages. This role also extends to his being the patron saint of a number of cities and countries.

The Prayer to Saint Michael asks specifically for the faithful to be “defended” by the saint. The Chaplet of Saint Michael consists of nine salutations and is a wonderful way to honour this great Archangel along with the other nine Choirs of Angels. What do we mean by Choirs? It seems that God has created various orders of Angels. Sacred Scripture distinguishes nine such groupings: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels (Isa. 6:2; Gen. 3:24; Col. 1:16; Eph. 1:21; Rom. 8:38). There may be more groupings but these are the only ones that have been revealed to us. The Seraphim is believed to be the highest Choir, the most intimately united to God, while the Angelic Choir is the lowest.

The history of this Chaplet goes back to a devout Servant of God, Antonia d’Astonac, who had a vision of St. Michael. He told Antonia to honour him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever would practice this devotion in his honour would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for those who would recite the Chaplet daily, he promised his continual assistance and that of all the holy angels during life. The feast day of St. Michael is celebrated on the 29th of September.“Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.”

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One Faith One Body

‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ and ‘The Way of Unknowing’

Lina LeeReturning from the Rome Conference entitled `Meditation in the Monastic Tradition’ organized by the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) this

summer, I recall from the wisdom of Sr. Lorella Fracassa, one of the prominent speakers from the conference that through her arises a most important reminder: God is our light, counsellor and our ultimate home.

Sr. Lorella gave us a very revealing and enlightening talk on `The Cloud of Unknowing’ (the 14th Century mystic classics by an anonymous author) and `The Way of Unknowing ‘by Father John Main OSB (1926-1982), the founder of WCCM (www.wccm.org/wccm.hk), bringing renewal to Christianity in the modern world through the recovery of the ancient tradition of contemplation of the Church. She cited Moses as having established a relationship with God through the cloud. “The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” (Ex 19:9) “This is how Moses experienced God: he knew Him (in Hebrew “intimately knew Him”) by `entering the cloud’ and by staying intimately in touch with the non-knowledge. This is the same type of knowledge’ of God that Gabriel announces to Mary (God will shelter you through His shadow)” whose humble, beautiful and deep response changes the entire human history! The speaker alerted us about what the Anonymous author said -- during the mystical moments when our spiritual senses are awakened as the `internal feelings’ of our soul being profoundly touched, we might yet be hindered by the `cloud of the flesh’ including our fantasies, worries, thoughts… and thus” veiling the Lord’s divinity,” then it’s time for us to lay them aside; “it may be good to cover this with the cloud of oblivion, and then we would pass from ̀ understanding’ God to ̀ experiencing God.’” . He proposed that we should put these fantasies onto the `Cloud of Forgetting’ just below the first cloud. Father John Main took the term `oblivion’ as an expression suggesting `detaching one-self, letting go, abandoning‘ to elaborate on the `Way of Unknowing’. When we meditate, we deliberately `forget’ these

egoistic needs, then we can come to union of the Spirit and the direct knowledge with God, `from a path of darkness to beyond’.

It is evident both authors regarded the Cloud of Non-Knowledge as a source of cultural and spiritual inner path. Regarding the lexicon `to contemplate or contemplation’, Fr Main used `Christian Meditation’ instead but the meaning, essence and spirit are the same. Derived from the 4th Century Desert Spirituality, both authors referred man as whole being and the human body, spirit and soul should attain unity. In such a light, both had” the deep feeling: `He/God is my being and that the sensations of the body should be quietened down”. Fr. John often spoke on this Holy Spirit dwelling and frequently used the biblical metaphor of man as `temple’ of God, while stressing also on the posture, stillness (inner and outer) and the breath. He strongly highlighted the centrality of the human `heart’ where the Spirit operates. Our sick heart needs to discover one’s own `Cloud of Unknowing’ to get us `healed’ and purified by God, liberating us from our worldly attachments by returning to the heart ---that of being children of God. Both aimed at inwardness and interiority, as well as the use of the mantra (though the actual words differed between the two) as a compass, like darts, crying for help.

While the Anonymous author thought that exercises of contemplation help the contemplative person to rebuild his right inner equilibrium, overflowing onto the outside, Sr. Lorella said she felt impressed of the `Way of Unknowing’ brought up by John Main who said regular meditation enabled the transition from `feeling isolated’ to `feeling loved’, finally `opens up to communion with the self and with others.’ Both authors thought that contemplative prayer is a precious gift of God within the reach of all. John Main, furthermore, enhanced the sense of `community’ by the emergence of meditation groups. Bede Griffiths regarded Fr John Main and sons of the Cloud opened up paths and laid bridges towards mysticism. This may explain why meditators, through continuous and faithful practices of meditation in silence, simplicity and stillness, would feel so calm and peaceful even when turmoil comes their way. Let’s continue on this `Way of Unknowing’, treading on the `Cloud’ to the light of God, particularly when we are desolate and at a loss. Why not join us meditate as a community at SMC every Thursday 8-9 pm at Rm 203. You will be amazed.

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By His Grace

Sister Lorella Fracassa is an Italian teacher of Latin and Italian Literature. She completed her training psycho-pedagogical and she is Educative Counselor. She has a PhD in Christian and Classical Literature from the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome. She published: 1. “A CACCIA DELLA LEPRE. La meditazione silenziosa della tradizione cristiana” (a comparison on Main’s writings and Cassian’s Collationes); 2. “ON THE ROAD… CON MARIA. Meditare Maria con J. Main” a reflection on Mary in Main’s writings.

About the speaker:

On 8th of September Pope Francis radically revised the process by which Catholics may annul their marriages, streamlining steps that many in the church considered too cumbersome and costly. In the dec-

laration, issued as motu proprios, or papal rulings, will become part of Catholic canon law on December the 8th, the beginning of Francis’ declared “Year of Mercy”. He ordered fast track annulments when the cases were “backed by particularly evident arguments” and scrapped the current two-tier system that au-tomatically required a second ruling. He also decreed that annulments would henceforth be free except for the “fair compensation of the court workers.” The move is the latest in a series of reforms by the Pope as he seeks to make the church more responsive to the real needs of its members, especially those who have long felt marginalized by the hierarchy. Without the annulments, Catholics who remarry are not allowed to receive Holy Communion, which many describe as a painful exclusion from the church’s chief sacrament. The three main changes announced are: 1) eliminating a second review by a cleric before a marriage can be nullified; 2) giving bishops the ability to fast-track and grant the annulments themselves in certain circumstances -- for example, when spousal abuse or an extramarital affair has occurred; and 3) the process should be free, except for a nominal fee for administrative costs, and should be completed within 45 days.

While Pope Francis reaffirmed the “indissolubility of the marriage bond,” he also said in the documents that “charity and mercy demand that the Church, as mother, be close to her children who consider them-selves separated.” The church’s many laws and institutions must be aimed at one chief purpose, the Pope said -- “the salvation of souls.”

Annulment Reform

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Wo r d s f r o m G o s p e l r e a d i n g s i n S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

Article Contributions Welcome

The newsletter is in many ways a ‘family letter’, facilitating the communication and shar-ing of ideas between different groups in our parish. Therefore you will be most welcome to share with us your spiritual life and insights, parish activities and pilgrimage experience, etc.

Text should be close to a full-A4 page length or half of it, with high resolution photos for print quali-ty where relevant. We also welcome a simpler photo journal format with titles for the photos and

may be a few lines to describe an event you have participated; it would be great to see different members of our family. Please send your contributions by email if possible; in case of handwritten manuscripts, please give it to the counter staff at the

amenities building next to St. Margaret’s Church. Originals will not be returned so please make copies if necessary.

Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time Mark 8:27-35Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

Vigésimo cuarto Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario San Marco 8:27-35 Entonces llamó a la multitud y a sus discípulos.—Si alguien quiere ser mi discípulo —les dijo—, que se niegue a sí mismo, lleve su cruz y me siga. Porque el que quiera salvar su vida, la perderá; pero el que pierda su vida por mi causa y por el evangelio, la salvará.

Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time Mark 9:30-37

Vigésimo quinto Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario San Marco 9:30-37

Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Vigésimo sexto Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario San Marco 9:38-43, 45 , 47-48

Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time Mark 7:31-37

Vigésimo tercer Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario San Marco 7:31-37 La gente estaba sumamente asombrada, y decía: «Todo lo hace bien. Hasta hace oír a los sordos y hablar a los mudos.»

Then Jesus sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Entonces Jesús se sentó, llamó a los doce y les dijo:—Si alguno quiere ser el primero, que sea el último de todos y el servidor de todos.

Jesus replied, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.”

Y si tu pie te hace pecar, córtatelo. Más te vale entrar en la vida cojo, que ser arrojado con los dos pies al infierno.

They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak.”

By post: St. Margaret’s Church (Newsletter) 2A Broadwood Road, Happy Valley,

Hong Kong. Tel: 25762801 Fax: 25769764 Email: smc@catholic.org.hk